WO2025113117A1 - Communication method and related device - Google Patents

Abstract

A communication method and a related device, used for obtaining a measurement result of a channel between a network device and a terminal device on the basis of measurement information. In the method, a terminal device receives reference signals, the reference signals being sent by means of M digital ports, M being a positive integer, a first digital port amongst the M digital ports comprising N₁ virtual ports, and N₁ being an integer greater than or equal to 1; and the terminal device sends measurement information, the measurement information comprising first information obtained by performing measurement on the basis of the reference signal sent by means of the first digital port, the first information being determined on the basis of N₁ pieces of channel information, the N₁ pieces of channel information being respectively determined on the basis of the reference signals sent by means of the N₁ virtual ports, and the first information being used for determining weight values of the N₁ virtual ports in the first digital port.

Description

A communication method and related equipment

This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office on November 27, 2023, with application number 202311611775.8 and application name “A communication method and related equipment”, all contents of which are incorporated by reference in this application.

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of wireless communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and related equipment.

Background Art

Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology, as a key technology for wireless communication, can be used to meet the needs of high-speed transmission. However, in the communication process based on MIMO technology, how to achieve channel measurement is a technical problem that needs to be solved urgently.

Summary of the invention

The present application provides a communication method and related equipment, which are used to obtain the measurement results of the channel between the network device and the terminal device based on the measurement information. In the case of a large antenna array, the terminal device can determine and indicate a finer-grained weight based on the measurement results of the reference signal, so that the network device can communicate based on the weight, thereby reducing the beam scanning overhead and achieving fast beam tracking.

In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which is executed by a terminal device, or the method is executed by some components (such as a processor, a chip or a chip system, etc.) in the terminal device, or the method can also be implemented by a logic module or software that can realize all or part of the terminal device functions. In the first aspect and its possible implementation, the communication method is described as an example of being executed by a terminal device. In the method, the terminal device receives a reference signal, which is sent through M digital ports, M is a positive integer; wherein the first digital port of the M digital ports includes N ₁ virtual ports, N ₁ is an integer greater than or equal to 1; the terminal device sends measurement information, and the measurement information includes first information obtained by measuring based on the reference signal sent by the first digital port; wherein the first information is determined based on N ₁ channel information, and the N ₁ channel information is respectively determined by the reference signal sent by the N ₁ virtual ports, and the first information is used to determine the weights of the N ₁ virtual ports in the first digital port.

Based on the above technical solution, after the network device sends the reference signal, the reference signal is transmitted through the wireless channel, so that the reference signal received by the terminal device can carry the channel information of the wireless channel; thereafter, the measurement information obtained by the terminal device through measuring the reference signal can reflect the channel information, and the subsequent way in which the terminal device sends the measurement information can enable the network device to obtain the measurement result of the channel between the network device and the terminal device based on the measurement information.

In addition, the measurement information obtained by the terminal device based on the reference signal includes the first information corresponding to the first digital port, and the first information is used to determine the weights of the N ₁ virtual ports in the first digital port. In other words, the network device can determine the weights of the N ₁ virtual ports in the first digital port based on the first information. Compared with the way in which the network device obtains the weights of the digital port based on the measurement information fed back by the terminal device, since the first digital port contains the N ₁ virtual ports, the network device can determine a finer-grained weight based on the first information. Thus, in the case of a large antenna array, the terminal device can determine and indicate a finer-grained weight based on the measurement result of the reference signal, so that the network device can communicate based on the weight, thereby reducing the beam scanning overhead and achieving fast beam tracking.

Optionally, the reference signals involved in the present application may include a synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel block (SSB, or SS/PBCH block), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), etc.

In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the weights of the _N1 virtual ports in the first digital port are obtained through a first weight vector, and the first weight vector includes _N1 elements; wherein the _N1 virtual ports respectively correspond to _N1 antenna array sets, each antenna array set includes one or more antenna arrays, and the _N1 elements are respectively used to adjust the phases of the _N1 antenna array sets.

Based on the above technical solution, the weights of the N ₁ virtual ports in the first digital port of the network device are obtained by the first weight vector, and the weights of the N ₁ virtual ports are obtained by the first weight vector including N ₁ elements, and the N ₁ elements are respectively used to adjust the phases of the N ₁ antenna array sets. In other words, by adjusting the phases of the antenna arrays, it is possible to achieve Transmission of reference signal.

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the weights of the N ₁ virtual ports in the first digital port are obtained through a first weight vector, including: the weights of the N ₁ virtual ports are obtained through the first weight vector and a second weight vector, and the second weight vector includes N ₁ sub-vectors; wherein a dimension of a T-th sub-vector in the N ₁ sub-vectors is the same as the number of antenna arrays of a T-th antenna array set in the N ₁ antenna array set, and a value of T is 1 to N ₁ .

Based on the above technical solution, the dimension of the T-th subvector in the N ₁ subvectors included in the first weight vector is the same as the number of antenna arrays in the T-th antenna array set in the N ₁ antenna array sets. In this way, the first weight vector can correspond to the weight of each antenna array set in the N ₁ antenna array sets.

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the first information satisfies any of the following:

The first information includes a quantization processing result of the first weight vector;

The first information includes one element of the N ₁ elements corresponding to one of the N ₁ virtual ports, and a quantization processing result corresponding to a difference between N ₁ -1 elements of the N ₁ elements corresponding to other N ₁ -1 virtual ports except the one of the virtual ports and the one element;

The first information includes a first index and a second index, and the first index and the second index are used to determine a first weight vector of the first digital port in one or more weight vectors included in a codebook set; wherein the first index is a codebook index on a first dimension, and the second index is a codebook index on a second dimension, and in the one or more weight vectors included in the codebook set, each weight vector is determined by a weight on the first dimension and a weight on the second dimension;

The first information includes a third index, and the third index is used to determine a first weight vector of the first digital port among one or more weight vectors included in the codebook set.

Based on the above technical solution, the first information can be implemented through any of the above methods to improve the flexibility of the solution implementation.

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the method further includes: the terminal device receiving second information, where the second information is used to determine the codebook set.

Optionally, the codebook set is determined by port information of a virtual port in one or more digital ports, and the port information of the virtual port in any digital port includes at least one of the following:

The number of virtual ports included in the digital port is N ₁ ;

The number of virtual ports on the first dimension of the digital port is M ₁ ;

The number of virtual ports in the second dimension of the digital port is M ₂ ;

The oversampling factor in the first dimension of the digital port is O ₁ ;

The oversampling factor in the second dimension of the digital port is O ₂ .

Based on the above technical solution, when the first information includes an index (for example, a first index, a second index, a third index, etc.), the terminal device can also receive the second information and determine a codebook set through the second information, and subsequently determine the weights of the _N1 virtual ports in the first digital port in the codebook set based on the index indicated by the first information.

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the second information satisfies at least one of the following:

The second information includes port information of the virtual port included in the first digital port;

The second information includes a fourth index, and the fourth index is used to determine the port information of the virtual port included in the first digital port in the port information of one or more preconfigured or predefined virtual ports;

The second information includes a fifth index, where the fifth index is used to determine the codebook set in one or more preconfigured or predefined codebook sets;

The second information is used to indicate some items in the port information of the virtual port included in the first digital port, and other items in the port information of the virtual port included in the first digital port are determined by the partial items and the port information of one or more pre-configured virtual ports;

The second information is used to indicate the port information of the virtual port included in the first digital port, and the port information of the virtual port is used to determine the codebook set from one or more preconfigured or predefined codebook sets.

Based on the above technical solution, the second information can be implemented by at least one of the above methods to improve the flexibility of the solution implementation.

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the measurement information includes the M information and/or the K information; wherein the M information is respectively used to determine a first weight vector of each digital port in the M digital ports; one of the M information is The first information; the K pieces of information are respectively used to determine the first weight vector of the digital ports included in each digital port group in the K groups of digital ports, wherein each group of digital ports in the K groups of digital ports includes one or more digital ports in the M digital ports, and K is a positive integer less than or equal to M; one of the K pieces of information is the first information.

Based on the above technical solution, the measurement information sent by the terminal device may include M information and/or K information. In this way, the network device can determine the first weight vector of each digital port in the M digital ports through the M information and/or the K information.

Optionally, the measurement information satisfies any of the following:

When the rank number of the reference signal satisfies the first condition, the measurement information includes the M pieces of information;

When the rank number of the reference signal satisfies the second condition, the measurement information includes the K pieces of information;

When the channel quality information CQI of the reference signal satisfies the third condition, the measurement information includes the M pieces of information;

When the CQI of the reference signal satisfies the fourth condition, the measurement information includes the K pieces of information.

In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the method further includes: the terminal device receives indication information indicating that the measurement information includes the M information and/or the K information. In this way, the terminal device and the network device can clearly understand the information content carried by the measurement information.

Optionally, the indication information is carried in configuration information of a reference signal, or is other message/information/signaling, etc., which is not limited here.

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in one or more digital ports included in each group of digital ports in the K groups of digital ports, port information of virtual ports of different digital ports is the same.

Based on the above technical solution, when the measurement information includes K pieces of information, the K pieces of information are respectively used to determine the first weight vector of the digital ports included in each digital port group in the K groups of digital ports, wherein each group of digital ports in the K groups of digital ports includes one or more digital ports in the M digital ports. Moreover, among the one or more digital ports included in each group of digital ports in the K groups of digital ports, the port information of the virtual ports of different digital ports is the same. In this way, the feedback process of the measurement information can be simplified and the implementation complexity can be reduced.

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the measurement information is measurement information corresponding to a first carrier, the measurement information is used to determine a first weight vector of each digital port in M digital ports corresponding to the first carrier, and the first carrier includes one or more carriers;

Or, the measurement information is measurement information corresponding to a first BWP, and the measurement information is used to determine a first weight vector of each digital port among M digital ports corresponding to the first BWP, and the first BWP includes one or more BWPs;

Or the measurement information is measurement information corresponding to a first bandwidth, and the measurement information is used to determine a first weight vector of each digital port in the M digital ports corresponding to the first bandwidth, and the first bandwidth includes one or more sub-bands.

Based on the above technical solution, the measurement information can be used to determine the first weight vector of each digital port in the M digital ports corresponding to one or more carriers (or, one or more BWPs, or one or more subbands) to improve the flexibility of the solution implementation.

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the reference signal is sent through L ₁ first weights in L ₁ time units respectively, where L ₁ is an integer greater than 1; the i-th first weight among the L ₁ first weights is obtained through the i-th second weight and the third weight among the L ₁ second weights, the L ₁ second weights are orthogonal, and the value of i is 1 to L ₁ .

Based on the above technical solution, the measurement information obtained by the terminal device based on the reference signal measurement may include the first information corresponding to the first digital port, and the first information is used to determine the weights of the N ₁ virtual ports in the first digital port. Among them, the L ₁ second weights corresponding to the N ₁ virtual ports on the L ₁ time units are orthogonal. In this way, after the terminal device measures the reference signal carried by the L ₁ time units to obtain the measurement result, the terminal device can determine the better (or optimal) weight of the virtual port in the first digital port based on the measurement result, and indicate the weight through the first information, and the subsequent network device can communicate with the terminal device based on the weight. Thus, when the antenna array is large, the network device sends reference signals based on orthogonal second weights at different time units (generally, reference signals sent based on different weights can be understood as reference signals sent based on different beams). The terminal device can determine and indicate a better (or optimal) weight based on the measurement results of different time units, so that the network device can communicate based on the weight, thereby reducing beam scanning overhead and achieving fast beam tracking.

Optionally, after the terminal device measures the reference signal carried by L ₁ time units to obtain a measurement result, the terminal device can determine a better (or optimal) weight of the virtual port in the first digital port based on the measurement result and a mathematical method. For example, the mathematical method may include power maximization criteria, capacity maximization criteria, etc.

In the present application, in _L1 time units (or _L2 time units mentioned later), each time unit can be one or more symbols, one or more mini-slots, one or more time slots, one or more subframes, etc.

Optionally, the L ₁ time units are continuous in the time domain. Since the channel information of different continuous time units in the time domain is highly correlated, in this way, the different measurement results corresponding to the reference signals of the L ₁ time units of the terminal device can reflect the same or similar channel information as much as possible, so as to obtain more accurate measurement information.

Optionally, at least two time units among the L ₁ time units are discontinuous in the time domain.

It should be understood that the reference signal is sent through _L1 first weights in _L1 time units respectively, and it can be understood that _L1 time units correspond to _L1 first weights one by one. For example, the weight of the reference signal in the i-th time unit in the _L1 time units is the i-th first weight in the _L1 first weights.

Optionally, the reference signal on each time unit can be regarded as one reference signal, that is, "the reference signal carried on L ₁ time units" can be regarded as L ₁ reference signals. Accordingly, the above method can be performed once or multiple times, that is, the sending and receiving process of one or more L ₁ reference signals is respectively implemented through one or more L ₁ time units.

Alternatively, the reference signal on each L ₁ time unit can be regarded as one reference signal, that is, "the reference signal carried on L ₁ time unit" can be regarded as 1 reference signal. Accordingly, the above method can be performed once or multiple times, that is, the sending and receiving process of one or more reference signals is respectively implemented through one or more L ₁ time units.

It should be understood that _L1 second weights are orthogonal, which can be understood as any two second weights in the _L1 second weights are mutually orthogonal, or different second weights in the _L1 second weights are orthogonal to each other. It should be understood that _L1 second weights are orthogonal, and the i-th first weight in the _L1 first weights is obtained by the i-th second weight in _{the L1} second weights and the third weight. In other words, the _L1 first weights are obtained based on the _L1 second weights. Among them, the different weights in the _L1 first weights can be orthogonal or non-orthogonal, which is not limited here.

It should be noted that the i-th first weight among the L ₁ first weights is obtained by the i-th second weight among the L ₁ second weights and the third weight, including: the i-th first weight among the L ₁ first weights is obtained by multiplying the N ₁ elements of the i-th second weight among the L ₁ second weights by the N ₁ sub-vectors in the third weight.

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the reference signal is sent through M digital ports, where M is a positive integer; wherein a weight corresponding to a first digital port among the M digital ports in the L ₁ time units is the L ₁ first weights; the first digital port includes N ₁ virtual ports, the second weight includes N ₁ elements corresponding to the N ₁ virtual ports, and N ₁ is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

Optionally, when M is greater than 1, the weights of the M digital ports sending reference signals may be the same (for example, all are the L ₁ first weights), or, the weights of the M digital ports sending reference signals may be different from each other (for example, the weight corresponding to the first digital port is the L ₁ first weights, while the weights corresponding to other digital ports are different from the L ₁ first weights), or, the weights of the M digital ports sending reference signals may be partially the same (for example, the weight corresponding to the first digital port is the L ₁ first weights, while the weights corresponding to some of the other digital ports are different from the L ₁ first weights, and the weights corresponding to another part of the other digital ports are the same as the L ₁ first weights).

It should be understood that the second weight includes N ₁ elements corresponding to the N ₁ virtual ports, and in the L ₁ second weights, the number of elements included in each second weight is N _1. In other words, in the L ₁ second weights, each second weight includes N ₁ elements corresponding to the N ₁ virtual ports. As can be seen from the foregoing description, different second weights can be orthogonal, so in the L ₁ second weights, the N ₁ elements included in different second weights are not completely the same. In the present application, virtual port can be replaced by other terms, such as analog port, virtual subarray, analog subarray, subarray, etc.

Based on the above technical solution, the reference signal is sent through L ₁ first weights in L ₁ time units respectively, and the L ₁ first weights can be the weights of the first digital port among the M digital ports. The first digital port includes N ₁ virtual ports, and the second weights include N ₁ elements corresponding to the N ₁ virtual ports, that is, the corresponding L ₁ second weights of the virtual ports included in the first digital port in the L ₁ time units are orthogonal. In this way, the weights of the virtual ports included in the same digital port in different time units are orthogonal.

Optionally, L ₁ is an integer multiple of N _1. For example, N ₁ is equal to L ₁ .

Optionally, the frequency domain resources occupied by the N ₁ virtual ports in different time units of the L ₁ time units are the same. In this way, the implementation complexity of sending and receiving reference signals in different time units can be reduced as much as possible.

Optionally, the terminal device may also receive indication information indicating that the number of virtual ports included in the first digital port is N ₁ , and/or, the terminal device may also receive indication information indicating that the number of time units of the reference signal is L _1. These two indication information may be carried in the configuration information of the reference signal, or may be carried in other information/messages/signaling, which is not limited here.

Optionally, N ₁ and L ₁ are pre-configured information and are not limited here.

It should be understood that a digital port includes one or more virtual ports (for example, a first digital port includes N ₁ virtual ports, and a second digital port described later includes N ₂ virtual ports, etc.), and it can be understood that the signal of the digital port is sent and received through the one or more virtual ports. For example, in the process of signal transmission, the digital port sends the signal through the one or more virtual ports; for another example, in the process of signal reception, the signal received by one or more virtual ports can be understood as the signal received by the digital port.

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the _N1 virtual ports respectively correspond to _N1 antenna array sets, each antenna array set includes one or more antenna arrays, and the _N1 elements are respectively used to adjust the phases of the _N1 antenna array sets.

Optionally, the N ₁ virtual ports refer to virtual ports for sending reference signals (i.e., virtual ports of network devices), and accordingly, the N ₁ antenna array sets corresponding to the N ₁ virtual ports are antenna array sets for sending reference signals (i.e., antenna array sets of network devices).

Optionally, N ₁ virtual ports correspond to N ₁ antenna array sets respectively, which can be understood as, N ₁ virtual ports correspond to N ₁ antenna array sets one-to-one, or, the i-th virtual port in the N ₁ virtual ports corresponds to the i-th antenna array set in the N ₁ antenna array sets. Similarly, N ₁ elements are respectively used to adjust the phase of the N ₁ antenna array sets, which can be understood as, N ₁ elements correspond to N ₁ antenna array sets one-to-one, or, the i-th element in the N ₁ elements is used to adjust the phase of the i-th antenna array set in the N ₁ antenna array set, and i ranges from 1 to N ₁ .

Based on the above technical solution, the N ₁ virtual ports included in the first digital port correspond to N ₁ antenna array sets respectively, and the N ₁ elements included in the second weights are respectively used to adjust the phases of the N ₁ antenna array sets. Moreover, each antenna array set includes one or more antenna arrays. In other words, the N ₁ elements included in the second weights are used to adjust the phases of the antenna arrays corresponding to different virtual ports in the digital port, that is, the L ₁ orthogonal second weights are used to achieve orthogonal phases of the antenna arrays corresponding to different virtual ports.

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the third weight includes N ₁ subvectors, a dimension of a P th subvector in the N ₁ subvectors is the same as the number of antenna arrays in a P th antenna array set in the N ₁ antenna array sets, and a value of P is 1 to N ₁ .

Based on the above technical solution, the dimension of the Pth sub-vector in the N ₁ sub-vectors included in the third weight is the same as the number of antenna arrays in the Pth antenna array set in the N ₁ antenna array sets. In this way, the third weight can correspond to the weight of each antenna array set in the N ₁ antenna array sets.

Optionally, the N ₁ elements included in the second weight are respectively used to adjust the phase of the N ₁ antenna array set, and accordingly, the third weight includes N ₁ subvectors and is also used to adjust the phase of the N ₁ antenna array set, and the first weight is also used to adjust the phase of the N ₁ antenna array set. In other words, the phase of the N ₁ antenna array set can be determined based on the N ₁ elements included in the second weight and the first weight determined by the N ₁ subvectors included in the third weight.

Optionally, the third weight may be determined by other reference signals. For example, after the network device sends the other reference signals through different beams (or different weights), the terminal device may feed back multiple signal quality information based on the different beams. Accordingly, the network device may determine the third weight based on the signal quality information with the best signal quality among the multiple signal quality information, or the network device may determine the third weight based on the signal quality information greater than a threshold among the multiple signal quality information, or the network device may determine the third weight based on the quality of one or more reference signals fed back by the terminal (for example, RSRP).

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the first weight and the third weight have the same dimension.

Based on the above technical solution, the first weight and the third weight have the same dimension, that is, the first weight used to send the reference signal can determine the weight of each antenna element set in the _N1 antenna element sets.

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the value of M is 1.

Based on the above technical solution, when the value of M is 1, the reference signal can be sent through a digital port (i.e., the first digital port), so that the solution is suitable for the scenario where the network device is configured with a single digital port, and the transmission and measurement of the reference signal of the virtual port contained in the single digital port can be realized.

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the value of M is greater than 1, wherein the resource of the reference signal satisfies one of the following:

In the resources of the reference signal, time domain resources and frequency domain resources used by different digital ports among the M digital ports to send the reference signal are the same, and different digital ports among the M digital ports are code division multiplexed;

In the resources of the reference signal, time domain resources for sending the reference signal by different digital ports among the M digital ports are the same, and frequency domain resources for sending the reference signal by different digital ports among the M digital ports are different (optionally, different digital ports among the M digital ports are not code-division multiplexed);

In the resource of the reference signal, the M digital ports belong to Q groups of digital ports, each group of digital ports includes one or more digital ports. Q is a positive integer; wherein the frequency domain resources for sending the reference signal by different groups of digital ports in the Q groups of digital ports are different, the frequency domain resources for sending the reference signal by one or more digital ports included in the same group of digital ports in the Q groups of digital ports are the same, and the sending of the one or more digital ports included in the same group of digital ports is code division multiplexing (CDM). Optionally, the code division multiplexing type of the one or more digital ports included in the same group of digital ports is frequency domain code division multiplexing.

