CN117675096A

CN117675096A - Communication method and related device

Info

Publication number: CN117675096A
Application number: CN202211043601.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 罗之虎; 吴毅凌; 金哲
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-08-26
Filing date: 2022-08-26
Publication date: 2024-03-08
Also published as: WO2024041453A1

Abstract

The embodiment of the application discloses a communication method and a related device, wherein the method comprises the following steps: generating a first signal for performing at least one of the following functions: cell search, time synchronization, frequency synchronization, time tracking, frequency tracking, and measurement; and transmitting the first signal. In the embodiment of the application, the first signal is received in an envelope detection manner. The power consumption can be reduced by transmitting a first signal supporting reception by means of envelope detection so that a receiving device receives the first signal by means of envelope detection and uses the first signal for at least one function of cell search, time synchronization, frequency synchronization, time tracking, frequency tracking, measurement.

Description

Communication method and related device

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a communication method and related apparatus.

Background

With the popularity of 5G new air interface (NR) systems, machine-type communication (MTC), and internet of things (Internet of things, ioT) communications, more and more IoT devices have been deployed in people's lives. For example: intelligent water meters, shared bicycles, smart cities, environmental monitoring, smart homes, forest fire protection and other devices targeting sensing and data acquisition, and the like. In the future, ioT devices will be ubiquitous, potentially embedded in each garment, each package, each key, and almost all offline items will be online with the internet of things technology enabled. At the same time, however, the process of implementing the internet of things also presents a small challenge to the industry due to the wide and numerous distribution ranges of IoT devices, which is the power supply problem at first. Currently, ioT is still largely driven by operators, and IoT modules need to communicate with base stations using standard cellular protocols. Because the base station needs to cover as large an area as possible, the IoT module needs to be able to still communicate when far from the base station, which still requires up to 30mA of current consumption when the IoT device is in wireless communication, so the current IoT module still needs to use a battery with higher capacity to work, which also makes the IoT module difficult to be small in size and increases the cost of the IoT device.

In addition, some low-power terminals play an important role in medical treatment, smart home, industrial sensors, wearable devices and other internet of things applications. However, since such terminals are limited in size, it is difficult to achieve this by increasing the battery capacity if the operation time of the terminals is to be prolonged. To achieve extended endurance of the terminal, power consumption of wireless communication needs to be reduced. Among them, the radio transceiver is one of the most power consuming components. There is therefore a need to investigate how to reduce the power consumption of the radio transceiver on the terminal.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application discloses a communication method and a related device, which can reduce the power consumption of a terminal.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, including: generating a first signal for performing at least one of the following functions: cell search, time synchronization, frequency synchronization, time tracking, frequency tracking, measurement (e.g., channel measurement); and transmitting the first signal. Optionally, the first signal is supported for reception by means of envelope detection. Alternatively, each of the first signals adopts a modulation scheme supporting envelope detection. The first signal may be regarded as a signal specifically designed for a low power consumption receiver for performing at least one of the functions of cell search, time synchronization, frequency synchronization, time tracking, frequency tracking, measurement. In the application, the low-power consumption receiver can adopt the envelope detector to complete the down-conversion operation, so as to obtain the baseband signal. Alternatively, the low power receiver does not employ a voltage controlled oscillator that provides an accurate local oscillator signal. In this application, the first signal may be referred to as a Beacon signal, or a synchronization broadcast signal, or a reference signal, etc., which is not limited in this application.

In the embodiment of the application, the power consumption can be reduced by sending the first signal so that the receiving device receives the first signal and utilizing the first signal to realize at least one function of cell search, time synchronization, frequency synchronization, time tracking, frequency tracking and measurement.

In one possible implementation, the first signal supports receiving in an incoherent manner, or converting from radio frequency or intermediate frequency to baseband in an incoherent manner. For example, the incoherent approach may be envelope detection.

In this implementation, the first signal supports receiving in an incoherent manner or converting from radio frequency or intermediate frequency to baseband in an incoherent manner; so that the receiving device successfully receives the first signal by using the low power consumption receiver, the power consumption can be reduced.

In one possible implementation manner, the modulation mode of the first signal is any one of on-off keying (OOK), amplitude keying (amplitude shift keying, ASK), frequency-shift keying (FSK). Amplitude keying is also known as amplitude shift keying.

In this implementation, the modulation mode of the first signal is any one of OOK, ASK, FSK, so that the receiving device can successfully receive the first signal by using the low-power-consumption receiver, and power consumption can be reduced.

In one possible implementation, the first signal includes a second signal that is a preamble or a primary synchronization signal and/or a third signal that is a secondary synchronization signal (secondary synchronization signal, SSS) or a physical broadcast channel (physical broadcast channel, PBCH).

In this implementation, the first signal comprises the second signal and/or the third signal in order to achieve any one of the functions of cell search, time synchronization, frequency synchronization, time tracking, frequency tracking, measurement.

In a possible implementation manner, the first signal includes the second signal and the third signal, the second signal is generated by a base sequence through repetition or spreading, and a starting time domain position of the third signal is determined according to an ending position of a maximum time domain length supported by the second signal.

In this implementation, the starting time domain position of the third signal is determined according to the end position of the maximum time domain length supported by the second signal, so that the problem that the sending device and the receiving device are inconsistent with respect to understanding of the time domain end position of the second signal can be avoided, so as to correctly receive the third signal.

In one possible implementation manner, the third signal is used to indicate at least one of a repetition number of the second signal, a coverage level corresponding to the second signal, a spreading factor corresponding to the second signal, and a time domain length of the second signal.

In this implementation, it is further ensured that the sending device and the receiving device are consistent with respect to an understanding of the time domain end position of the second signal.

In one possible implementation manner, the first signal includes a second signal and a third signal, the second signal is used for implementing time synchronization or frequency synchronization, and the third signal carries at least one of the following: the method comprises the steps of identifying information, period information, a first frame number, a first superframe number, a first period index and a second period index, wherein the identifying information is a cell identifier or an identifier of a transmitting device, the period information is a period of the transmitting device transmitting the first signal, the first frame number is a frame number of one frame in a plurality of frames occupied by the first signal, the first superframe number is a superframe number of a superframe where the first signal is located, the first period index is an index of the period of the first signal in one superframe, and the second period index is an index of a paging period where the first signal is located in one superframe or a paging time window.

In this implementation, the third signal carries at least one of: identification information, period information, a first frame number, a first superframe number, a first period index, and a second period index; so that the receiving device obtains the corresponding parameters.

In one possible implementation, the second signal carries no information.

The receiving device (which may be referred to as a receiving device) needs to acquire time and/or frequency synchronization via the second signal before communicating with the transmitting device (which may be referred to as a transmitting device). Thus, the second signal may be considered as the first step of the receiving device and the transmitting device establishing communication, where the time and frequency of the receiving device and the transmitting device are not yet synchronized, and the receiving device needs to perform correlation operations over a large time and frequency range in order to correctly detect the second signal. In order to reduce the complexity of the receiving device to detect the second signal, the second signal may not carry information, and after the receiving device acquires time and/or frequency synchronization by using the second signal, it is no longer necessary to perform correlation operations in a larger time and frequency range, where there is no problem of detection complexity. In this implementation, the second signal does not carry information, and after time and/or frequency synchronization is obtained by using the second signal, correlation operation is not required to be performed in a larger time and frequency range, and no problem of complexity of detection exists.

In a possible implementation manner, the third signal includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the first signal includes or does not include the downlink data. Or, the first indication information is used for indicating whether downlink data is included after the end position of the third signal. Or, the downlink data includes second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the first signal includes or does not include the third signal.

In this implementation, the receiving device may be enabled to accurately distinguish whether there is an overlap in the time domain between the first signal and the downlink data. Or, the receiving device is enabled to accurately distinguish whether the first signal includes downlink data.

In one possible implementation manner, the first signal includes a second signal, a third signal, and downlink data, where the second signal is a preamble signal or a primary synchronization signal, the third signal is a secondary synchronization signal SSS or PBCH, and the third signal is used as a preamble signal of the downlink data. The third signal as a preamble of the downlink data may be replaced with: and the preamble signal of the downlink data is used as a main synchronous signal. When the first signal and the downlink data overlap in the time domain, the first signal and the downlink data may be multiplexed together. The third signal is used as the preamble signal of the downlink data, so that the overhead of the preamble signal can be saved. Alternatively, the third signal is used as a preamble signal of the downlink data, so that the overhead of the second signal can be saved.

In this implementation, the third signal is used as a preamble of the downlink data, so that overhead of the preamble can be saved.

In a possible implementation, the third signal is in the form of a sequence, e.g. SSS, the sequence of the third signal being used to indicate whether the first signal comprises or does not comprise the third signal. It will be appreciated that the third signal indicates whether the first signal has downstream data or not by a different sequence.

In this implementation, the sequence of the third signal is used to indicate that the first signal includes or does not include the third signal, which may enable the receiving device to accurately distinguish whether there is an overlap between the first signal and the downlink data in the time domain.

In a possible implementation manner, the third signal is in a data form after being coded and modulated, and a different status value of a field in the third signal indicates whether the first signal has downlink data. That is, when the third signal is in the form of coded and modulated data, such as PBCH, it may indicate whether there is downlink data by a state value different from one field.

In this implementation, the different status value of one field in the third signal indicates whether the first signal has downlink data, which may enable the receiving device to accurately distinguish whether the first signal and the downlink data overlap in the time domain.

In one possible implementation, the bandwidth of the guard band of the first signal is greater than or equal to the bandwidth of the guard band of the downstream data.

The low power consumption receiver has a larger frequency offset of the ring oscillator providing the local oscillator signal if it adopts an indefinite intermediate frequency structure. To ensure that the receiving device receives the first signal correctly, a larger guard band needs to be reserved on both sides of the first signal. After the receiving device receives the first signal, after frequency calibration (including frequency deviation estimation and compensation) is completed according to the first signal, the frequency offset of the ring oscillator is improved, and at this time, the downlink data can adopt a smaller guard band so as to refer to the utilization rate of spectrum resources.

In one possible implementation, the transmitting the first signal includes: and transmitting a plurality of first signals on a plurality of frequency units or a plurality of time domain units, wherein any two of the plurality of first signals correspond to different coverage levels, repetition levels or spreading factors, and the plurality of first signals are used for determining a measurement quantity by receiving equipment, and the measurement quantity is the lowest coverage level, the minimum repetition number or the minimum spreading factor of the first signals when a preset condition is met. It should be noted that in the expression of a plurality of said first signals, the first signals are generic terms, and the plurality of first signals fulfil the signal features in any claim, but not the same signal. For example, the modulation modes of the plurality of first signals are OOK or FSK, and any two of the plurality of first signals correspond to different coverage levels, repetition levels or spreading factors.

In this implementation, a plurality of first signals are transmitted over a plurality of frequency units or a plurality of time domain units, such that the receiving device determines the measurement quantity from the plurality of first signals.

In one possible implementation, the transmitting the first signal includes: transmitting the first signal according to the highest coverage level, the maximum number of repetitions or the maximum spreading factor; the first signal is used for determining a measurement quantity by a receiving device, and the measurement quantity is the lowest coverage level, the minimum repetition number or the minimum spreading factor of the first signal when a preset condition is met.

