The present application claims priority from the chinese patent application filed at month 09 of 2022, the chinese national intellectual property agency, application number 202210653604.0, application name "a UWB transmission method", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Disclosure of Invention
The embodiment of the application provides a communication method and device for improving the coverage area of UWB equipment.
In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, which method may be performed by a transmitting device, or by another device comprising the functions of the transmitting device, or by a chip system or other functional module capable of implementing the functions of the transmitting device, which chip system or functional module is for example provided in the transmitting device. The transmitting device is, for example, a terminal device or a network device. Alternatively, the transmitting device has UWB functionality. The method comprises the following steps: determining a first parameter; and according to the first parameter, one or more UWB frames are sequentially sent to the receiving device on M channels in a first duration, wherein the first parameter is a transmission parameter of the sending device on the M channels, M is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and the first duration is less than or equal to 1 millisecond (ms).
In this embodiment of the present application, the transmitting device may sequentially transmit UWB frames to the receiving device over a plurality of channels in a first time period less than or equal to 1ms, which is equivalent to replacing an original one of the channels with a plurality of channels. After using the plurality of channels, the duration of each channel is reduced relative to the duration of the existing one channel, which results in an increase in the maximum transmit power of each channel relative to the maximum transmit power of the existing one channel. For example, if M channels are used to replace an original channel in a case where the channel energy is constant, the maximum transmission power of one of the M channels may be M times the maximum transmission power of the original channel. Therefore, through the technical scheme of the embodiment of the application, the transmitting power of the UWB signal can be effectively improved, so that the coverage range of UWB equipment is improved.
In an alternative embodiment, prior to said transmitting one or more UWB frames, the method further comprises: and sending first configuration information to the receiving equipment, wherein the first configuration information is used for configuring the first parameter. The receiving device obtains the first parameters so that one or more UWB frames may be received on the M channels according to the first parameters. For example, the first parameter may be configured by the transmitting device to the receiving device; alternatively, the first parameter may be configured by the receiving device to the transmitting device, e.g. the first configuration information is transmitted by the receiving device to the transmitting device, so that the transmitting device may determine the first parameter accordingly; alternatively, the first parameter may also be determined by negotiation between the transmitting device and the receiving device; alternatively, the first parameter may be preset, e.g. predefined by a protocol, etc.
In an alternative embodiment, the first configuration information is included in a PHR or MHR of a UWB frame used to carry the first configuration information. The first configuration information may be included in the UWB frame, may be included in the PHR or MHR of the UWB frame, or may be included in other fields of the UWB frame, and is not particularly limited.
In an alternative embodiment, the first parameter includes one or more of the following: a first period, in which the sequence of the M channels or the frequency hopping pattern to be followed is in the first duration, in which the duration or the duration proportion of each of the M channels, the time interval between two channels adjacent in transmission time in the M channels, or the time offset between the frame carrying the first configuration information and the first channel in the M channels, where the duration of the first period is greater than or equal to the first duration. For example, the first period is a period of M channels, or a period of a first duration. The time offset between the frame carrying the first configuration information and the first channel of the M channels is, for example, the time offset between the start time domain position of the frame and the start time domain position of the first channel, or the time offset between the end time domain position of the frame and the end time domain position of the first channel, or the time offset between the end time domain position of the frame and the start time domain position of the first channel, etc. The frame carrying the first configuration information may be, for example, a UWB frame, or may be a frame supported by other communication protocols, such as a bluetooth frame, etc.
In an alternative embodiment, the method further comprises: and sending an activation instruction to the receiving equipment, wherein the activation instruction is used for indicating activation of the first parameter. For example, the transmitting device has transmitted the first configuration information to the receiving device, but the first configuration information is for configuring the first parameter and is not for activating the first parameter. The transmitting device may also send an activation indication to the receiving device to activate the first parameter. In this way, the first configuration information may be configured semi-statically, that is, the first parameter may be configured to be used multiple times (or used for a longer period of time), so that the configuration process may be simplified without having to reconfigure the first parameter each time the first parameter is used.
In an alternative embodiment, the activation indication further includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate a time offset between a frame carrying the activation indication and a first channel of the M channels. If the transmitting device also transmits an activation indication to the receiving device, the activation indication may also indicate a time offset between the frame carrying the activation indication and the first channel such that the receiving device can determine the time domain position of the first channel after receiving the activation indication. Alternatively, if the activation indication includes the first indication information, the first parameter may not include a time offset between the frame carrying the first configuration information and a first one of the M channels.
In an alternative embodiment, the activation indication is included in a PHR or MHR of a UWB frame for carrying the activation indication. The frame carrying the activation indication is, for example, a UWB frame, or may be a frame supported by other communication protocols, such as a bluetooth frame, etc. There is no limitation on the location of the activation indication in the frame.
In an alternative embodiment, the first parameter includes one or more of the following: and the duration or duration proportion of each of the M channels in the first duration, the time offset between the frame carrying the first configuration information and each of the M channels, or the effective duration information of the first parameter. The first parameter may have different implementations.
In an alternative embodiment, the first parameter includes one or more of the following: the system comprises a first period, a second period and information of N first time windows in the first period or information of K second time windows in the second period, wherein the duration of the first period is longer than or equal to the first period, the duration of the second period is longer than or equal to the duration of the first period, the N first time windows correspond to the M channels, N is a positive integer smaller than or equal to M, and K is an integer larger than or equal to 1. Such an implementation of the first parameter may be regarded as a power saving manner. For example, the receiving device may not receive (or detect) UWB frames during times other than the first and second time windows, or may enter a sleep state to save power consumption.
In an alternative embodiment, the information of one first time window of the N first time windows includes (or indicates) a start time domain position and/or duration information of the one first time window, or includes (or indicates) an end time domain position and/or duration information of the one first time window, or includes (or indicates) a start time domain position and/or an end time domain of the one first time window.
In an alternative embodiment, the information of one of the K second time windows includes one or more of the following: the time duration information of the one second time window, or the time offset between the start time domain position and/or the end time domain position of the one second time window and the nearest one first time window. From the information of the second time window, the time domain position of the second time window can be determined.
In an alternative embodiment, the one or more UWB frames include a first UWB frame, and the first UWB frame further includes second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate whether there is a UWB frame to be transmitted. After receiving the first UWB frame, the receiving device may determine whether there is a UWB frame to be transmitted according to the second indication information. If there are no UWB frames to be transmitted, the receiving device may enter a state of not receiving (or not detecting) UWB frames, or enter a sleep state, to save power consumption.
In an alternative embodiment, third indication information is sent in the second time window, where the third indication information is used to indicate whether UWB frames are received in one or more of the following first time windows, or the third indication information is used to indicate that UWB frames are received in one or more of the following first time windows. Energy saving can be achieved by the third indication information. For example, if the third indication information indicates that no UWB frame is received within the next one or more first time windows, or the transmitting device does not transmit the third indication information, then the receiving device may enter a state of not receiving (or not detecting) UWB frames, or enter a sleep state, within the one or more first time windows, to save power consumption.
In an alternative embodiment, the method further comprises: and sending a deactivation indication to the receiving device, wherein the deactivation indication is used for indicating to deactivate the first parameter. Upon ceasing to use the first parameter, the transmitting device may indicate to deactivate the first parameter by a deactivation indication. The receiving device may cease using the first parameter after receiving the deactivation indication. Equivalently, the transmission mode provided in the embodiment of the present application may be activated or deactivated according to the situation, which is more flexible.
In an alternative embodiment, prior to said transmitting one or more UWB frames, the method further comprises: and transmitting first capability information to the receiving device, wherein the first capability information is used for indicating the identification of channels supported by the transmitting device and/or channel switching capability information supported by the transmitting device. For example, the first parameter is set by the receiving device, and the receiving device may set the first parameter according to the capability information of the transmitting device and/or the receiving device.
In an alternative embodiment, prior to said transmitting one or more UWB frames, the method further comprises: second capability information is received from the receiving device, the second capability information being used to indicate an identity of channels supported by the receiving device and/or channel switching capability information supported by the receiving device. For example, the first parameter is set by the transmitting device, and the transmitting device may set the first parameter according to capability information of the transmitting device and/or the receiving device.
In an alternative embodiment, the maximum transmit power of the transmitting device on a first channel of the M channels is determined according to the duration of the first channel within the first duration, the first channel being any one of the M channels. The duration of the first channel is reduced relative to the duration of the existing one channel, which results in an increase in the maximum transmit power of the first channel relative to the maximum transmit power of the existing one channel. Therefore, the transmitting power of the UWB signal can be effectively improved, and the coverage area of UWB equipment is improved.
In an alternative embodiment, the average power spectral density within 1ms corresponding to the maximum transmission power is less than or equal to a first threshold, where the first threshold is an upper limit of the average power spectral density of the channel carrying the UWB frame within 1 ms. That is, in the embodiment of the present application, the maximum transmitting power of the first channel also meets the constraint of PSD regulations of UWB, and meets the transmission requirement.