It should be understood that the reference signal resource refers to the resource used to carry the reference signal, that is, the reference signal resource can be the resource for the network device to send the reference signal, or the reference signal resource can be the resource for the terminal device to receive the reference signal.

In this application, terms such as weight vector, weight, weighted value, weighted vector, etc. can be replaced with each other. For example, the first weight vector can be replaced with "weight", such as the seventh weight. For another example, the second weight vector described later can also be replaced with "weight", such as the eighth weight. For another example, the "weight" in the first weight, the third weight, the fourth weight, and the sixth weight can also be replaced with a simulated weight.

Based on the above technical solution, when the value of M is greater than 1, the reference signal can be sent through two or more digital ports (i.e., the first digital port and other digital ports), so that the solution is applicable to the scenario where the network device is configured with two or more digital ports, and realizes the transmission and measurement of the reference signal of the virtual port included in the two or more digital ports. In addition, the resource of the reference signal meets one of the above items to improve the flexibility of the solution implementation.

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the method further includes: the terminal device receiving indication information indicating that the resource of the reference signal satisfies one of the items.

Optionally, the indication information is carried in configuration information of a reference signal, or is other message/information/signaling, etc., which is not limited here.

Based on the above technical solution, the terminal device can also receive indication information indicating that the resource of the reference signal meets one of the items, so that the terminal device can clarify the resource configuration method of different digital ports among the M digital ports based on the indication information.

Optionally, the terminal device determines through preconfiguration that the resource of the reference signal satisfies one of the above items.

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, a second digital port among the M digital ports includes N ₂ virtual ports; wherein the reference signal is sent through L ₂ fourth weights in L ₂ time units respectively, and L ₂ is an integer greater than 1; the j-th fourth weight among the L ₂ fourth weights is obtained through the j-th fifth weight and the sixth weight among the L ₂ fifth weights, and the L ₂ fifth weights are orthogonal.

Based on the above technical solution, the reference signal received by the terminal device is sent through L ₂ fourth weights in L ₂ time units, and the j-th fourth weight among the L ₂ fourth weights is obtained through the j-th fifth weight and the sixth weight among the L ₂ fifth weights, and the L ₂ fifth weights are orthogonal. In other words, the reference signal transmitted in L ₂ time units is sent through L ₂ fifth weights that are orthogonal to each other. In this way, the terminal device's measurements of the reference signals carried on different time units are relatively independent, and then L ₁ relatively independent channel information is obtained to obtain measurement information with higher accuracy.

Optionally, among the M digital ports, when the weights of the reference signals sent by the first digital port and the second digital port are the same, _L1 first weights and _L2 fourth weights may be the same; when the weights of the reference signals sent by the first digital port and the second digital port are different, the _L1 first weights are different from the L2 _fourth weights.

Optionally, _L1 is equal to _L2 . Among them, _L1 time units and _L2 time units may be the same time units, that is, the time domain resources for sending the reference signal by the first digital port among the M digital ports and the time domain resources for sending the reference signal by the second digital port may be the same. In this way, the same time unit can be reused as much as possible to save communication resources and reduce implementation complexity.

Optionally, _N1 is equal to _N2 . That is, the number of virtual ports included in the first digital port and the number of virtual ports included in the second digital port among the M digital ports may be the same. In this way, the implementation complexity can be reduced.

It should be noted that the implementation process of the second digital port can refer to the implementation process of the first digital port in the foregoing text. For example, the correspondence between _L2 time units and _L2 fourth weights can refer to the correspondence between _L1 time units and _L1 first weights, and the correspondence between _L2 fourth weights and _L2 fifth weights can refer to the correspondence between _L1 first weights and _L1 second weights, etc.

In a possible implementation of the first aspect, in the resources of the reference signal, the time domain resources and frequency domain resources for sending the reference signal by different digital ports among the M digital ports are the same, and when different digital ports are code division multiplexed, the resources for sending the reference signal by different digital ports among the M digital ports include the same M frequency domain units in the frequency domain.

Based on the above technical solution, M is greater than 1, and the time domain resources and frequency domain resources for sending the reference signal by different digital ports among the M digital ports are the same, and when different digital ports are code division multiplexed, the resources for sending the reference signal by different digital ports in the frequency domain all include the same M frequency domain units. In this way, different digital ports can send reference signals in a code division multiplexed manner on the same frequency domain unit, and the same frequency domain unit can be reused as much as possible to save communication resources and reduce implementation complexity.

Optionally, among the M frequency domain units, each frequency domain unit may include one or more subcarriers/resource elements (RE).

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in the resources of the reference signal, the time domain resources for sending the reference signal by different digital ports among the M digital ports are the same, the frequency domain resources for sending the reference signal by different digital ports among the M digital ports are different, and in the case of no code division multiplexing (no CDM) by different digital ports among the M digital ports, the resources for sending the reference signal by different digital ports among the M digital ports include M different frequency domain units in the frequency domain.

Based on the above technical solution, M is greater than 1, and the frequency domain resources for sending the reference signal by different digital ports among the M digital ports are different, and when different digital ports among the M digital ports are not code-division multiplexed, the resources for sending the reference signal by different digital ports include M frequency domain units that are different from each other in the frequency domain. In this way, different digital ports can send reference signals on different frequency domain resources without code-division multiplexing, which can improve the flexibility of the solution implementation.

Optionally, the method further includes: the terminal device receives indication information indicating the M different frequency domain units, so that the terminal device specifies the resource location of each frequency domain unit based on the indication information. Optionally, the indication information is carried in the configuration information of the reference signal, or other messages/information/signaling, etc., which are not limited here.

The second aspect of the present application provides a communication method, which is executed by a network device, or the method is executed by some components in the network device (such as a processor, a chip or a chip system, etc.), or the method can also be implemented by a logic module or software that can realize all or part of the network device functions. In the second aspect and its possible implementation, the communication method is described as an example of being executed by a network device. In this method, the network device sends a reference signal, which is sent through M digital ports, M is a positive integer; wherein the first digital port of the M digital ports includes N ₁ virtual ports, N ₁ is an integer greater than or equal to 1; the network device receives measurement information, and the measurement information includes first information obtained by measuring based on the reference signal sent by the first digital port; wherein the first information is determined based on N ₁ channel information, and the N ₁ channel information is respectively determined by the reference signal sent by the N ₁ virtual ports.

Based on the above technical solution, after the network device sends the reference signal, the reference signal is transmitted through the wireless channel, so that the reference signal received by the terminal device can carry the channel information of the wireless channel; thereafter, the measurement information obtained by the terminal device through measuring the reference signal can reflect the channel information, and the subsequent way in which the terminal device sends the measurement information can enable the network device to obtain the measurement result of the channel between the network device and the terminal device based on the measurement information.

In addition, the measurement information obtained by the terminal device based on the reference signal includes the first information corresponding to the first digital port, and the first information is used to determine the weights of the N ₁ virtual ports in the first digital port. In other words, the network device can determine the weights of the N ₁ virtual ports in the first digital port based on the first information. Compared with the way in which the network device obtains the weights of the digital port based on the measurement information fed back by the terminal device, since the first digital port contains the N ₁ virtual ports, the network device can determine a finer-grained weight based on the first information. Thus, in the case of a large antenna array, the terminal device can determine and indicate a finer-grained weight based on the measurement result of the reference signal, so that the network device can communicate based on the weight, thereby reducing the beam scanning overhead and achieving fast beam tracking.

In a possible implementation of the second aspect, the weights of the _N1 virtual ports in the first digital port are obtained through a first weight vector, and the first weight vector includes _N1 elements; wherein the _N1 virtual ports respectively correspond to _N1 antenna array sets, each antenna array set includes one or more antenna arrays, and the _N1 elements are respectively used to adjust the phases of the _N1 antenna array sets.

Based on the above technical solution, the weights of the N ₁ virtual ports in the first digital port of the network device are obtained by the first weight vector, and the weights of the N ₁ virtual ports are obtained by the first weight vector including N ₁ elements, and the N ₁ elements are respectively used to adjust the phases of the N ₁ antenna array sets. In other words, by adjusting the phases of the antenna arrays, the reference signal can be sent at different virtual ports.

In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the weights of the N ₁ virtual ports in the first digital port are obtained through a first weight vector, including: the weights of the N ₁ virtual ports are obtained through the first weight vector and a second weight vector, and the second weight vector includes N ₁ sub-vectors; wherein a dimension of a T-th sub-vector in the N ₁ sub-vectors is the same as the number of antenna arrays of a T-th antenna array set in the N ₁ antenna array set, and a value of T is 1 to N ₁ .

Based on the above technical solution, the dimension of the T-th subvector in the N ₁ subvectors included in the first weight vector is the same as the number of antenna arrays in the T-th antenna array set in the N ₁ antenna array sets. In this way, the first weight vector can correspond to the weight of each antenna array set in the N ₁ antenna array sets.

In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the first information satisfies any of the following:

The first information includes a quantization processing result of the first weight vector;

The first information includes one element of the N ₁ elements corresponding to one of the N ₁ virtual ports, and a quantization processing result corresponding to a difference between N ₁ -1 elements of the N ₁ elements corresponding to other N ₁ -1 virtual ports except the one of the virtual ports and the one element;

The first information includes a first index and a second index, and the first index and the second index are used to determine a first weight vector of the first digital port in one or more weight vectors included in a codebook set; wherein the first index is a codebook index on a first dimension, and the second index is a codebook index on a second dimension, and in the one or more weight vectors included in the codebook set, each weight vector is determined by a weight on the first dimension and a weight on the second dimension;

The first information includes a third index, and the third index is used to determine a first weight vector of the first digital port among one or more weight vectors included in the codebook set.

Based on the above technical solution, the first information can be implemented through any of the above methods to improve the flexibility of the solution implementation.

In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the method further includes: the terminal device receiving second information, where the second information is used to determine the codebook set.

Optionally, the codebook set is determined by port information of a virtual port in one or more digital ports, and the port information of the virtual port in any digital port includes at least one of the following:

The number of virtual ports included in the digital port is N ₁ ;

The number of virtual ports on the first dimension of the digital port is M ₁ ;

The number of virtual ports in the second dimension of the digital port is M ₂ ;

The oversampling factor in the first dimension of the digital port is O ₁ ;

The oversampling factor in the second dimension of the digital port is O ₂ .

Based on the above technical solution, when the first information includes an index (for example, a first index, a second index, a third index, etc.), the terminal device can also receive the second information and determine a codebook set through the second information, and subsequently determine the weights of the _N1 virtual ports in the first digital port in the codebook set based on the index indicated by the first information.

In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the second information satisfies at least one of the following:

The second information includes port information of the virtual port included in the first digital port;

The second information includes a fourth index, and the fourth index is used to determine the port information of the virtual port included in the first digital port in the port information of one or more preconfigured or predefined virtual ports;

The second information includes a fifth index, where the fifth index is used to determine the codebook set in one or more preconfigured or predefined codebook sets;

The second information is used to indicate some items in the port information of the virtual port included in the first digital port, and other items in the port information of the virtual port included in the first digital port are determined by the partial items and the port information of one or more pre-configured virtual ports;

The second information is used to indicate the port information of the virtual port included in the first digital port, and the port information of the virtual port is used to determine the codebook set from one or more preconfigured or predefined codebook sets.

Based on the above technical solution, the second information can be implemented by at least one of the above methods to improve the flexibility of the solution implementation.

In a possible implementation of the second aspect, the measurement information includes the M information and/or the K information; wherein the M information is respectively used to determine a first weight vector of each digital port in the M digital ports; one of the M information is the first information; the K information is respectively used to determine a first weight vector of a digital port included in each digital port group in K groups of digital ports, wherein each group of digital ports in the K groups of digital ports includes one or more digital ports in the M digital ports, and K is a positive integer less than or equal to M; one of the K information is the first information.

Based on the above technical solution, the measurement information sent by the terminal device may include M information and/or K information. In this way, the network device can determine the first weight vector of each digital port in the M digital ports through the M information and/or the K information.

Optionally, the measurement information satisfies any of the following:

When the rank number of the reference signal satisfies the first condition, the measurement information includes the M pieces of information;

When the rank number of the reference signal satisfies the second condition, the measurement information includes the K pieces of information;

When the channel quality indicator (CQI) of the reference signal satisfies the third condition, the measurement information packet Enclose the M information;

When the CQI of the reference signal satisfies the fourth condition, the measurement information includes the K pieces of information.

In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the method further includes: the terminal device receives indication information indicating that the measurement information includes the M information and/or the K information. In this way, the terminal device and the network device can clearly understand the information content carried by the measurement information.

Optionally, the indication information is carried in configuration information of a reference signal, or is other message/information/signaling, etc., which is not limited here.

In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, in one or more digital ports included in each group of digital ports in the K groups of digital ports, port information of virtual ports of different digital ports is the same.

Based on the above technical solution, when the measurement information includes K pieces of information, the K pieces of information are respectively used to determine the first weight vector of the digital ports included in each digital port group in the K groups of digital ports, wherein each group of digital ports in the K groups of digital ports includes one or more digital ports in the M digital ports. Moreover, among the one or more digital ports included in each group of digital ports in the K groups of digital ports, the port information of the virtual ports of different digital ports is the same. In this way, the feedback process of the measurement information can be simplified and the implementation complexity can be reduced.

In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the measurement information is measurement information corresponding to a first carrier, the measurement information is used to determine a first weight vector of each digital port in M digital ports corresponding to the first carrier, and the first carrier includes one or more carriers;

Or, the measurement information is measurement information corresponding to a first bandwidth part (bandwidth part, BWP), and the measurement information is used to determine a first weight vector of each digital port in M digital ports corresponding to the first BWP, and the first BWP includes one or more BWPs;

Or the measurement information is measurement information corresponding to a first bandwidth, and the measurement information is used to determine a first weight vector of each digital port in the M digital ports corresponding to the first bandwidth, and the first bandwidth includes one or more sub-bands.

Based on the above technical solution, the measurement information can be used to determine the first weight vector of each digital port in the M digital ports corresponding to one or more carriers (or, one or more BWPs, or one or more subbands) to improve the flexibility of the solution implementation.

In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the reference signal is sent through L ₁ first weights in L ₁ time units respectively, where L ₁ is an integer greater than 1; the i-th first weight among the L ₁ first weights is obtained through the i-th second weight and the third weight among the L ₁ second weights, the L ₁ second weights are orthogonal, and the value of i is 1 to L ₁ .

Based on the above technical solution, the measurement information obtained by the terminal device based on the reference signal measurement may include the first information corresponding to the first digital port, and the first information is used to determine the weights of the N ₁ virtual ports in the first digital port. Among them, the L ₁ second weights corresponding to the N ₁ virtual ports on the L ₁ time units are orthogonal. In this way, after the terminal device measures the reference signal carried by the L ₁ time units to obtain the measurement result, the terminal device can determine the better (or optimal) weight of the virtual port in the first digital port based on the measurement result, and indicate the weight through the first information, and the subsequent network device can communicate with the terminal device based on the weight. Thus, when the antenna array is large, the network device sends reference signals based on orthogonal second weights at different time units (generally, reference signals sent based on different weights can be understood as reference signals sent based on different beams). The terminal device can determine and indicate a better (or optimal) weight based on the measurement results of different time units, so that the network device can communicate based on the weight, thereby reducing beam scanning overhead and achieving fast beam tracking.

Optionally, after the terminal device measures the reference signal carried by L ₁ time units to obtain a measurement result, the terminal device can determine a better (or optimal) weight of the virtual port in the first digital port based on the measurement result and a mathematical method. For example, the mathematical method may include power maximization criteria, capacity maximization criteria, etc.

In the present application, in _L1 time units (or _L2 time units mentioned later), each time unit can be one or more symbols, one or more mini-slots, one or more time slots, one or more subframes, etc.

Optionally, the L ₁ time units are continuous in the time domain. Since the channel information of different continuous time units in the time domain is highly correlated, in this way, the different measurement results corresponding to the reference signals of the L ₁ time units of the terminal device can reflect the same or similar channel information as much as possible, so as to obtain more accurate measurement information.

Optionally, at least two time units among the L ₁ time units are discontinuous in the time domain.

It should be understood that the reference signal is sent through _L1 first weights in _L1 time units respectively, and it can be understood that _L1 time units correspond to _L1 first weights one by one. For example, the weight of the reference signal in the i-th time unit in the _L1 time units is the i-th first weight in the _L1 first weights.

Optionally, the reference signal on each time unit can be regarded as one reference signal, that is, "the reference signal carried on L ₁ time units" It can be regarded as L ₁ reference signals. Accordingly, the above method can be performed once or multiple times, that is, the sending and receiving process of one or more L ₁ reference signals can be implemented respectively through one or more L ₁ time units.

Alternatively, the reference signal on each L ₁ time unit can be regarded as one reference signal, that is, "the reference signal carried on L ₁ time unit" can be regarded as 1 reference signal. Accordingly, the above method can be performed once or multiple times, that is, the sending and receiving process of one or more reference signals is respectively implemented through one or more L ₁ time units.

It should be understood that the L1 _second weights are orthogonal, and the i-th first weight among the _L1 first weights is obtained by the i-th second weight among the _L1 second weights and the third weight. In other words, the _L1 first weights are obtained based on the _L1 second weights. Among them, different weights in the _L1 first weights may be orthogonal or non-orthogonal, which is not limited here.

It should be noted that the i-th first weight among the L ₁ first weights is obtained by the i-th second weight among the L ₁ second weights and the third weight, including: the i-th first weight among the L ₁ first weights is obtained by multiplying the N ₁ elements of the i-th second weight among the L ₁ second weights by the N ₁ sub-vectors in the third weight.

In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the reference signal is sent through M digital ports, where M is a positive integer; wherein the weight corresponding to the first digital port among the M digital ports in the L ₁ time units is the L ₁ first weights; the first digital port includes N ₁ virtual ports, and the second weight includes N ₁ elements corresponding to the N ₁ virtual ports, where N ₁ is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

In this application, the virtual port can be replaced by other terms, such as analog port, virtual sub-array, analog sub-array, sub-array, etc.

Based on the above technical solution, the reference signal is sent through L ₁ first weights in L ₁ time units respectively, and the L ₁ first weights can be the weights of the first digital port among the M digital ports. The first digital port includes N ₁ virtual ports, and the second weights include N ₁ elements corresponding to the N ₁ virtual ports, that is, the corresponding L ₁ second weights of the virtual ports included in the first digital port in the L ₁ time units are orthogonal. In this way, the weights of the virtual ports included in the same digital port in different time units are orthogonal.

Optionally, L ₁ is an integer multiple of N _1. For example, N ₁ is equal to L ₁ .

Optionally, the frequency domain resources occupied by the N ₁ virtual ports in different time units of the L ₁ time units are the same. In this way, the implementation complexity of sending and receiving reference signals in different time units can be reduced as much as possible.

Optionally, the terminal device may also receive indication information indicating that the number of virtual ports included in the first digital port is N ₁ , and/or, the terminal device may also receive indication information indicating that the number of time units of the reference signal is L _1. These two indication information may be carried in the configuration information of the reference signal, or may be carried in other information/messages/signaling, which is not limited here.

Optionally, N ₁ and L ₁ are pre-configured information and are not limited here.

It should be understood that a digital port includes one or more virtual ports (for example, a first digital port includes N ₁ virtual ports, and a second digital port described later includes N ₂ virtual ports, etc.), and it can be understood that the signal of the digital port is sent and received through the one or more virtual ports. For example, in the process of signal transmission, the digital port sends the signal through the one or more virtual ports; for another example, in the process of signal reception, the signal received by one or more virtual ports can be understood as the signal received by the digital port.

In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the _N1 virtual ports correspond to _N1 antenna array sets respectively, each antenna array set includes one or more antenna arrays, and the _N1 elements are used to adjust the phases of the _N1 antenna array sets respectively.

Based on the above technical solution, the N ₁ virtual ports included in the first digital port correspond to N ₁ antenna array sets respectively, and the N ₁ elements included in the second weights are respectively used to adjust the phases of the N ₁ antenna array sets. Moreover, each antenna array set includes one or more antenna arrays. In other words, the N ₁ elements included in the second weights are used to adjust the phases of the antenna arrays corresponding to different virtual ports in the digital port, that is, the L ₁ orthogonal second weights are used to achieve orthogonal phases of the antenna arrays corresponding to different virtual ports.

In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the third weight includes N ₁ subvectors, a dimension of a P th subvector in the N ₁ subvectors is the same as the number of antenna arrays in a P th antenna array set in the N ₁ antenna array sets, and a value of P is 1 to N ₁ .

Based on the above technical solution, the dimension of the Pth sub-vector in the N ₁ sub-vectors included in the third weight is the same as the number of antenna arrays in the Pth antenna array set in the N ₁ antenna array sets. In this way, the third weight can correspond to the weight of each antenna array set in the N ₁ antenna array sets.

In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the first weight and the third weight have the same dimension.

Based on the above technical solution, the first weight and the third weight have the same dimension, that is, the first weight used to send the reference signal can determine the weight of each antenna element set in the _N1 antenna element sets.