In this implementation, the first signal is transmitted at a highest coverage level, a maximum number of repetitions, or a maximum spreading factor, such that the receiving device determines the measurement from the first signal.

In a possible implementation manner, the preset condition is that the receiving device correctly detects the first signal, or the preset condition is that the receiving device correctly detects the first signal under a preset configuration assumption, or the preset condition is that a first index is less than or equal to a threshold under the preset configuration assumption, and the first index is at least one of the following: the block error rate of the first signal, the packet error rate of the first signal, the omission factor of the first signal, the error rate of the first signal and the false alarm rate of the first signal.

In this embodiment, the measurement variable can be determined accurately from the first signal by the preset condition.

In one possible implementation, before generating the first signal, the method further includes: and determining the format of the second signal according to the load condition or the resource occupation condition of the second signal.

The second signals may be in different formats in consideration of different distances between the receiving device and the transmitting device, and the channel conditions are different, and the second signals in different formats respectively correspond to different channel conditions. Or, the second signals in different formats respectively correspond to different coverage levels. Alternatively, the second signals in different formats respectively correspond to different repetition levels. The second signals of different formats may be sequences of different lengths. Alternatively, the second signals of different formats may be different repetition times in the same sequence. Alternatively, the second signals of different formats are different spreading factors under the same sequence.

In this implementation, the format of the second signal to be transmitted is determined according to the load situation or the resource occupation situation of the second signal, so as to meet the requirements of different communication scenarios.

In one possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving first capability information from a receiving device; the first capability information may include at least one of: whether energy harvesting is supported, whether low power receivers are supported, whether backscatter communications are supported; and communicating with the receiving device according to the first capability information.

In this implementation, communication is performed according to the first capability information from the receiving device, so that communication quality can be improved.

In one possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving first capability information from a receiving device, the first capability information indicating that the receiving device supports a low power consumption receiver; the generating a first signal includes: and generating the first signal according to the first capability information.

In the implementation method, a first signal is generated according to first capability information; the power consumption can be reduced.

In a second aspect, embodiments of the present application provide another communication method, including: receiving a first signal; at least one of the following functions is implemented using the first signal: cell search, time synchronization, frequency synchronization, time tracking, frequency tracking, measurement (e.g., channel measurement). Optionally, the first signal is received by means of envelope detection. The execution subject of the communication method of the second aspect is a receiving apparatus. Alternatively, the communication method of the second aspect is performed by a transmitting apparatus having a legacy receiver and a low power consumption receiver, but only the low power consumption receiver is currently in an on state, and the legacy receiver is in an off state. Optionally, the communication method of the second aspect is performed by a receiving device having only a low power consumption receiver. It will be appreciated that the receiving device may implement the communication method of the second aspect by means of a low power receiver in order to reduce power consumption.

In the embodiment of the application, the first signal is received, and at least one function of cell search, time synchronization, frequency synchronization, time tracking, frequency tracking and measurement is realized by using the first signal, so that the power consumption can be reduced.

In one possible implementation, the first signal supports receiving in an incoherent manner, or converting from radio frequency or intermediate frequency to baseband in an incoherent manner. For example, the incoherent approach may be envelope detection. The receiving of the first signal may be: the first signal is received in an incoherent manner or converted from radio frequency or intermediate frequency to baseband in an incoherent manner. Alternatively, the first signal is received with a low power receiver.

In one possible implementation, the first signal includes a second signal and/or a third signal, where the second signal is a preamble signal or a primary synchronization signal, and the third signal is a secondary synchronization signal SSS or a physical broadcast channel PBCH.

In this implementation, the first signal includes the second signal and/or the third signal, with which any one of the functions of cell search, time synchronization, frequency synchronization, time tracking, frequency tracking, measurement can be achieved.

In this implementation, the third signal carries at least one of: identification information, period information, a first frame number, a first superframe number, a first period index, and a second period index; the receiving device can obtain corresponding parameters according to the third signal.

In one possible implementation, the second signal carries no information.

In this implementation, the second signal does not carry information, and after the receiving device acquires time and/or frequency synchronization by using the second signal, it is no longer necessary to perform correlation operations in a larger time and frequency range, and there is no problem of complexity in detection.

In a possible implementation manner, the third signal includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the first signal includes or does not include the downlink data, or the downlink data includes second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the first signal includes or does not include the third signal.

In this implementation, the receiving device may accurately distinguish whether there is overlap in the time domain between the first signal and the downstream data. Alternatively, the receiving device may accurately distinguish whether the first signal includes downlink data.

In one possible implementation manner, the first signal includes a second signal, a third signal, and downlink data, where the second signal is a preamble signal or a primary synchronization signal, the third signal is a secondary synchronization signal SSS or PBCH, and the third signal is used as a preamble signal of the downlink data.

In a possible implementation, the third signal is in the form of a sequence, e.g. SSS, the sequence of the third signal being used to indicate whether the first signal comprises or does not comprise the third signal.

In this implementation, the sequence of the third signal is used to indicate that the first signal includes or does not include the third signal, and the receiving device may accurately distinguish whether there is overlap between the first signal and the downlink data in the time domain.

In a possible implementation manner, the third signal is in a data form after being coded and modulated, and a different status value of a field in the third signal indicates whether the first signal has downlink data.

In this implementation, the different status values of one field in the third signal indicate whether the first signal has downlink data, and the receiving device can accurately distinguish whether there is overlap between the first signal and the downlink data in the time domain.

In one possible implementation, the receiving the first signal includes: receiving a plurality of the first signals on a plurality of frequency units or a plurality of time domain units, any two of the plurality of first signals corresponding to different coverage levels, repetition levels or spreading factors; and when the preset condition is met, the lowest coverage level, the minimum repetition number or the minimum spreading factor of the first signal is used as a measurement quantity.

In the implementation manner, a plurality of first signals are received on a plurality of frequency units or a plurality of time domain units, and when preset conditions are met, the lowest coverage level, the minimum repetition number or the minimum spreading factor of the first signals are used as measurement quantities; the measurement quantity can be accurately determined.

In one possible implementation, the first signal is sent by the sending device according to a highest coverage level, a maximum number of repetitions, or a maximum spreading factor; said receiving said first signal comprises: and when the preset condition is met, the lowest coverage level, the minimum repetition number or the minimum spreading factor of the first signal is used as a measurement quantity.

In this implementation, when the preset condition is met, the lowest coverage level, the minimum repetition number or the minimum spreading factor of the first signal is taken as the measurement quantity, so that the receiving device can realize channel measurement.

In one possible implementation, the method further includes: transmitting first capability information to a transmitting device, the first capability information may include at least one of: whether energy harvesting is supported, whether low power receivers are supported, and whether backscatter communications are supported.

In this implementation, the first capability information is sent to the sending device for better communication with the sending device.

In one possible implementation, the method further includes: first capability information is sent to a sending device, the first capability information indicating that the receiving device supports a low power consumption receiver.

In this implementation, the first capability information is sent to the sending device in order to save power consumption.

In one possible way, the maximum upstream bandwidth supported by the receiving device does not exceed X1.

In another possible way, the maximum downlink bandwidth supported by the receiving device does not exceed Y1.

In one possible way, the number of transmit antennas supported by the receiving device does not exceed X2.

In another possible way, the number of branches of the transmit antennas supported by the receiving device does not exceed X3.

In another possible way, the number of receive antennas supported by the receiving device does not exceed Y2.

In another possible way, the number of branches of the transmit antennas supported by the receiving device does not exceed Y3.

In a third aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication device having a function of implementing the actions in the method embodiments of the first aspect described above. The communication device (transmission apparatus) may be a communication apparatus, a component (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system) of a communication apparatus, or a logic module or software that can realize all or part of the functions of the communication apparatus. The functions of the communication device may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by executing corresponding software by hardware, where the hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the functions described above. In one possible implementation, the communication device includes a processing module and a transceiver module, where: the processing module is configured to generate a first signal, where the first signal is configured to implement at least one of the following functions: cell search, time synchronization, frequency synchronization, time tracking, frequency tracking, and measurement; the transceiver module is configured to send the first signal.

In one possible implementation manner, the transceiver module is specifically configured to send a plurality of first signals on a plurality of frequency units or a plurality of time domain units, where any two of the plurality of first signals correspond to different coverage levels, repetition levels or spreading factors, and the plurality of first signals are used by a receiving device to determine a measurement quantity, where the measurement quantity is a minimum coverage level, a minimum repetition number or a minimum spreading factor of the first signals when a preset condition is met.

In a possible implementation manner, the transceiver module is specifically configured to send the first signal according to a highest coverage level, a maximum repetition number or a maximum spreading factor; the first signal is used for determining a measurement quantity by a receiving device, and the measurement quantity is the lowest coverage level, the minimum repetition number or the minimum spreading factor of the first signal when a preset condition is met.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing module is further configured to determine a format of the second signal according to a load situation or a resource occupation situation of the processing module.

Possible implementations of the communication device of the third aspect may be seen in the various possible implementations of the first aspect.

With respect to the technical effects brought about by the various possible implementations of the third aspect, reference may be made to the description of the technical effects of the first aspect or of the various possible implementations of the first aspect.

In a fourth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication device having a function of implementing the behavior in the method embodiments of the second aspect described above. The communication device (transmission apparatus) may be a communication apparatus, a component (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system) of a communication apparatus, or a logic module or software that can realize all or part of the functions of the communication apparatus. The functions of the communication device may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by executing corresponding software by hardware, where the hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the functions described above. In one possible implementation, the communication device includes a processing module and a transceiver module, where: the receiving and transmitting module is used for receiving the first signal; the processing module is configured to implement at least one of the following functions using the first signal: cell search, time synchronization, frequency synchronization, time tracking, frequency tracking, and measurement.

In a possible implementation manner, the transceiver module is specifically configured to receive a plurality of the first signals on a plurality of frequency units or a plurality of time domain units, where any two of the plurality of first signals correspond to different coverage levels, repetition levels or spreading factors; the processing module is further configured to use, as a measurement quantity, a lowest coverage level, a minimum repetition number, or a minimum spreading factor of the first signal when a preset condition is satisfied.

In one possible implementation, the first signal is sent by the sending device according to a highest coverage level, a maximum number of repetitions, or a maximum spreading factor; the processing module is further configured to use, as a measurement quantity, a lowest coverage level, a minimum repetition number, or a minimum spreading factor of the first signal when a preset condition is satisfied.

Possible implementations of the communication device of the fourth aspect may be seen in the various possible implementations of the second aspect.

With respect to the technical effects brought about by the various possible implementations of the fourth aspect, reference may be made to the description of the technical effects of the second aspect or of the various possible implementations of the second aspect.

In a fifth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide another communications apparatus comprising a processor coupled to a memory for storing a program or instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the communications apparatus to perform the method shown in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or cause the communications apparatus to perform the method shown in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

In the embodiments of the present application, in the process of executing the above method, the process of sending information (or signals) in the above method may be understood as a process of outputting information based on instructions of a processor. In outputting the information, the processor outputs the information to the transceiver for transmission by the transceiver. This information, after being output by the processor, may also need to be subjected to other processing before reaching the transceiver. Similarly, when the processor receives input information, the transceiver receives the information and inputs it to the processor. Further, after the transceiver receives the information, the information may need to be further processed before being input to the processor.