In an alternative embodiment, the maximum transmit power satisfies the following relationship: a+10 log10 (BW/1MHz)+10*log10 (1 ms/T), wherein a represents the first threshold, T represents the duration of the first channel, and BW represents the bandwidth of the first channel.
In an alternative embodiment, any one of the one or more UWB frames is transmitted on only one of the M channels. That is, for one UWB frame, the transmitting device does not put it on multiple channels to transmit, but only on one channel to facilitate synchronization of the receiving device.
In a second aspect, another communication method is provided, which may be performed by a receiving device, or by another device comprising the functionality of the receiving device, or by a chip system or other functional module capable of implementing the functionality of the receiving device, the chip system or functional module being for example provided in the receiving device. The receiving device is for example a terminal device or a network device. Alternatively, the receiving device has UWB functionality. The method comprises the following steps: determining a first parameter; and receiving one or more UWB frames from a transmitting device on the M channels in sequence within a first duration according to the first parameters, wherein the first parameters are transmission parameters of the transmitting device on the M channels, M is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and the first duration is less than or equal to 1 millisecond.
In an alternative embodiment, prior to said receiving one or more UWB frames, the method further comprises: first configuration information is received from the sending device, wherein the first configuration information is used for configuring the first parameter.
In an alternative embodiment, the first configuration information is included in a PHR or MHR of a UWB frame used to carry the first configuration information.
In an alternative embodiment, the first parameter includes one or more of the following: a first period, in which the sequence of the M channels or the frequency hopping pattern to be followed is in the first duration, in which the duration or the duration proportion of each of the M channels, the time interval between two channels adjacent in transmission time in the M channels, or the time offset between the frame carrying the first configuration information and the first channel in the M channels, where the duration of the first period is greater than or equal to the first duration.
In an alternative embodiment, the method further comprises: and receiving an activation instruction from the sending device, wherein the activation instruction is used for indicating activation of the first parameter.
In an alternative embodiment, the activation indication further includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate a time offset between a frame carrying the activation indication and a first channel of the M channels.
In an alternative embodiment, the activation indication is included in a PHR or MHR of a UWB frame for carrying the activation indication.
In an alternative embodiment, the first parameter includes one or more of the following: and the duration or duration proportion of each of the M channels in the first duration, the time offset between the frame carrying the first configuration information and each of the M channels, or the effective duration information of the first parameter.
In an alternative embodiment, the first parameter includes one or more of the following: the system comprises a first period, a second period and information of N first time windows in the first period or information of K second time windows in the second period, wherein the duration of the first period is longer than or equal to the first period, the duration of the second period is longer than or equal to the duration of the first period, the N first time windows correspond to the M channels, N is a positive integer smaller than or equal to M, and K is an integer larger than or equal to 1.
In an alternative embodiment, the information of one first time window of the N first time windows comprises a start time domain position and/or duration information of the one first time window, or comprises an end time domain position and/or duration information of the one first time window, or comprises a start time domain position and/or an end time domain position of the one first time window.
In an alternative embodiment, the information of one of the K second time windows includes one or more of the following: the time duration information of the one second time window, or the time offset between the start time domain position and/or the end time domain position of the one second time window and the nearest one first time window.
In an alternative embodiment, the one or more UWB frames include a first UWB frame, and the first UWB frame further includes second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate whether there is a UWB frame to be transmitted.
In an alternative embodiment, third indication information is detected within the second time window, where the third indication information is used to indicate whether the receiving device needs to receive UWB frames within one or more of the first time windows, or the third indication information is used to indicate that the receiving device receives UWB frames within one or more of the first time windows.
In an alternative embodiment, the method further comprises: if the second indication information indicates that there is no UWB frame to be transmitted, the UWB frame is put into a sleep state or no longer received in the second period.
In an alternative embodiment, the method further comprises: if the second indication information indicates a UWB frame to be transmitted and the first UWB frame is the last UWB frame in the last first time window of the M first time windows, starting a first timer to receive the UWB frame in the first time window in the next first period, wherein during the first timer running, no UWB frame from the transmitting device is received. If the first UWB frame is the last UWB frame in the last time window, the receiving device may also need to receive UWB frames in a first time window of the M first time windows in the next first period according to the second indication information. The receiving device may start a first timer to wait for the arrival of a first one of the M first time windows in a next first period. In addition, in order to save power consumption of the receiving device, the receiving device may not receive UWB frames during the operation of the first timer or enter a sleep state.
In an alternative embodiment, the method further comprises: a deactivation indication is received from the transmitting device, the deactivation indication being for indicating to deactivate the first parameter.
In an alternative embodiment, the method further comprises: first capability information is received from the transmitting device, wherein the first capability information is used for indicating the identification of channels supported by the transmitting device and/or channel switching capability information supported by the transmitting device.
In an alternative embodiment, the method further comprises: and sending second capability information to the sending device, wherein the second capability information is used for indicating the identification of channels supported by the receiving device and/or channel switching capability information supported by the receiving device.
In an alternative embodiment, any one of the one or more UWB frames is received on only one of the M channels.
Regarding the technical effects brought about by the second aspect or various alternative embodiments, reference may be made to the description of the technical effects of the first aspect or corresponding embodiments.
In a third aspect, a further communication method is provided, which method may be performed by a transmitting device, or by another device comprising the functions of the transmitting device, or by a chip system or other functional module capable of implementing the functions of the transmitting device, which chip system or functional module is for example provided in the transmitting device. The transmitting device is, for example, a terminal device or a network device. Alternatively, the transmitting device has UWB functionality. The method comprises the following steps: determining a first parameter; and transmitting a plurality of UWB frames to a receiving device on M time domain units according to the first parameter, wherein the first parameter is a transmission parameter of the transmitting device on the M time domain units, the duration of each time domain unit in the M time domain units is smaller than or equal to a first duration, M is an integer larger than or equal to 2, and the first duration is smaller than or equal to 1 millisecond.
In this embodiment of the present application, the transmitting device may transmit UWB frames to the receiving device in M time domain units, which is equivalent to replacing the original continuous time with a plurality of time domain units. After using the plurality of time domain units, the duration of each time domain unit is reduced relative to the existing continuous time, which results in an increase in the maximum transmit power of the transmitting device over each time domain unit relative to the existing maximum transmit power over the continuous time. For example, in the case where the channel energy is constant, if the original continuous time is replaced by M time domain units, the maximum transmission power of the transmitting device on one time domain unit of the M time domain units may be M times the original transmission power on the continuous time. Therefore, through the technical scheme of the embodiment of the application, the transmitting power of the UWB signal can be effectively improved, so that the coverage range of UWB equipment is improved.
In an alternative embodiment, the method further comprises: and sending first indication information to the receiving device, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating duration information of a synchronization field included in each UWB frame in the plurality of UWB frames, and the duration information of the synchronization field included in at least two UWB frames in the plurality of UWB frames is different. For example, the number of the one or more UWB frames is greater than 1, the duration of the synchronization field included in at least two UWB frames may be different or the number of pilot symbol repetitions may be different among the one or more UWB frames. For example, for a first UWB frame of the one or more UWB frames (which may be the UWB frame first transmitted by the transmitting device of the one or more UWB frames or the UWB frame first generated by the transmitting device of the one or more UWB frames), the duration of the synchronization field included in the synchronization field may be longer, and the receiving device may perform more accurate processing, such as performing more accurate ranging, synchronization, or channel estimation, according to the synchronization field; and for other UWB frames except the first UWB frame in the one or more UWB frames, the duration of the synchronization field included in the one or more UWB frames can be shorter, in the sending time of the other UWB frames, the synchronization error can be considered to be smaller, or the channel environment can be considered to be basically unchanged, and the like, so that the duration of the synchronization field can be reduced to reduce the overhead of the synchronization field. By means of the first indication information, the receiving device is enabled to correctly detect the UWB frame.
In an alternative embodiment, the first indication information is further used to indicate one or more of the following information for each of the plurality of UWB frames: whether PHR is included, the physical load size, or the modulation and coding scheme. Different UWB frames may be structurally different, e.g., some UWB frames may not include physical loads, etc. The first indication information may thus indicate the content that the UWB frame includes, or indicate the content that the UWB frame does not include, so that the receiving device can learn the structure of the UWB frame to achieve correct detection.
In an alternative embodiment, before said transmitting a plurality of UWB frames, the method further comprises: and sending first configuration information to the receiving equipment, wherein the first configuration information is used for configuring the first parameter.
In an alternative embodiment, the first configuration information is included in a PHR or MHR of a UWB frame used to carry the first configuration information.
In an alternative embodiment, the first parameter includes one or more of the following: the duration of each of the M time domain units or the proportion of the duration occupied in the first duration, a time offset between a frame carrying the first configuration information and a starting time domain position of a first time domain unit of the M time domain units, the valid duration information of the first parameter, or a time range in which the receiving device sends response information.