In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the value of M is 1.

Based on the above technical solution, when the value of M is 1, the reference signal can be sent through a digital port (i.e., the first digital port), so that the solution is suitable for the scenario where the network device is configured with a single digital port, and the transmission and measurement of the reference signal of the virtual port contained in the single digital port can be realized.

In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the value of M is greater than 1, wherein the resource of the reference signal satisfies one of the following:

In the resources of the reference signal, time domain resources and frequency domain resources used by different digital ports among the M digital ports to send the reference signal are the same, and different digital ports among the M digital ports are code division multiplexed;

In the resources of the reference signal, time domain resources for sending the reference signal by different digital ports among the M digital ports are the same, frequency domain resources for sending the reference signal by different digital ports among the M digital ports are different, and different digital ports among the M digital ports are not code-division multiplexed;

In the resources of the reference signal, the M digital ports belong to Q groups of digital ports, each group of digital ports includes one or more digital ports, and Q is a positive integer; wherein the frequency domain resources for sending the reference signal by different groups of digital ports in the Q groups of digital ports are different, the frequency domain resources for sending the reference signal by one or more digital ports included in the same group of digital ports in the Q groups of digital ports are the same, and the one or more digital ports included in the same group of digital ports send code division multiplexing (code division multiplexing, CDM). Optionally, the code division multiplexing type of the one or more digital ports included in the same group of digital ports is frequency domain code division multiplexing.

Based on the above technical solution, when the value of M is greater than 1, the reference signal can be sent through two or more digital ports (i.e., the first digital port and other digital ports), so that the solution is applicable to the scenario where the network device is configured with two or more digital ports, and realizes the transmission and measurement of the reference signal of the virtual port included in the two or more digital ports. In addition, the resource of the reference signal meets one of the above items to improve the flexibility of the solution implementation.

In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the method further includes: the network device sending indication information indicating that the resource of the reference signal satisfies one of the items.

Optionally, the indication information is carried in configuration information of a reference signal, or is other message/information/signaling, etc., which is not limited here.

Based on the above technical solution, the network device may also send indication information indicating that the resource of the reference signal satisfies one of the items, so that the terminal device can clearly understand the resource configuration mode of different digital ports among the M digital ports based on the indication information.

Optionally, the terminal device/network device determines through preconfiguration that the resource of the reference signal satisfies one of the above items.

In a possible implementation of the second aspect, a second digital port among the M digital ports includes N ₂ virtual ports; wherein the reference signal is sent through L ₂ fourth weights in L ₂ time units respectively, and L ₂ is an integer greater than 1; the j-th fourth weight among the L ₂ fourth weights is obtained through the j-th fifth weight and the sixth weight among the L ₂ fifth weights, and the L ₂ fifth weights are orthogonal.

Based on the above technical solution, the reference signal received by the terminal device is sent through L ₂ fourth weights in L ₂ time units, and the j-th fourth weight among the L ₂ fourth weights is obtained through the j-th fifth weight and the sixth weight among the L ₂ fifth weights, and the L ₂ fifth weights are orthogonal. In other words, the reference signal transmitted in L ₂ time units is sent through L ₂ fifth weights that are orthogonal to each other. In this way, the terminal device's measurements of the reference signals carried on different time units are relatively independent, and then L ₁ relatively independent channel information is obtained to obtain measurement information with higher accuracy.

Optionally, _L1 is equal to _L2 . Among them, _L1 time units and _L2 time units may be the same time units, that is, the time domain resources for sending the reference signal by the first digital port among the M digital ports and the time domain resources for sending the reference signal by the second digital port may be the same. In this way, the same time unit can be reused as much as possible to save communication resources and reduce implementation complexity.

Optionally, _N1 is equal to _N2 . That is, the number of virtual ports included in the first digital port and the number of virtual ports included in the second digital port among the M digital ports may be the same. In this way, the implementation complexity can be reduced.

It should be noted that the implementation process of the second digital port can refer to the implementation process of the first digital port in the foregoing text. For example, the correspondence between _L2 time units and _L2 fourth weights can refer to the correspondence between _L1 time units and _L1 first weights, and the correspondence between _L2 fourth weights and _L2 fifth weights can refer to the correspondence between _L1 first weights and _L1 second weights, etc.

In a possible implementation of the second aspect, in the resources of the reference signal, the time domain resources and frequency domain resources for sending the reference signal by different digital ports among the M digital ports are the same, and when different digital ports are code division multiplexed, the resources for sending the reference signal by different digital ports among the M digital ports include the same M frequency domain units in the frequency domain.

Based on the above technical solution, M is greater than 1, and the time domain resources and frequency domain resources for sending the reference signal by different digital ports among the M digital ports are the same, and when different digital ports are code division multiplexed, the resources for sending the reference signal by different digital ports are different in the frequency domain. All of them include the same M frequency domain units. In this way, different digital ports can send reference signals in a code division multiplexing manner on the same frequency domain unit, and the same frequency domain unit can be reused as much as possible to save communication resources and reduce implementation complexity.

Optionally, among the M frequency domain units, each frequency domain unit may include one or more subcarriers/resource elements (RE).

In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, in the resources of the reference signal, the time domain resources for sending the reference signal by different digital ports among the M digital ports are the same, the frequency domain resources for sending the reference signal by different digital ports among the M digital ports are different, and in the case of no code division multiplexing (no CDM) by different digital ports among the M digital ports, the resources for sending the reference signal by different digital ports among the M digital ports include M different frequency domain units in the frequency domain.

Based on the above technical solution, M is greater than 1, and the frequency domain resources for sending the reference signal by different digital ports among the M digital ports are different, and when different digital ports among the M digital ports are not code-division multiplexed, the resources for sending the reference signal by different digital ports include M frequency domain units that are different from each other in the frequency domain. In this way, different digital ports can send reference signals on different frequency domain resources without code-division multiplexing, which can improve the flexibility of the solution implementation.

Optionally, the method further includes: the network device sends indication information indicating the M different frequency domain units, so that the terminal device specifies the resource location of each frequency domain unit based on the indication information. Optionally, the indication information is carried in the configuration information of the reference signal, or other messages/information/signaling, etc., which are not limited here.

In a third aspect of the present application, a communication device is provided, which is a terminal device, or the device is a partial component in the terminal device (such as a processor, a chip or a chip system, etc.), or the device can also be a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the terminal device. In the third aspect and its possible implementation, the communication device is described as an example of executing the terminal device.

The device includes a processing unit and a transceiver unit; the transceiver unit is used to receive a reference signal, which is sent through M digital ports, where M is a positive integer; wherein the first digital port among the M digital ports includes _N1 virtual ports, where _N1 is an integer greater than or equal to 1; the processing unit is used to determine measurement information, and the transceiver unit is also used to send measurement information, the measurement information including first information obtained by measuring based on the reference signal sent by the first digital port; wherein the first information is determined based on _N1 channel information, the _N1 channel information is respectively determined by the reference signals sent by the _N1 virtual ports, and the first information is used to determine the weights of the _N1 virtual ports in the first digital port.

In the third aspect of the present application, the constituent modules of the communication device can also be used to execute the steps performed in each possible implementation method of the first aspect and achieve corresponding technical effects. For details, please refer to the first aspect and will not be repeated here.

In a fourth aspect of the present application, a communication device is provided, which is a network device, or the device is a partial component in the network device (such as a processor, a chip or a chip system, etc.), or the device can also be a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the network device functions. In the fourth aspect and its possible implementation, the communication device is described as an example of a network device.

The device includes a processing unit and a transceiver unit; the processing unit is used to determine a reference signal, and the transceiver unit is used to send the reference signal, the reference signal is sent through M digital ports, M is a positive integer; wherein the first digital port among the M digital ports includes _N1 virtual ports, _N1 is an integer greater than or equal to 1; the transceiver unit is also used to receive measurement information, the measurement information includes first information obtained by measuring based on the reference signal sent by the first digital port; wherein the first information is determined based on _N1 channel information, and the _N1 channel information is respectively determined by the reference signals sent by the _N1 virtual ports.

In the fourth aspect of the present application, the constituent modules of the communication device can also be used to execute the steps performed in each possible implementation method of the second aspect and achieve corresponding technical effects. For details, please refer to the second aspect and will not be repeated here.

In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is coupled to a memory; the memory is used to store programs or instructions; the at least one processor is used to execute the program or instructions so that the device implements the method described in any possible implementation method of any one of the first to second aspects.

In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising at least one logic circuit and an input/output interface; the logic circuit is used to execute the method described in any possible implementation method of any one of the first to second aspects above.

A seventh aspect of the present application provides a communication system, which includes the above-mentioned first communication device and second communication device.

In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which is used to store one or more computer-executable instructions. When the computer-executable instructions are executed by a processor, the processor executes a method as described in any possible implementation of any one of the first to second aspects above.

A ninth aspect of the present application provides a computer program product (or computer program). When the computer program in the computer program product is executed by the processor, the processor executes the method described in any possible implementation of any one of the first to second aspects above.

In a tenth aspect, the present application provides a chip system, which includes at least one processor for supporting a communication device to implement the method described in any possible implementation of any one of the first to second aspects.

In a possible design, the chip system may also include a memory for storing program instructions and data necessary for the communication device. The chip system may be composed of a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices. Optionally, the chip system also includes an interface circuit, which provides program instructions and/or data for the at least one processor.

Among them, the technical effects brought about by any design method in the third aspect to the tenth aspect can refer to the technical effects brought about by the different design methods in the above-mentioned first aspect to the second aspect, and will not be repeated here.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG1a is a schematic diagram of a signal transmission method involved in the present application;

FIG1b is another schematic diagram of a signal transmission method involved in the present application;

FIG1c is another schematic diagram of a signal transmission method involved in the present application;

FIG1d is a schematic diagram of a signal transmission process involved in the present application;

FIG. 1e is another schematic diagram of the signal transmission process involved in the present application;

FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a communication system involved in the present application;

FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a communication method provided by the present application;

FIG4a is a schematic diagram of reference signal transmission provided by the present application;

FIG4b is another schematic diagram of reference signal transmission provided by the present application;

FIG5 is another schematic diagram of reference signal transmission provided by the present application;

FIG6 is another schematic diagram of reference signal transmission provided by the present application;

FIG7 is another schematic diagram of reference signal transmission provided by the present application;

FIG8 is another schematic diagram of reference signal transmission provided by the present application;

FIG9 is another schematic diagram of reference signal transmission provided by the present application;

FIG10 is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided by the present application;

FIG11 is another schematic diagram of a communication device provided by the present application;

FIG12 is another schematic diagram of a communication device provided by the present application;

FIG. 13 is another schematic diagram of the communication device provided in the present application.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

First, some terms in the embodiments of the present application are explained to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

(1) Configuration and pre-configuration: In this application, configuration and pre-configuration will be used at the same time. Configuration refers to the base station or server and other network devices sending some parameter configuration information or parameter values to the terminal through messages or signaling, so that the terminal can determine the communication parameters or resources during transmission based on these values or information. Pre-configuration is similar to configuration. It can be a method in which a base station or server and other network devices send parameter information or values to the terminal through a communication link or carrier; it can also be a definition of corresponding parameters or parameter values given in the standard, or by setting the relevant parameters or values in the terminal device in advance. This application does not limit this. Furthermore, these values and parameters can be changed or updated.

(2) In this application, "used for indication" may include being used for direct indication and being used for indirect indication. When describing that a certain indication information is used for indicating A, it can be understood that the indication information carries A, directly indicates A, or indirectly indicates A.

In this application, the information indicated by the indication information is called the information to be indicated. In the specific implementation process, there are many ways to indicate the information to be indicated, for example, it can be implemented by direct indication, such as by indicating the information to be indicated itself or the index of the information to be indicated. It can also be implemented by indicating other information to be indirectly indicated, where there is an association between the other information and the information to be indicated. It is also possible to indicate only part of the information to be indicated, while the other part of the information to be indicated is known or agreed in advance. For example, the indication of specific information can also be achieved by using the arrangement order of each information agreed in advance (for example, stipulated by the protocol), thereby reducing the indication overhead to a certain extent.

The information to be indicated can be sent as a whole, or divided into multiple sub-information and sent separately, and the sending period and/or sending time of these sub-information can be the same or different. The specific sending method is not limited in this application. Among them, the sending period and/or sending time of these sub-information can be pre-defined, for example, pre-defined according to the protocol, or configured by the transmitting device by sending configuration information to the receiving device. Among them, the configuration information can include, for example, but not limited to, one or a combination of at least two of radio resource control (radio resource control, RRC) signaling, media access control (media access control, MAC) layer signaling and physical layer signaling. Among them, MAC layer signaling, for example, includes MAC control element (control element, CE); physical layer signaling, for example, includes downlink control information (downlink control information, DCI).

(3) Reference signal (RS), also known as pilot signal. In communication systems, it is necessary to estimate the uplink channel or downlink channel in order to send and receive data, obtain system synchronization and feedback channel information. Channel estimation refers to the process of reconstructing or restoring the received signal in order to compensate for the signal distortion caused by channel fading and noise fading. It uses the reference signal known in advance by the transmitter and receiver to track the time and frequency domain changes of the channel. The above reference signals are also called reference signals. They are distributed on different resource elements (RE) in the two-dimensional space of time and frequency in the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol and have known amplitude and phase.

At the physical layer, uplink communication may include transmission of uplink physical channels and uplink signals. Among them, uplink physical channels include random access channel (PRACH), uplink control channel (PUCCH), uplink data channel (PUSCH), etc., and uplink signals include sounding reference signal (SRS), uplink control channel demodulation reference signal (PUCCH de-modulation reference signal, PUCCH-DMRS), uplink data channel demodulation reference signal (PUSCH de-modulation reference signal, PUSCH-DMRS), uplink phase noise tracking signal (PTRS), uplink positioning signal (uplink positioning RS), etc.

At the physical layer, downlink communication may include transmission of downlink physical channels and downlink signals. Among them, the downlink physical channels include broadcast channel (physical broadcast channel, PBCH), downlink control channel (physical downlink control channel, PDCCH), downlink data channel (physical downlink shared channel, PDSCH), etc. Downlink signals include primary synchronization signal (primary synchronization signal, PSS)/secondary synchronization signal (secondary synchronization signal, SSS), downlink control channel demodulation reference signal (PDCCH de-modulation reference signal, PDCCH-DMRS), downlink data channel demodulation reference signal (PDSCH de-modulation reference signal, PDSCH-DMRS), phase noise tracking signal PTRS, channel status information reference signal (channel status information reference signal, CSI-RS), cell reference signal (Cell reference signal, CRS), tracking reference signal (tracking reference signal, TRS), positioning reference signal (positioning RS), etc.

(4) The terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of the present application can be used interchangeably. "At least one" means one or more, and "plurality" means two or more. "And/or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and/or B can represent: the existence of A alone, the existence of A and B at the same time, and the existence of B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character "/" generally indicates that the objects associated with each other are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single items or plural items. For example, "at least one of A, B and C" includes A, B, C, AB, AC, BC or ABC. And, unless otherwise specified, the ordinal numbers such as "first" and "second" mentioned in the embodiments of the present application are used to distinguish multiple objects, and are not used to limit the order, timing, priority or importance of multiple objects.

(5) "Send" and "receive" in the embodiments of the present application indicate the direction of signal transmission. For example, "send information to device X" can be understood as the destination of the information is device X, which can include direct sending through the air interface, and also include indirect sending through the air interface by other units or modules. "Receive information from device Y" can be understood as the source of the information is device Y, which can include direct receiving from device Y through the air interface, and also include indirect receiving from device Y through the air interface from other units or modules. "Send" can also be understood as the "output" of the chip interface, and "receive" can also be understood as the "input" of the chip interface.

For example, the communication process between entity A and entity B is taken as an example. In this application, when entity A sends information to entity B, it can be that A sends it directly to B, or that A sends it to B indirectly through other entities. Similarly, when entity B receives information from entity A, it can be that entity B directly receives the information sent by entity A, or that entity B indirectly receives the information sent by entity A through other entities. Bodies A and B may be radio access network (RAN) nodes or terminals, or modules inside RAN nodes or terminals. The sending and receiving of information may be information interaction between a RAN node and a terminal, for example, information interaction between a base station and a terminal; the sending and receiving of information may also be information interaction between two RAN nodes, for example, information interaction between a centralized unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU); the sending and receiving of information may also be information interaction between different modules inside a device, for example, information interaction between a terminal chip and other modules of the terminal, or information interaction between a base station chip and other modules in the base station.

(6) Precoding technology: When the channel state is known, the transmitter can use a precoding matrix that matches the channel to process the signal to be transmitted and then transmit it, so that the precoded signal is adapted to the channel. Therefore, compared with the process of receiving the non-precoded signal and eliminating the influence between channels, the complexity of the process of receiving the precoded signal and eliminating the influence between channels is reduced. Therefore, by precoding the signal to be transmitted, the quality of the received signal (such as signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR)) can be improved. The use of precoding technology can also realize the transmission of the transmitter and multiple receivers on the same time-frequency resources, that is, multiple user multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO) is realized.

Optionally, the sending end may be a network device, and the receiving end may be a terminal device; or, the sending end may be a terminal device, and the receiving end may be a terminal device.

In one implementation, multiple input multiple output (MIMO) technology is used to increase system capacity and improve throughput. The mathematical expression is y = Hx + n, where y is the received signal, H is the channel information of the MIMO channel, x is the transmitted signal, and n is the noise. In a communication system with multiple antennas, the signals of multiple transmitting antennas will be superimposed on any receiving antenna. Therefore, the method of transmitting signals at the transmitting end affects the performance of the system, and it is often complicated to restore the transmitted signal at the receiving end. In this context, precoding is used to reduce system overhead and maximize the system capacity of MIMO on the one hand, and to reduce the complexity of the receiver to eliminate the impact between channels on the other hand. At this time, the mathematical expression is y = HPx + n, and P is the precoding matrix (or vector). In order to simplify the implementation complexity, P can be selected from a predefined set of matrices (or vectors), which is called a codebook. The method is also called a codebook-based transmission method. If the transmitter can obtain all the information of H, then P can be obtained by itself at the transmitter. This method is also called a non-codebook transmission method (NCB).

It should be understood that the relevant description of the precoding technology is only for ease of understanding and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of the embodiments of the present application. In the specific implementation process, the transmitting end can also perform precoding in other ways. For example, when channel information (such as but not limited to the channel matrix) cannot be obtained, a pre-set precoding matrix or a weighted processing method is used for precoding. For the sake of brevity, the specific content is not repeated herein.

(7) Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI): can be used to indicate the precoding matrix. The precoding matrix can be, for example, a precoding matrix determined by the terminal device based on a channel matrix of a frequency domain unit. The channel matrix can be determined by the terminal device through channel estimation or based on channel reciprocity. However, it should be understood that the specific method for the terminal device to determine the precoding matrix is not limited to the above description. The specific implementation method can be referred to in relevant literature. For the sake of brevity, it is not listed here one by one.

For example, the precoding matrix can be obtained by performing singular value decomposition (SVD) on the channel matrix or the covariance matrix of the channel matrix, or by performing eigenvalue decomposition (EVD) on the covariance matrix of the channel matrix. It should be understood that the determination methods of the precoding matrix listed above are only examples and should not constitute any limitation to the present application.

It should be noted that, according to the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, the network device can determine the channel state information (CSI) RS port, the frequency domain discrete Fourier transform (DFT) vector and the merging coefficient of the space-frequency vector used to construct the precoding vector based on the feedback of the terminal device, and then determine the precoding matrix corresponding to each frequency domain unit. The precoding matrix can be used directly for downlink data transmission; or it can be subjected to some beamforming methods, such as zero forcing (ZF), regularized zero-forcing (RZF), minimum mean squared error (MMSE), maximization of signal-to-leakage-and-noise (SLNR), etc., to obtain the final precoding matrix for downlink data transmission. This application does not limit this. Unless otherwise specified, the precoding matrix involved in the following may refer to the precoding matrix determined based on the method provided in this application.

It is understandable that the precoding matrix determined by the terminal device can be understood as the precoding matrix to be fed back. The terminal device can indicate the precoding matrix to be fed back through a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), so that the network device can provide feedback based on the PMI. Restore the precoding matrix. It can be understood that the precoding matrix restored by the network device based on the PMI can be the same as or similar to the precoding matrix to be fed back.

In downlink channel measurement, the higher the approximation between the precoding matrix determined by the network device based on the PMI and the precoding matrix determined by the terminal device, the more the precoding matrix determined by the network device for data transmission can adapt to the channel state, thereby improving the signal reception quality.

(8) Antenna port: It can be referred to as port for short. It can be understood as a transmitting antenna identified by the receiving end, or a transmitting antenna that can be distinguished in space. An antenna port can be pre-configured for each virtual antenna. Each virtual antenna can be a weighted combination of multiple physical antennas. Each antenna port can correspond to a reference signal. Therefore, each antenna port can be called a reference signal port, for example, a CSI-RS port, a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), an SRS port, etc.

Among them, the antenna port is a logical concept, and there is generally no direct correspondence between an antenna port and a physical antenna. The antenna port is usually associated with a reference signal, and its meaning can be understood as a transceiver interface on the channel that the reference signal passes through. For low frequencies, an antenna port may correspond to one or more antenna elements, which jointly send reference signals. The receiver can treat them as a whole without distinguishing these elements. For high-frequency systems, the antenna port may correspond to a beam. Similarly, the receiver only needs to regard this beam as an interface without distinguishing each element.