Operations such as sending and/or receiving, etc., referred to by a processor, may be generally understood as processor-based instruction output if not specifically stated or if not contradicted by actual or inherent logic in the relevant description.

In implementation, the processor may be a processor dedicated to performing the methods, or may be a processor that executes computer instructions in a memory to perform the methods, such as a general-purpose processor. For example, the processor may also be configured to execute a program stored in the memory, which when executed, causes the communication device to perform the method as described above in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect.

In one possible implementation, the memory is located outside the communication device. In one possible implementation, the memory is located within the communication device.

In one possible implementation, the processor and the memory may also be integrated in one device, i.e. the processor and the memory may also be integrated together.

In one possible implementation, the communication device further comprises a transceiver for receiving signals or transmitting signals, etc.

In a sixth aspect, the present application provides another communication device comprising processing circuitry and interface circuitry for acquiring data or outputting data; the processing circuitry is to perform the method as shown in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect or to perform the method as shown in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a computer readable storage medium having stored therein a computer program comprising program instructions which when executed cause a computer to perform a method as shown in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect or a method as shown in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product comprising a computer program comprising program instructions which when executed cause a computer to perform a method as shown in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect or to perform a method as shown in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a communication system, including a communication device according to any possible implementation manner of the third aspect or the third aspect, and a communication device according to any possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect or the fourth aspect.

In a tenth aspect, the present application provides a chip comprising a processor and a communication interface, the processor reading instructions stored on a memory via the communication interface, performing a method as described in any of the above first aspect to the above sixth aspect, or performing a method as described in any possible implementation of the above second aspect or second aspect.

Drawings

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

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a low power receiver based on a radio frequency tuning structure;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a low power receiver based on an indefinite intermediate frequency architecture;

FIG. 3 is an example of a schematic structural diagram of an SSB;

fig. 4 is an example of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a flowchart of a communication interaction method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic frame structure of a first signal according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic frame structure of another first signal according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic frame structure of another first signal according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of a Beacon signal indication frame number according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of a Beacon period index according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11 is a schematic time domain multiplexing diagram of Beacon signals and downlink data provided in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 12 is a schematic diagram of frequency domain resources of a Beacon signal according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 13 is an interaction flow chart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 14 is an example of a measurement mechanism based on Beacon signals provided in an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 15 is an example of another Beacon signal based measurement mechanism provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 16 is an interaction flow chart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 17 is an example of another Beacon signal-based measurement mechanism provided by an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 18 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 1800 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 19 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device 190 according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 20 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device 200 according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The terms "first" and "second" and the like in the description, claims and drawings of the present application are used for distinguishing between different objects and not for describing a particular sequential order. Furthermore, the terms "comprising," "including," and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. Such as a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not limited to the list of steps or elements but may include other steps or elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

Reference herein to "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment of the present application. The appearances of such phrases in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Those of skill in the art will explicitly and implicitly understand that the embodiments described herein may be combined with other embodiments.

The terminology used in the following embodiments of the application is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the application. As used in the specification and the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," "the," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates to the contrary. It should also be understood that the term "and/or" as used in this application refers to and encompasses any or all possible combinations of one or more of the listed items. For example, "a and/or B" may represent: only a, only B and both a and B are present, wherein a, B may be singular or plural. The term "plurality" as used in this application refers to two or more.

It can be understood that, in the embodiments of the present application, B corresponding to a indicates that a has a correspondence with B, and B can be determined according to a. It should also be understood that determining (or generating) B from (or based on) a does not mean determining (or generating) B from (or based on) a alone, but may also determine (or generate) B from (or based on) a and/or other information.

As described in the background section, some low power terminals play an important role in internet of things applications such as medical, smart home, industrial sensors, wearable devices, etc. However, since such terminals are limited in size, it is difficult to achieve this by increasing the battery capacity if the operation time of the terminals is to be prolonged. To achieve extended endurance of the terminal, power consumption of wireless communication needs to be reduced. Among them, the radio transceiver is one of the most power consuming components. There is therefore a need to investigate how to reduce the power consumption of the radio transceiver on the terminal.

In the standard discussion of the 3GPP Release-18 version, low power studies are called the focus of most companies. Around the low power study, 3GPP passed two research projects, one being NR low power Wake-up signal and receiver study (Studiv on low-power Wake-up Signal and Receiver for NR), a specific legislation document see RP-213645. The other is the Internet of things research (Study on Ambient power-enabled Internet of Things) of environmental functions, and specific legislation documents are shown in S1-220192. The above research focuses on the scenes of the low-power-consumption internet of things and the low-power-consumption wearable equipment, but does not exclude that the low-power-consumption technical scheme is applied to smart phones, smart watches, smart glasses and the like with low power consumption requirements.

Since the communication scheme provided in the present application relates to a conventional receiver and a low power consumption receiver, the conventional receiver and the low power consumption receiver will be described first.

Conventional receiver

The conventional receiver (or conventional receiver) architecture has a superheterodyne receiver, a zero intermediate frequency receiver, and a low intermediate frequency receiver. These conventional receiver schemes are often applied in scenes where the requirements on signal quality and transmission rate are high. In addition, due to the complex modulation scheme of the signal, the conventional receiver needs to use some high-performance and high-precision module circuits, such as a low-noise amplifier with high gain and high linearity, a mixer with high linearity, and a voltage-controlled oscillator capable of providing an accurate local oscillation signal. In order to improve circuit performance, the power consumption of conventional receivers cannot be reduced.

Low power consumption receiver

Low power receivers have stringent power consumption limitations, for example less than 1mW. By using amplitude modulation and envelope detection, a low power receiver can avoid using a radio frequency module with greater power consumption. For example, a low power consumption receiver does not need to use a mixer with high linearity, a voltage controlled oscillator capable of providing an accurate local oscillator signal, etc., and thus can achieve a lower power consumption level.

According to the investigation, the low power consumption receiver may adopt the following structure:

radio frequency tuning structure: fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a low power receiver based on a radio frequency tuning structure. The low power consumption receiver in fig. 1 mainly includes: a radio frequency amplifier, an envelope detector and a baseband amplifier. Referring to fig. 1, the low power receiver may further include a radio frequency filter. Since the envelope detector is a nonlinear device and has high noise, a radio frequency amplifier needs to be added in front of the envelope detector to improve the sensitivity of the system in order to correctly demodulate the received signal.

Indefinite intermediate frequency structure: fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a low power receiver based on an indefinite intermediate frequency architecture. The low power receiver in fig. 2 mainly comprises three parts, namely a ring oscillator, an intermediate frequency amplifier and an envelope detector. The radio frequency signal is converted into an intermediate frequency signal with lower frequency through a mixer, then the intermediate frequency signal is amplified through an intermediate frequency amplifier, and then the baseband signal is demodulated and output through an envelope detector. Referring to fig. 2, the low power receiver may further include a radio frequency filter, a mixer, a baseband amplifier, and the like. A mixer is used in a low power consumption receiver based on an indefinite intermediate frequency structure, and a local oscillator signal needs to be provided for the low power consumption receiver, and the local oscillator signal is generated through a ring oscillator, so that the low power consumption receiver is simple in structure and low in power consumption. However, the frequency offset generated by the ring oscillator is large and can change within a certain range, and the intermediate frequency obtained by mixing the frequency generated by the ring oscillator and the radio frequency signal is uncertain, so the structure of the receiver is called an indefinite intermediate frequency structure. Because the local oscillator signal frequency generated by the ring oscillator is inaccurate and can vary over time and temperature, additional frequency calibration circuitry may be required to calibrate the frequency of the wake-up oscillator, as indicated by the dashed box label in fig. 2.

From the above-mentioned low-power-consumption receiver, it can be seen that the low-power-consumption receiver with two structures adopts envelope detectors to complete final down-conversion operation so as to obtain baseband signal. Neither of these two configurations of low power receivers uses a voltage controlled oscillator that provides an accurate local oscillator signal.

The following describes the schemes for performing cell search, time synchronization, frequency synchronization, time tracking, frequency tracking, and measurement in the prior art.

In the prior art, a terminal device supporting the standard characteristics of NR Release 17 and the standard characteristics of the previous Release (Release) may perform at least one of the following functions by using a synchronization signal in NR and a physical broadcast channel block (SS/PBCH block, SSB): cell search, time tracking, frequency tracking, and measurement. Cell search (cell search) is a process in which a terminal device acquires time and frequency synchronization with a cell (cell) and detects a physical layer cell identity of the cell. The purpose of the measurement is for mobility management, cell selection, cell reselection, etc.

An SSB includes a primary synchronization signal (primary synchronization signal, PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (secondary synchronization signal, SSS) and a physical broadcast channel (physical broadcast channel, PBCH). Fig. 3 is an example of a schematic structural diagram of an SSB. Referring to fig. 3, one SSB occupies consecutive 4 orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing, OFDM) symbols in the time domain (time domain); in the frequency domain (frequency domain), one SSB occupies 240 consecutive subcarriers, and the 240 subcarriers are numbered 0 to 239 in order of increasing frequency. Wherein the first OFDM symbol from left carries PSS, numbered 0,1, 55, 183, 184, 239 is set to 0, the number 56, 57, 182 is the subcarrier occupied by PSS; the 2 nd and 4 th OFDM symbols from left bear PBCH, and one DMRS corresponding to PBCH is arranged in every 4 continuous subcarriers; the 3 rd OFDM symbol from left carries SSS and PBCH, numbered 56, 57..182 subcarrier is set to SSS, numbered 0, 1..47, 192, 193..239 subcarrier is PBCH, and the remaining subcarriers are set to 0.

The PSS and SSS sequences in SSB use a modulation scheme similar to binary phase shift keying (binary phase shift keying, BPSK). The modulation mode of the PBCH is quadrature phase shift keying (quadrature phase shift keying, QPSK). Details of the signal generation and resource mapping of SSB are 3GPP TS 38.211 V15.8.0, and are not repeated here for the sake of brevity.

In the prior art, PSS and SSS sequences in SSB, and PBCH do not support reception by means of envelope detection, but only by means of coherent reception. The key point of coherent reception is to require the receiver to recover a coherent carrier that is strictly synchronized with the frequency of the modulated carrier; the receiver multiplies the radio frequency signal with a coherent carrier wave by a mixer, and processes the multiplied radio frequency signal to obtain a baseband signal. In order to obtain a coherent carrier that is tightly synchronized to the frequency of the modulated carrier, the receiver requires a voltage controlled oscillator that can provide an accurate local oscillator signal. That is, the terminal device is required to employ a conventional receiver.

In order to meet the requirement of extremely low power consumption, a low power consumption receiver cannot provide an oscillator for an accurate local oscillator signal, i.e. a voltage-controlled oscillator capable of providing the accurate local oscillator signal is not adopted. Therefore, for a terminal device having a legacy receiver and a low power receiver, but only the low power receiver is currently in an on state, and the legacy receiver is in an off state, or a terminal device having only the low power receiver, at least one of the following functions cannot be completed by the existing SSB of NR: and acquiring initial access, time synchronization, frequency synchronization, time tracking, frequency tracking and measurement.