In an alternative embodiment, the first parameter includes one or more of the following: the method comprises the steps of a first period, a second period and information of a first time window in the first period or information of K second time windows in the second period, wherein the duration of the first period is longer than or equal to 1 millisecond, the duration of the second period is longer than or equal to the duration of the first period, the first time window corresponds to one time domain unit in M time domain units, and K is an integer greater than or equal to 1.
In an alternative embodiment, the information of the first time window comprises a starting time domain position and/or duration information of the first time window.
In an alternative embodiment, the information of one of the K second time windows includes one or more of the following: the time duration information of the one second time window, or the time offset between the start time domain position and/or the end time domain position of the one second time window and the nearest one first time window.
In an alternative embodiment, the plurality of UWB frames includes a first UWB frame, and the first UWB frame further includes second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate whether there are UWB frames to be transmitted.
In an alternative embodiment, third indication information is sent in the second time window, where the third indication information is used to indicate whether UWB frames need to be received in one or more of the following first time windows, or the third indication information is used to indicate that UWB frames need to be received in one or more of the following first time windows.
In an alternative embodiment, the method further comprises: and sending a deactivation indication to the receiving device, wherein the deactivation indication is used for indicating to deactivate the first parameter.
In an alternative embodiment, the maximum transmit power of the transmitting device in a first time domain unit of the M time domain units on the first channel is determined according to the duration of the first time domain unit, the first time domain unit being any one of the M time domain units.
In an alternative embodiment, the maximum transmit power satisfies the following relationship: a+10 log10 (BW/1MHz)+10*log10 (1 ms/T), wherein a represents a first power spectral density threshold, T represents a duration of the first time domain unit, and BW represents a bandwidth of the transmitting device over the first time domain unit.
With regard to the technical effects brought about by some alternative embodiments of the third aspect, reference may be made to the description of the technical effects of the corresponding embodiments of the first aspect.
In a fourth aspect, a further communication method is provided, which method can be performed by a receiving device, or by another device comprising the functionality of the receiving device, or by a chip system or other functional module, which chip system or functional module is capable of implementing the functionality of the receiving device, which chip system or functional module is for example provided in the receiving device. The receiving device is for example a terminal device or a network device. Alternatively, the receiving device has UWB functionality. The method comprises the following steps: determining a first parameter; and receiving a plurality of UWB frames from a transmitting device on M time domain units according to the first parameter, wherein the first parameter is a transmission parameter of the transmitting device on the M time domain units, the duration of each time domain unit in the M time domain units is smaller than or equal to a first duration, M is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and the first duration is smaller than or equal to 1 millisecond.
In an alternative embodiment, the method further comprises: and receiving first indication information from the sending device, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating duration information of a synchronization field included in each UWB frame in the plurality of UWB frames, and the duration information of the synchronization field included in at least two UWB frames in the plurality of UWB frames is different.
In an alternative embodiment, the first indication information is further used to indicate one or more of the following information for each of the plurality of UWB frames: whether the physical header PHR, the physical load size, or the modulation coding scheme is included.
In an alternative embodiment, prior to said receiving a plurality of UWB frames, the method further comprises: first configuration information is received from the sending device, wherein the first configuration information is used for configuring the first parameter.
In an alternative embodiment, the first configuration information is included in a PHR or MHR of a UWB frame used to carry the first configuration information.
In an alternative embodiment, the first parameter includes one or more of the following: the duration of each of the M time domain units or the proportion of the duration occupied in the first duration, a time offset between a frame carrying the first configuration information and a starting time domain position of a first time domain unit of the M time domain units, the valid duration information of the first parameter, or a time range in which the receiving device sends response information.
In an alternative embodiment, the first parameter includes one or more of the following: the method comprises the steps of a first period, a second period and information of a first time window in the first period or information of K second time windows in the second period, wherein the duration of the first period is longer than or equal to 1 millisecond, the duration of the second period is longer than or equal to the duration of the first period, the first time window corresponds to one time domain unit in M time domain units, and K is an integer greater than or equal to 1.
In an alternative embodiment, the information of the first time window comprises a starting time domain position and/or duration information of the first time window.
In an alternative embodiment, the information of one of the K second time windows includes one or more of the following: the time duration information of the one second time window, or the time offset between the start time domain position and/or the end time domain position of the one second time window and the nearest one first time window.
In an alternative embodiment, the plurality of UWB frames includes a first UWB frame, and the first UWB frame further includes second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate whether there are UWB frames to be transmitted.
In an alternative embodiment, the method further comprises: if the second indication information indicates that there is no UWB frame to be transmitted, the UWB frame is put into a sleep state or no longer received in the second period.
In an alternative embodiment, third indication information is received in the second time window, where the third indication information is used to indicate whether UWB frames need to be received in one or more of the following first time windows, or the third indication information is used to indicate that UWB frames need to be received in one or more of the following first time windows.
In an alternative embodiment, the method further comprises: a deactivation indication is received from the transmitting device, the deactivation indication being for indicating to deactivate the first parameter.
In an alternative embodiment, the maximum transmit power of the transmitting device in a first time domain unit of the M time domain units on the first channel is determined according to the duration of the first time domain unit, the first time domain unit being any one of the M time domain units.
In an alternative embodiment, the maximum transmit power satisfies the following relationship: a+10 log10 (BW/1MHz)+10*log10 (1 ms/T), wherein a represents a first power spectral density threshold, T represents a duration of the first time domain unit, and BW represents a bandwidth of the transmitting device over the first time domain unit.
Regarding the technical effects brought about by the fourth aspect or the various alternative embodiments of the fourth aspect, reference may be made to the corresponding introduction to any one of the aspects above.
In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device may be the transmitting apparatus described in the first aspect, or a communication apparatus including the transmitting apparatus, or a functional module in the transmitting apparatus, such as a baseband device or a chip system, etc. Alternatively, the communication apparatus may be the transmitting device described in the third aspect, or a communication device including the transmitting device, or a functional module in the transmitting device, such as a baseband apparatus or a chip system, or the like. In an alternative implementation, the communication device includes a baseband device and a radio frequency device. In another alternative implementation, the communication device includes a processing unit (sometimes also referred to as a processing module) and a transceiver unit (sometimes also referred to as a transceiver module). The transceiver unit can realize a transmission function and a reception function, and may be referred to as a transmission unit (sometimes referred to as a transmission module) when the transceiver unit realizes the transmission function, and may be referred to as a reception unit (sometimes referred to as a reception module) when the transceiver unit realizes the reception function. The transmitting unit and the receiving unit may be the same functional module, which is called a transceiver unit, and which can implement a transmitting function and a receiving function; alternatively, the transmitting unit and the receiving unit may be different functional modules, and the transmitting and receiving unit is a generic term for these functional modules.
Wherein the processing unit is used for determining a first parameter; the transceiver unit (or the transmitting unit) is configured to sequentially transmit one or more UWB frames to a receiving device on M channels within a first duration according to the first parameter, where the first parameter is a transmission parameter of the transmitting device on the M channels, M is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and the first duration is less than or equal to 1 millisecond.
Or, the processing unit is configured to determine a first parameter; the transceiver unit (or the transmitting unit) is configured to transmit a plurality of UWB frames to a receiving device on M time domain units according to the first parameter, where the first parameter is a transmission parameter of the transmitting device on the M time domain units, a duration of each time domain unit in the M time domain units is less than or equal to a first duration, M is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and the first duration is less than or equal to 1 millisecond.
In an alternative embodiment, the communication apparatus further comprises a storage unit (sometimes also referred to as a storage module), and the processing unit is configured to be coupled to the storage unit and execute a program or instructions in the storage unit, and enable the communication apparatus to perform the functions of the transmitting device according to the first aspect and/or the third aspect.
In a sixth aspect, another communication device is provided. The communication device may be the receiving apparatus described in the second aspect, or a communication apparatus including the receiving apparatus, or a functional module in the receiving apparatus, such as a baseband device or a chip system, etc. Or the communication apparatus may be the receiving device described in the fourth aspect, or a communication device including the receiving device, or a functional module in the receiving device, such as a baseband apparatus or a chip system, etc. The communication device comprises a processing unit (sometimes also referred to as processing module) and a transceiver unit (sometimes also referred to as transceiver module), the description of which may be referred to in relation to the fourth aspect.
Wherein the processing unit is used for determining a first parameter; the transceiver unit (or the receiving unit) is configured to sequentially receive, according to the first parameter, one or more UWB frames from a transmitting device on the M channels within a first duration, where the first parameter is a transmission parameter of the transmitting device on the M channels, M is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and the first duration is less than or equal to 1 millisecond.
Or, the processing unit is configured to determine a first parameter; the transceiver unit (or the receiving unit) is configured to receive a plurality of UWB frames from a transmitting device on M time domain units according to the first parameter, where the first parameter is a transmission parameter of the transmitting device on the M time domain units, a duration of each time domain unit in the M time domain units is less than or equal to a first duration, M is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and the first duration is less than or equal to 1 millisecond.