In addition, a port group may refer to a collection corresponding to multiple antenna ports. One way is to group multiple digital ports of a network device to form multiple port groups. In another way (especially under a hybrid digital analog beam architecture), a port group may be multiple digital ports corresponding to the same analog beam, also referred to as a port group, or a digital-analog port group. Alternatively, a port group may be a collection of digital ports corresponding to multiple analog beams, also referred to as a port group, or a digital-analog port group. Alternatively, multiple digital ports of the same analog beam are divided into multiple subsets, each of which is called a port group, or a digital-analog port group.

(9) Channel state information (CSI) report: In a wireless communication system, information used to describe the channel properties of a communication link reported by a receiving end (such as a terminal device) to a transmitting end (such as a network device). A CSI report may include, but is not limited to, precoding matrix indication (PMI), rank indication (RI), channel quality indication (CQI), channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), CSI-RS resource indicator (CSI-RS resource indicator, CRI) and layer indicator (LI). It should be understood that the specific contents of the CSI listed above are only exemplary and should not constitute any limitation to the present application. CSI may include one or more of the above-listed items, and may also include other information used to characterize CSI in addition to the above-listed items, and the present application does not limit this.

(10) Beam. Among them, beam and beam pair link (BPL) are introduced into the communication system. Beam is a communication resource. Beam can be divided into transmit beam and receive beam. The technology for forming beam can be beamforming technology or other technical means. Beamforming includes transmit beamforming and receive beamforming.

Among them, a beam is a communication resource. A beam can be a wide beam, a narrow beam, or other types of beams. The technology for forming a beam can be a beamforming technology or other technical means. The beamforming technology can be specifically a digital beamforming technology, an analog beamforming technology, and a hybrid digital/analog beamforming technology. Different beams can be considered as different resources. The same information or different information can be sent through different beams. Optionally, multiple beams with the same or similar communication characteristics can be regarded as a beam. A beam can include one or more antenna ports for transmitting data channels, control channels, and detection signals, etc. For example, a transmit beam can refer to the distribution of signal strength formed in different directions of space after the signal is transmitted by the antenna, and a receive beam can refer to the distribution of signal strength of wireless signals received from the antenna in different directions of space. It can be understood that one or more antenna ports that form a beam can also be regarded as an antenna port set. The embodiment of the beam in the protocol can still be a spatial filter.

Transmit beam: The transmitting end device transmits a signal with a certain beamforming weight, so that the transmitted signal forms a beam with spatial directivity. In the uplink direction, the transmitting end device can be a terminal; in the downlink direction, the transmitting end device can be a network device.

Receive beam: The receiving device receives the signal with a certain beamforming weight, so that the received signal forms a beam with spatial directivity. In the uplink direction, the receiving device can be a network device; in the downlink direction, the receiving device can be a terminal.

Transmit beamforming: When a transmitting device with an antenna array transmits a signal, a specific amplitude and phase are set on each antenna element of the antenna array so that the transmitted signal has a certain spatial directivity, that is, the signal power is high in some directions and low in some directions. The direction with the highest signal power is the direction of the transmit beam. The antenna array includes multiple antenna elements, and the specific amplitude and phase attached are the beamforming weights.

Receive beamforming: When a receiving device with an antenna array receives a signal, a specific amplitude and phase are set on each antenna element of the antenna array so that the power gain of the received signal has directionality, that is, the power gain is high when receiving signals in certain directions, and low when receiving signals in other directions. The direction with the highest power gain when receiving a signal is the direction of the receive beam. The antenna array includes multiple antenna elements, and the specific amplitude and phase added are the beamforming weights.

Optionally, using a certain transmit beam to send a signal can be understood as using a certain beamforming weight to send a signal.

Optionally, using a receiving beam to receive a signal may be understood as using a certain beamforming weight to receive a signal.

Generally, different beams can be considered as different resources. The same information or different information can be sent using (or through) different beams. A beam pair is based on the concept of beams. A beam pair usually includes a transmit beam of a transmitting device and a receive beam of a receiving device.

The following will take the network device as an example of a base station, and combine the implementation content shown in Figures 1a to 1c to exemplarily describe the implementation process of the beam. Generally, in higher frequency band communication systems, base stations (and terminals in some frequency bands) usually use large-scale array antennas (for example, from 500 to more than 1000 antenna units) to counteract the path loss caused by the increase in frequency band through higher array gain, thereby improving coverage capabilities. From the perspective of the implementation method of the base station, the same large array, different frequency bands and different array sizes use different array weighting methods (that is, different beamforming methods), which can be roughly divided into the following three categories according to the implementation scheme of beamforming.

One implementation method is digital beamforming (DBF), whose basic structure is shown in Figure 1a. Each antenna unit or a group of antenna units is directly connected to a digital channel. This structure is a typical structure of massive MIMO in the low-frequency band. Since each antenna signal is directly converted to the digital domain, the subsequent array weighting is performed in the digital domain, so it is called digital beamforming. The digital domain has the highest degree of freedom in signal processing and can support very complex signal processing methods. Therefore, under the same array scale, the performance of the DBF architecture is also the best. On the other hand, due to the high power consumption and cost of digital to analog converters (DAC)/analog to digital converters (ADC) (especially under large bandwidth conditions). Generally speaking, under the same array scale, the cost of DBF is also the highest.

Another implementation method is analog beamforming (ABF), whose structure is shown in Figure 1b. Each antenna unit or a group of antenna units is connected to an analog phase shifter, and then multiple antenna units are combined in the analog domain and passed through a digital-to-analog/analog-to-digital converter. Compared with DBF, the entire ABF array only corresponds to one digital-to-analog/analog-to-digital converter, so the biggest advantage of the ABF architecture is low cost and power consumption. The bottleneck of ABF is also obvious. The phase shifter setting in the analog domain determines the beam direction after beamforming. Since the signal is directly combined in the analog domain, it cannot be weighted by digital signal processing like DBF. ABF must pre-configure the phase shifter setting during transmission and reception (that is, point the analog beam to the target terminal). This process needs to be completed through beam scanning during the link establishment phase, which brings additional delay. Generally, once the analog beam is blocked or moved to cause misalignment, the link quality of the system will rapidly degrade or even terminate, so the communication reliability of ABF is not as good as DBF.

Another implementation method is hybrid beamforming (HBF), whose structure is shown in Figure 1c. It is an intermediate form between ABF and DBF. The figure shows an example of a HBF architecture with 3 channels and 2 analog phase shifters for each channel. On the one hand, HBF has a certain number of digital ports to support digital beamforming, and each digital port drives an ABF subarray. Compared with ABF, at the same array scale, the analog subarray driven by each digital channel is smaller (4 in Figure 1c vs. 6 in Figure 1b), so the beam is wider, the reliability is better, and the beam scanning overhead is smaller. Generally, the ratio of HBF digital ports and analog phase shifters is inconsistent with different frequencies and system design requirements. For example, the number of digital ports in the high-frequency band is very small (4 to 16), and the analog phase shifters corresponding to a single digital channel are more (16 to 32), which is closer to ABF, while the digital ports of the low-frequency band system are more (32 to 128), and the analog phase shifters of a single digital channel are fewer (for example, 2 to 10).

Generally, both HBF and ABF architectures have analog beams. When the beams are aligned with the communication target, the signal quality will be improved. The direction of the analog beam (determined by the beam weight) needs to be configured before sending and receiving. For a certain terminal, the process of the base station selecting an analog beam is called beam training or beam scanning. Beam scanning is usually performed by the base station sending reference signals using different analog beam weights. The terminal measures the reference signals respectively and feeds back its measurement results to help the base station determine which beam has the best quality.

(11) CSI-RS pilot mapping: The pilot pattern refers to the mapping method of the pilot port in the time-frequency resource, including the arrangement method of the port time division and port frequency division and the corresponding scrambling code information. The pilot configuration information includes at least one of the following: configuration parameter index, number of ports, density (indicating that a group of pilots is mapped in every 1/ρRB), code division multiplexing type (code division multiplexing type, CDM type), code division multiplexing group time-frequency information, code division multiplexing group index, frequency domain resource index information within the code division multiplexing group, frequency domain resource index information within the code division multiplexing group, and time domain resource index information within the code division multiplexing group.

Optionally, the code division multiplexing type includes:

noCDM (no code division multiplexing).

Frequency domain code division, denoted as -FD#, or fd-CDM#, # is a number, indicating that there are # ports in frequency domain code division in a CDM group.

Time domain code division, denoted as -TD#, or td-CDM#, # is a number, indicating that there are # ports in time domain code division in a CDM group.

The above code division types can be combined. For example, cdm4-FD2-TD2 means that there are 4 ports in a CDM group, which are multiplexed in 2 frequency division dimensions and 2 time division dimensions. Taking the 8-port configuration of Row=8 as an example, there are two CDM groups in this configuration (as can be seen from the CDM index of Row=8), each with 4 ports (cdm4-FD2-TD2). The CDM type defined in the protocol is 'cdm4-FD2-TD2'. The orthogonal codes of the 4 ports in the group are shown in the four rows of information with index numbers 0-3 in Table 1.

Table 1

_wf represents frequency domain code division, _wt represents time domain code division, each with two groups of orthogonal codes. Among them, the frequency domain codes of port 0 and port 1 are orthogonal, the time domain codes of port 0 and port 2 are orthogonal, and the time and frequency codes of port 0 and port 3 are orthogonal. 0~3, 4~7 belong to two code division multiplexing groups respectively (physical meaning: the same time and frequency resources are occupied in the group, the ports are distinguished by code division, and the resources between code groups are orthogonal).

(12) Codebook-based feedback. The correlation between channels will cause interference between channels, resulting in capacity loss. Before the data enters the wireless channel for transmission, the data on each antenna port is weighted (which can be understood as the digital beamforming mentioned above), which is equivalent to simplifying the channel matrix of the multi-antenna system and eliminating the correlation between channels as much as possible, thereby improving the data transmission performance and capacity of the MIMO system.

As shown in Figure 1d, the network device uses port 1 and port 2 to send a reference signal to the terminal device. The terminal device can estimate the channel information Hi,j (i,j = {1,2}) between the transmitting port 1,2 and the receiving port 1,2 respectively based on the received reference signal. Based on the channel information, the terminal device can estimate the precoding matrix V of the transmitter. The method for obtaining the matrix V belongs to the algorithm implementation of the terminal device itself. A classic implementation method is SVD decomposition. Assume that the channel matrix H received by the receiving end can be decomposed into:

Among them, U and V are both unitary matrices, and D is a diagonal matrix. The terminal device can feed back the matrix V (or the column vector of V, depending on the number of streams to be transmitted) to the transmitter as a precoding matrix. The received signal after precoding is:
y＝HVx＝UAV ^H Vx＝UDx；

The terminal device can use the decomposed U matrix to process the received data and obtain
^UHy ＝ ^UHUDx ＝Dx；

Since D is a diagonal matrix, the x signal can be directly recovered.

There are two ways to obtain V for the above network device:

Method 1: The network equipment estimates the downlink channel matrix H based on the measurement of the uplink SRS and the reciprocity of the uplink and downlink channels, and then obtains V. This method can be applied in the time division duplexing (TDD) system. Method 1 is also called SRS-based precoding.

Mode 2: The terminal estimates the channel matrix H based on the measurement of the downlink reference signal, and then obtains V, and then feeds V back to the network device side. Mode 2 is also called PMI-based precoding.

For the second method, in order to reduce feedback overhead, a limited number of quantized feedback protocols are defined for the precoding matrix V. These limited number of optional precoding quantized value matrices are also called codebooks, and the precoding matrices in the codebooks are numbered. The terminal can feedback the relevant numbers or parameters of these codebooks. Exemplarily, the implementation process will be described in three steps below.

Step 1: The network device sends configuration information to the terminal device, where the configuration information includes the number of horizontal and vertical ports and the DFT oversampling multiple. For example, the configuration information may include one or more of the number of CSI-RS ports, N1, N2, O1, and O2.

Among them, N1 represents the number of logical antenna ports in a certain direction of the same polarization, generally refers to the horizontal direction; N2 represents the number of logical antenna ports in another direction of the same polarization, generally refers to the vertical direction; O1 represents the DFT oversampling multiple in the direction of N1 (horizontal direction); O2 represents the DFT oversampling multiple in the direction of N2 (vertical direction).

Step 2: The terminal device determines the codebook set.

Exemplarily, taking the case of 16 CSI-RS ports as an example, in this case, based on the configuration information or pre-configured information, the terminal device can determine that the value of N1 is 4 and the value of N2 is 2, or that the value of N1 is 8 and the value of N2 is 1. Taking the value of N1 as 4 and the value of N2 as 2 as an example, the physical meaning of N1 and N2 is that when beamforming is performed, a total of N1*N2 weight vectors with a horizontal dimension of N1 and a vertical dimension of N2 can be formed. These weight vectors are mutually orthogonal, that is, there is no interference between the beams formed after weighting these weight vectors. The physical meaning of O1 and O2 is that the number of weight vectors is increased in the horizontal and vertical directions through DFT oversampling, so more weight vectors can be generated. The values of O1 and O2 also determine the beam density in the horizontal and vertical directions when the antenna shape is certain, that is, when N1 and N2 are determined. The larger the values of O1 and O2, the smaller the step size of the beam during beam scanning and the higher the accuracy, but the cost is that the weight vectors are no longer orthogonal, that is, there is interference between beams. N1*O1 determines the number of weight vectors in the horizontal direction of the beam set, and N2*O2 determines the number of weight vectors in the vertical direction of the beam set.

As shown in Figure 1e, N1 and N2 are (4, 2), O1 and O2 are (4, 4). When oversampling is not performed, the DFT codebook set consists of dark blue codebooks.

Specifically, the horizontal and vertical weight vectors are:

X1 is the weight vector in the horizontal direction, and its length is N1. The specific number of vectors is determined by the number of values of l, that is, l also indicates which set of weights is selected in the horizontal direction.

X2 is the weight vector in the vertical direction, and its length is N2. The specific number of vectors is determined by the number of values of k, that is, k also indicates which set of weights is selected in the vertical direction.

The codebook set W satisfies:

in, represents the Kronecker Product. That is, the result represented by the Kronecker product of X1 and X2 may be the weight result on one group of polarized antennas, which is generally in a diagonal block form with the other group of polarized antennas.

Step 3: The terminal device measures the pilot signal (in this application, the pilot signal and the reference signal can be interchangeable) and feeds back the codebook. Exemplarily, the terminal measures the pilot signal and determines an optimal codebook feedback. For the determined l and m, the Kronecker product of X1 and X2 also determines the beam in a specific direction on the same polarized antenna. For codebook feedback, taking Type I Single-Panel Codebook as an example, the terminal device needs to feed back two parameters _i1 and _i2 , and _i1 contains multiple parameters, and the number of parameters is determined by the number of layers.

i ₂ : represents the polarization phase quantization index.

i _1,1 : represents the vertical dimension beam index.

i _1,2 : represents the horizontal beam index.

i _1,3 : represents the selection of horizontal and vertical rotation factors, which is mainly related to the shape and number of ports of the antenna array.

Please refer to Figure 2, which is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system 1000 applied in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 2, the communication system includes a radio access network (RAN) 100 and a core network 200. Optionally, the communication system 1000 may also include the Internet 300. Among them, the RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (such as 110a and 110b in Figure 2, collectively referred to as 110), and may also include at least one terminal (such as 120a-120j in Figure 2, collectively referred to as 120). The RAN 100 may also include other RAN nodes, for example, wireless relay equipment and/or wireless backhaul equipment (not shown in Figure 2). The terminal 120 is connected to the RAN node 110 in a wireless manner, and the RAN node 110 is connected to the RAN node 110 via a wireless mode. The core network device in the core network 200 and the RAN node 110 in the RAN 100 may be independent and different physical devices, or may be the same physical device that integrates the logical functions of the core network device and the logical functions of the RAN node. Terminals and RAN nodes may be connected to each other by wire or wirelessly.

RAN100 may be an evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) system, a new radio (NR) system, and a future radio access system defined in the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP). RAN100 may also include two or more of the above different radio access systems. RAN100 may also be an open RAN (O-RAN).

RAN nodes, also known as radio access network equipment, RAN entities or access nodes, are used to help terminals access the communication system wirelessly. In an application scenario, a RAN node can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB) in a fifth generation (5G) mobile communication system, a next generation NodeB in a sixth generation (6G) mobile communication system, or a base station in a future mobile communication system. A RAN node can be a macro base station (such as 110a in FIG. 2 ), a micro base station or an indoor station (such as 110b in FIG. 2 ), or a relay node or a donor node.

In another application scenario, the cooperation of multiple RAN nodes can help the terminal achieve wireless access, and different RAN nodes respectively implement part of the functions of the base station. For example, the RAN node can be a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU) or a radio unit (RU). The CU here completes the functions of the radio resource control protocol and the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) of the base station, and can also complete the function of the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP); the DU completes the functions of the radio link control layer and the medium access control (MAC) layer of the base station, and can also complete the functions of part or all of the physical layer. For the specific description of the above-mentioned protocol layers, please refer to the relevant technical specifications of 3GPP. RU can be used to implement the transceiver function of the radio frequency signal. CU and DU can be two independent RAN nodes, or they can be integrated in the same RAN node, such as integrated in the baseband unit (BBU). The RU may be included in a radio frequency device, such as a remote radio unit (RRU) or an active antenna unit (AAU). The CU may be further divided into two types of RAN nodes: CU-control plane and CU-user plane.

In different systems, RAN nodes may have different names. For example, in an open access network (open RAN, O-RAN or ORAN) system, CU may also be called O-CU (open CU), DU may also be called O-DU, CU-CP may also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP may also be called O-CU-UP, and RU may also be called O-RU. For the convenience of description, this application uses CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU as examples for description. Any unit in the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application may be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

The communication between the access network equipment and the terminal equipment follows a certain protocol layer structure. The protocol layer may include a control plane protocol layer and a user plane protocol layer. The control plane protocol layer may include at least one of the following: a radio resource control (RRC) layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, a media access control (MAC) layer, or a physical (PHY) layer. The user plane protocol layer may include at least one of the following: a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer, or a physical layer.

For the correspondence between network elements in the ORAN system and their achievable protocol layer functions, please refer to Table 2 below.

Table 2

For the convenience of description, a base station is taken as an example of a RAN node for description below.

A terminal is a device with wireless transceiver functions that can send signals to a base station or receive signals from a base station. A terminal can also be called a terminal device, user equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile terminal, etc. Terminals can be widely used in various scenarios. For example, device-to-device (D2D), vehicle to everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IOT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart transportation, smart city, etc. The terminal can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a wearable device, a vehicle, an airplane, a ship, a robot, a mechanical arm, a smart home device, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the terminal.

Base stations and terminals can be fixed or movable. Base stations and terminals can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; they can also be deployed on the water surface; they can also be deployed on airplanes, balloons, and artificial satellites. The embodiments of this application do not limit the application scenarios of base stations and terminals.

The roles of the base station and the terminal can be relative. For example, the helicopter or drone 120i in FIG. 2 can be configured as a mobile base station. For the terminal 120j that accesses the wireless access network 100 through 120i, the terminal 120i is a base station; but for the base station 110a, 120i is a terminal, that is, 110a and 120i communicate through the wireless air interface protocol. Of course, 110a and 120i can also communicate through the interface protocol between base stations. In this case, relative to 110a, 120i is also a base station. Therefore, base stations and terminals can be collectively referred to as communication devices. 110a and 110b in FIG. 2 can be referred to as communication devices with base station functions, and 120a-120j in FIG. 2 can be referred to as communication devices with terminal functions.

Base stations and terminals, base stations and base stations, and terminals and terminals can communicate through authorized spectrum, unauthorized spectrum, or both; they can communicate through spectrum below 6 gigahertz (GHz), spectrum above 6 GHz, or spectrum below 6 GHz and spectrum above 6 GHz. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the spectrum resources used for wireless communication.

In the embodiments of the present application, the functions of the base station may also be performed by a module (such as a chip) in the base station, or by a control subsystem including the base station function. The control subsystem including the base station function here may be a control center in the above-mentioned application scenarios such as smart grid, industrial control, smart transportation, and smart city. The functions of the terminal may also be performed by a module (such as a chip or a modem) in the terminal, or by a device including the terminal function.

In a wireless communication system (such as the communication system shown in FIG2 ), MIMO technology, as a key technology for wireless communication, can be used to meet the needs of high-speed transmission. In an implementation example, in order to send data to a terminal device, the network device can perform precoding on the digital port and select appropriate coding and modulation orders. For example, the role of precoding is to make the antenna (or beam) more matched with the channel to ensure better signal quality and less interference when the transmitted data reaches the terminal side, while a better modulation order and code rate can ensure that the channel transmission capacity is maximized under the condition of reliable data transmission. The setting of precoding and modulation coding scheme (MCS) needs to be determined according to the channel quality and channel response. In other words, the network device can achieve the transmission quality of data transmission based on the measurement results of the channel.

However, in the communication process based on MIMO technology, how to achieve channel measurement is a technical problem that needs to be solved urgently.