The embodiment of the application can be applied to wireless local area network systems such as internet of things (internet of things, ioT) networks, vehicle to X (V2X), wireless local area networks (wireless local area network, WLAN) and the like. Of course, the embodiments of the present application may also be applicable to other possible communication systems, such as long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) systems, LTE frequency division duplex (frequency division duplex, FDD) systems, LTE time division duplex (time division duplex, TDD), universal mobile telecommunication systems (universal mobile telecommunication system, UMTS), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (worldwide interoperability for microwave access, wiMAX) communication systems, fifth generation (5th generation,5G) communication systems, and future sixth generation (6th generation,6G) communication systems, etc. The embodiments of the present application may also be applied to other communication systems, as long as a presentity in the communication system can send information, and the communication system also has other presentities to receive information.

The above-mentioned communication system to which the present application is applied is merely illustrative, and the communication system to which the present application is applied is not limited thereto, and is generally described herein, and will not be described in detail.

Fig. 4 is an example of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 4, base station #1, base station #2, and terminals #1 to #8 constitute one communication system. In this communication system, a base station #1 transmits information to one or more of terminals #1 to # 6. Base station #1 transmits information to one or more of terminals #7 and #8 through base station # 2. In addition, terminals #4 to #6 also constitute a communication system in which terminal #5 can transmit information to one or more of terminals #4 and # 6. Base station #2, terminal #7 and terminal #8 also constitute a communication system in which base station #2 can transmit information to one or more of terminal #7 and terminal # 8.

And (3) a base station: a base station is an entity on the network side that transmits or receives signals. The base station may be any device having a radio transceiving function and being capable of communicating with the terminal device, for example a radio access network (radio access network, RAN) node that accesses the terminal device to a wireless network. Currently, examples of some RAN nodes include: a transmission and reception point (transmission reception point, TRP), an evolved Node B (eNB), a radio network controller (radio network controller, RNC), a home base station (e.g., home evolved NodeB, or home Node B, HNB), a Base Band Unit (BBU), a WiFi Access Point (AP), an access backhaul integration (integrated access and backhaul, IAB), a satellite, an unmanned aerial vehicle, and the like. There may be different names in different communication modes, such as base stations of LTE called eNodeB and base stations of NR called gNB. The base station may be a macro base station, or may be a micro base station, pico base station, small base station, femto base station, or a pole station. The base station may be a base station that supports receiving data transmitted by a transmitting communication. The base station may be a base station supporting the transmission of a wake-up signal.

Terminal (may be referred to as terminal device): the terminal may have a device with wireless transceiving functions. The terminal may communicate with one or more Core Network (CN) devices (or core devices) via access network devices (or access devices) in a radio access network (radioaccess network, RAN). The access network device may be a base station, a WiFi access point, a TRP, etc. The terminal may be a terminal device supporting the wake-up receiver or may be a terminal device not supporting the wake-up receiver. The terminal device may be a terminal device supporting reflective communication, such as a tag. In this embodiment of the present application, the terminal may also be referred to as a User Equipment (UE), and may be a mobile phone (mobile station, MS), a tablet (pad), a computer with a wireless transceiving function, a Virtual Reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (augmented reality, AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal device in industrial control (industrial control), a wireless terminal device in unmanned aerial vehicle (self-driving), a wireless terminal device in remote medical (remote medical), a wireless terminal device in smart grid (smart grid), a wireless terminal device in transportation security (transportation safety), a wireless terminal device in smart city (smart city), a wireless terminal device in smart home (smart home), a subscriber unit (subscriber unit), a cellular phone (cellular phone), a wireless data card, a personal digital assistant (personal digital assistant, laptop), a computer system, a MTC type of a PDA (portable computer), a machine type of MTC terminal device, or the like. The terminal device may include various handheld devices, vehicle mounted devices, wearable devices, computing devices, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem with wireless communication capabilities. Alternatively, the terminal device may be a handheld device (handset) with a wireless communication function, a terminal device in the internet of things or the internet of vehicles, a terminal device in any form in a communication system that evolves after 5G and the like, which is not limited in this application.

The embodiment of the application mainly designs a signal, and terminal equipment only provided with a low-power-consumption receiver or only provided with the low-power-consumption receiver in an on state (or working state) can use the signal to complete at least one function: cell search, time synchronization, frequency synchronization, time tracking, frequency tracking, and measurement.

The application provides a communication scheme that a terminal device only has a low-power-consumption receiver or only has the low-power-consumption receiver in an on state (or working state) utilizes a newly designed signal to complete at least one function. The following describes a communication scheme provided in an embodiment of the present application with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart of a communication interaction method provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 5, the method includes:

501. the transmitting device generates a first signal.

The first signal is for performing at least one of the following functions: cell search, time synchronization, frequency synchronization, time tracking, frequency tracking, and measurement. In this application, the first signal may be referred to as a Beacon signal, or a synchronization broadcast signal, or a reference signal, etc., which are not limited in the embodiments of the present application. The first signal supports reception by the receiving device with a low power consumption receiver. That is, the receiving apparatus can successfully receive the first signal using the low power consumption receiver.

In one possible implementation, the transmitting device receives first capability information from the receiving device before generating the first signal, the first capability information indicating that the receiving device supports a low power consumption receiver. One possible implementation of step 501 is as follows: a first signal is generated based on the first capability information. In this implementation, the first signal is generated according to the first capability information, which can save power consumption and enable the receiving device to successfully receive the first signal.

In one possible implementation, the first signal supports receiving in an incoherent manner, or converting from radio frequency or intermediate frequency to baseband in an incoherent manner. For example, the incoherent mode may be envelope detection, i.e. each of the first signals adopts a modulation mode supporting envelope detection. Optionally, the first signal supports reception by means of envelope detection. For example, the modulation scheme of the first signal is any one of OOK, ASK, FSK. The receiving device may receive the first signal by receiving the first signal in an incoherent manner. Alternatively, the receiving device may convert the first signal from radio frequency or intermediate frequency to baseband in an incoherent manner. The first signal may be regarded as a signal specifically designed for a low power consumption receiver for performing at least one of cell search, time synchronization, frequency synchronization, time tracking, frequency tracking, measurement, and the receiving device may successfully receive the first signal using the low power consumption receiver. In the application, the low-power consumption receiver can adopt the envelope detector to complete the down-conversion operation, so as to obtain the baseband signal. Alternatively, the low power receiver does not employ a voltage controlled oscillator that provides an accurate local oscillator signal. In this implementation, the first signal supports receiving in an incoherent manner or converting from radio frequency or intermediate frequency to baseband in an incoherent manner; so that the receiving device successfully receives the first signal by using the low power consumption receiver, the power consumption can be reduced.

In one possible implementation, the first signal includes a second signal and/or a third signal, where the second signal is a preamble (preamble) or PSS, and the third signal is SSS or PBCH. Both the second signal and the second signal support reception by means of envelope detection. In this application, the Beacon signal refers to the first signal. Fig. 6 is a schematic frame structure of a first signal according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 6, the Beacon signal includes a signal 1 and a signal 2, where the Beacon signal refers to a first signal, the signal 1 represents a second signal, the signal 2 represents a third signal, the signal 1 may be referred to as a Preamble or PSS, and the signal 2 may be referred to as an SSS or PBCH. Hereinafter, signal 1 represents the second signal and signal 2 represents the third signal. Signal 1 and signal 2 may be transmitted continuously or discontinuously in the time domain. The channel conditions are different considering that the distances between different receiving devices and transmitting devices are different. Signal 1 may take different formats. The signals 1 of different formats correspond to different channel conditions, respectively. Alternatively, signals 1 of different formats correspond to different coverage levels, respectively. Alternatively, signals 1 of different formats respectively correspond to different repetition levels. The signals 1 of different formats may be sequences of different lengths. Alternatively, signals 1 of different formats may be repeated a different number of times in the same sequence. Alternatively, signals 1 of different formats are of different spreading factors under the same sequence. The transmitting device can determine the format of the transmitted signal 1 according to the load condition or the resource occupation condition of the transmitting device. In this implementation, the first signal comprises the second signal and/or the third signal in order to achieve any one of the functions of cell search, time synchronization, frequency synchronization, time tracking, frequency tracking, measurement.

In a possible implementation manner, the first signal includes the second signal (i.e. the signal 1) and the third signal (i.e. the signal 2), the second signal is generated by a base sequence through a repetition or spreading manner, and a starting time domain position of the third signal is determined according to an ending position of a maximum time domain length supported by the second signal. Optionally, signal 2 indicates the number of repetitions of signal 1, or the corresponding coverage level of signal 1, or the spreading factor of signal 1, or the time domain length of signal 1. Fig. 7 is a schematic frame structure of another first signal according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 7, the signal 1 is generated in a repeated manner through the base sequence, the maximum number of repetitions supported by the signal 1 is 4, and the maximum time domain length supported by the signal 1 is the time domain length occupied by the sequence generated by the base sequence according to the number of repetitions 4. The technical gain is a problem of avoiding inconsistent understanding of the transmitting device and the receiving device about the time domain end position of the signal 1, which in turn leads to a problem of not correctly receiving the signal 2. For example, taking fig. 7 as an example, the transmitting device transmits the signal 1 according to the repetition number 4, and the actual end position of the signal 1 is the end position corresponding to the base sequence of the repetition number #3 in fig. 7. However, if the channel condition of the receiving apparatus is good at this time, the receiving apparatus detects the signal 1 only by receiving the base sequence of the repetition number #0 in fig. 7, and the receiving apparatus may consider that the end position of the signal 1 is the end position corresponding to the base sequence of the repetition number #0, the transmitting apparatus and the receiving apparatus understand that the time domain end position of the signal 1 is inconsistent, and at this time, the receiving apparatus cannot correctly receive the signal 2 if it starts to receive the signal 2 according to the end position of the base sequence of the repetition number # 0. If the starting time domain position of the contracted signal 2 is determined according to the ending position of the maximum time domain length supported by the signal 1, the above problem can be avoided and the third signal can be correctly received.

502. The transmitting device transmits a first signal to the receiving device.

Accordingly, the receiving device receives the first signal from the transmitting device. In one possible implementation, the receiving device is provided with only a low power receiver with which the receiving device receives the first signal. In one possible implementation, the receiving device is provided with a legacy receiver and a low power receiver, but currently only the low power receiver is in an on state and the legacy receiver is in an off state; the receiving device receives the first signal using the low power consumption receiver. The low power consumption receiver can use the envelope detector to complete the final down-conversion operation to obtain the baseband signal. The low-power-consumption receiver deployed in the receiving device may be the receiver shown in fig. 1, or the receiver shown in fig. 2, or may be another low-power-consumption receiver that uses an envelope detector to perform the final down-conversion operation.