In an alternative embodiment, the communication apparatus further comprises a storage unit (sometimes also referred to as a storage module), and the processing unit is configured to be coupled to the storage unit and execute a program or instructions in the storage unit, and enable the communication apparatus to perform the functions of the receiving device according to the first and/or third aspect.
In a seventh aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which may be a transmitting device, or a chip system for use in a transmitting device; alternatively, the communication means may be a receiving device or a chip or chip system for use in a receiving device. The communication device comprises a communication interface and a processor, and optionally a memory. Wherein the memory is configured to store a computer program, and the processor is coupled to the memory and the communication interface, and when the processor reads the computer program or instructions, the processor causes the communication apparatus to perform the method performed by the transmitting device or the receiving device in the above aspects.
An eighth aspect provides a communication system comprising a transmitting device for performing the communication method according to the first and/or third aspect and a receiving device for performing the communication method according to the second and/or fourth aspect.
A ninth aspect provides a computer readable storage medium storing a computer program or instructions which, when executed, cause a transmitting device or a receiving device of the above aspects to perform a method.
In a tenth aspect, there is provided a computer program product containing instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the method of the above aspects to be carried out.
In an eleventh aspect, a chip system is provided, including a processor and an interface, where the processor is configured to invoke and execute instructions from the interface, so that the chip system implements the methods of the above aspects.
Detailed Description
In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application more apparent, the embodiments of the present application will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In the embodiments of the present application, the number of nouns, unless otherwise indicated, means "a singular noun or a plural noun", i.e. "one or more". "at least one" means one or more, and "a plurality" means two or more. "and/or", describes an association relationship of an association object, and indicates that there may be three relationships, for example, a and/or B, and may indicate: a alone, a and B together, and B alone, wherein a, B may be singular or plural. The character "/" generally indicates that the context-dependent object is an "or" relationship. For example, A/B, means: a or B. "at least one of" or the like means any combination of these items, including any combination of single item(s) or plural items(s). For example, at least one (one) of a, b, or c, represents: a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, or a and b and c, wherein a, b, c may be single or plural.
The ordinal terms such as "first," "second," and the like in the embodiments of the present application are used for distinguishing a plurality of objects, and are not used to define a size, a content, an order, a timing, a priority, or an importance level of the plurality of objects. For example, the first period and the second period may be the same period or different periods, and the names do not indicate the duration, application scenario, priority, importance, or the like of the two periods. In addition, the numbers of the steps in the embodiments described in the present application are only for distinguishing different steps, and are not used for limiting the sequence of the steps. For example, S401 may occur before S402, or may occur after S402, or may also occur concurrently with S402.
In the following, some terms or concepts in the embodiments of the present application are explained for easy understanding by those skilled in the art.
In this embodiment of the present application, the terminal device is a device with a wireless transceiver function, and may be a fixed device, a mobile device, a handheld device (for example, a mobile phone), a wearable device, an on-board device, or a wireless apparatus (for example, a communication module, a modem, or a chip system) built in the above device. The terminal device is used for connecting people, objects, machines and the like, and can be widely used in various scenes, including but not limited to the following scenes: cellular communication, device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (vehicle to everything, V2X), machine-to-machine/machine-to-machine-type communications, M2M/MTC), internet of things (internet of things, ioT), virtual Reality (VR), augmented reality (augmented reality, AR), industrial control (industrial control), unmanned driving (self driving), remote medical (remote media), smart grid (smart grid), smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart transportation, smart city (smart city), drone, robot, and other end devices. The terminal device may sometimes be referred to as a UE, a terminal, an access station, a UE station, a remote station, a wireless communication device, or a user equipment, among others. For convenience of description, in the embodiment of the present application, a UE is taken as an example to illustrate a terminal device.
The network device in the embodiment of the application comprises an access network device and/or a core network device, for example. The access network equipment is equipment with a wireless receiving and transmitting function and is used for communicating with the terminal equipment. The access network devices include, but are not limited to, base stations (base transceiver stations (base transceiver station, BTS), node B, eNodeB/eNB, or gNodeB/gNB), transceiver points (transmission reception point, TRP), base stations for subsequent evolution of the third generation partnership project (3rd generation partnership project,3GPP), access nodes in wireless fidelity (wireless fidelity, wi-Fi) systems, wireless relay nodes, wireless backhaul nodes, and the like. The base station may be: macro base station, micro base station, pico base station, small station, relay station, etc. Multiple base stations may support networks of the same access technology or may support networks of different access technologies. A base station may comprise one or more co-sited or non-co-sited transmission reception points. The access network device may also be a radio controller, a Centralized Unit (CU), and/or a Distributed Unit (DU) in the context of a cloud radio access network (cloud radio access network, CRAN). The access network device may also be a server or the like. For example, the network device in the vehicle-to-everything (vehicle to everything, V2X) technology may be a Road Side Unit (RSU). The following describes an access network device using a base station as an example. The base station may communicate with the terminal device or may communicate with the terminal device through the relay station. A terminal device may communicate with multiple base stations in different access technologies. The core network device is used for realizing the functions of mobile management, data processing, session management, policy and charging, etc. The names of devices implementing the core network function in the systems of different access technologies may be different, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited to this. Taking a 5G system as an example, the core network device includes: access and mobility management functions (access and mobility management function, AMF), session management functions (session management function, SMF), policy control functions (policy control function, PCF) or user plane functions (user plane function, UPF), etc.
In the embodiment of the present application, the communication device for implementing the function of the network device may be a network device, or may be a device capable of supporting the network device to implement the function, for example, a chip system, and the device may be installed in the network device. In the technical solution provided in the embodiments of the present application, the device for implementing the function of the network device is exemplified by the network device, and the technical solution provided in the embodiments of the present application is described.
UWB technology can achieve high-precision positioning or data transmission by sending short pulses on the order of nanoseconds. In UWB communication systems, a transmitting device may transmit information to be transmitted carried on a pulse waveform. For example, for a pulse p (T) of duration T, in a binary phase shift keying (binary phase shift keying, BPSK) based modulation scheme, if the information bit is "1", p (T) can be sent; if the information bit is "0", then-p (t) may be sent. The receiving device can decide whether the corresponding information bit is "1" or "0" by detecting whether the amplitude of the received waveform is 1 or-1. Assuming that the information bit stream that the transmitting device needs to transmit is "11010", the transmitted pulse waveform may be as shown in fig. 1.
Alternatively, other pulse transmission modes besides BPSK modulation may be used to represent information bits, for example, p (t) may be transmitted when the information bit is "1", and no pulse may be transmitted when the information bit is "0"; for example, one information bit may be expressed by a plurality of pulses, and for example, if the information bit is "1", a plurality of p (t) may be transmitted continuously, and if the information bit is "0", a plurality of p (t) may be transmitted continuously.
According to the requirements of UWB regulations, UWB devices occupy at least 500MHz channel bandwidth, and PSD within 1ms does not exceed-41.3 dBm/MHz. Thus, at a channel bandwidth of 500MHz, the total transmit energy per 1ms cannot exceed 37nJ. As shown in fig. 2, if the transmitting device continuously transmits to the receiving device within 1ms, it means that the transmitting power of the transmitting device cannot exceed-41.3+10 log10 500 = -14.3dBm. It is clear that under the above-mentioned constraints of the transmission power, the communication distance of the UWB device is obviously limited, i.e. the coverage of the UWB device is limited.
To boost the transmit power, a more straightforward approach is to increase the channel bandwidth, e.g., if the channel bandwidth is increased from 500MHz to 1GHz, the maximum transmit power of the UWB device may be boosted by 3dB; if the channel bandwidth is increased from 500MHz to 1.5GHz, the maximum transmit power of the UWB device may be increased by 4.8dB. However, increasing the channel bandwidth requires a higher sampling rate of an analog-to-digital converter (ADC)/digital-to-analog converter (DAC) of the UWB device, and the larger the channel bandwidth, the shorter the pulse duration, and the higher the requirement for synchronization accuracy, thereby increasing processing complexity and power consumption.
In view of this, a technical solution of the embodiments of the present application is provided. In this embodiment of the present application, the transmitting device may sequentially transmit UWB frames to the receiving device over a plurality of channels in a first duration less than or equal to 1 ms, which is equivalent to replacing an original one of the channels with the plurality of channels. After using the plurality of channels, the duration of each channel is reduced relative to the duration of the existing one, which results in an increase in power per channel relative to the power of the existing one. For example, if M channels are used to replace an original channel in a case where the channel energy is constant, the transmission power of one of the M channels may be M times the transmission power of the original channel. Therefore, through the technical scheme of the embodiment of the application, the transmitting power of the UWB signal can be effectively improved, so that the coverage range of UWB equipment is improved. In addition, the technical scheme of the embodiment of the application does not need to increase the channel bandwidth, so that extra processing complexity is not brought due to the increase of the channel bandwidth.