In order to solve the above problems, the present application provides a communication method and related equipment, which will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Please refer to FIG3 , which is a schematic diagram of a communication method provided in the present application. The method includes the following steps.

It should be noted that this application uses network devices and terminal devices as examples of the execution subjects of the interactive illustration to illustrate the method provided by this application, but this application does not limit the execution subjects of the interactive illustration. For example, the method executed by the network device can also be executed by a module of the network device (such as a chip, a chip system, or a processor), and can also be implemented by a logical node, a logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the network device. The method executed by the terminal device can also be executed by a module of the terminal device (such as a chip, a chip system, or a processor), and can also be implemented by a logical node, a logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the terminal device functions.

The method shown in FIG3 includes steps S301 to S302 , and each step will be described below.

S301. A network device sends a reference signal, and a terminal device receives the reference signal accordingly. The reference signal is sent via M digital ports, where M is a positive integer; wherein a first digital port of the M digital ports includes _N1 virtual ports, where _N1 is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

It should be understood that before step S301, the network device may send configuration information of the reference signal, and thereafter, the network device sends the reference signal based on the configuration information in step S301. Correspondingly, for the terminal device, the terminal device may receive the configuration information of the reference signal, and receive the reference signal based on the configuration information in step S301. Generally, the configuration information may include time domain resource configuration information, frequency domain resource configuration information, etc. of the reference signal.

It should be understood that after the terminal device receives the reference signal in step S301, the terminal device may measure the received reference signal to obtain measurement information, and then execute step S302.

S302. The terminal device sends measurement information, and the network device receives the measurement information accordingly. The measurement information is obtained by measuring based on the reference signal. The measurement information includes first information obtained by measuring based on the reference signal sent by the first digital port; the first information is determined based on N ₁ channel information, the N ₁ channel information is respectively determined by the reference signal sent by the N ₁ virtual ports, and the first information is used to determine the weights of the N ₁ virtual ports in the first digital port.

Based on the technical solution shown in Figure 3, after the network device sends the reference signal in step S301, the reference signal is transmitted through the wireless channel, so that the reference signal received by the terminal device can carry the channel information of the wireless channel; thereafter, the measurement information obtained by the terminal device through measuring the reference signal can reflect the channel information, and the subsequent way in which the terminal device sends the measurement information in step S302 can enable the network device to obtain the measurement result of the channel between the network device and the terminal device based on the measurement information.

In addition, the measurement information obtained by the terminal device based on the reference signal includes the first information corresponding to the first digital port, and the first information is used to determine the weights of the N ₁ virtual ports in the first digital port. In other words, the network device can determine the weights of the N ₁ virtual ports in the first digital port based on the first information. Compared with the way in which the network device obtains the weights of the digital port based on the measurement information fed back by the terminal device, since the first digital port contains the N ₁ virtual ports, the network device can determine a finer-grained weight based on the first information. Thus, in the case of a large antenna array, the terminal device can determine and indicate a finer-grained weight based on the measurement result of the reference signal, so that the network device can communicate based on the weight, thereby reducing the beam scanning overhead and achieving fast beam tracking.

Taking the communication process between the network device and the terminal device shown in Figure 2 as an example, in order to obtain the channel information between the network device and the terminal device, a common method is to send a downlink reference signal through the network device, and the terminal device feeds back the corresponding channel state information according to the downlink reference signal, including precoding information, the number of transmission streams supported by the channel (i.e. RI) and CQI (used to feed back the MCS recommended by the terminal under the current channel quality). This process is called channel state information feedback (CSI feedback). Generally, the network device will send a reference signal independently in each beam for different beams, and the terminal device will measure the reference signal corresponding to each beam and feed back the measurement result of each beam. Specifically, the network device will configure multiple resources for the terminal, each resource corresponds to a transmission beam of the network device, and the terminal device feeds back the beam measurement result.

With the development of communication technology, in order to improve the coverage of communication signals (such as millimeter wave signals), the size of antenna arrays used to send and receive communication signals has become larger, and the number of beams will also increase. On the one hand, the number of symbols scanned by the beam increases, resulting in an increase in the overhead of beam scanning; on the other hand, the increase in the array leads to narrower beams, which poses a greater challenge to terminal mobility.

In order to solve this problem, in the technical solution shown in FIG3 , the reference signal received by the terminal device in step S301 can be sent through L ₁ first weights respectively in L ₁ time units, and the i-th first weight in the L ₁ first weights is obtained through the i-th second weight and the third weight in the L ₁ second weights, and the L ₁ second weights are orthogonal, and the value of i is 1 to L _1. In other words, the reference signal is sent through orthogonal weights at different times, so the terminal device can obtain the beam channel of the subarray according to the inversion, and then obtain the optimal virtual port weight by calculating a certain criterion (such as power maximization criterion, capacity maximum criterion, etc.). Thereafter, the measurement information sent by the terminal device in step S302 can be used to determine the weight. In this way, when the antenna array is large in scale, the beam scanning overhead can be reduced and fast beam tracking can be achieved.

Exemplarily, it is assumed that the first digital port includes two (ie, N ₁ = 2) virtual ports, and the two virtual ports correspond to antenna array set 0 and antenna array set 1 in the network device. It is assumed that the third weight corresponds to two sub-vectors w ₀ and w ₁ , respectively, and w ₀ and w ₁ are both column vectors, and the vector composed of That is, the aforementioned third weight, and it is assumed that the channel information between antenna element set 0 and antenna element set 1 and the terminal device are represented by H ₀ and H ₁ respectively; in the above step S301, the network device can send a reference signal based on two virtual ports in two (i.e., L ₁ =2) time units, and the following description will be made by taking the two time units as time unit 0 and time unit 1 as an example.

For time unit 0, phase adjustments of s ₀₀ and s ₁₀ are performed on virtual port 0 and virtual port 1 respectively. s ₀₀ and s ₁₀ can form a second weight value among L ₁ second weight values. Then a first weight value among L ₁ first weight values can be expressed as The terminal device at this time The signal G0 received at the inter-unit ₀ satisfies:

For time unit 1, phase adjustments of s ₀₁ and s ₁₁ are performed on virtual port 0 and virtual port 1 respectively. s ₀₁ and s ₁₁ can form another second weight value among L ₁ second weight values. Then another first weight value among L ₁ first weight values can be expressed as The terminal receives the signal _G1 in the time unit 1 and satisfies:

Combining _G0 and _G1 gives:

Since the phase modulation matrix It is composed of L ₁ orthogonal first weights, so it is reversible. Then the terminal can obtain the following equation based on the received signal of L ₁ time units and L ₁ orthogonal first weights:

Taking the power maximization criterion as an example (similarly, the capacity maximization criterion or other criteria can be implemented as described below), if the signal power obtained by the terminal device is to be maximized, the optimal second weight can be obtained according to the following principle:

One way to implement the above principle is to use SVD decomposition to obtain the optimal second weight:

First, find the covariance matrix R of [H ₀ w ₀ H ₁ w ₁ ] that satisfies:
R＝[H ₀ w ₀ H ₁ w ₁ ] ^H [H ₀ w ₀ H ₁ w ₁ ];

Then perform SVD decomposition on R, take the right singular vector v corresponding to the maximum singular value, and further obtain α:

Through the above implementation process, if the terminal sends α or [H ₀ w ₀ H ₁ w ₁ ] to the network device, the network device can obtain a ₀ corresponding to antenna array set 0 and a ₁ corresponding to antenna array set 1. Further, when performing data transmission (such as data transmission or data reception), the analog weights of antenna array set 0 and antenna array set 1 in the network device can be α ₀ w ₀ and α ₁ w _1. In this way, compared with the implementation process in which the network device obtains the weights of each antenna array set during the data transmission process through multiple beam scanning processes with different accuracies, since the network device can obtain the analog weights of different antenna array sets without multiple beam scanning processes with different accuracies, the beam scanning overhead can be reduced, and the delay of beam scanning can be reduced to achieve fast beam tracking.

In other words, the measurement information sent by the terminal device in step S302 can be used to determine the simulated weights (eg, α ₀ w ₀ and α ₁ w ₁ ) of the antenna array set in the network device. The specific implementation process of the measurement information will be described below.

In a possible implementation, the measurement information sent by the terminal device in step S302 includes first information obtained by measuring based on the reference signal sent by the first digital port; wherein the first information is N ₁ channel information, that is, channel information of N ₁ virtual ports. It can be understood from the above description that after the terminal device receives the reference signal, the terminal device can determine the N ₁ channel information through the reference signal sent by the N ₁ virtual ports.

As an implementation example of the N ₁ channel information, as shown in the example above, when the terminal device receives the signal G ₀ at the time unit 0 and the terminal device receives the signal G ₁ at the time unit 1, the signal G ₀ and the signal G ₁ satisfy:

Correspondingly, _N1 channel information corresponding to 2 (i.e., _N1 =2) virtual ports can be expressed as channel information _H0w0 of virtual port 0 (i.e., antenna array set 0) and channel information _H1w1 of virtual port 1 (i.e., antenna array set ₁ ). Wherein, in the case where the first information includes _N1 channel information, the first information can include quantized feedback values of _N1 channel information (i.e., _{[ H0w0H1w1} ]), or _the first information can include PMI obtained based on _N1 channel information ( _i.e. , _{[ H0w0H1w1} ]). In this possible implementation, optionally, the network device can _determine α according to the received _N1 channel information corresponding to the _N1 virtual ports, and criteria such as _power maximization criteria and capacity maximization _criteria , so as to determine the weights of the _N1 virtual ports.

In another possible implementation, the measurement information sent by the terminal device in step S302 includes first information obtained by measuring the reference signal sent by the first digital port; wherein the first information is determined based on N ₁ channel information, and the N ₁ channel information is respectively determined by the reference signal sent by the N ₁ virtual ports, and the first information is used to determine the weights of the N ₁ virtual ports in the first digital port. In this way, after the terminal device measures the reference signal carried by L ₁ time units to obtain the measurement result, the terminal device can determine the better (or optimal) weight of the virtual port in the first digital port based on the measurement result, and indicate the weight through the first information, and the subsequent network device can communicate with the terminal device based on the weight.

Thus, when the antenna array is large, the network device sends reference signals based on orthogonal second weights at different time units (generally, reference signals sent based on different weights can be understood as reference signals sent based on different beams). The terminal device can determine and indicate a better (or optimal) weight based on the measurement results of different time units, so that the network device can communicate based on the weight, thereby reducing beam scanning overhead and achieving fast beam tracking.

Optionally, after the terminal device measures the reference signal carried by L ₁ time units to obtain a measurement result, the terminal device can determine a better (or optimal) weight of the virtual port in the first digital port based on the measurement result and a mathematical method, for example, the mathematical method may include power maximization criteria, capacity maximization criteria determination, etc. For example, when the network device sends data, if the data is transmitted with reference to the aforementioned reference signal, the weights of the N ₁ virtual ports can be determined using the first information fed back by the terminal device.

In a possible implementation, the weights of the _N1 virtual ports in the first digital port are obtained by a first weight vector, the first weight vector includes _N1 elements; wherein the _N1 virtual ports correspond to _N1 antenna array sets respectively, each antenna array set includes one or more antenna arrays, and the _N1 elements are used to adjust the phases of the _N1 antenna array sets respectively. In other words, by adjusting the phases of the antenna arrays, the reference signal can be sent at different virtual ports.

It can be understood that the first weight vector includes N ₁ elements, and the second weight described above includes N ₁ elements corresponding to N ₁ virtual ports, wherein the implementation process of the first weight vector can refer to the implementation process of the second weight below.

In a possible implementation, the weights of the N ₁ virtual ports in the first digital port are obtained through a first weight vector, including: the weights of the N ₁ virtual ports in the first digital port are obtained through the first weight vector and a second weight vector, the second weight vector includes N ₁ sub-vectors; wherein the dimension of the T-th sub-vector in the N ₁ sub-vectors is the same as the number of antenna arrays of the T-th antenna array set in the N ₁ antenna array set, and the value of T is 1 to N _1. In this way, the first weight vector can correspond to the weight of each antenna array set in the N ₁ antenna array set.

It can be understood that the second weight vector includes N ₁ sub-vectors, and the third weight described above includes N ₁ sub-vectors, wherein the implementation process of the second weight vector can refer to the implementation process of the third weight described below.

As an implementation example of the N ₁ virtual ports, as mentioned above, when N ₁ = 2, the virtual weights of the N ₁ virtual ports in the network device (or the weights of the N ₁ virtual ports) can be expressed as α ₀ w ₀ and α ₁ w ₁ . Accordingly, in this example, the N ₁ elements included in the first weight vector are α ₀ and α ₁ , respectively, and the N ₁ subvectors included in the second weight vector are w ₀ and w ₁ , respectively.

In a possible implementation manner, the first information satisfies any one of the following manners A to D.

Mode A: The first information included in the measurement information sent by the terminal device in step S302 includes the quantization processing result of the first weight vector. In other words, after determining the first weight vector, the terminal device directly quantizes the first weight vector and feeds back the first weight vector. For example, the first weight vector includes N ₁ elements, the terminal device quantizes the phases of the N ₁ elements, and feeds back the quantization results of the N ₁ elements.

As an implementation example of method A, when the feedback phase range is 0 to 2π and the quantization accuracy is 0.1π, then the feedback There are 21 possible phase values (i.e., 0, 0.1π, 0.2π...2π, a total of 21 possible values). Correspondingly, among N ₁ elements, the feedback value of each element can occupy A (A is a positive integer) bits, and the phase feedback of N ₁ elements occupies N ₁ *A bits. For example, the value of A is (indicates rounding up log ₂ 21), or A is 21, or A is other value determined based on 21, which is not limited here.

Optionally, the network device configures the quantization accuracy of the phase corresponding to the element in the first weight vector, for example, by configuring through configuration information of the reference signal, or by configuring through other information/message/signaling.

Mode B: The first information included in the measurement information sent by the terminal device in step S302 includes one element of the N ₁ elements corresponding to one of the N ₁ virtual ports, and a quantization processing result corresponding to the difference between N ₁ -1 elements of the N ₁ elements corresponding to other N ₁ -1 virtual ports except the one of the virtual ports and the one element.

As an implementation example of method A, the feedback phase ranges from 0 to 2π, and the quantization accuracy of the first element is 0.1π. Then the feedback phase has 21 values, and the first element feedback requires A bits; the remaining elements feedback the difference with the first element, and the quantization accuracy of the element is 0.2π. Feedback of the remaining elements, then the feedback phase has 11 values, and each element requires B bits. In other words, N ₁ elements feedback a total of A+(N ₁ -1)B bits. For example, A takes a value of And B is Alternatively, A takes the value of 21 and B takes the value of 11, or A takes the value of other values determined based on 21 and B takes the value of other values determined based on 11, which is not limited here.

Mode C: The first information included in the measurement information sent by the terminal device in step S302 includes a first index and a second index, and the first index and the second index are used to determine the first weight vector of the first digital port in one or more weight vectors included in the codebook set. The first index is a codebook index on the first dimension, the second index is a codebook index on the second dimension, and in the one or more weight vectors included in the codebook set, each weight vector is determined by the weight on the first dimension and the weight on the second dimension.

Mode D: The first information included in the measurement information sent by the terminal device in step S302 includes a third index, and the third index is used to determine the first weight vector of the first digital port in one or more weight vectors included in the codebook set.

It should be noted that the codebook sets involved in mode C and mode D may be determined in a variety of ways, which will be described below in conjunction with some implementation examples.

A first method for determining the codebook set is to determine the codebook set based on the port information of the virtual port included in the digital port.

Specifically, the port information of the virtual port in any digital port includes at least one of the following information A to information F:

Information A. Index of the port information combination. For example, the index value corresponding to each combination, each index value represents a combination of a virtual port splitting method, an oversampling factor, and a virtual port number. The network device can indicate the index value, and the terminal device can determine the virtual port splitting method, the oversampling factor, and the number of virtual ports. The values corresponding to the "index" are shown in Table 3 below. The virtual port splitting method can be understood as the number of virtual ports on the first dimension and the number of virtual ports on the second dimension. The oversampling factor can be understood as the oversampling factor on the first dimension and the oversampling factor on the second dimension.

Information B. The number of virtual ports included in the digital port is N _1. For example, the number of virtual ports N of each digital port is used to instruct the network device to split the array plane into N sub-arrays in total (taking the example that the first digital port includes N ₁ virtual ports in the previous text, the array plane of the first digital port is split into N ₁ sub-arrays, wherein the N ₁ sub-arrays are the N ₁ antenna array element sets corresponding to the N ₁ virtual ports, that is, each of the N ₁ sub-arrays includes one or more antenna array elements). In general, N = M ₁ *M ₂ .

Information C. The number of virtual ports in the first dimension of the digital port is M _1. For example, the horizontal number of virtual ports of each digital port is M ₁ , which is used to instruct the network device to split the array horizontally into M ₁ sub-arrays. It can also be understood that the first dimension of each digital port includes M ₁ virtual ports.

Information D. The number of virtual ports in the second dimension of the digital port is M _2. For example, the vertical number of virtual ports of each digital port is M ₂ , which is used to instruct the network device to vertically split the array into M ₂ sub-arrays. It can also be understood that the second dimension of each digital port includes M ₂ virtual ports.

Information E. The oversampling factor in the first dimension of the digital port is O _1. For example, the oversampling factor O ₁ in the horizontal dimension of each digital port can also be understood as the oversampling factor in the first dimension of each digital port.

Information F. The oversampling factor in the second dimension of the digital port is O _2. For example, the oversampling factor O ₂ in the vertical dimension of each digital port can also be understood as the oversampling factor in the second dimension of each digital port.

Optionally, the information C may be determined by the information B and the information D, that is, M ₂ =N ₁ /M ₁ , N ₁ can divide M ₁ ; or alternatively, the information D may be determined by the information B and the information C, that is, M ₁ =N ₁ /M ₂ , N ₁ can divide M ₂ .

Exemplarily, the above different combinations can be represented by parameters in different rows in Table 3 below.

Table 3

Optionally, for the number of virtual ports on the first dimension and the second dimension such as (M ₁ ,M ₂ )=(N,1) and (1,N), the terminal device does not need to perceive and can use the same index value. For example, in the above Table 3, the codebook sets corresponding to (M ₁ ,M ₂ )=(2,1) or (1,2) indicated by index=0 are the same, so there is no need to distinguish them.

Thus, according to the port information of the virtual port in any of the above digital ports, a set of analog codebooks can be determined between the terminal device and the network device. Specifically, according to the number of virtual ports on the first dimension being M ₁ and the oversampling factor on the first dimension being O ₁ , M ₁ O ₁ codebooks can be determined on the first dimension, v _l represents the lth codebook (a vector with a length of M ₁ ), and the value range of l is All codebooks of the first dimension (i.e., all v _l ) are recorded as Y ₁ ; according to the number of virtual ports on the second dimension being M ₂ and the oversampling factor on the second dimension being O ₂ , it can be determined that there are M ₂ O ₂ codebooks on the second dimension, _um represents the mth codebook (a vector of length M ₂ ), and the value range of m is All codebooks of the second dimension (ie, all _um ) are recorded as Y ₂ , and the codebook set is finally determined to be Y.

As an implementation example, before step S302, the network device may send second information to the terminal device, and the second information may be used to determine the port information of the virtual port included in the first digital port, and then determine the codebook set used in mode C or mode D based on the port information.

For example, the second information may include port information of the virtual port included in the first digital port (eg, at least one item of the above information A to information F). Taking Table 3 as an example, the second information may include one or more parameters of one row in Table 3.

For another example, the second information may include a fourth index, and the fourth index is used to determine the port information of the virtual port included in the first digital port in the port information of one or more preconfigured or predefined virtual ports, wherein the port information of each virtual port may include at least one item of the above information A to information F. Taking FIG. 3 as an example, the fourth index included in the second information may be one of the indexes in Table 3, so that the network device determines one row of parameters in Table 3 based on the index. Optionally, before the network device sends the fourth index to the terminal device, the network device sends the port information of one or more virtual ports and the corresponding indexes, as shown in Table 3.

For another example, the second information may include some items in information A to information F, and other items in information A to information F are determined by the partial items and port information of one or more preconfigured or predefined virtual ports. Taking FIG3 as an example, the second information may indicate "(M ₁ ,M ₂ )＝(4,1)", and accordingly, the network device may determine, based on the second information, that the indication corresponds to the row where index "1" is located in the table, and further determine that "N＝4" and "(O ₁ ,O ₂ )＝(4,1)".

For another example, the second information may include some items in information A to information F, and other items in information A to information F are determined by the some items. For example, the second information includes information B and information D, and information C can be determined by information B and information D, that is, M ₂ =N ₁ /M ₁ , N ₁ can divide M ₁ ; or, the second information includes information B and information C, and the above information D can be determined by information B and information C, that is, M ₁ =N ₁ /M ₂ , N ₁ can divide M ₂ ; or, the second information includes information C and information D, and the above information B can be determined by information C and information D, that is, N ₁ =M ₁ *M ₂ .

Optionally, the first digital port is one of the M digital ports. When M is greater than 1, different digital ports may be configured or the port information of the corresponding virtual port may be specified by the protocol in any one or more of the following ways:

① Independently configure or specify the port information of the corresponding virtual port for each digital port.