The receiving device needs to acquire time and/or frequency synchronization via signal 1 before communicating with the transmitting device, so signal 1 can be considered as the first step in establishing communication between the receiving device and the transmitting device. At this time, the time and frequency of the receiving device and the transmitting device are not synchronized yet, and the receiving device needs to perform correlation operation in a large time and frequency range to correctly detect the signal 1. In order to reduce the complexity of the receiving device to detect the signal 1, the signal 1 may not carry information, and after the receiving device acquires time and/or frequency synchronization using the signal 1, it is no longer necessary to perform correlation operations in a larger time and frequency range, so that there is no need to check the complexity. If Beacon includes signal 1 and signal 2, the basic parameters of communication may be carried by signal 2, including at least one of the following: network identification, beacon period, frame number, superframe number, beacon period index, paging period index. Fig. 8 is a schematic frame structure of another first signal according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 8, the first signal (i.e., the Beacon signal in fig. 8) includes a signal 1 and a signal 2, and the signal 2 content example 1, the signal 2 content example 2, and the signal 2 content example 3 show 3 examples of basic parameters of communication that may be carried by the signal 3; signal 2 content example 1 shows that signal 2 carries a network identification, beacon period, frame number, superframe number; signal 2 content example 2 shows that signal 2 carries a network identification, beacon period, frame number; signal 2 content example 3 shows that signal 2 carries a network identification, beacon period, paging period index. The basic parameters of the communication carried by the signal 2 are described below, respectively.

Network identification: the network identity may be a cell identity or an identity of the transmitting device.

Beacon period: the receiving device may assume that the Beacon period is a default value, which may be agreed, before it does not receive the Beacon signal. The reception device may receive the Beacon signal according to the Beacon period indicated in the Beacon signal after receiving the Beacon signal. It should be noted that, for a receiving apparatus that is a terminal apparatus provided with a conventional receiver and a low power consumption receiver, before receiving a Beacon signal, the receiving apparatus may acquire a Beacon period from a transmitting apparatus through the conventional receiver. Further, the receiving device in this scenario may acquire at least one of the following from the transmitting device through the legacy receiver: and the frequency domain resource position indication information of the Beacon signal is the presence or absence of the Beacon signal.

Frame number: one frame is 10ms in length. The value range of the frame number is 0-1023. When the Beacon signal occupies a plurality of frames in the time domain, the frame number indicated by the Beacon signal is used for indicating the frame number of the frame where the starting time position of the Beacon signal is located, or the frame number indicated by the Beacon signal is used for indicating the frame number of the frame where the ending time position of the Beacon signal is located, or the frame number indicated by the Beacon signal is used for indicating the frame number of a specific frame in the plurality of frames occupied by the Beacon signal, and the position of the specific frame can be agreed. The Beacon signal may indicate a complete frame number or the Beacon signal may indicate the high order bits of the signal frame number. Illustratively, the number of bits in the Beacon signal used to indicate the frame number is X, a frame number included in a Beacon period duration is represented by binary, the number of bits corresponding to the frame number is Y, X is a high bit of the frame number, Y is a low bit of the frame number, and a sum of X and Y is greater than or equal to 10. For example, one Beacon period has a duration of 640ms, which contains 64 frames, 64 is represented by a binary representation, the number of bits occupied is 6, which corresponds to the low-order bits of the frame number, the number of bits in the Beacon for indicating the frame number is 4, which corresponds to the high-order bits of the frame number, and the sum of 6 and 4 is equal to 10. Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of Beacon signal indication frame numbers according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 9, in example 1, 10 bits at least indicate a full frame number, i.e., a Beacon signal; in example 2, 4 bits indicate the frame number, i.e., the start frame number, and 6 bits indicate the number of frames that one Beacon period duration contains. Assume that 4 bits in the Beacon signal indicate frame numbers of 4,6 bits indicate that one Beacon period duration contains a number of frames of 64, and the Beacon signal indicates frame numbers of 4 to 67.

Beacon period index: the Beacon period index is an index of a Beacon period within one superframe, the index of the Beacon period within one superframe starts from 0, the duration of one superframe is 10240ms, and one superframe may include 1024 frames. Fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of a Beacon period index according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 10, the index of the Beacon period within one superframe starts from 0, and signal 2 indicates the Beacon period index.

Superframe number: one superframe has a duration of 10240ms and may include 1024 frames. The Beacon signal indicates the superframe number of the superframe in which the Beacon is located. The Beacon signal may indicate a complete superframe number or the Beacon signal may indicate the high order bits of the superframe number.

Paging (cycle) index: the paging cycle may be referred to as a paging discontinuous reception (discontinuous reception, DRX) cycle (cycle), or as a DRX cycle, and is hereinafter collectively described as a paging cycle. For a receiving device to be a terminal device with a conventional receiver and a low-power-consumption receiver, the receiving device may acquire the paging configuration parameters from the transmitting device through the conventional receiver before receiving the beacon signal. The paging cycle may be a default (default) paging cycle. Alternatively, the paging DRX cycle may be a terminal equipment specific (UE specific) paging cycle. Alternatively, the paging DRX cycle may be a terminal equipment specific (UE specific) extension (extended) paging cycle. Alternatively, the paging DRX cycle may be a minimum of default paging cycle and UE specific paging cycle. Alternatively, the paging DRX cycle may be a minimum of default paging cycle and UE specific extended paging cycle. Wherein extended paging cycle may also be referred to as eDRX cycle. default paging cycle is configured by the sending device via a system message. UE specific paging cycle or UE specific extended paging cycle are signaled by the transmitting device through UE specific signaling. The coding cycle index indicated in the Beacon signal is the index of the coding cycle where the Beacon signal is located in one superframe, and the duration of one superframe is 10240ms. Alternatively, the paging cycle index indicated in the Beacon signal is the index of the paging cycle in which the Beacon signal is located within a paging window (paging time window). The index may start from 0. The configuration parameters of the paging time window are configured by the transmitting device or the core network device.

In one possible implementation, the first signal includes a second signal (i.e., signal 2) and a third signal (i.e., signal 2), where the second signal is used to achieve time synchronization or frequency synchronization, and the third signal carries at least one of: identification information, period information, first frame number, first super frame number, first period index, second period index. The identification information is a cell identification or an identification of a transmitting device. The cell identity or the identity of the transmitting device may be regarded as the network identity carried by the signal 2. The period information is a period in which the transmitting device transmits the first signal. The period information may be a Beacon period carried by the signal 2. The first frame number is the frame number of one frame in the multi-frame occupied by the first signal, namely the frame number carried by the signal 2. The first superframe number is the superframe number of the superframe where the first signal is located, namely the superframe number carried by the signal 2. The first period index (i.e., beacon period index) is an index of a period of the first signal in a superframe, and the second period index (i.e., paging period index) is an index of a paging period in which the first signal is located in a superframe or a paging time window. In this implementation, the third signal carries at least one of: identification information, period information, a first frame number, a first superframe number, a first period index, and a second period index; so that the receiving device obtains the corresponding parameters.

503. The receiving device uses the first signal to perform at least one of cell search, time synchronization, frequency synchronization, time tracking, frequency tracking, and measurement.

The receiving device may utilize the second signal of the first signal to achieve time synchronization and/or frequency synchronization. Optionally, the first signal includes a second signal and a third signal, the second signal is PSS, and the third signal is SSS or PBCH; the receiving device uses the first signal to perform at least one of cell search, time synchronization, frequency synchronization, time tracking, frequency tracking, and measurement.

In the embodiment of the application, the first signal is sent to the receiving device, and the receiving device uses the first signal to realize at least one function of cell search, time synchronization, frequency synchronization, time tracking, frequency tracking and measurement, so that the power consumption can be reduced.

In order to provide the utilization rate of spectrum resources, the application provides a multiplexing design of Beacon signals and data, and the overhead of the signals 1 is reduced. The following describes the multiplexing design of Beacon signals and data provided in the embodiments of the present application.

In the time domain, when the Beacon signal and the downlink data overlap in the time domain, the Beacon signal and the downlink data may be multiplexed together. The Beacon signal may include signal 1 and signal 2. In this embodiment, considering asynchronous communication, the downlink data needs to have a preamble signal before the downlink data during transmission, where the preamble signal may have the same format as the signal 1 in Beacon. When the Beacon signal and the downlink data overlap in the time domain, the Beacon signal and the downlink data are multiplexed together, so that the overhead of the preamble signal can be saved. Or, when the Beacon signal and the downlink data overlap in the time domain, the Beacon signal and the downlink data are multiplexed together, so that the overhead of the signal 1 can be saved. Fig. 11 is a schematic time domain multiplexing diagram of Beacon signals and downlink data according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 11, the Beacon signal includes a signal 1 and a signal 2, and downlink data needs to have a preamble signal, that is, a signal 1, before the downlink data when transmitting; when the Beacon signal and the downlink data overlap in the time domain, the Beacon signal and the downlink data are multiplexed together to obtain a signal including a preamble (i.e., signal 1), signal 2, and downlink data. There may be no overlap between the Beacon signal and the downlink data in the time domain, and in order to distinguish between the two cases of no overlap in the time domain and overlap in the time domain, the signal 2 may include an indication of whether there is downlink data. Alternatively, the downstream data may include an indication of whether or not there is a signal 2. When the signal 2 is in the form of a sequence, such as SSS, it may be indicated by a different sequence whether there is downstream data. When the signal 2 is in the form of coded and modulated data, such as PBCH, it may be indicated by a different status value of a field.

In one possible implementation manner, the first signal includes a second signal (signal 1), a third signal (signal 2), and downlink data, where the second signal is a preamble signal or a primary synchronization signal, and the third signal is a secondary synchronization signal SSS or PBCH, and the third signal is used as a preamble signal of the downlink data. In this implementation, the third signal is used as a preamble of the downlink data, so that overhead of the preamble can be saved. Or, the overhead of the second signal is saved. Optionally, the third signal includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the first signal includes or does not include the downlink data, or the downlink data includes second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the first signal includes or does not include the third signal. The third signal is in the form of coded and modulated data, and a different state value in a field of the third signal indicates whether the first signal has downlink data. That is, when the third signal is in the form of coded and modulated data, such as PBCH, it may indicate whether there is downlink data by a state value different from one field. Optionally, the third signal is in the form of a sequence, e.g. SSS, the sequence of the third signal being used to indicate whether the first signal comprises or does not comprise the third signal. It will be appreciated that the third signal indicates whether the first signal has downstream data or not by a different sequence.

In the frequency domain, the bandwidth of the guard band of the Beacon signal is greater than or equal to the bandwidth of the guard band of the downstream data. The low power consumption receiver has a larger frequency offset of the ring oscillator providing the local oscillator signal if it adopts an indefinite intermediate frequency structure. In order to ensure that the receiving device receives the Beacon signal correctly, larger guard bands need to be reserved on two sides of the Beacon signal. After the receiving device receives the Beacon signal, the frequency offset of the ring oscillator is improved after frequency calibration (including frequency deviation estimation and compensation) is completed according to the Beacon signal. At this time, the downlink data may use a smaller guard band to refer to the spectrum resource utilization. Fig. 12 is a schematic diagram of frequency domain resources of a Beacon signal according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 12, the ratio of the frequency offset of the ring oscillator to the carrier frequency before the frequency calibration is hundreds ppm (x 100ppm in fig. 12), for example, the carrier frequency is 900MHz, the frequency offset corresponding to 100ppm is 90kHz, and the ratio of the frequency offset of the ring oscillator to the carrier frequency after the frequency calibration is tens ppm (x 10ppm in fig. 12). For the example of a carrier frequency of 900MHz, the frequency offset corresponding to 10ppm is 9kHz.