Fig. 3 is an application scenario of the embodiment of the present application. Fig. 3 includes a transmitting device and a receiving device, e.g., both devices are UWB devices. Where a device is said to be a UWB device if it has UWB functionality (e.g., a UWB chip is disposed within the device). Of course, the device may have other functions besides UWB functions, for example, a mobile phone may have UWB functions, but the mobile phone may also have a call function, etc., which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. The transmitting device may be capable of transmitting UWB signals, such as UWB frames, to the receiving device, which may be used for ranging, for example, or may also be used for other communication functions, as embodiments of the present application are not limited in this regard. For example, the transmitting device is a network device, and the receiving device is a terminal device; or the sending equipment is terminal equipment, and the receiving equipment is network equipment; or the sending device and the receiving device are both network devices; alternatively, the transmitting device and the receiving device are both terminal devices.
The following describes the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the various embodiments of the present application, all optional steps are indicated by dashed lines in the corresponding drawings. In the following description, the method provided in the embodiments of the present application is applied to the network architecture shown in fig. 3 as an example. For example, the transmitting device described in the embodiments of the present application is, for example, a transmitting device in the network architecture shown in fig. 3, and the receiving device described in the embodiments of the present application is, for example, a receiving device in the network architecture shown in fig. 3.
An embodiment of the present application provides a communication sending method, please refer to fig. 4, which is a flowchart of the method.
S401, the sending device determines a first parameter.
The first parameter may include a transmission parameter of the transmitting device on M channels, M being an integer greater than or equal to 2. For example, M channels are all located in the first duration in the time domain, and channels adjacent in transmission time among the M channels may not overlap in the time domain. The first duration is less than or equal to 1 millisecond (ms). It can be seen that each of the M channels has a duration of less than or equal to 1ms and the total duration of the M channels is less than or equal to 1ms. Alternatively, the bandwidths of the M channels may be equal, for example, 500MHz each, or may be unequal. Alternatively, the M channels may be contiguous in the frequency domain, or may be discontinuous. Alternatively, the durations of different channels in the M channels may be equal or may not be equal.
For example, the frequencies of the M channels are different. It can be understood that the embodiment of the application provides a frequency hopping transmission mechanism, so that the transmitting device can implement frequency hopping transmission on M channels in the first duration. Compared with the scheme that the current transmitting equipment transmits on one channel, the duration of each channel is shortened by M channels, and under the condition that the bandwidth of the channel is still 500MHz, the duration of one channel is due toThe duration is shortened, so that the transmitting power of one channel in the M channels is improved relative to the transmitting power of the existing one channel. For example, if M channels are used to replace an original channel under a condition of a certain channel energy, the transmission power of one channel of the M channels can be increased by 10×log relative to the original channel10 M dB. Therefore, through the technical scheme of the embodiment of the application, the transmitting power of the UWB signal can be effectively improved, so that the coverage range of UWB equipment is improved. In addition, the technical scheme of the embodiment of the application does not need to increase the channel bandwidth, so that extra processing complexity is not brought due to the increase of the channel bandwidth.
Referring to fig. 5A, for an illustration of M channel transmission, fig. 5A is an illustration of m=3, for example, the 3 channels are respectively denoted as CH8, CH9 and CH10, the bandwidths of the 3 channels are all 500MHz, the durations of the 3 channels are respectively T1, T2 and T3, t1=t2=t3, the time interval between the first two channels in the 3 channels is G1, and the time interval between the second two channels is G2. For example, the period of UWB service is 20ms, and the transmission duration of the transmitting device in each 20ms may be 1ms, or may be multiple 1ms. Referring again to fig. 5B, a schematic diagram of a channel transmission is shown, where the channel is denoted by CH 9. If the transmitting device transmits UWB frames on one channel and continues to transmit for 1ms according to fig. 5B, the maximum transmit power of the transmitting device is-14.3 dBm under the PSD regulatory constraints of UWB. Whereas if, according to fig. 5A, the transmitting device hops over 3 channels within 1ms, the duration of these 3 channels is equal, e.g. the duration of each channel is about 1/3ms, the maximum transmit power of one channel in fig. 5A may be-9.5 dBm, which may be improved by about 4.8dB compared to the scheme shown in fig. 5B, where the maximum transmit power of one channel is transmitted over one channel.
The transmitting device may set the first parameter by itself, and the transmitting device determines the first parameter, that is, sets the first parameter. After setting the first parameter, the transmitting device may indicate the first parameter to the receiving device. For example, the transmitting device may transmit first configuration information to the receiving device, the first configuration information being usable to configure the first parameter. The receiving device can obtain the first parameter based on the first configuration information.
Alternatively, the first parameter may be set by the receiving device, and the receiving device may indicate the first parameter to the transmitting device after setting the first parameter. For example, the receiving device may send first configuration information to the sending device, the first configuration information being usable to configure the first parameter. The transmitting device may specifically determine the first parameter by the transmitting device obtaining the first parameter according to the first configuration information.
Alternatively, the first configuration information may be included in a UWB frame, for example, the first configuration information may be included in a media access control header (media access control header, MHR) or a Physical Header (PHR) of the UWB frame. Alternatively, the first configuration information may be included in other types of frames, such as bluetooth frames, etc.
Alternatively, the first parameter may be preset, for example, predefined by a protocol, or may be determined by negotiation between the sending device and the receiving device, or the like.
There are a number of different implementations of the first parameter, as exemplified below.
1. A first implementation of the first parameter.
The first parameter may include (or indicate) one or more of the following: the method comprises the steps of a first period, namely, a sequence of M channels or a frequency hopping pattern followed in a first duration, wherein the duration of each channel or the proportion of the duration occupied in the M channels in the first duration, the time interval between two channels with adjacent transmission time in the M channels, the effective duration information of a first parameter, and the identification and/or the time range of a channel used for receiving equipment to send response information, or the time offset between a frame carrying first configuration information and the first channel in the M channels. The first channel of the M channels may be a channel with the highest transmission sequence of the M channels, or a channel with the highest arrival time of the M channels, or a first channel of the hopping sequences of the M channels. The acknowledgement information may also be referred to as feedback information or the like, for example, as an Acknowledgement (ACK) or Negative Acknowledgement (NACK). The identification of the channel is for example an index or a sequence number of the channel, etc.
The duration of the first period may be greater than or equal to the first duration, e.g., the first period may be understood as a period of M channels.
The order of the M channels in the first duration may also be referred to as the frequency hopping order of the M channels in the first duration. For example, the first parameter may sequentially include indexes of M channels, and the order of the indexes of M channels in the first parameter is the arrangement order of M channels. Alternatively, the first parameter may also include (or indicate) a frequency hopping pattern followed by the M channels for the first duration, which may be one of a plurality of frequency hopping patterns. The plurality of hopping patterns may be set by the transmitting device, or set by the receiving device and communicated to the transmitting device, or determined by negotiations between the transmitting device and the receiving device, or preset, e.g., predefined by a protocol, etc. One hopping pattern may indicate one sort order of M channels. The first parameter includes a frequency hopping pattern followed by M channels in the first duration, one way being to include the frequency hopping pattern (e.g., an index of M channels corresponding to the frequency hopping pattern may be sequentially included), and another way being to include an index of the frequency hopping pattern. For example, m=3, and these 3 channels are CH8, CH9, and CH10, respectively, for which 6 kinds of hopping patterns are set in total, respectively: { CH8, CH9, CH10}, { CH8, CH10, CH9}, { CH9, CH8, CH10}, { CH9, CH10, CH8}, { CH10, CH8, CH9}, { CH10, CH9, CH8}, the indexes of the 6 hopping patterns are 0 to 5, respectively, for example, the hopping patterns followed by M channels are { CH8, CH9, CH10}, then the first parameter may include the hopping patterns, for example, the index of CH8, the index of CH9, the index of CH10 are included in order; alternatively, the first parameter may also include an index of the hopping pattern, e.g. 0.
The first parameter may include a duration of at least one channel of the M channels in the first duration, for example, m=3, and the durations of the 3 channels are T1, T2, and T3, respectively, and then the first parameter may include T1, T2, and T3. Alternatively, if the duration of two channels of the M channels is equal, the first parameter may include the duration of one of the channels. For example, m=3, the durations of these 3 channels are T1, T2, T3, t1=t2, respectively, and the first parameter may include T1 and T3.
Alternatively, the first parameter may include a proportion of a time period occupied by at least one of the M channels in the first time period, where the proportion of the time period occupied by one channel refers to a proportion of the time period occupied by one channel in the first time period or in 1 millisecond. For example, m=3, the duration of these 3 channels is T1, T2, T3, respectively, the first duration or 1 millisecond duration is denoted by T0, and the first parameter may include T1/T0, T2/T0, T3/T0. Or if the time length proportion of two channels in the M channels in the first time length is equal, the first parameter comprises the time length proportion of one channel in the first time length. For example, m=3, the proportion of the duration occupied by the 3 channels in the first duration is T1/T0, T2/T0, T3/T0, and t1=t2, respectively, and then the first parameter may include T1/T0 and T3/T0.