② Multiple digital ports correspond to the port information of a virtual port. In particular, each digital port uses the same virtual port splitting method (same number of virtual ports on the first dimension, same number of virtual ports on the second dimension), the same oversampling factor (same oversampling factor on the first dimension, same oversampling factor on the second dimension), and the same number of virtual ports.

As an example of method ①, the network device configures or dynamically indicates the port information of the virtual port of each digital port for the terminal device (i.e., at least one of the above information A to information F). For example, the network device configures the measurement resources of one or more digital ports, and each digital port includes one or more virtual ports. The network device configures or dynamically indicates the port information of the virtual port of each digital port for the terminal device. The measurement resource can be SSB, CSI-RS, etc., which is not limited here.

As another example of method ①, the network device configures or dynamically indicates some items of information A to information F for each digital port for the terminal device, and other items of information A to information F are determined by the partial items and/or the port information of one or more preconfigured or predefined virtual ports.

As another example of method ①, the network device directly configures or indicates the fourth index corresponding to each digital port to the terminal through signaling. The signaling can be one or more of RRC signaling, MAC CE signaling, DCI signaling, etc., and can also be other signaling, which is not limited here.

As an example of method ②, the network device configuration or protocol specifies one or more digital port groups, each digital port group contains one or more digital ports, and one digital port group corresponds to the same port information of the virtual port. The network device configures a type of virtual port port information for each digital port group, and each digital port in the digital port group has the same virtual port port information.

As another example of method ②, the network configuration or protocol specifies the port information of one or more virtual ports, and the protocol specifies that each k digital ports use the port information of one virtual port. For example, if the network configuration or protocol specifies the port information of two virtual ports, and there are 8 digital ports in total, then the protocol specifies that 0 to 3 use the port information of the first virtual port, and 4 to 7 use the port information of the second virtual port. Of course, 0, 2, 4, and 6 can also use the first type, and 1, 3, 5, and 7 can use the second type. This is similar to the default rule.

For example, the network device configures or indicates that _M1 , _M2 , _O1 , _O2 are 2, 2, 2, 1 respectively in the above manner, then there are 4 ( _M1 * _M2 = _N1 =4) virtual ports in total, and the number of codebooks in the corresponding simulation codebook set is 8= _M1 * _M2 * _O1 * _O2 =2*2*2*1.

There are 4 codebooks for the horizontal direction (e.g., the first dimension), satisfying:

In other words, the four levels of codebooks are represented as:
v ₀ = [1 1] ^T ;
v ₁ = [1 j] ^T ;
v ₂ = [1 -1] ^T ;
v ₃ = [1 - j] ^T ;

Define _Y1 to include the codebooks in these four horizontal directions, which can be expressed as:

There are 2 codebooks for the vertical direction (e.g., the second dimension), satisfying:

In other words, the codebooks in the two vertical directions are expressed as:
u ₀ = [1 1] ^T ;
u ₁ = [1 -1] ^T ;

Define Y ₂ to include the codebooks in these two vertical directions, which can be expressed as:

That is, the codebook set can be expressed as:

The four rows of the matrix represent four virtual ports, and the columns represent eight codebooks (ie, eight weight vectors).

As an example, if the terminal device performs feedback through measurement in mode C, assuming that the terminal device determines based on the power maximization criterion or the capacity maximum criterion and feeds back the first index and the second index through the first information as 2 and 1 respectively, accordingly, the network device can determine the sixth weight vector as the first weight vector of the first digital port in the above 8 codebooks based on the index value "2, 1" carried by the first information. In other words, the horizontal and vertical weight vectors corresponding to the index value "2, 1" are:
v ₂ = [1 -1] ^T .
u ₁ = [1 -1] ^T .

Then the network device determines the final codebook as the first weight vector:

In the above example, the four elements a ₀ , a ₁ , a ₂ , and a ₃ included in the first weight vector corresponding to four (ie, M ₁ *M ₂ =N ₁ =4) virtual ports satisfy:
a ₀ =1, a ₁ =-1, a ₂ =-1, a ₃ =1;

In addition, when the four word vectors included in the second weight vector corresponding to the four (ie, M ₁ *M ₂ =N ₁ =4) virtual ports are respectively represented as w ₀ , w ₁ , w ₂ , and w ₃ , the analog weights W of the four virtual ports during data transmission can be respectively represented as:

As another example, if the terminal device performs feedback after measurement in mode D, the third index is fed back, and the third index corresponds to one of the 8 codebooks. Assuming that the terminal device determines based on the power maximization criterion or the capacity maximum criterion and feeds back the third index as 3 through the first information (the above 8 codebooks determine that the fourth weight vector is the first weight vector of the first digital port), the network device determines the final codebook as the first weight vector:
Y＝[1 -1 j -j] ^T .

In the above example, the four elements a ₀ , a ₁ , a ₂ , and a ₃ included in the first weight vector corresponding to four (ie, M ₁ *M ₂ =N ₁ =4) virtual ports satisfy:
a ₀ =1, a ₁ =-1, a ₂ =j, a ₃ =-j;

In addition, when the four word vectors included in the second weight vector corresponding to the four (ie, M ₁ *M ₂ =N ₁ =4) virtual ports are respectively represented as w ₀ , w ₁ , w ₂ , and w ₃ , the analog weights W of the four virtual ports during data transmission can be respectively represented as:

A second method for determining a codebook set is to determine a codebook set used in method C or method D from one or more codebook sets based on an instruction from a network device.

As an implementation example, before step S302, the network device may send second information to the terminal device, where the second information may be used to determine a codebook set used in mode C or mode D from one or more codebook sets.

For example, the second information may include a fifth index, where the fifth index is used to determine the codebook set in one or more preconfigured or predefined codebook sets.

For another example, as can be seen from the above example, in the process of determining the codebook set, it is associated with one or more items of information A to information F. Accordingly, the mapping relationship between "one or more items of information A to information F" and "one or more codebook sets" can be preconfigured or predefined. Correspondingly, the third information sent by the network device may indicate one or more items of information A to information F (for example, in Table 3), and the subsequent terminal device may determine, based on one or more items of information A to information F and the "mapping relationship", that one of the codebook sets in the one or more codebook sets is the codebook set used in method C or method D.

Optionally, the terminal device may determine the one or more codebook sets in a preconfigured or predefined manner.

Optionally, the terminal device may receive signaling from the network device and determine the one or more codebook sets through the signaling. For example, the signaling may include one or more of RRC signaling, MAC CE signaling, DCI signaling, etc.

It should be noted that the network device may indicate the codebook set used in mode C or mode D in the one or more codebook sets in a variety of ways.

As can be seen from the above implementation process, the first digital port is one of the M digital ports. When M is greater than 1, the measurement information sent by the terminal device in step S302 can be used to determine the weight of the virtual port included in each digital port (i.e., the weight for data transmission), which will be described below in conjunction with more implementation examples.

In a possible implementation manner, the measurement information includes any one of the following examples A to C:

Example A, M pieces of information.

Example B, K pieces of information.

Example C, M information and K information.

Among them, the M information is used to determine the first weight vector of each digital port in the M digital ports (for example, the i-th (i is 1 to M) information in the M information is used to determine the first weight vector of the i-th digital port in the M digital ports, and for example, the M information corresponds one-to-one to the M digital ports); one of the M information is the first information; the K information is used to determine the first weight vector of each digital port group in the K groups of digital ports (for example, the i-th (i is 1 to K) information in the K information is used to determine the first weight vector of the digital ports included in the i-th digital port group in the K digital port groups, and for example, the K information corresponds one-to-one to the K digital port groups), wherein each group of digital ports in the K groups of digital ports includes one or more digital ports in the M digital ports, and K is a positive integer less than or equal to M; one of the K information is the first information.

Specifically, the measurement information sent by the terminal device may include M information and/or K information. In this way, the network device can determine the first weight vector of each digital port in the M digital ports through the M information and/or the K information.

As an implementation example, in Example B and Example C, among one or more digital ports included in each group of digital ports in the K groups of digital ports, the port information of virtual ports of different digital ports is the same. Specifically, in the case where the measurement information includes K pieces of information, the K pieces of information are respectively used to determine the first weight vector of the digital ports included in each digital port group in the K groups of digital ports, wherein each group of digital ports in the K groups of digital ports includes one or more digital ports among the M digital ports. Furthermore, among one or more digital ports included in each group of digital ports in the K groups of digital ports, the port information of virtual ports of different digital ports is the same. In this way, the feedback process of the measurement information can be simplified, and the implementation complexity can be reduced.

In example A, when the measurement information includes M pieces of information, different digital ports independently feed back the first weight vector.

The network device configures each digital port of the terminal device to independently feedback the first weight vector. Optionally, the network device configures the terminal to feedback the first weight vectors of different digital ports in an order. It can also be agreed to follow a certain order, such as from small to large, or from large to small according to the digital port index; it can also be in the order of horizontal digital ports first and then vertical digital ports, or vertical first and then horizontal, etc.

As an implementation example, in Example B, when the measurement information includes K pieces of information, multiple digital ports feed back a same first weight vector.

For example, the network device configures the number of groups of digital ports (ie, configures the value of K). In other words, the network device configures one or more digital port groups, each of which includes one or more digital ports, and the network device configures each digital port group to feedback a same first weight vector.

For another example, the network device configures the number of first weight vectors that need to be fed back (i.e., the number of digital ports included in each digital port group in the K digital port groups). In other words, the terminal device can feed back an identical first weight vector for every c (c is a positive integer, e.g., c=M/K) digital ports.

For example, for the 8 digital ports (i.e., digital ports 0 to 7) included in the network device, the number of groups configured by the network device for the digital ports is 2 (i.e., the value of K is configured to be 2), or the number of first weight vectors that the network device needs to feedback is configured to be 2 (i.e., the number of digital ports included in each digital port group in the K digital port groups is 4), then digital ports 0 to 3 can feedback a first weight vector, and digital ports 4 to 7 can feedback a first weight vector. Generally, if two digital ports correspond to different polarizations of a front, the same first weight vector is fed back. The terminal device does not perceive the polarization mode, but only the digital port.

Correspondingly, the terminal device feeds back an identical first weight vector according to the digital ports configured with the identical virtual port splitting mode.

As an implementation example, in Example C, the terminal device feeds back the first weight vector of each digital port individually, and also feeds back the same first weight vector corresponding to multiple digital ports.

Optionally, the measurement information satisfies any of the following:

When the rank number of the reference signal satisfies the first condition, the measurement information includes the M pieces of information;

When the rank number of the reference signal satisfies the second condition, the measurement information includes the K pieces of information;

When the channel quality information CQI of the reference signal satisfies the third condition, the measurement information includes the M pieces of information;

When the CQI of the reference signal satisfies the fourth condition, the measurement information includes the K pieces of information.

As an implementation example, when the network device is configured with different Rank numbers, different digital ports in the terminal device feed back the same or different first weight vectors. Since the rank number is related to the rank of the channel, when the Rank number is large, it means that the multipath of the channel is relatively rich, so beam coverage in different directions can be achieved, so different first weight vectors can be fed back to different digital ports. Conversely, when the Rank number is small, it means that the channel path is small, so the same first weight vector can be fed back to different digital ports. For example, the terminal device can feed back a first weight vector for different digital ports, which can save overhead.

As an implementation example, the network device configuration or protocol stipulates that when the rank number of the terminal feedback channel information is 1, the terminal feeds back the same first weight vector for all digital ports, that is, different digital ports of the terminal only need to feed back one first weight vector.

As an implementation example, the network device configuration or protocol stipulates that when the configured rank number is N, the terminal feeds back N first weight vectors. Optionally, the terminal device feeds back the digital port index corresponding to each first weight vector in the N first weight vectors.

As an implementation example, the network device configuration or protocol stipulates a rank threshold. When the rank is greater than the threshold, the terminal device independently feeds back the first weight vector for each digital port; when the rank is less than the threshold, different digital ports of the terminal device feed back the same first weight vector, that is, different digital ports of the terminal only need to feed back one first weight vector.

As an implementation example, the network device configuration or protocol specifies a CQI threshold. When the CQI of the feedback channel information is greater than the threshold, the first weight vector is fed back per port. When the CQI of the feedback channel information is less than the threshold, different digital ports of the terminal device feed back the same first weight vector. CQI mainly reflects the quality of the channel. When the CQI is relatively large, it means that the channel quality is good, and each digital port can independently measure and determine the first weight vector; when the CQI is relatively small, it means that the channel quality is not good, and multiple digital ports need to jointly estimate the first weight vector, so multiple digital ports feed back a first weight vector.

In a possible implementation, the method further includes: the terminal device receives indication information indicating that the measurement information includes the M information and/or the K information. In this way, the terminal device and the network device can clearly understand the information content carried by the measurement information.

Optionally, the indication information is carried in configuration information of a reference signal, or is other message/information/signaling, etc., which is not limited here.

In a possible implementation manner, the measurement information is measurement information corresponding to a first carrier, the measurement information is used to determine a first weight vector of each digital port in the M digital ports corresponding to the first carrier, and the first carrier includes one or more carriers (optionally, when the first carrier includes multiple carriers, it can also be understood that the measurement information is measurement information corresponding to multiple carriers (for example, a second carrier, a third carrier, etc.));

Or, the measurement information is measurement information corresponding to a first BWP, and the measurement information is used to determine a first weight vector of each digital port in the M digital ports corresponding to the first BWP, and the first BWP includes one or more BWPs (optionally, when the first BWP includes multiple BWPs, it can also be understood that the measurement information is measurement information corresponding to multiple BWPs (such as a second BWP, a third BWP, etc.));

Or the measurement information is measurement information corresponding to a first bandwidth, and the measurement information is used to determine a first weight vector of each digital port of the M digital ports corresponding to the first bandwidth, and the first bandwidth includes one or more sub-bands (optionally, when the first bandwidth includes multiple sub-bands, it can also be understood that the measurement information is measurement information corresponding to multiple bandwidths (for example, the second bandwidth, the third bandwidth, etc.)).

Specifically, the measurement information may be used to determine a first weight vector of each digital port in M digital ports corresponding to one or more carriers (or one or more BWPs, or one or more subbands) to enhance the flexibility of the solution implementation.

Exemplarily, the measurement information is taken as the measurement information corresponding to the first carrier.

In the case where the first carrier includes one carrier, the terminal device can measure the channel information of the one carrier based on the reference signal in step S301, and the measurement information of the terminal device in step S302 is used to determine the weights of the virtual ports of the M digital ports corresponding to the one carrier.

In the case that the first carrier includes D (D is greater than 1) carriers, the terminal device can measure the channel information of the D carriers based on the reference signal in step S301, and the measurement information of the terminal device in step S302 is used to determine the weights of the virtual ports of the M digital ports corresponding to the D carriers.

For example, the measurement information may include the weight of the virtual port of the M digital ports corresponding to one of the carriers (denoted as weight 1), and the weights of the M virtual ports corresponding to different carriers are the same, that is, the network device can determine that the weights of the virtual ports of the M digital ports corresponding to the D carriers are all weight 1.

For example, the measurement information may include weights of the virtual ports of the M digital ports corresponding to the D carriers (denoted as weight 1...weight D), and the network device may determine the weights of the virtual ports of the M digital ports corresponding to the D carriers based on weight 1...weight D respectively.

Similarly, in a case where the measurement information is measurement information corresponding to the first bandwidth (or the measurement information is measurement information corresponding to the first bandwidth), reference may be made to the implementation example in which the measurement information is measurement information corresponding to the first carrier.

The above describes various implementations of the measurement information in step S302. As described above, in step S301, the reference signal may be sent via _L1 first weights in _L1 time units. To facilitate understanding of the solution, the following describes step S301 and its related processes by way of example.

Optionally, in step S301, the L ₁ time units used to send the reference signal are continuous in the time domain. Since the channel information of different continuous time units in the time domain is highly correlated, in this way, the different measurement results corresponding to the reference signal of the L ₁ time unit of the terminal device can reflect the same or similar channel information as much as possible, so as to obtain more accurate measurement information.

Optionally, in step S301, at least two time units among the _L1 time units used to send the reference signal are discontinuous in the time domain.

It should be understood that in step S301, the reference signal is sent through _L1 first weights in _L1 time units respectively, and it can be understood that _L1 time units correspond to _L1 first weights one by one. For example, the weight of the reference signal in the i-th time unit in the _L1 time units is the i-th first weight in the _L1 first weights, and i ranges from 1 to _L1 .

Optionally, the reference signal on each time unit can be regarded as one reference signal, that is, "the reference signal carried on L ₁ time units" can be regarded as L ₁ reference signals. Accordingly, the above method can be performed once or multiple times, that is, the sending and receiving process of one or more L ₁ reference signals is respectively implemented through one or more L ₁ time units.

Alternatively, the reference signal on each L ₁ time unit can be regarded as one reference signal, that is, "the reference signal carried on L ₁ time unit" can be regarded as 1 reference signal. Accordingly, the above method can be performed once or multiple times, that is, the sending and receiving process of one or more reference signals is respectively implemented through one or more L ₁ time units.

It should be understood that the _L1 second weights are orthogonal, and the i-th first weight among the _L1 first weights is obtained by the i-th second weight among the _L1 second weights and the third weight. In other words, the _L1 first weights are obtained based on the _L1 second weights. Among them, different weights in the _L1 first weights may be orthogonal or non-orthogonal, which is not limited here.

It should be noted that the i-th first weight among the L ₁ first weights is obtained by the i-th second weight among the L ₁ second weights and the third weight, including: the i-th first weight among the L ₁ first weights is obtained by multiplying the N ₁ elements of the i-th second weight among the L ₁ second weights by the N ₁ sub-vectors in the third weight.

Optionally, the multiplication of the N ₁ elements in the ith second weight and the N ₁ subvectors in the third weight may be the product of an element and a subvector. For example, when the N ₁ elements are a ₀ , a ₁ (i.e., N ₁ = 2), if f ₀ , f ₁ are two row vectors, then the obtained second weight is [a ₀ f ₀ , a ₁ f ₁ ]; if f ₀ , f ₁ are two column vectors, then the obtained second weight is

Optionally, the N ₁ elements in the i-th second weight are multiplied with the N ₁ subvectors in the third weight, and a diagonal matrix of the N ₁ subvectors is formed, and then the matrix is multiplied with the vector composed of N ₁ elements. Taking N ₁ as 2 as an example, the N ₁ subvectors contained in the third weight are f ₀ , f ₁ respectively. When f ₀ , f ₁ are two row vectors, the N ₁ elements contained in the second weight are a ₀ , a ₁ respectively, satisfying:

When f ₀ , f ₁ are two row vectors, the second weight contains N ₁ elements a ₀ , a ₁ , respectively, satisfying:

In a possible implementation, in step S301, the reference signal sent by the network device is sent through M digital ports, where M is a positive integer; wherein the weight corresponding to the first digital port among the M digital ports in the L ₁ time units is the L ₁ first weight; the first digital port includes N ₁ virtual ports, and the second weight includes N ₁ elements corresponding to the N ₁ virtual ports, where N ₁ is an integer greater than or equal to 1. Specifically, the reference signal is sent through L ₁ first weights in L ₁ time units, respectively, and the L ₁ first weights may be the weight of the first digital port among the M digital ports. wherein the first digital port includes N ₁ virtual ports, and the second weight includes N ₁ elements corresponding to the N ₁ virtual ports, that is, the corresponding L ₁ second weights of the virtual ports included in the first digital port in the L ₁ time units are orthogonal. In this way, the weights of the virtual ports included in the same digital port in different time units are orthogonal.

In this application, the virtual port can be replaced by other terms, such as analog port, virtual sub-array, analog sub-array, sub-array, etc.

Optionally, L ₁ is an integer multiple of N _1. For example, N ₁ is equal to L ₁ .

Optionally, the frequency domain resources occupied by the N ₁ virtual ports in different time units of the L ₁ time units are the same. In this way, the implementation complexity of sending and receiving reference signals in different time units can be reduced as much as possible.

Optionally, the terminal device may also receive indication information indicating that the number of virtual ports included in the first digital port is N ₁ , and/or, the terminal device may also receive indication information indicating that the number of time units of the reference signal is L _1. These two indication information may be carried in the configuration information of the reference signal, or may be carried in other information/messages/signaling, which is not limited here.

Optionally, N ₁ and L ₁ are pre-configured information and are not limited here.

It should be understood that a digital port includes one or more virtual ports (for example, a first digital port includes N ₁ virtual ports, and a second digital port described later includes N ₂ virtual ports, etc.), and it can be understood that the signal of the digital port is sent and received through the one or more virtual ports. For example, in the process of signal transmission, the digital port sends the signal through the one or more virtual ports; for another example, in the process of signal reception, the signal received by one or more virtual ports can be understood as the signal received by the digital port.

From the description of step S301 above, it can be seen that the reference signal is sent via L ₁ first weights in L ₁ time units respectively, and the L ₁ first weights are determined by the second weight and the third weight. The implementation process of the second weight and the third weight is described exemplarily below.