The multiplexing design of the Beacon signals and the data provided by the embodiment of the application can reduce the overhead of the signal 1.

Aiming at the scene that the receiving equipment uses a low-power-consumption receiver, the receiving equipment receives the Beacon signal in an envelope detection mode to obtain the envelope of the Beacon signal; the envelope of the Beacon signal is then digitally sampled and compared to an amplitude or energy threshold set by the receiving device to determine whether the received signal is 1 or 0 or whether the received signal is +1 or-1. Of course, the receiving device may also determine whether the received signal is 1 or 0, or whether the received signal is +1 or-1 according to other implementations, which is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application. In this way, the signal obtained by the receiving device is a binary sequence, i.e. a sequence consisting of elements 0 and 1, or a sequence consisting of elements +1 and-1. The binary sequence cannot obtain a measure like the reference signal received power (reference signal receiving power, RSRP) or the signal to interference plus noise ratio (signal to interference plus noise ratio, SINR) in NR systems describing the channel condition. How does such binary sequences obtain measurements? The embodiment of the application provides a measuring mechanism based on a Beacon signal, so that a low-power consumption receiver can obtain channel quality according to the Beacon signal. The following describes a measurement mechanism based on a Beacon signal provided in an embodiment of the present application with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 13 is an interaction flow chart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 13, the method includes:

1301. the transmitting device transmits a plurality of first signals on a plurality of frequency units or a plurality of time domain units.

Accordingly, the receiving device receives the plurality of first signals transmitted by the transmitting device on the plurality of frequency units or the plurality of time domain units. The time-frequency resources occupied by any two of the plurality of first signals do not overlap. Any two of the plurality of first signals correspond to different coverage levels, repetition levels, or spreading factors. It should be noted that in the description of a plurality of the first signals, the first signals are generally referred to, and the plurality of first signals have some identical signal characteristics, but not the same signal. For example, the modulation modes of the plurality of first signals are OOK or FSK, the plurality of first signals are used for implementing the same function, and any two of the plurality of first signals correspond to different coverage levels, repetition levels or spreading factors.

Fig. 14 is an example of a measurement mechanism based on Beacon signals provided in an embodiment of the present application. Referring to fig. 14, the transmitting apparatus transmits a plurality of Beacon signals on a plurality of frequency units. Referring to fig. 14, the first signal transmitted on the frequency unit 2 corresponds to the coverage level 0, the first signal transmitted on the frequency unit 1 corresponds to the coverage level 1, and the first signal transmitted on the frequency unit 0 corresponds to the coverage level 2. Fig. 15 is an example of another Beacon signal-based measurement mechanism provided in an embodiment of the present application. Referring to fig. 15, the transmitting apparatus transmits a plurality of Beacon signals over a plurality of time units; the first signal transmitted on time cell 0 corresponds to coverage level 2, the first signal transmitted on time cell 1 corresponds to coverage level 1, and the first signal transmitted on time cell 2 corresponds to coverage level 0. The plurality of first signals are used by a receiving device to determine a channel quality corresponding to a lowest coverage level, a minimum number of repetitions, or a minimum spreading factor of the first signals when the receiving device correctly detects the first signals. In this application, the repetition level may be referred to as the number of repetitions.

1302. The receiving device uses the lowest coverage level, the minimum repetition number or the minimum spreading factor of the first signals as the measurement quantity when the preset condition is satisfied according to the plurality of first signals from the transmitting device.

The measurement quantity is used to describe the channel condition (or channel quality) between the receiving device and the transmitting device. The measurement quantities may be, for example, reference signal received power (reference signal received power, RSRP), signal to interference plus noise ratio (signal to interference plus noise ratio, SINR), etc. When the preset condition is met, the lowest coverage level, the minimum repetition number or the minimum spreading factor of the first signal can be taken as a measurement quantity to be understood as follows: and taking the coverage grade, the repetition number or the spreading factor corresponding to the first signal which meets the preset condition and corresponds to the lowest coverage grade, the minimum repetition number or the minimum spreading factor in the plurality of first signals as a measurement quantity.

In a possible implementation manner, the preset condition is that the receiving device correctly detects the first signal, or the preset condition is that the receiving device correctly detects the first signal under a preset configuration assumption, or the preset condition is that a first index is less than or equal to a threshold under the preset configuration assumption, and the first index is at least one of the following: the block error rate of the first signal, the packet error rate of the first signal, the omission factor of the first signal, the error rate of the first signal and the false alarm rate of the first signal. The preset configuration assumption may be at least one of: presetting a transmitting antenna configuration, presetting a receiving antenna configuration, presetting a period and presetting the receiving times. The above threshold may be agreed or configured according to actual requirements, which is not limited herein.

In one possible implementation, the channel condition (or channel quality) between the receiving device and the transmitting device may be expressed as: when the receiving device can correctly detect the Beacon signal, the lowest coverage level, or the lowest repetition level, or the lowest spreading factor of the Beacon signal. The relative positions of the frequency units of the beacon signal sent by the sending device can be agreed, so that the receiving device is prevented from blindly detecting different frequency units. Optionally, the receiving device determines the channel quality according to a lowest coverage level, a minimum repetition number or a minimum spreading factor of the first signal when the first signal is correctly detected.

Optionally, the receiving device determines the measurement quantity according to whether a Beacon signal of the corresponding coverage level is detected. Taking fig. 14 as an example, there are 3 coverage levels, coverage level 0, coverage level 1 and coverage level 2. Coverage level 0 indicates the best channel quality and coverage level 2 indicates the worst channel quality. If the receiving device can correctly detect the Beacon signal of the coverage level 2, but cannot correctly detect the Beacon signals of the coverage level 1 and the coverage level 0, the receiving device determines that the measurement quantity is the coverage level 2. If the receiving device can correctly detect the Beacon signal of the coverage level 1, but cannot correctly detect the Beacon signal of the coverage level 0, the receiving device determines that the measurement quantity is the coverage level 1. If the receiving device can correctly detect the Beacon signal of the coverage level 0, the receiving device determines the measurement quantity as the coverage level 0.

Alternatively, the receiving device determines the measurement amount according to whether the Beacon signal of the corresponding repetition level is detected. For example, a plurality of (e.g., 3) first signals transmitted by the transmitting apparatus correspond to 3 repetition levels, i.e., repetition level 0, repetition level 1, and repetition level 2. Repetition level 0 indicates that the channel quality is the best and repetition level 2 indicates that the channel quality is the worst. If the receiving device can correctly detect the Beacon signal of repetition level 2, but cannot correctly detect the Beacon signals of repetition level 1 and repetition level 0, the receiving device determines that the measurement quantity is repetition level 2. If the receiving device can correctly detect the Beacon signal of repetition level 1, but cannot correctly detect the Beacon signal of repetition level 0, the receiving device determines that the measurement quantity is repetition level 1. If the receiving device can correctly detect the Beacon signal of repetition level 0, the receiving device determines that the measurement quantity is repetition level 0.

Alternatively, the receiving device determines the measurement quantity according to whether the Beacon signal of the corresponding spreading factor is detected. For example, a plurality (e.g., 3) of first signals transmitted by the transmitting device correspond to 3 spreading factors, i.e., spreading factor 0, spreading factor 1, and spreading factor 2. Spreading factor 0 indicates the best channel quality and spreading factor 2 indicates the worst channel quality. If the receiving device can correctly detect the Beacon signal of the spreading factor 2, but cannot correctly detect the Beacon signals of the spreading factors 1 and 0, the receiving device determines that the measurement quantity is the spreading factor 2. If the receiving device can correctly detect the Beacon signal with the spreading factor of 1, but cannot correctly detect the Beacon signal with the spreading factor of 0, the receiving device determines that the measurement quantity is the spreading factor of 1. If the receiving device can correctly detect the Beacon signal of spreading factor 0, the receiving device determines that the measurement quantity is spreading factor 0.

In the embodiment of the application, the transmitting device transmits a plurality of first signals on a plurality of frequency units or a plurality of time domain units, and the receiving device determines measurement with the transmitting device according to the plurality of first signals from the transmitting device; so that the low power consumption receiver can obtain the measurement quantity according to the Beacon signal.

Fig. 16 is an interaction flow chart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 16, the method includes:

1601. the transmitting device transmits the first signal at a highest coverage level, a maximum number of repetitions, or a maximum spreading factor.

Accordingly, the receiving device receives the first signal from the transmitting device. The receiving device receives the first signal from the transmitting device using a low power receiver.

In one possible implementation, the first signal supports receiving in an incoherent manner, or converting from radio frequency or intermediate frequency to baseband in an incoherent manner. For example, the incoherent mode may be envelope detection, i.e. each of the first signals adopts a modulation mode supporting envelope detection. Optionally, the first signal supports reception by means of envelope detection. For example, the modulation scheme of the first signal is any one of OOK, ASK, FSK. The receiving device may receive the first signal by receiving the first signal in an incoherent manner. Alternatively, the receiving device may convert the first signal from radio frequency or intermediate frequency to baseband in an incoherent manner.

1602. When the receiving device meets the preset condition, the lowest coverage level, the minimum repetition number or the minimum spreading factor of the first signal is used as a measurement quantity.

In a possible implementation manner, the preset condition is that the receiving device correctly detects the first signal, or the preset condition is that the receiving device correctly detects the first signal under a preset configuration assumption, or the preset condition is that a first index is less than or equal to a threshold under the preset configuration assumption, and the first index is at least one of the following: the block error rate of the first signal, the packet error rate of the first signal, the omission factor of the first signal, the error rate of the first signal and the false alarm rate of the first signal. In this embodiment, the measurement variable can be determined accurately from the first signal by the preset condition.

In one possible implementation, the channel quality between the receiving device and the transmitting device may be expressed as: when the receiving device can correctly detect the Beacon signal, the lowest coverage level, or the lowest repetition level, or the lowest spreading factor of the Beacon signal. Fig. 17 is an example of another measurement mechanism based on Beacon signals provided in an embodiment of the present application. Referring to fig. 17, the beacon signal contains 4 repetitions. The channel quality may be the minimum number of repetitions of the Beacon signal when the Beacon signal can be correctly detected by the receiving device.

Optionally, the transmitting device transmits the first signal according to the highest coverage level; the receiving device determines the measurement quantity from the lowest coverage level of the first signal when it is correctly detected. For example, the measurement quantity may be the lowest coverage level of the Beacon signal when the Beacon signal can be correctly detected by the receiving device. If the receiving device can correctly detect the Beacon signal of the spreading factor 2, but cannot correctly detect the Beacon signals of the spreading factors 1 and 0, the receiving device determines that the measurement quantity is the spreading factor 2. For example, the first signal sent by the sending device corresponds to a coverage level of 2. Coverage level 0 indicates the best channel quality and coverage level 2 indicates the worst channel quality. If the lowest coverage level at which the receiving device can correctly detect the Beacon signal is coverage level 2, the receiving device determines the measurement amount to be coverage level 2. If the lowest coverage level at which the receiving device can correctly detect the Beacon signal is coverage level 1, the receiving device determines the measurement amount to be coverage level 1.