If m=2, then a set of transmission time adjacent channels is included in the M channels, and the first parameter may include a time interval between the set of adjacent channels. If M >2, then multiple sets of transmission time adjacent channels (where one set of adjacent channels includes two channels) may be included in the M channels, and the time intervals between the different sets of adjacent channels may be the same or different. If the time intervals between different sets of adjacent channels are the same, the first parameter may include the time interval, i.e. the first parameter may indicate the time interval between any two of the M channels that are adjacent in transmission time by including a time interval. Alternatively, if the time intervals between different sets of adjacent channels are different, the first parameter may comprise the time interval between each set of adjacent channels in turn. Alternatively, the time interval between any set of adjacent channels in the M channels may be greater than or equal to the minimum channel switching time that can be supported by the transmitting device and the receiving device. That is, the frequencies of the M channels may be different, and for a device to switch from one of the M channels to another, a certain switching time is required, which is related to the capabilities of the device. For the transmitting device, the minimum supported channel switching time is P, i.e., the time required for the transmitting device to switch channels may be greater than or equal to P; for a receiving device, the indicated minimum channel switch time is Q, i.e., the time required for the receiving device to switch channels may be greater than or equal to Q. Then the time interval between any set of adjacent channels of the M channels may be greater than or equal to the maximum of P and Q. In this way, the success rate of transmitting the transmitting device on the M channels can be improved, and the success rate of receiving the receiving device on the M channels can also be improved.
The valid duration information of the first parameter may indicate a valid duration of the first parameter, for example, the valid duration information may indicate a second duration, and the transmitting device may start timing from transmitting the first configuration information (or transmitting an activation instruction to be described later), and consider the first parameter to be invalid when the second duration arrives, and no longer use the first parameter; the receiving device may begin timing from receiving the first configuration information (or receiving an activation indication as will be described later), and consider the first parameter to be invalid when the second duration arrives, and no longer use the first parameter. Alternatively, the validity duration information may also indicate a time, where the time is, for example, a time when the first parameter fails, and when the time arrives, both the sending device and the receiving device may determine that the first parameter fails, and the first parameter is no longer used.
If the transmitting device transmits the first configuration information to the receiving device to configure the first parameter, the first configuration information is further used for activating the first parameter, that is, the first configuration information is used for configuring and activating the first parameter; alternatively, the first configuration information is used to configure the first parameter and not to activate the first parameter, but the "configuration" is regarded as "activation", and then the first parameter may further include a time offset between a frame carrying the first configuration information and a first channel of the M channels, so that the receiving device can determine a time domain position of the first channel of the M channels, and thus may determine a time domain position of the M channels. The first channel of the M channels refers to the channel that arrives first in time sequence among the M channels. The time offset between the frame carrying the first configuration information and the first channel of the M channels may refer to an offset between a start time domain position of the frame and a start time domain position of the first channel; or an offset between the end time domain position of the frame and the end time domain position of the first channel; or an offset between the end time domain position of the frame and the start time domain position of the first channel, etc. The understanding of the time offset in the embodiments of the present application is similar, for example, the time offset between the frame and the channel, the time offset between the frame and the time window, the time offset between the time windows, or the time offset between the frame and the time domain unit, etc. may be understood in a similar manner, and will not be described herein.
Reference may be made to fig. 6A, which is a schematic diagram illustrating the content indicated by the first parameter in the first implementation. In fig. 6A, taking m=3 as an example, the first parameter may include a time offset between a frame carrying the first configuration information and a first channel in a first period, an arrangement sequence of 3 channels, duration lengths T1, T2, T3 of the 3 channels, and time intervals G1, G2 between adjacent channels.
The M channels may be transmitted only once, for example, the UWB service may be transmitted only once for a first period, or the M channels may be transmitted according to a first period, that is, the M channels may be transmitted multiple times. Then for M channels in the first period, the first parameter may include a time offset between the frame carrying the first configuration information and a first one of the M channels, which may be the time offset between the frame and the first one of the M channels in the first period, and the first configuration information may also be sent before or at the beginning of the first period. At this time, as long as the starting time domain position of the first channel in the first period is determined, the receiving device may also determine the starting time domain position of the first channel in each first period for the subsequent first periods, and thus may consider that the first parameter also indicates the time offset between the UWB frame and the first channel of the M channels in any one of the first periods. Alternatively, the first parameter may also include a time offset between the frame and a first one of the M channels within each first period.
2. A second implementation of the first parameter.
The first parameter may include (or indicate) one or more of the following: the duration or duration proportion of each of the M channels within the first duration, the time offset between the frame carrying the first configuration information and each of the M channels, the identity and/or the time range of the channel for receiving the device to send the reply information, or the valid duration information of the first parameter. Wherein, if the first parameter is set by the transmitting device and configured to the receiving device by the first configuration information, optionally, the first parameter may include a time offset between a frame carrying the first configuration information and each of the M channels.
If the transmitting device transmits the first configuration information to the receiving device to configure the first parameter, the first configuration information is further used for activating the first parameter, that is, the first configuration information is used for configuring and activating the first parameter; alternatively, the first configuration information is used to configure the first parameter and not to activate the first parameter, but the "configuration" is considered to be "activation", then the first parameter may include a time offset between the frame carrying the first configuration information and each of the M channels, thereby enabling the receiving device to ascertain the time domain position of each of the M channels. Reference may be made to fig. 6B, which is a schematic diagram illustrating the content indicated by the first parameter in the second implementation. Fig. 6B illustrates m=3, and the first parameter may include a time offset (time offset 1, time offset 2, and time offset 3 in fig. 6B) between the first configuration information and each channel in the first period, and a duration T1, T2, T3 including 3 channels.
The M channels may be transmitted only once, for example, the UWB service may be transmitted only once for a first period, or the M channels may be transmitted according to a first period, that is, the M channels may be transmitted multiple times. Then for M channels in the first period, the first parameter may include a time offset between the frame carrying the first configuration information and each of the M channels, which may be a time offset between the frame and each of the M channels in the first period, and the first configuration information may also be sent before or at the beginning of the first period. At this time, as long as the start time domain position of each channel in the first period is determined, the receiving device may also determine the start time domain position of each channel in the respective first periods for the subsequent first periods, and thus may consider that the first parameter also indicates the time offset between the frame and each of the M channels in any one of the first periods. Alternatively, the first parameter may also include a time offset between the frame and each of the M channels within each first period.
3. A third implementation of the first parameter.
In such an implementation, the first parameter may be regarded as a parameter in a low energy consumption mode or in a power saving mode, i.e. a power saving mechanism may be introduced. Under the energy-saving mechanism, the receiving device can wake up to receive only in the activation time, and other times can not receive or enter a sleep state, so that the power consumption of the device can be reduced.
The first parameter may include (or indicate) one or more of the following: the first period, the second period, the number of first periods included in one second period, a time offset between a frame carrying the first configuration information and a first one of the N first time windows (or a time offset between a frame carrying the first configuration information and each of the N first time windows), effective duration information of the first parameter, information of a part or all of the K second time windows in the second period, or information of a part or all of the N first time windows in the first period. The duration of the first period is longer than or equal to the first duration, and the duration of the second period is longer than or equal to the duration of the first period, so that the first period may be also called a short period (short period), and the second period may be also called a long period (long period). N first time windows correspond to M channels, and N is a positive integer less than or equal to M. The duration of the second time window is a second duration, e.g. the second duration may be less than or equal to 1ms. A first time window corresponds to a second time window, e.g., there is a second time window before each first time window begins; alternatively, a first period corresponds to a second time window, e.g. there is a second time window before or at the beginning of each first period, the number of K may be equal to the number of repetitions of the first period in the second period; alternatively, a second period corresponds to a second time window, e.g. there is a second time window before or at the beginning of each second period, the number of K may be equal to 1.K is a positive integer. Alternatively, the first time window may also be referred to as an activation time window, a duration window (on duration window), a time window, a wake-up time window, or a transmission time window, etc., and the second time window may also be referred to as a wake-up time window, etc., without limitation to the name.
The first period is for example a period of M channels or understood as a period of a first duration. The second period may be determined based on the period of the UWB service, e.g., the second period is equal to the period of the UWB service, e.g., 20ms.