In a possible implementation, the second weight includes N ₁ elements corresponding to the N ₁ virtual ports. The N 1 virtual ports included in the first digital port of the M digital ports correspond to _{N 1} antenna array sets, each antenna array set includes one or more antenna arrays, and the N ₁ elements are used to adjust the phases of the N ₁ antenna array sets. Specifically, the N 1 virtual ports included in the first digital port correspond to N ₁ antenna array sets, and the N ₁ elements included in the second weight are used to adjust the phases of the N ₁ antenna array sets. Moreover, each antenna array set includes one or more antenna arrays. In other words, the N ₁ elements included in the second weight are used to adjust the phases of the antenna arrays corresponding to different virtual ports in the digital port, that is, _{the L 1 orthogonal} second weights are used to achieve orthogonality of the phases of the antenna array sets corresponding to different virtual ports.

In a possible implementation, the third weight includes N ₁ sub-vectors, the dimension of the P-th sub-vector in the N ₁ sub-vectors is the same as the number of antenna arrays in the P- _th antenna array set in the N 1 antenna array set, and the value of P is 1 to N _1. Specifically, the dimension of the P-th sub-vector in the N ₁ sub-vectors included in the third weight is the same as the number of antenna arrays in the P-th antenna array set in the N ₁ antenna array set. In this way, the third weight can correspond to the weight of each antenna array set in the N ₁ antenna array set.

In one possible implementation, the third weight is determined by the network device according to the beam measurement result (for example, reference signal received power, RSRP) fed back by the terminal device. When the signal is transmitted, different analog weights are used for weighting. After the terminal performs measurement, the corresponding measurement result is fed back. The third weight can be the transmission analog weight corresponding to the reference signal with the maximum RSRP in the feedback result, or it can be the transmission analog weight corresponding to a certain reference signal in the feedback result. Exemplarily, the third weight can be determined by other reference signals. For example, after the network device sends the other reference signal through different beams (or different weights), the terminal device can feed back multiple signal quality information based on the different beams. Correspondingly, the network device can determine the third weight based on the signal quality information with the best signal quality among the multiple signal quality information, or the network device can determine the third weight based on the signal quality information greater than the threshold among the multiple signal quality information, or the network device can determine the third weight based on the quality of one or more reference signals fed back by the terminal (for example, RSRP).

Optionally, the first weight and the third weight have the same dimension, that is, the first weight used to send the reference signal can determine the weight of each antenna element set in the _N1 antenna element sets.

Exemplarily, taking the N ₁ virtual ports included in the first digital port as an example, at the kth time unit of L ₁ (L ₁ =N ₁ ) time units, the kth second weight w′ _k of the L ₁ second weights can be expressed as:
w′ _k = [w _1,k w _2,k … w _N,k ]′;

Wherein, w′ _k is an N ₁ ×1 vector, corresponding to the phase information of N ₁ virtual sub-arrays on the kth time unit. As mentioned above, the reference signal sent by the first digital port can be carried in L ₁ (L ₁ =N ₁ ) time units, then the L ₁ time units corresponding to N ₁ second weights can be expressed as:

in, They respectively represent L ₁ (L ₁ =N ₁ ) second weights on L ₁ time units, and the L ₁ (L ₁ =N ₁ ) second weights are orthogonal to each other.

Exemplarily, the matrix W may be a DFT matrix or a Hadamard matrix. For example, the columns of the matrix W represent different time units (i.e., the matrix W includes L ₁ columns), and the rows represent different virtual ports contained in a digital port (i.e., the matrix W includes N ₁ rows). Taking the DFT matrix as an example, the matrix W satisfies:

Each element wx _,y in the matrix W represents the phase information of the virtual sub-array y at symbol x (i.e., x is the matrix column index and y is the matrix row index), where e is a natural constant, j is the imaginary number sign, and _N1 is the number of virtual ports.

Of course, it can also be a Hadamard matrix. For example, a first-order Hadamard matrix can be expressed as H ₁ =[1].

The second-order Hadamard matrix can be expressed as

The fourth-order Hadamard matrix can be expressed as

The n-order Hadamard matrix is n is 2 to the zth power, and z is a positive integer.

As shown in Figure 4a, as an application example, assuming that the first digital port is split into two virtual ports, that is, the first digital port includes 2 (i.e., N ₁ =2) virtual ports, it needs to be sent in 2 (i.e., L ₁ =N ₁ =2) time units, then the second weights of the two virtual ports in these two time units are [+1+1], [+1 -1] respectively. As shown in Figure 5 below:

In the time domain unit 1, the second weights of the two virtual ports are +1 and +1 respectively.

In the time domain unit 2, the second weights of the two virtual ports are +1 and -1 respectively.

As shown in Figure 4b, as another application example, assuming that the first digital port is split into 4 virtual ports, that is, the first digital port includes 4 (i.e., _N1 =4) virtual ports, it needs to be sent in 4 (i.e., _L1 = _N1 =4) time units, then the second weights of the 4 virtual ports in these 4 time units can be [+1 +1 +1 +1], [+1 -1 +1 -1], [+1 +1 -1 -1], [+1 -1 -1 +1] respectively; they can also be [+1 +1 +1 +1], [+1 -j +1 +j], [-1 +1 -1 +1], [+1 -j -1 +j] respectively.

Taking the Hadamard matrix as an example,

In time domain unit 1, the second weights of the four virtual ports are +1, +1, +1, and +1, respectively.

In the time domain unit 2, the second weights of the four virtual ports are +1, -1, +1, and -1 respectively.

In the time domain unit 3, the second weights of the four virtual ports are +1, +1, -1, and -1 respectively.

In the time domain unit 4, the second weights of the four virtual ports are +1, -1, -1, and +1 respectively.

It should be understood that _L1 second weights are orthogonal, which can be understood as any two second weights among the _L1 second weights are mutually orthogonal, or different second weights among the _L1 second weights are orthogonal to each other. For example, in the above FIG. 4a, the _L1 second weights include the second weights "+1, +1" on the time domain unit 1 and the second weights "+1, -1" on the time domain unit 2, and these 2 (i.e., _L1 = 2) second weights are mutually orthogonal. As another example, in the above Hadamard matrix, the _L1 second weights include the second weights “+1, +1, +1, +1” on time domain unit 1, the second weights “+1, -1, +1, -1” on time domain unit 2, the second weights “+1, +1, -1, -1” on time domain unit 3, and the second weights “+1, -1, -1, +1” on time domain unit 4, and these 4 (i.e., _L1 = 4) second weights are orthogonal to each other.

Optionally, if M is greater than 1, the phase information of each virtual port included in each of the M digital ports may be configured independently, or the phase information of the same virtual sub-array may be configured for the M digital ports.

Based on the above technical solution, the reference signal received by the terminal device in step S301 is sent through _L1 first weights in _L1 time units respectively, and the i-th first weight in the _L1 first weights is obtained through the i-th second weight and the third weight in _L1 second weights, and the L1 _second weights are orthogonal. In other words, the reference signal transmitted in _L1 time units is sent through mutually orthogonal L1 _second weights. In this way, the terminal device's measurements of the reference signals carried on different time units are relatively independent, and then _L1 relatively independent channel information is obtained to obtain measurement information with higher accuracy.

It can be seen from the above implementation process that in step S301, the reference signal may be sent through M digital ports, and M may have multiple value modes, which will be introduced below in conjunction with some implementation examples.

In example 1, the value of M is 1.

In Example 1, when the value of M is 1, the reference signal can be sent through a digital port (i.e., the first digital port), so that the solution is applicable to the scenario where the network device is configured with a single digital port, and realizes the transmission and measurement of the reference signal of the virtual port contained in the single digital port.

As mentioned above, when the value of M is 1, the M digital ports are the first digital ports. In addition, the first digital port includes N ₁ virtual ports, and the reference signal sent by the first digital port is sent through L ₁ first weights in L ₁ time units. For example, N ₁ is equal to L ₁ .

Optionally, the L ₁ time units are continuous in the time domain.

Optionally, when L ₁ time units are L ₁ symbols, the time domain symbol position occupied by the L ₁ symbol in a time slot can be configured by the network device (such as the configuration information of the reference signal described above), such as configuring the starting position of the L ₁ symbol, configuring the value of L ₁ , etc.

Optionally, in the _L1 time units, the numbers of frequency domain resources occupied in different time units may be the same.

As an implementation example of Example 1, as shown in FIG5, taking the first digital port including 2 (i.e., N ₁ =2) virtual ports as an example, the resources for sending the reference signal through the first digital port may include the 2 REs in FIG5. In other words, the 2 REs include 2 (i.e., L ₁ =2) symbols in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain. In the example shown in FIG5, the reference signal is sent through the first digital port on 2 symbols. It should be understood that the code sequence encoding on the first symbol and the second symbol in FIG5 can both be "+1", and sent through the code sequence encoding of all 1s, that is, code division multiplexing without digital ports.

As another implementation example of Example 1, as shown in FIG6, taking the first digital port including 4 (i.e., N ₁ =4) virtual ports as an example, the resources for sending reference signals through the first digital port may include the 4 REs in FIG6. In other words, the 4 REs include 4 (i.e., L ₁ =4) symbols in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain. In the example shown in FIG6, the reference signal is sent through the first digital port on the 4 symbols. It should be understood that in FIG6, the code sequence encoding on different symbols in the 4 symbols may all be "+1", and sent through the code sequence encoding of all 1s, that is, code division multiplexing without digital ports.

Optionally, multiple time units for sending reference signals through the first digital port may be located in the same time slot. For example, the 2 symbols in Figure 5 and the 4 symbols in Figure 5 may be located in the same time slot. Similarly, multiple resources for sending reference signals through the first digital port may be located in the same physical resource block (PRB). For example, the 2 REs in Figure 5 and the 4 REs in Figure 5 may be located in the same PRB. In addition, for the reference signal transmitted in step S201, the reference signal may be carried in one or more time slots (or one or more PRBs), and the resource mapping methods of different time slots (or different PRBs) may be the same.

Optionally, the multiple time units for sending the reference signal through the first digital port and/or the multiple resources for sending the reference signal through the first digital port may be sent through configuration information of the network device, for example, may be configured by the configuration of the reference signal sent by the network device.

Example 2: The value of M is greater than 1.

In Example 2, when the value of M is greater than 1, the reference signal can be sent through two or more digital ports (i.e., the first digital port and other digital ports), so that the solution is suitable for the scenario where the network device is configured with two or more digital ports, and realizes the transmission and measurement of the reference signal of the virtual port contained in the two or more digital ports.

In Example 2, in addition to the first digital port, the M digital ports may also include other digital ports, such as the second digital port. The second digital port includes N ₂ virtual ports; the reference signal is sent through L ₂ fourth weights on L ₂ time units, respectively, and L ₂ is an integer greater than 1; the jth fourth weight among the L ₂ fourth weights is obtained through the jth fifth weight and the sixth weight among the L ₂ fifth weights, and the L ₂ fifth weights are orthogonal. In other words, the reference signal transmitted in L ₂ time units is sent through L ₂ fifth weights that are orthogonal to each other. In this way, the terminal device makes relatively independent measurements of the reference signals carried on different time units, and then obtains L ₁ relatively independent channel information to obtain more accurate measurement information.

Optionally, _L1 is equal to _L2 . Among them, _L1 time units and _L2 time units may be the same time units, that is, the time domain resources for sending the reference signal by the first digital port among the M digital ports and the time domain resources for sending the reference signal by the second digital port may be the same. In this way, the same time unit can be reused as much as possible to save communication resources and reduce implementation complexity.

Optionally, _L1 is equal to _L2 . Among them, _L1 time units and _L2 time units may be the same frequency domain units, that is, the frequency domain resources for sending the reference signal by the first digital port among the M digital ports and the frequency domain resources for sending the reference signal by the second digital port may be the same. In this way, the same frequency domain units can be reused as much as possible to save communication resources and reduce implementation complexity.

Optionally, _N1 is equal to _N2 . That is, the number of virtual ports included in the first digital port and the number of virtual ports included in the second digital port among the M digital ports may be the same. In this way, the implementation complexity can be reduced.

It should be noted that the implementation process of the second digital port can refer to the implementation process of the first digital port in the foregoing text. For example, the correspondence between _L2 time units and _L2 fourth weights can refer to the correspondence between _L1 time units and _L1 first weights, and the correspondence between _L2 fourth weights and _L2 fifth weights can refer to the correspondence between _L1 first weights and _L1 second weights, etc.

In addition, in Example 2, when M is greater than 1, the resources of the reference signal can be implemented in multiple ways. For example, the resources of the reference signal satisfy one of the following ways 1 to 3. These ways are described exemplarily below.

Mode 1: In the resources of the reference signal, the time domain resources and frequency domain resources for sending the reference signal by different digital ports among the M digital ports are the same, and different digital ports among the M digital ports are code division multiplexed, and the digital ports are distinguished by orthogonal codes. In other words, in Mode 1, the M digital ports can share time and frequency resources, and the M digital ports use frequency domain code division (i.e., FD-CDM#M), which can be represented as M digital ports in one CDM group.

Optionally, for any digital port among the M digital ports, the number of virtual ports included in the any digital port and the number of time units occupied by the any digital port may be equal (for example, _L1 is equal to _N1 , and _L2 is equal to _N2 ).

As an implementation example of method 1, as shown in FIG7, taking the case where both the first digital port and the second digital port include 4 (i.e., N ₁ =N ₂ =4) virtual ports as an example, the resources for sending reference signals through the first digital port may include 8 REs corresponding to "digital port 0" in FIG7, and the resources for sending reference signals through the second digital port may include 8 REs corresponding to "digital port 1" in FIG7. In other words, the 8 REs include 4 (i.e., L ₁ =4) symbols in the time domain and two subcarriers in the frequency domain. In the example shown in FIG7, on the 4 symbols, the superimposed orthogonal cover code (OCC) code encoded by the code sequence corresponding to digital port 0 is "+1" and "-1", and the OCC code encoded by the code sequence corresponding to digital port 1 is "+1" and "+1". That is, two digital ports are corresponding to two OCCs. Since it is an orthogonal OCC code of 2REs in the frequency domain, this code division multiplexing is called FD-CDM2.

It can be understood that the implementation process of orthogonal codes between different digital ports can refer to the description of Table 1 and related implementation examples above.

Mode 2: In the resources of the reference signal, the time domain resources for sending the reference signal by different digital ports among the M digital ports are the same, the frequency domain resources for sending the reference signal by different digital ports among the M digital ports are different, and different digital ports among the M digital ports have no code division multiplexing (no-CDM). In other words, among the M digital ports, the resources of different digital ports are frequency-divided, and the digital ports are distinguished by frequency division.

In a possible implementation of the second method, in the resources of the reference signal, the resources for sending the reference signal by different digital ports among the M digital ports include M different frequency domain units in the frequency domain. Specifically, M is greater than 1, and the frequency domain resources for sending the reference signal by different digital ports among the M digital ports are different, and when there is no code division multiplexing for different digital ports among the M digital ports, the resources for sending the reference signal by different digital ports include M different frequency domain units in the frequency domain. In this way, different digital ports can send reference signals on different frequency domain resources without code division multiplexing, which can improve the flexibility of the implementation of the solution. The frequency domain unit may include one or more subcarriers or REs.

Optionally, the method further includes: the terminal device receives indication information indicating the M different frequency domain units, so that the terminal device specifies the resource location of each frequency domain unit based on the indication information. Optionally, the indication information is carried in the configuration information of the reference signal, or other messages/information/signaling, etc., which are not limited here. For example, the configuration information can configure the starting RE position of each digital port frequency domain, and different digital ports can occupy different frequency domain resources.

As an implementation example of the second method, as shown in FIG8 , the M digital ports include the four digital ports of digital port 0, digital port 1, digital port 2 and digital port 3 in the figure as an example, and the first digital port and the second digital port can be any two different digital ports among the four digital ports. In this example, assuming that each digital port contains two virtual port numbers, assuming that the number of time domain units and the number of virtual ports are the same, each digital port occupies two REs in the time domain, and assuming that each digital port occupies 1 RE in the frequency domain, then each digital port occupies a total of 2 REs, and the four digital ports can occupy the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th frequency domain REs in a resource block (RB) in turn. In the example shown in FIG8 , different digital ports among the M digital ports have no code division multiplexing (no-CDM) (or, code division multiplexing is not used).

Optionally, for the same digital port, the frequency domain resources occupied by the multiple virtual ports included in the same digital port in different time units are the same. In this way, the implementation complexity can be reduced.

Optionally, for different digital ports among the M digital ports, the numbers of virtual ports of the different digital ports may be the same.

Mode 3: In the resources of the reference signal, the M digital ports belong to Q groups of digital ports, each group of digital ports includes one or more digital ports, and Q is a positive integer; wherein the frequency domain resources for sending the reference signal by different groups of digital ports in the Q groups of digital ports are different, the frequency domain resources for sending the reference signal by one or more digital ports included in the same group of digital ports in the Q groups of digital ports are the same, and the one or more digital ports included in the same group of digital ports send code division multiplexing (code division multiplexing, CDM). Optionally, the code division multiplexing type of the one or more digital ports included in the same group of digital ports is frequency domain code division multiplexing.

In a possible implementation of the third method, in the resources of the reference signal, the resources for sending the reference signal by different digital ports among the M digital ports all include the same M frequency domain units in the frequency domain. Specifically, M is greater than 1, and the time domain resources and frequency domain resources for sending the reference signal by different digital ports among the M digital ports are the same, and when different digital ports are code division multiplexed, the resources for sending the reference signal by different digital ports all include the same M frequency domain units in the frequency domain. In this way, different digital ports can send reference signals in a code division multiplexed manner on the same frequency domain unit, and the same frequency domain units can be reused as much as possible to save communication resources and reduce implementation complexity.

As an implementation example of the third method, as shown in FIG9 , the M digital ports include the four digital ports of digital port 0, digital port 1, digital port 2 and digital port 3 in the figure as an example, and the first digital port and the second digital port can be any two different digital ports among the four digital ports. In this example, the M digital ports are first mapped to the measurement resources in ascending order of the OCC sequence index in the CDM group, and then in ascending order of the index of the CDM group. Assume that 2 CDM groups are configured, and each CDM group includes M/2 digital ports. That is, digital ports 0 to M/2-1 belong to the first CDM group (i.e., CDM group 0 including digital port 0 and digital port 1 as shown in the figure), and digital ports M/2 to M belong to the second CDM group (i.e., CDM group 1 including digital port 2 and digital port 3 as shown in the figure).

Moreover, in this example, digital port 0 and digital port 1 occupy the same time-frequency resources, belong to CDM group 0, and the two digital ports use frequency domain code division multiplexing FD-CDM2; digital port 2 and digital port 3 occupy the same time-frequency resources, belong to CDM group 1, and the two digital ports use frequency domain code division multiplexing FD-CDM2; digital port 0 and digital port 1 and digital port 2 and digital port 3 use frequency division resources, that is, they occupy different frequency domain resources. Each digital port contains two virtual ports, occupying two time domain symbols, and each digital port occupies two REs in the frequency domain.

It can be understood that in the example shown in FIG. 9 , on two symbols, different digital ports within the same CDM group can be code-division multiplexed on the same symbol. For example, on the first symbol, in CDM 0, the OCC code encoded by the code sequence corresponding to digital port 0 is "+1" "-1", and the OCC code encoded by the code sequence corresponding to digital port 1 is "+1" "+1"; in CDM 1, the OCC code encoded by the code sequence corresponding to digital port 2 is "+1" "-1", and the OCC code encoded by the code sequence corresponding to digital port 3 is "+1" "+1".

Optionally, in Example 2, when M is greater than 1, the method further includes: the terminal device receives indication information indicating that the resource of the reference signal satisfies one of the above methods 1 to 3. In this way, the terminal device can clarify the resource configuration mode of different digital ports among the M digital ports based on the indication information.

Optionally, the indication information is carried in the configuration information of the reference signal, or other messages/information/signaling, etc., which are not limited here. Alternatively, the terminal device determines by pre-configuration that the resource of the reference signal satisfies one of the above methods 1 to 3.

Please refer to Figure 10. The embodiment of the present application provides a communication device 1000, which can implement the functions of the terminal device (or network device) in the above method embodiment, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects of the above method embodiment. In the embodiment of the present application, the communication device 1000 can be a terminal device (or network device), or an integrated circuit or component inside the terminal device (or network device), such as a chip. The following embodiments are described by taking the communication device 1000 as a terminal device or a network device as an example.

In a possible implementation, when the apparatus 1000 is used to execute the method executed by the terminal device in the aforementioned embodiment, the apparatus 1000 includes a processing unit 1001 and a transceiver unit 1002; the transceiver unit 1002 is used to receive a reference signal, which is sent through M digital ports, where M is a positive integer; wherein the first digital port among the M digital ports includes N ₁ virtual ports, where N ₁ is an integer greater than or equal to 1; the processing unit 1001 is used to determine measurement information, and the transceiver unit 1002 is also used to send measurement information, wherein the measurement information includes first information obtained by measuring based on the reference signal sent by the first digital port; wherein the first information is determined based on N ₁ channel information, wherein the N ₁ channel information is respectively determined by the reference signal sent by the N ₁ virtual ports, and the first information is used to determine the weights of the N ₁ virtual ports in the first digital port.

In a possible implementation, when the device 1000 is used to execute the method executed by the network device in the aforementioned embodiment, the device 1000 includes a processing unit 1001 and a transceiver unit 1002; the processing unit 1001 is used to determine a reference signal, and the transceiver unit is used to send a reference signal, and the reference signal is sent through M digital ports, where M is a positive integer; wherein the first digital port among the M digital ports includes _N1 virtual ports, and _N1 is an integer greater than or equal to 1; the transceiver unit 1002 is also used to receive measurement information, and the measurement information includes first information obtained by measuring the reference signal sent by the first digital port; wherein the first information is determined based on _N1 channel information, and the _N1 channel information is respectively determined by the reference signals sent by the _N1 virtual ports.