Optionally, the transmitting device transmits the first signal according to the maximum number of repetitions; the receiving device determines the measurement quantity based on a minimum number of repetitions of the first signal when the first signal is correctly detected. For example, the measurement may be a minimum repetition level of the Beacon signal when the receiving device is able to properly detect the Beacon signal. For example, the first signal sent by the sending device corresponds to a repetition number of 3. The repetition number 0 indicates the best channel quality, and the repetition number 3 indicates the worst channel quality. If the minimum number of repetitions when the receiving device can correctly detect the Beacon signal is the number of repetitions 2, the receiving device determines that the measurement quantity is the number of repetitions 2. If the minimum repetition number when the receiving device can correctly detect the Beacon signal is 1, the receiving device determines that the measurement quantity is 1.

Optionally, the transmitting device transmits the first signal according to the maximum spreading factor; the receiving device determines the measurement quantity from the minimum spreading factor of the first signal when it is correctly detected. For example, the measurement may be the minimum spreading factor of the Beacon signal when the receiving device is able to properly detect the Beacon signal. For example, the first signal transmitted by the transmitting device corresponds to a spreading factor of 2. Spreading factor 0 indicates the best channel quality and spreading factor 2 indicates the worst channel quality. If the minimum spreading factor at which the receiving device can correctly detect the Beacon signal is spreading factor 1, the receiving device determines that the measurement quantity is spreading factor 1. If the minimum spreading factor at which the receiving device can correctly detect the Beacon signal is the spreading factor 0, the receiving device determines that the measurement quantity is the spreading factor 0.

In the embodiment of the application, the measurement quantity is determined according to the lowest coverage level, the minimum repetition number or the minimum spreading factor of the first signal when the first signal is correctly detected, so that the receiving device receiving the first signal through the low-power-consumption receiver can realize channel measurement, that is, the low-power-consumption receiver can obtain channel quality according to the Beacon signal.

For all embodiments of the present application, the receiving device may optionally send the first capability information to the sending device.

Accordingly, the transmitting device may receive the first capability information from the receiving device.

Wherein the first capability information may include at least one of: whether energy harvesting is supported, whether low power receivers are supported, and whether backscatter communications are supported.

In one possible approach, the first capability information includes the receiving device supporting energy harvesting.

Where the receiving device supports energy harvesting, it may be referred to that the receiving device supports autonomous harvesting of energy from the environment and may convert the energy into electrical energy. Wherein the source of energy may include at least one of: light, radio waves, temperature differences, vibrations, movements, salinity gradients, wind, water currents.

It will be appreciated that the benefit of energy harvesting is to replace the battery to power the device or to supplement the battery energy, thereby extending the device lifetime. The receiving device may provide energy generated by energy harvesting to its own signal processing or data storage circuitry to maintain normal operation.

In another possible manner, the first capability information includes that the receiving device supports a low power consumption receiver.

It will be appreciated that the low power receiver may avoid the use of radio frequency modules with greater power consumption, such as high linearity mixers, voltage controlled oscillators that provide accurate local oscillator signals, etc., and thus may achieve lower power consumption levels.

Wherein, the receiving device supports the low-power consumption receiver may refer to that the receiving device supports receiving signals in a non-coherent receiving manner.

The signal may be, for example, a signal from a transmitting device.

The incoherent receiving mode may be envelope detection, differential demodulation, or the like, for example.

For example, when the incoherent receiving mode is envelope detection, the envelope detection may obtain an envelope or amplitude line of the low-frequency original signal after half-wave or full-wave rectification of the received high-frequency or intermediate-frequency signal.

In this way, the receiving apparatus can receive the signal using the reception method of envelope detection, thereby obtaining the envelope of the original signal. After the receiving device digitally samples the envelope of the original signal, it may be compared to an amplitude or energy threshold set by the receiving device to determine whether the received signal is a 1 or 0. It should be understood that the receiving device may also determine whether the received signal is a 1 or 0 according to other manners, which are not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

The receiving device supporting the low power consumption receiver may mean that the receiving device is provided with the low power consumption receiver, or the receiving device is provided with both the low power consumption receiver and the legacy receiver.

It should be appreciated that unlike conventional receivers and low power consumption receivers, the receiver architecture of conventional receivers may be superheterodyne, zero intermediate frequency, or low intermediate frequency, and may support coherent reception. The conventional receiver needs to adopt a plurality of high-performance and high-precision module circuits to ensure the receiving performance of the receiver, such as a low-noise amplifier with high gain and high linearity, a mixer with high linearity, a voltage-controlled oscillator capable of providing an accurate local oscillation signal, and the like, and the module circuits have higher power consumption, and the power consumption of the conventional receiver is higher than that of the low-power receiver within a certain period of time.

It should also be appreciated that when the receiving device is provided with both a low power receiver and a legacy receiver, the receiving device may achieve a power saving effect by turning off the legacy receiver and turning on the low power receiver.

It will also be appreciated that when the receiving device is provided with both a low power receiver and a legacy receiver, the receiving device may receive a wake-up signal via the low power receiver, and may trigger the legacy receiver to be turned on via the wake-up signal. Wherein the wake-up signal may be transmitted by the transmitting device.

In another possible manner, the first capability information includes that the receiving device supports backscatter communications.

Wherein the receiving device supporting backscatter communication may refer to the receiving device supporting transmission of information to the transmitting device without an actively transmitting radio frequency link; alternatively, the receiving device supporting backscatter communication may refer to the receiving device supporting transmission of information to the transmitting device without being powered on, if the receiving device itself is provided with an actively transmitting radio frequency link, i.e. the receiving device relies primarily on an exciting device outside the transmitting device or a continuous carrier wave transmitted by the transmitting device for modulation.

For example, the receiving device may reflect a portion or all of the incoming carrier wave by adjusting the impedance of the antenna of the receiving device; for another example, the receiving device may not reflect the incoming carrier wave by adjusting the impedance of the antenna of the receiving device; as another example, the receiving device may absorb energy of an incident carrier wave.

In this way, the receiving device can modulate digital information onto an incident carrier wave by adjusting the impedance of its own antenna, and transmit to the transmitting device.

Optionally, the maximum bandwidth supported by the receiving device is limited.

Illustratively, X1 may be a specific value. For example, X1 may be 20MHz, or X1 may be 5MHz, or X1 may be 3MHz, or X1 may be 1.4MHz, or X1 may be 1MHz, or X1 may be 720kHz, or X1 may be 540kHz, or X1 may be 360kHz, or X1 may be 180kHz.

Illustratively, X1 may be a bandwidth occupied by K1 resource blocks, where K1 is a positive integer. For example, K1 may be a positive integer less than or equal to 11, or K1 may be a positive integer less than or equal to 25, or K1 may be a positive integer less than or equal to 51, or K1 may be a positive integer less than or equal to 106.

Illustratively, Y1 may be a specific value. For example, Y1 may be 20MHz, or Y1 may be 5MHz, or Y1 may be 3MHz, or Y1 may be 1.4MHz, or Y1 may be 1MHz, or Y1 may be 720kHz, or Y1 may be 540kHz, or Y1 may be 360kHz, or Y1 may be 180kHz.

Illustratively, Y1 may be a bandwidth occupied by K2 resource blocks, where K2 is a positive integer. For example, K2 may be a positive integer less than or equal to 11, or K2 may be a positive integer less than or equal to 25, or K2 may be a positive integer less than or equal to 51, or K2 may be a positive integer less than or equal to 106.

Optionally, the maximum uplink bandwidth supported by the receiving device is less than or equal to the maximum downlink bandwidth supported by the receiving device.

Optionally, the number of transmit and/or receive antennas supported by the receiving device is limited.

Illustratively, X2 may be a specific value. For example, X2 may be 1, or X2 may be 2, or X2 may be 4.

Illustratively, X3 may be a specific value. For example, X3 may be 1, or X3 may be 2, or X3 may be 4.

Illustratively, Y2 may be a specific value. For example, Y2 may be 1, or Y2 may be 2, or Y2 may be 4.

Illustratively, Y3 may be a specific value. For example, Y3 may be 1, or Y3 may be 2, or Y3 may be 4.

Optionally, the number of transmit antennas supported by the receiving device is greater than or equal to the number of receive antennas supported by the receiving device.

Optionally, the number of branches of the transmitting antenna supported by the receiving device is greater than or equal to the number of branches of the receiving antenna supported by the receiving device.

It should be understood that the "number of branches of the receiving antenna" may be expressed as "number of radio frequency channels of the receiving antenna" or "number of radio frequency chains of the receiving antenna". The "number of branches of the transmitting antenna" may be expressed as "number of radio frequency channels of the transmitting antenna" or "number of radio frequency chains of the transmitting antenna".

Alternatively, the receiving device may not receive downlink and transmit uplink simultaneously on a serving cell with paired spectrum.

The structure of a communication device that can implement the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 18 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 1800 according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication apparatus 1800 may correspond to the functions or steps implemented by the transmitting device in the above-described method embodiments, or may correspond to the functions or steps implemented by the receiving device in the above-described method embodiments. The communication device may include a processing module 1810 and a transceiver module 1820. Optionally, a storage unit may be included, which may be used to store instructions (code or programs) and/or data. The processing module 1810 and the transceiving module 1820 may be coupled to the storage unit, for example, the processing module 1810 may read instructions (code or program) and/or data in the storage unit to implement a corresponding method. The units can be independently arranged or partially or fully integrated. For example, the transceiver module 1820 may include a transmitting module and a receiving module. The transmitting module may be a transmitter and the receiving module may be a receiver. The entity corresponding to transceiver module 1820 may be a transceiver or a communication interface.

In some possible embodiments, the communications apparatus 1800 can correspondingly implement the behavior and functions of the sending device in the method embodiments described above. For example, the communication apparatus 1800 may be a transmission device, or may be a component (e.g., a chip or a circuit) applied to the transmission device. The transceiver module 1820 may be used, for example, to perform all of the receiving or transmitting operations performed by the transmitting device in the embodiments of fig. 5, 13, 16, such as step 502 in the embodiment shown in fig. 5, step 1301 in the embodiment shown in fig. 13, step 1601 in the embodiment shown in fig. 16, and/or other processes to support the techniques described herein. The processing module 1810 is configured to perform all operations performed by the transmitting device in the embodiments of fig. 5, 13, and 16, except for the transceiving operation, such as step 501 in the embodiment shown in fig. 5.

In some possible embodiments, the communications apparatus 1800 can correspondingly implement the behavior and functionality of the receiving device in the method embodiments described above. For example, the communication apparatus 1800 may be a receiving device or may be a component (e.g., a chip or a circuit) applied to the receiving device. The transceiver module 1820 may be used, for example, to perform all of the receiving or transmitting operations performed by the receiving device in the embodiments of fig. 5, 13, 16, such as step 502 in the embodiment shown in fig. 5, step 1301 in the embodiment shown in fig. 13, step 1601 in the embodiment shown in fig. 16, and/or other processes to support the techniques described herein. The processing module 1810 is configured to perform all operations performed by the receiving device except for the transceiving operations, such as step 503 in the embodiment shown in fig. 5, step 1302 in the embodiment shown in fig. 13, and step 1602 in the embodiment shown in fig. 16.

Fig. 19 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device 190 according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication device in fig. 19 may be the transmitting apparatus or the receiving apparatus.