The first parameter may indicate information of each of the N first time windows, or may also indicate information of a part of the N first time windows, for example, according to the indicated information of the part of the first time windows, the receiving device may determine not only the information of the part of the first time windows, but also information of remaining first time windows. The information of a first time window indicated by (or included in) the first parameter may include start time domain position information and duration information of the first time window, or include end time domain position information and duration information of the first time window, or include start time domain position and end time domain position information of the first time window, etc. For example, the time interval between the first time windows adjacent to the transmission time in the N first time windows is fixed (e.g. predefined, or the transmitting device negotiates with the receiving device, or the transmitting device or the receiving device configuration, etc.), then the receiving device can determine the information of the remaining first time windows as long as the first parameter indicates the information of one of the N first time windows.
For example, n=m, N first time windows are in one-to-one correspondence with M channels, for example, one first time window includes one channel. Alternatively, N may be smaller than M, and it is possible that multiple channels correspond to a first time window. For example, if the time interval between the channels adjacent to the transmission time in the M channels is 0 or a preset value, N may be 1, that is, only one first time window needs to be set to cover the M channels. For example, the receiving device may wake up to receive UWB signals only within the first time window, and may not receive UWB signals (or not detect UWB signals) or enter a sleep state at times outside the first time window, so that the receiving power consumption of the device may be reduced.
The first parameter may indicate information of each of the K second time windows, or may also indicate information of a part of the K second time windows, for example, according to the indicated information of the part of the second time window, the receiving device may determine not only the information of the part of the second time window, but also information of remaining second time windows. For example, the time interval between the second time windows adjacent to the transmission time in the K second time windows is fixed (e.g. predefined, or the transmitting device negotiates with the receiving device, or the transmitting device or the receiving device configuration, etc.), the receiving device can determine the information of the remaining second time windows as long as the first parameter indicates the information of one of the K second time windows. The information of a second time window indicated by (or included in) the first parameter may include one or more of: the starting time domain position information of the second time window, the duration information of the second time window, or the time offset between the starting time domain position and/or the ending time domain position of the second time window and the nearest first time window. For an understanding of the time offset between two time windows, reference is made to the foregoing. Optionally, the starting time domain position information and duration information of the second time window indicated by the first parameter may be replaced by the ending time domain position information and duration information of the second time window, or may be replaced by the starting time domain position and ending time domain position information of the second time window, or the like.
The second time window may be used to indicate whether or not to receive UWB frames. For example, the transmitting device may transmit the third indication information in some or all of the K second time windows, and the receiving device may receive the third indication information from the transmitting device in the corresponding second time window. The third indication information may indicate whether UWB frames are received within the next one or more first time windows or whether UWB frames are to be transmitted within the next one or more first time windows. Alternatively, the third indication information may indicate that a UWB frame is received within the next one or more first time windows or that a UWB frame is to be transmitted within the next one or more second time windows. For example, the third indication information may occupy 1 bit, and if the value of the bit is "1", it indicates that the UWB frame is received within the next one or more first time windows; alternatively, if the bit has a value of "0", it indicates that no UWB frame is received within the next one or more first time windows. In this case, the transmitting device may transmit the third indication information within each of the second time windows. For another example, if the transmitting device transmits the third indication information within a second time window, it indicates that the UWB frame is received within the next one or more first time windows; alternatively, if the transmitting device does not transmit the third indication information within one of the second time windows, it is indicated that no UWB frame is received within the next one or more first time windows. In this case, the transmitting device does not necessarily transmit the third indication information within each second time window, which is advantageous in saving transmission overhead.
The one or more first time windows indicated by the third indication information may be time windows that are consecutive in the time domain or may be discontinuous in the time domain. For the receiving device, if it is determined that the UWB frame is received within a certain first time window according to the third indication information, the receiving device may receive (or detect) the UWB signal within the first time window; alternatively, if it is determined that the UWB frame is not received within a certain first time window according to the third indication information, the receiving device may not receive (or not detect) the UWB signal within the first time window. It is also possible that if the implementation mechanism of the third indication information is that the third indication information indicates whether or not a UWB frame is received in the next one or more first time windows (e.g., the transmitting device will transmit the third indication information in each of the second time windows), the receiving device may also receive (or detect) a UWB signal in the next first time window if the receiving device does not receive the third indication information from the transmitting device (e.g., the transmitting device does not transmit the third indication information, or the receiving device fails to receive the third indication information). Equivalently, the second time window may be used to instruct the receiving device to wake up or sleep, and the first time window is a time window in which the receiving device wakes up to receive the UWB signal. During other times than the first time window and the second time window, the receiving device may enter a state in which no UWB signal is received (or not detected), or enter a sleep state. Therefore, the embodiment of the present application may be regarded as an energy-saving mechanism, the first time window may be regarded as an on duration time under the energy-saving mechanism, and the second time window may be located before the first time window. By introducing the energy-saving mechanism, the receiving device can not receive UWB signals or sleep at the time outside the first time window and the second time window, so that the receiving power consumption of the device is saved.
The third indication information is to indicate one or more first time windows, for example, in such a way that the third indication information includes an index of the one or more first time windows; or if the one or more first time windows are temporally consecutive first time windows, the first indication information may also include an index of a first one of the one or more first time windows and an index offset or time offset between a last one of the one or more first time windows and the first time window. Or, the one or more first time windows indicated by the third indication information may be preset, for example, a protocol is predefined (for example, the protocol specifies that the third indication information may indicate R consecutive first time windows after the third indication information, where R is a positive integer), or the sending device configures and notifies the receiving device in advance, or the receiving device configures and notifies the sending device in advance, or the sending device negotiates with the receiving device to determine, so that the third indication information only needs to indicate whether to receive the UWB frame, and does not need to indicate the first time windows.
Optionally, the third indication information may further include address information of the receiving device, or include an identification of the receiving device, so that the receiving device definitely uses the receiving device as a receiving end of the third indication information, so as to receive the UWB frame or not receive the UWB frame in one or more subsequent first time windows according to the third indication information.
Alternatively, the third indication information may be included in a UWB frame. The UWB frame may include one or more of SHR, PHR, or PHY payload, which in turn may include MHR, etc. fields. For example, the third indication information may be included in a PHR of the UWB frame, or in an MHR within a PHY payload of the UWB frame.
The third indication information indicates whether or not the UWB frame is received within the next one or more first time windows, for example, in such a manner that the third indication information is implemented by a first sequence, which may indicate whether or not the UWB frame is received within the next one or more first time windows, and then the content indicated by the third indication information (or, the third indication information itself) may be determined according to an index of the first sequence. For example, if the third indication information adopts the first sequence with index a, it indicates that UWB frames are received within the next one or more first time windows, and if the third indication information adopts the first sequence with index b, it indicates that UWB frames are not received within the next one or more first time windows. In this way, the indication of whether to receive the UWB frame can be achieved through the format (or index) of the third indication information, so that it is not necessary to carry more content in the third indication information, which is beneficial to saving transmission overhead. In addition, the different first sequences may also correspond to different first time windows. For example, the indices are a, b, c, d, where the first index a and the first index c indicate that UWB frames are received within the next one or more first time windows, the first index b and the first index d indicate that UWB frames are not received within the next one or more first time windows, the first time windows corresponding to index a and index b are the next 3 consecutive first time windows after the end of the first indication information, and the first time windows corresponding to index c and index d are the next first time window and the third first time window after the end of the first indication information. Then, if it is to be indicated that the UWB frame is received within the next one or more first time windows, the transmitting device may select the first sequence with index a as the third indication information or the first sequence with index c as the third indication information according to the first time window that needs to be indicated; alternatively, if it is to be indicated that no UWB frame is received within the next one or more first time windows, the transmitting device may select the first sequence with index b as the third indication information or the first sequence with index d as the third indication information according to the first time window that needs to be indicated.
If the transmitting device transmits the first configuration information to the receiving device to configure the first parameter, the first configuration information is further used for activating the first parameter, that is, the first configuration information is used for configuring and activating the first parameter; alternatively, the first configuration information is used to configure the first parameter and not to activate the first parameter, but the "configuration" is regarded as "activation", and then the first parameter may include a time offset between the frame carrying the first configuration information and a first one of the N first time windows or a time offset between the frame and a first one of the K second time windows, thereby enabling the receiving device to determine the time domain positions of the N first time windows or the time domain positions of the K second time windows.
Reference may be made to fig. 6C, which is a schematic diagram illustrating the content indicated by the first parameter in the third implementation. In fig. 6C, for example, m=2 and n=2, where two channels are CH8 and CH9, respectively, CH8 is located in one first time window, and CH9 is located in another first time window, for example, the duration of CH8 is the same as the duration of the first time window in which CH8 is located, and the duration of CH9 is the same as the duration of the first time window in which CH9 is located. The first blank box in the second period in fig. 6C may further represent a transmission time of the transmitting device in one second period, for example, the transmission time may cover one or more first periods. The first parameter may include a time offset between the first configuration information and a first time window within a first period (time offset 1 in fig. 6C), start time domain position information and duration information for 3 first time windows, and a time offset between the second time window and a nearest first time window (time offset 2 in fig. 6C). In fig. 6C, the box with diagonal lines represents a second time window, and fig. 6C is an example of the second time window corresponding to a second period.