It should be noted that the information execution process and other contents of the units of the above-mentioned communication device 1000 can be specifically referred to the description in the method embodiment shown in the above-mentioned application, and will not be repeated here.

Please refer to Fig. 11, which is another schematic structural diagram of a communication device 1100 provided in the present application. The communication device 1100 includes a logic circuit 1101 and an input/output interface 1102. The communication device 1100 may be a chip or an integrated circuit.

The transceiver unit 1002 shown in Figure 10 may be a communication interface, which may be the input/output interface 1102 in Figure 11, which may include an input interface and an output interface. Alternatively, the communication interface may be a transceiver circuit, which may include an input interface circuit and an output interface circuit.

Optionally, the input/output interface 1102 is used to receive a reference signal, which is sent through M digital ports, where M is a positive integer; wherein the first digital port among the M digital ports includes N ₁ virtual ports, where N ₁ is an integer greater than or equal to 1; the logic circuit 1101 is used to determine measurement information, and the input/output interface 1102 is also used to send measurement information, which includes first information obtained by measuring based on the reference signal sent by the first digital port; wherein the first information is determined based on N ₁ channel information, which is respectively determined by the reference signal sent by the N ₁ virtual ports, and the first information is used to determine the weights of the N ₁ virtual ports in the _first digital port. The logic circuit 1101 and the input/output interface 1102 may also perform other steps performed by the terminal device in the aforementioned embodiment and achieve corresponding beneficial effects, which will not be described in detail here.

Optionally, the logic circuit 1101 is used to determine a reference signal, and the transceiver unit is used to send a reference signal, the reference signal is sent through M digital ports, M is a positive integer; wherein the first digital port among the M digital ports includes N ₁ virtual ports, N ₁ is an integer greater than or equal to 1; the input-output interface 1102 is also used to receive measurement information, the measurement information includes first information obtained by measuring based on the reference signal sent by the first digital port; wherein the first information is determined based on N ₁ channel information, and the N ₁ channel information is respectively determined by the reference signal sent by the N ₁ virtual ports. Among them, the logic circuit 1101 and the input-output interface 1102 can also perform other steps performed by the network device in the aforementioned embodiment and achieve corresponding beneficial effects, which will not be repeated here.

In a possible implementation, the processing unit 1001 shown in FIG. 10 may be the logic circuit 1101 in FIG. 11 .

Optionally, the logic circuit 1101 may be a processing device, and the functions of the processing device may be partially or completely implemented by software. The functions of the processing device may be partially or completely implemented by software.

Optionally, the processing device may include a memory and a processor, wherein the memory is used to store a computer program, and the processor reads and executes the computer program stored in the memory to perform corresponding processing and/or steps in any one of the method embodiments.

Alternatively, the processing device may include only a processor. A memory for storing a computer program is located outside the processing device, and the processor is connected to the memory via a circuit/wire to read and execute the computer program stored in the memory. The memory and the processor may be integrated together, or may be physically independent of each other.

Optionally, the processing device may be one or more chips, or one or more integrated circuits. For example, the processing device may be one or more field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), system on chip (SoC), central processor unit (CPU), network processor (NP), digital signal processor (DSP), microcontroller unit (MCU), programmable logic device (PLD) or other integrated chips, or any combination of the above chips or processors.

Please refer to Figure 12, which shows a communication device 1200 involved in the above embodiments provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 1200 can specifically be a communication device as a terminal device in the above embodiments. The example shown in Figure 12 is that the terminal device is implemented through the terminal device (or a component in the terminal device).

Among them, a possible logical structure diagram of the communication device 1200 is shown, and the communication device 1200 may include but is not limited to at least one processor 1201 and a communication port 1202.

Further optionally, the device may also include at least one of a memory 1203 and a bus 1204 . In an embodiment of the present application, the at least one processor 1201 is used to control and process the actions of the communication device 1200 .

In addition, the processor 1201 can be a central processing unit, a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a transistor logic device, a hardware component or any combination thereof. It can implement or execute various exemplary logic blocks, modules and circuits described in conjunction with the disclosure of this application. The processor can also be a combination that implements computing functions, such as a combination of one or more microprocessors, a combination of a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, and the like. Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that for the convenience and simplicity of description, the specific working process of the above-described system, device and unit can refer to the corresponding process in the aforementioned method embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

It should be noted that the communication device 1200 shown in Figure 12 can be specifically used to implement the steps implemented by the terminal device in the aforementioned method embodiment, and to achieve the corresponding technical effects of the terminal device. The specific implementation methods of the communication device shown in Figure 12 can refer to the description in the aforementioned method embodiment, and will not be repeated here one by one.

Please refer to Figure 13, which is a structural diagram of the communication device 1300 involved in the above-mentioned embodiments provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 1300 can specifically be a communication device as a network device in the above-mentioned embodiments. The example shown in Figure 13 is that the network device is implemented through the network device (or a component in the network device), wherein the structure of the communication device can refer to the structure shown in Figure 13.

The communication device 1300 includes at least one processor 1311 and at least one network interface 1314. Further optionally, the communication device also includes at least one memory 1312, at least one transceiver 1313 and one or more antennas 1315. The processor 1311, the memory 1312, the transceiver 1313 and the network interface 1314 are connected, for example, through a bus. In an embodiment of the present application, the connection may include various interfaces, transmission lines or buses, etc., which are not limited in this embodiment. The antenna 1315 is connected to the transceiver 1313. The network interface 1314 is used to enable the communication device to communicate with other communication devices through a communication link. For example, the network interface 1314 may include a network interface between the communication device and the core network device, such as an S1 interface, and the network interface may include a network interface between the communication device and other communication devices (such as other network devices or core network devices), such as an X2 or Xn interface.

The processor 1311 is mainly used to process the communication protocol and communication data, and to control the entire communication device, execute the software program, and process the data of the software program, for example, to support the communication device to perform the actions described in the embodiment. The communication device may include a baseband processor and a central processor. The baseband processor is mainly used to process the communication protocol and communication data, and the central processor is mainly used to control the entire terminal device, execute the software program, and process the data of the software program. The processor 1311 in Figure 13 can integrate the functions of the baseband processor and the central processor. It can be understood by those skilled in the art that the baseband processor and the central processor can also be independent processors, interconnected by technologies such as buses. It can be understood by those skilled in the art that the terminal device can include multiple baseband processors to adapt to different network formats, and the terminal device can include multiple central processors to enhance its processing capabilities. The various components of the terminal device can be connected through various buses. The baseband processor can also be described as a baseband processing circuit or a baseband processing chip. The central processor can also be described as a central processing circuit or a central processing chip. The function of processing the communication protocol and communication data can be built into the processor, or it can be stored in the memory in the form of a software program, and the processor executes the software program to realize the baseband processing function.

The memory is mainly used to store software programs and data. The memory 1312 can exist independently and be connected to the processor 1311. Optionally, the memory 1312 can be integrated with the processor 1311, for example, integrated into a chip. Among them, the memory 1312 can store program codes for executing the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and the execution is controlled by the processor 1311. The various types of computer program codes executed can also be regarded as drivers of the processor 1311.

FIG13 shows only one memory and one processor. In an actual terminal device, there may be multiple processors and multiple memories. The memory may also be referred to as a storage medium or a storage device, etc. The memory may be a storage element on the same chip as the processor, i.e., an on-chip storage element, or an independent storage element, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

The transceiver 1313 can be used to support the reception or transmission of radio frequency signals between the communication device and the terminal, and the transceiver 1313 can be connected to the antenna 1315. The transceiver 1313 includes a transmitter Tx and a receiver Rx. Specifically, one or more antennas 1315 can receive radio frequency signals, and the receiver Rx of the transceiver 1313 is used to receive the radio frequency signal from the antenna, convert the radio frequency signal into a digital baseband signal or a digital intermediate frequency signal, and provide the digital baseband signal or the digital intermediate frequency signal to the processor 1311, so that the processor 1311 further processes the digital baseband signal or the digital intermediate frequency signal, such as demodulation and decoding. In addition, the transmitter Tx in the transceiver 1313 is also used to receive a modulated digital baseband signal or a digital intermediate frequency signal from the processor 1311, and convert the modulated digital baseband signal or the digital intermediate frequency signal into a radio frequency signal, and send the radio frequency signal through one or more antennas 1315. Specifically, the receiver Rx can selectively perform one or more stages of down-mixing and analog-to-digital conversion processing on the RF signal to obtain a digital baseband signal or a digital intermediate frequency signal, and the order of the down-mixing and analog-to-digital conversion processing is adjustable. The transmitter Tx can selectively perform one or more stages of up-mixing and digital-to-analog conversion processing on the modulated digital baseband signal or digital intermediate frequency signal to obtain a RF signal, and the order of the up-mixing and digital-to-analog conversion processing is adjustable. The digital baseband signal and the digital intermediate frequency signal can be collectively referred to as a digital signal.

The transceiver 1313 may also be referred to as a transceiver unit, a transceiver, a transceiver device, etc. Optionally, a device in the transceiver unit for implementing a receiving function may be regarded as a receiving unit, and a device in the transceiver unit for implementing a sending function may be regarded as a sending unit, that is, the transceiver unit includes a receiving unit and a sending unit, the receiving unit may also be referred to as a receiver, an input port, a receiving circuit, etc., and the sending unit may be referred to as a transmitter, a transmitter, or a transmitting circuit, etc.

It should be noted that the communication device 1300 shown in Figure 13 can be specifically used to implement the steps implemented by the network equipment in the aforementioned method embodiment, and to achieve the corresponding technical effects of the network equipment. The specific implementation methods of the communication device 1300 shown in Figure 13 can refer to the description in the aforementioned method embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing one or more computer-executable instructions. When the computer-executable instructions are executed by a processor, the processor executes the method described in the possible implementation method of the communication device (such as a terminal device or a network device) in the above-mentioned embodiment.

An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product (or computer program). When the computer program product is executed by the processor, the processor executes a method that may be implemented by the above-mentioned communication device (such as a terminal device or a network device).

The embodiment of the present application also provides a chip system, which includes at least one processor for supporting a communication device to implement the functions involved in the possible implementation methods of the above-mentioned communication device. Optionally, the chip system also includes an interface circuit, which provides program instructions and/or data for the at least one processor. In one possible design, the chip system may also include a memory, which is used to store the necessary program instructions and data for the communication device. The chip system can be composed of chips, or it can include chips and other discrete devices, wherein the communication device can specifically be a terminal device or a network device in the aforementioned method embodiment.

An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication system, and the network system architecture includes the terminal device and network device in any of the above embodiments.

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 the units is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation, such as 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 an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, 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 shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed on multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application can be integrated into a processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit. The above-mentioned integrated unit can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of a software functional unit. If the integrated unit is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application is essentially or the part that contributes or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product is stored in a storage medium, including several instructions to enable a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: U disk, mobile hard disk, read-only memory (ROM, Read-Only Memory), random access memory (RAM, Random Access Memory), disk or optical disk and other media that can store program code.

Claims (26)

A communication method, comprising: receiving a reference signal, wherein the reference signal is sent through M digital ports, where M is a positive integer; wherein a first digital port among the M digital ports includes _N1 virtual ports, where _N1 is an integer greater than or equal to 1; Send measurement information, the measurement information comprising first information obtained by measuring based on a reference signal sent by the first digital port; wherein the first information is determined based on N ₁ channel information, the N ₁ channel information is respectively determined by the reference signals sent by the N ₁ virtual ports, and the first information is used to determine the weights of the N ₁ virtual ports in the first digital port. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the weights of the N ₁ virtual ports in the first digital port are obtained by a first weight vector, and the first weight vector includes N ₁ elements; The N ₁ virtual ports correspond to N ₁ antenna array sets respectively, each of the antenna array sets includes one or more antenna arrays, and the N ₁ elements are used to adjust the phases of the N ₁ antenna array sets respectively. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The weights of the N ₁ virtual ports in the first digital port are obtained by a first weight vector, including: The weights of the N ₁ virtual ports in the first digital port are obtained through the first weight vector and the second weight vector, and the second weight vector includes N ₁ sub-vectors; wherein the dimension of the T-th sub-vector in the N ₁ sub-vectors is the same as the number of antenna arrays in the T- _th antenna array set in the N 1 antenna array sets, and the value of T is 1 to N ₁ . The method according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the first information satisfies any of the following: The first information includes a quantization processing result of the first weight vector; The first information includes a quantization processing result corresponding to a difference between one of the N _{1 elements corresponding to one of the N 1 virtual} ports and N ₁ -1 elements of the N ₁ elements corresponding to other N ₁ -1 virtual ports except the one of the virtual ports and the one element; The first information includes a first index and a second index, and the first index and the second index are used to determine a first weight vector of the first digital port in one or more weight vectors included in a codebook set; wherein the first index is a codebook index on a first dimension, and the second index is a codebook index on a second dimension, and in the one or more weight vectors included in the codebook set, each weight vector is determined by a weight on the first dimension and a weight on the second dimension; The first information includes a third index, and the third index is used to determine a first weight vector of the first digital port among one or more weight vectors included in a codebook set. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that the method further comprises: Receive second information, where the second information is used to determine the codebook set, where the codebook set is determined by port information of a virtual port in one or more digital ports, where the port information of the virtual port in any digital port includes at least one of the following: The number of virtual ports included in the digital port is N ₁ ; The number of virtual ports in the first dimension of the digital port is M ₁ ; The number of virtual ports in the second dimension of the digital port is M ₂ ; The oversampling factor in the first dimension of the digital port is O ₁ ; The oversampling factor in the second dimension of the digital port is O ₂ . The method according to claim 5, characterized in that the second information satisfies at least one of the following: The second information includes port information of the virtual port included in the first digital port; The second information includes a fourth index, and the fourth index is used to determine the port information of the virtual port included in the first digital port in the port information of one or more preconfigured or predefined virtual ports; The second information includes a fifth index, wherein the fifth index is used to determine the Codebook collection; The second information is used to indicate some items in the port information of the virtual port included in the first digital port, and other items in the port information of the virtual port included in the first digital port are determined by the partial items and the port information of one or more pre-configured virtual ports; The second information is used to indicate port information of a virtual port included in the first digital port, and the port information of the virtual port is used to determine the codebook set from one or more preconfigured or predefined codebook sets. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the measurement information includes the M information and/or the K information; The M pieces of information are respectively used to determine the weights of the virtual ports in the M digital ports; one of the M pieces of information is the first information; The K pieces of information are respectively used to determine the weights of the virtual ports in the K groups of digital ports, wherein each group of digital ports in the K groups of digital ports includes one or more digital ports in the M digital ports, and K is a positive integer less than or equal to M; and one of the K pieces of information is the first information. The method according to claim 7, wherein the measurement information satisfies any of the following: When the rank number of the reference signal satisfies the first condition, the measurement information includes the M pieces of information; When the rank number of the reference signal satisfies the second condition, the measurement information includes the K pieces of information; When the channel quality information CQI of the reference signal satisfies a third condition, the measurement information includes the M pieces of information; When the CQI of the reference signal satisfies a fourth condition, the measurement information includes the K pieces of information. The method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the method further comprises: Indication information indicating that the measurement information includes the M information and/or the K information is received. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 9 is characterized in that, in one or more digital ports included in each group of digital ports in the K groups of digital ports, port information of virtual ports of different digital ports is the same. A communication method, comprising: Sending a reference signal, wherein the reference signal is sent through M digital ports, where M is a positive integer; wherein a first digital port among the M digital ports includes _N1 virtual ports, where _N1 is an integer greater than or equal to 1; Receive measurement information, the measurement information comprising first information measured based on a reference signal sent by the first digital port; wherein the first information is determined based on N ₁ channel information, and the N ₁ channel information is respectively determined by the reference signals sent by the N ₁ virtual ports. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that the weights of the N ₁ virtual ports in the first digital port are obtained by a first weight vector, and the first weight vector includes N ₁ elements; The N ₁ virtual ports correspond to N ₁ antenna array sets respectively, each of the antenna array sets includes one or more antenna arrays, and the N ₁ elements are used to adjust the phases of the N ₁ antenna array sets respectively. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The weights of the N ₁ virtual ports in the first digital port are obtained by a first weight vector, including: The weights of the N ₁ virtual ports in the first digital port are obtained through the first weight vector and the second weight vector, and the second weight vector includes N ₁ sub-vectors; wherein the dimension of the T-th sub-vector in the N ₁ sub-vectors is the same as the number of antenna arrays in the T- _th antenna array set in the N 1 antenna array sets, and the value of T is 1 to N ₁ . The method according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that the first information satisfies any of the following: The first information includes a quantization processing result of the first weight vector; The first information includes a quantization processing result corresponding to a difference between one of the N _{1 elements corresponding to one of the N 1 virtual} ports and N ₁ -1 elements of the N ₁ elements corresponding to other N ₁ -1 virtual ports except the one of the virtual ports and the one element; The first information includes a first index and a second index, and the first index and the second index are used to determine a first weight vector of the first digital port in one or more weight vectors included in a codebook set; wherein the first index is a codebook index on a first dimension, and the second index is a codebook index on a second dimension, and in the one or more weight vectors included in the codebook set, each weight vector is determined by a weight on the first dimension and a weight on the second dimension; The first information includes a third index, and the third index is used to determine a first weight vector of the first digital port among one or more weight vectors included in a codebook set. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that the method further comprises: Sending second information, where the second information is used to determine the codebook set, where the codebook set is determined by port information of a virtual port in one or more digital ports, where the port information of the virtual port in any digital port includes at least one of the following: The number of virtual ports included in the digital port is N ₁ ; The number of virtual ports in the first dimension of the digital port is M ₁ ; The number of virtual ports in the second dimension of the digital port is M ₂ ; The oversampling factor in the first dimension of the digital port is O ₁ ; The oversampling factor in the second dimension of the digital port is O ₂ . The method according to claim 15, characterized in that the second information satisfies at least one of the following: The second information includes port information of the virtual port included in the first digital port; The second information includes a fourth index, and the fourth index is used to determine the port information of the virtual port included in the first digital port in the port information of one or more preconfigured or predefined virtual ports; The second information includes a fifth index, where the fifth index is used to determine the codebook set in one or more preconfigured or predefined codebook sets; The second information is used to indicate some items in the port information of the virtual port included in the first digital port, and other items in the port information of the virtual port included in the first digital port are determined by the partial items and the port information of one or more pre-configured virtual ports; The second information is used to indicate port information of a virtual port included in the first digital port, and the port information of the virtual port is used to determine the codebook set from one or more preconfigured or predefined codebook sets. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 16, characterized in that the measurement information includes the M information and/or the K information; The M pieces of information are respectively used to determine the weights of the virtual ports in the M digital ports; one of the M pieces of information is the first information; The K pieces of information are respectively used to determine the weights of the virtual ports in the K groups of digital ports, wherein each group of digital ports in the K groups of digital ports includes one or more digital ports in the M digital ports, and K is a positive integer less than or equal to M; and one of the K pieces of information is the first information. The method according to claim 17, wherein the measurement information satisfies any of the following: When the rank number of the reference signal satisfies the first condition, the measurement information includes the M pieces of information; When the rank number of the reference signal satisfies the second condition, the measurement information includes the K pieces of information; When the channel quality information CQI of the reference signal satisfies a third condition, the measurement information includes the M pieces of information; When the CQI of the reference signal satisfies a fourth condition, the measurement information includes the K pieces of information. The method according to claim 17 or 18, characterized in that the method further comprises: Sending indication information indicating that the measurement information includes the M information and/or the K information. The method according to any one of claims 17 to 19 is characterized in that, in one or more digital ports included in each group of digital ports in the K groups of digital ports, port information of virtual ports of different digital ports is the same. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 20, characterized in that the measurement information satisfies at least one of the following: The measurement information is measurement information corresponding to a first carrier, and the measurement information is used to determine a weight of a virtual port of M digital ports corresponding to the first carrier, where the first carrier includes one or more carriers; The measurement information is measurement information corresponding to a first bandwidth part BWP, and the measurement information is used to determine the weights of the virtual ports of the M digital ports corresponding to the first BWP, wherein the first BWP includes one or more BWPs; The measurement information is measurement information corresponding to a first bandwidth, and the measurement information is used to determine weights of virtual ports of M digital ports corresponding to the first bandwidth, wherein the first bandwidth includes one or more sub-bands. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 21 is characterized in that the reference signal is sent through L ₁ first weights in L ₁ time units respectively, and L ₁ is an integer greater than 1; the i-th first weight among the L ₁ first weights is obtained through the i-th second weight and the third weight among the L ₁ second weights, and the L ₁ second weights are orthogonal, and the value of i is 1 to L ₁ . A communication device, characterized by comprising a module for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 22. A communication device, characterized in that it comprises at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is coupled to a memory; the at least one processor is used to execute the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 22. The communication device according to claim 24 is characterized in that the communication device is a chip or a chip system. A readable storage medium, characterized in that a computer program or instruction is stored in the storage medium, and when the computer program or instruction is executed by a communication device, the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 22 is implemented.