As shown in fig. 19, the communication device 190 includes at least one processor 1910 and a transceiver 1920.

In some embodiments of the present application, the processor 1910 and the transceiver 1920 may be used to perform functions or operations performed by a transmitting device, etc. The transceiver 1920 performs all of the receiving or transmitting operations performed by the transmitting device in the embodiments of fig. 5, 13, 16, for example. The processor 1910 is used, for example, to perform all operations performed by the transmitting device in the embodiments of fig. 5, 13, and 16 except for the transceiving operations.

In some embodiments of the present application, the processor 1910 and the transceiver 1920 may be used to perform functions or operations, etc., performed by a receiving device. The transceiver 1920 performs all of the receiving or transmitting operations performed by the receiving device in the embodiments of fig. 5, 13, 16, for example. The processor 1910 is configured to perform all operations performed by the reception apparatus except for the transceiving operation.

The transceiver 1920 is used to communicate with other devices/apparatuses via a transmission medium. The processor 1910 utilizes the transceiver 1920 to transmit and receive data and/or signaling and is used to implement the methods of the method embodiments described above. Processor 1910 may implement the functionality of processing module 1810 and transceiver 1920 may implement the functionality of transceiver module 1820.

Optionally, the transceiver 1920 may include a radio frequency circuit and an antenna, where the radio frequency circuit is mainly used for converting baseband signals to radio frequency signals and processing radio frequency signals. The antenna is mainly used for receiving and transmitting radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. Input and output devices, such as touch screens, display screens, keyboards, etc., are mainly used for receiving data input by a user and outputting data to the user.

Optionally, the communication device 190 may also include at least one memory 1930 for storing program instructions and/or data. Memory 1930 is coupled to processor 1910. The coupling in the embodiments of the present application is an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units, or modules, which may be in electrical, mechanical, or other forms for information interaction between the devices, units, or modules. The processor 1910 may operate in conjunction with memory 1930. The processor 1910 may execute program instructions stored in memory 1930. At least one of the at least one memory may be included in the processor.

When the communication device 190 is powered on, the processor 1910 may read the software program in the memory 1930, interpret and execute instructions of the software program, and process data of the software program. When data needs to be transmitted wirelessly, the processor 1910 performs baseband processing on the data to be transmitted and outputs a baseband signal to the radio frequency circuit, and the radio frequency circuit performs radio frequency processing on the baseband signal and then transmits the radio frequency signal outwards in the form of electromagnetic waves through the antenna. When data is transmitted to the communication device, the radio frequency circuit receives a radio frequency signal through the antenna, converts the radio frequency signal into a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to the processor 1910, and the processor 1910 converts the baseband signal into data and processes the data.

In another implementation, the radio frequency circuitry and antenna described above may be provided separately from the processor performing the baseband processing, e.g., in a distributed scenario, the radio frequency circuitry and antenna may be in a remote arrangement from the communication device.

The specific connection medium between the transceiver 1920, the processor 1910, and the memory 1930 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In the embodiment of the present application, the memory 1930, the processor 1910 and the transceiver 1920 are connected by a bus 1940, which is shown by a thick line in fig. 19, and the connection manner between other components is only schematically illustrated, but not limited to. The bus may be classified as an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is shown in fig. 19, but not only one bus or one type of bus.

In the embodiments of the present application, the processor may be a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component, and may implement or execute the methods, steps, and logic blocks disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. The general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor or the like. The steps of a method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be embodied directly in a hardware processor for execution, or in a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor for execution.

Fig. 20 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device 200 according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 20, the communication apparatus shown in fig. 20 includes a logic circuit 2001 and an interface 2002. The processing module 1810 in fig. 18 may be implemented by the logic circuit 2001, and the transceiver module 1820 in fig. 18 may be implemented by the interface 2002. The logic circuit 2001 may be a chip, a processing circuit, an integrated circuit, a system on chip (SoC) chip, or the like, and the interface 2002 may be a communication interface, an input/output interface, or the like. In the embodiment of the application, the logic circuit and the interface may also be coupled to each other. The embodiments of the present application are not limited to specific connection manners of logic circuits and interfaces.

In some embodiments of the present application, the logic and interfaces may be used to perform the functions or operations performed by the transmitting device described above, and so on.

In some embodiments of the present application, the logic and interfaces may be used to perform the functions or operations performed by the receiving device described above, and so on.

The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium having stored therein a computer program or instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the methods of the above embodiments.

The present application also provides a computer program product comprising instructions or a computer program which, when run on a computer, cause the method of the above embodiments to be performed.

The application also provides a communication system comprising the sending device and the receiving device.

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

Claims

1. A method of communication, comprising:

generating a first signal for performing at least one of the following functions: cell search, time synchronization, frequency synchronization, time tracking, frequency tracking, and measurement;

and transmitting the first signal.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first signal comprises a second signal, which is a preamble signal or a primary synchronization signal, and/or a third signal, which is a secondary synchronization signal SSS or a physical broadcast channel PBCH.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first signal comprises the second signal and the third signal, the second signal is generated by repetition or spreading of a base sequence, and the starting time domain position of the third signal is determined according to the ending position of the maximum time domain length supported by the second signal.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the third signal is used to indicate at least one of a number of repetitions of the second signal, a level of coverage corresponding to the second signal, a spreading factor corresponding to the second signal, and a time domain length of the second signal.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first signal comprises a second signal and a third signal, the second signal being used to achieve time synchronization or frequency synchronization, the third signal carrying at least one of: the method comprises the steps of identifying information, period information, a first frame number, a first superframe number, a first period index and a second period index, wherein the identifying information is a cell identifier or an identifier of a transmitting device, the period information is a period of the transmitting device transmitting the first signal, the first frame number is a frame number of one frame in a plurality of frames occupied by the first signal, the first superframe number is a superframe number of a superframe where the first signal is located, the first period index is an index of the period of the first signal in one superframe, and the second period index is an index of a paging period where the first signal is located in one superframe or a paging time window.

6. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein the third signal comprises first indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate that the first signal comprises or does not comprise the downlink data.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the first signal comprises a second signal, a third signal and downlink data, the second signal is a preamble signal or a primary synchronization signal, the third signal is a secondary synchronization signal SSS or PBCH, and the third signal is a preamble signal of the downlink data.

8. The method of any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the transmitting the first signal comprises:

and transmitting a plurality of first signals on a plurality of frequency units or a plurality of time domain units, wherein any two of the plurality of first signals correspond to different coverage levels, repetition levels or spreading factors, and the plurality of first signals are used for determining a measurement quantity by receiving equipment, and the measurement quantity is the lowest coverage level, the minimum repetition number or the minimum spreading factor of the first signals when a preset condition is met.

9. The method of any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the transmitting the first signal comprises:

Transmitting the first signal according to the highest coverage level, the maximum number of repetitions or the maximum spreading factor; the first signal is used for determining a measurement quantity by a receiving device, and the measurement quantity is the lowest coverage level, the minimum repetition number or the minimum spreading factor of the first signal when a preset condition is met.

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the preset condition is that the receiving device correctly detects the first signal, or the preset condition is that the receiving device correctly detects the first signal under a preset configuration assumption, or the preset condition is that a first indicator is less than or equal to a threshold under a preset configuration assumption, the first indicator being at least one of: the block error rate of the first signal, the packet error rate of the first signal, the omission factor of the first signal, the error rate of the first signal and the false alarm rate of the first signal.

11. The method according to any of claims 1 to 10, wherein the guard band of the first signal has a bandwidth greater than or equal to the guard band of the downstream data.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the modulation mode of the first signal is any one of on-off keying OOK, amplitude keying ASK, frequency shift keying FSK.

13. A method of communication, comprising:

receiving a first signal;

at least one of the following functions is implemented using the first signal: cell search, time synchronization, frequency synchronization, time tracking, frequency tracking, and measurement.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the first signal comprises a second signal, which is a preamble signal or a primary synchronization signal, and/or a third signal, which is a secondary synchronization signal SSS or a physical broadcast channel PBCH.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the first signal comprises the second signal and the third signal, wherein the second signal is generated by repetition or spreading of a base sequence, and wherein the starting time domain position of the third signal is determined based on the ending position of the maximum time domain length supported by the second signal.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the third signal is used to indicate at least one of a number of repetitions of the second signal, a level of coverage corresponding to the second signal, a spreading factor corresponding to the second signal, and a time domain length of the second signal.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the first signal comprises a second signal and a third signal, the second signal being used to achieve time synchronization or frequency synchronization, the third signal carrying at least one of: the method comprises the steps of identifying information, period information, a first frame number, a first superframe number, a first period index and a second period index, wherein the identifying information is a cell identifier or an identifier of a transmitting device, the period information is a period of the transmitting device transmitting the first signal, the first frame number is a frame number of one frame in a plurality of frames occupied by the first signal, the first superframe number is a superframe number of a superframe where the first signal is located, the first period index is an index of the period of the first signal in one superframe, and the second period index is an index of a paging period where the first signal is located in one superframe or a paging time window.

18. The method according to any of claims 14 to 17, wherein the third signal comprises first indication information indicating whether the first signal comprises or does not comprise the downlink data.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the first signal comprises a second signal, a third signal, and downlink data, the second signal is a preamble or a primary synchronization signal, the third signal is a secondary synchronization signal SSS or PBCH, and the third signal is a preamble of the downlink data.

20. The method of any of claims 13 to 19, wherein the receiving the first signal comprises:

receiving a plurality of the first signals on a plurality of frequency units or a plurality of time domain units, any two of the plurality of first signals corresponding to different coverage levels, repetition levels or spreading factors;

and when the preset condition is met, the lowest coverage level, the minimum repetition number or the minimum spreading factor of the first signal is used as a measurement quantity.

21. The method according to any of claims 13 to 19, wherein the first signal is transmitted by a transmitting device according to a highest coverage level, a maximum number of repetitions or a maximum spreading factor; said receiving said first signal comprises:

22. The method according to claim 20 or 21, wherein the preset condition is that the receiving device correctly detects the first signal, or the preset condition is that the receiving device correctly detects the first signal under a preset configuration assumption, or the preset condition is that a first indicator is less than or equal to a threshold under a preset configuration assumption, the first indicator being at least one of: the block error rate of the first signal, the packet error rate of the first signal, the omission factor of the first signal, the error rate of the first signal and the false alarm rate of the first signal.

23. The method according to any of claims 13 to 22, wherein the guard band of the first signal has a bandwidth greater than or equal to the guard band of the downstream data.

24. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 23, wherein the modulation scheme of the first signal is any one of OOK, ASK, FSK.

25. A communication device comprising means or units for implementing the method of any one of claims 1 to 12.

26. A communication device comprising means or units for implementing the method of any one of claims 13 to 24.

27. A computer readable storage medium, wherein a computer program is stored in the computer readable storage medium, the computer program comprising program instructions which, when executed, cause a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 12, or which, when executed, cause a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 13 to 24.

28. A communications device comprising a processor for causing the communications device to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 12 or causing the communications device to perform the method of any one of claims 13 to 24 when the instructions are executed.

29. A chip comprising a processor and a communication interface, the processor reading instructions stored on a memory via the communication interface, performing the method of any one of claims 1 to 12, or performing the method of any one of claims 13 to 24.