The N first time windows may occur only once, for example, the UWB service may be transmitted only once in a first time period, or the N first time windows may occur in a first period, that is, the N first time windows may occur multiple times. Then for N first time windows in the first period, the first parameter may include a time offset between the UWB frame carrying the first configuration information and a first one of the N first time windows, which may be a time offset between the frame and the first one of the N first time windows in the first period, and the first configuration information may also be transmitted before or at the beginning of the first period. At this time, as long as the starting time-domain position of the first time window in the first period is determined, the receiving device may also determine, for the subsequent first period, the starting time-domain position of the first time window in each first period, so that the first parameter may be considered to also indicate the time offset between the frame and the first one of the N first time windows in any one of the first periods. Alternatively, the first parameter may also include a time offset between the frame and a first one of the N first time windows within each first period.
In addition to the above three implementations, the first parameter may be implemented in other manners, which is not limited in particular.
The foregoing describes that the first configuration information may be used to configure the first parameter and activate the first parameter, or the first configuration information is used to configure the first parameter and not activate the first parameter, but "configuration" is also regarded as "activation", and the first configuration information may also be referred to as parameter indication information, etc., and the first configuration information may be sent in a dynamic manner.
Or it is also possible that the first configuration information is used for configuring the first parameter and not for activating the first parameter, and that "configuring" is not considered "activating", i.e. that activation is also required after configuration. In this case, the first configuration information may be configured in a semi-static manner, i.e., the first configuration information may be used a plurality of times after configuring the first parameter. Also in this case, the transmitting device may also transmit an activation indication to activate the first parameter. For example, the transmitting device may first transmit the first configuration information and then transmit the activation indication. Alternatively, both the first configuration information and the activation indication may be sent before the first time period (or, alternatively, before the first period). The receiving device may obtain the first parameter according to the first configuration information, and may use the first parameter after receiving the activation indication. Alternatively, the activation indication may be included in a UWB frame, such as may be included in an MHR or PHR of the UWB frame. The UWB frame carrying the first configuration information and the UWB frame carrying the activation indication are, for example, different UWB frames.
In a first implementation of the first parameter as above, the first parameter may include (or indicate) a time offset between a frame carrying the first configuration information and a first one of the M channels; in a second implementation of the first parameter as above, the first parameter may include (or indicate) a time offset between a frame carrying the first configuration information and each of the M channels; in a third implementation of the first parameter as above, the first parameter may include (or indicate) a time offset between a frame carrying the first configuration information and a first (or each) first time window of the N first time windows. Then, if the transmitting device transmits both the first configuration information and the activation instruction, the information (for example, several kinds of information listed in this paragraph) related to the first configuration information, which is included in the first parameter, may be replaced by the information related to the activation instruction, and the information related to the activation instruction may be included in the activation instruction instead of the first configuration information, which is equivalent to that the first parameter may be respectively carried in the first configuration information and the activation instruction.
For example, in a first implementation of the first parameter as above, the first parameter may include (or indicate) a time offset between a frame carrying the activation indication and a first one of the M channels, which may be included in the activation indication; in a second implementation of the first parameter as above, the first parameter may include (or indicate) a time offset between a frame carrying the activation indication and each of the M channels, which may be included in the activation indication; in a third implementation of the first parameter as above, the first parameter may comprise (or indicate) a time offset between a frame carrying the activation indication and a first (or each) first time window of the N first time windows, which time offset may be included in the activation indication. Alternatively, the frame carrying the activation indication is, for example, a UWB frame, or may be another type of frame, such as a bluetooth frame, or the like.
For example, referring to fig. 6D, a schematic diagram of the content indicated by the first parameter in the first implementation is shown. Fig. 6D is an example of m=3, and the first parameter may include a time offset between the activation indication and the first channel in the first period, the time offset being included in the activation indication; the first parameter further includes an arrangement order of 3 channels, durations T1, T2, T3 of the 3 channels, and time intervals G1, G2 between adjacent channels, which may be included in the first configuration information.
Optionally, whether the transmitting device transmits the first configuration information and does not transmit the activation indication, or transmits both the first configuration information and the activation indication, the transmitting device may transmit the deactivation indication to deactivate the first parameter when continued use of the first parameter is not required. For example, the deactivation indication may be sent after the end of the last first period. After the sending device sends the deactivation indication, the first parameter is no longer used. After receiving the deactivation indication, the receiving device does not use the first parameter. As in fig. 6A, 6B and 6D, the deactivation indication is shown. Alternatively, the deactivation indication may be included in a UWB frame, such as may be included in an MHR or PHR of the UWB frame.
Alternatively, if the first parameter includes valid duration information of the first parameter, both the transmitting device and the receiving device can determine a use time of the first parameter according to the valid duration information, and the transmitting device may not need to transmit the deactivation indication.
Optionally, the method further comprises S402 and/or S403.
S402, the sending device sends first capability information to the receiving device. Accordingly, the receiving device receives the first capability information from the transmitting device. The first capability information may indicate a capability of the transmitting device, e.g., the first capability information may indicate an identification of channels supported by the transmitting device (e.g., an index of the channels), and/or indicate channel switching capability information supported by the transmitting device.
The channel switching capability information supported by the transmitting device may represent a minimum time required for a device such as a phase-locked loop (PLL) of the transmitting device to stabilize in a process of switching the transmitting device from one channel to another channel, and the minimum time may be understood as, for example, a minimum channel switching time of the transmitting device. For example, the minimum channel switching time is about 10us to 100us. The channel switching capability information supported by the transmitting device indicated by the first capability information includes, for example, a minimum channel switching time of the transmitting device or includes class information to which the minimum channel switching time of the transmitting device belongs. For example, a plurality of levels may be defined, and the correspondence between the levels and the minimum channel switching time may refer to table 1, for example, the correspondence referred to in the embodiments of the present application may include one or more items in table 1, where a row in table 1 is regarded as one item.
TABLE 1
| Grade | Minimum channel switching time |
| 0 | Less than or equal to 10us |
| 1 | Greater than 10us and less than or equal to 20us |
| 2 | Greater than 20us and less than or equal to 30us |
| 3 | Greater than 30us and less than or equal to 40us |
| 4 | Greater than 40us and less than or equal to 50us |
| 5 | Greater than 50us and less than or equal to 60us |
| 6 | Greater than 60us and less than or equal to 70us |
| 7 | Greater than 70us and less than or equal to 80us |
| 8 | Greater than 80us and less than or equal to 90us |
| 9 | Greater than 90us and less than or equal to 100us |
For example, the first capability information indicates a level of 8, indicating that the minimum channel switching time supported by the transmitting device is greater than 80us and less than or equal to 90us. Alternatively, the correspondence between the level and the minimum channel switching time in the embodiment of the present application may refer to other correspondence, for example, the granularity may be divided into a larger size or a smaller size, which is not particularly limited, instead of referring to table 1.
If the first parameter is set by the receiving device, the transmitting device may transmit the first capability information to the receiving device through S402, alternatively S402 may occur before S401 (e.g., S402 may be performed during discovery of the transmitting device and the receiving device, or during connection establishment of the transmitting device and the receiving device, or upon completion of connection establishment), so that the receiving device may refer to the first capability information when setting the first parameter. For example, the receiving device may determine M channels according to the identification of the channels supported by the transmitting device and the identification of the channels supported by the receiving device, so that both the transmitting device and the receiving device can support M channels. For another example, the receiving apparatus may set a time interval between channels adjacent to a transmission time among the M channels according to the channel switching capability information of the transmitting apparatus and the channel switching capability information of the receiving apparatus, so as to improve a transmission success rate and a reception success rate of the UWB signal.
Alternatively, even if the first parameter is not set by the receiving apparatus, for example, set by the transmitting apparatus or preset or inter-apparatus negotiation determination, etc., the transmitting apparatus may transmit the first capability information to the receiving apparatus through S402 so that the receiving apparatus can learn the capability of the transmitting apparatus.
S403, the receiving device sends the second capability information to the sending device. Accordingly, the transmitting device receives the second capability information from the receiving device. The second capability information may indicate a capability of the receiving device, e.g., the second capability information may indicate an identification of channels supported by the receiving device (e.g., an index of the channels), and/or indicate channel switching capability information supported by the receiving device. The channel switching capability information supported by the receiving apparatus may refer to the description of the channel switching capability information supported by the receiving apparatus in S402.
If the first parameter is set by the transmitting device, the receiving device may transmit the second capability information to the transmitting device through S403, alternatively S403 may occur before S401 (e.g. S403 may be performed during discovery of the transmitting device and the receiving device, or during or upon completion of connection establishment of the transmitting device and the receiving device), so that the transmitting device may refer to the first capability information when setting the first parameter, in the manner described in reference to S402. In addition, if both S402 and S403 are performed, S402 may occur before S403, or after S403, or concurrently with S403.
Alternatively, even if the first parameter is not a transmitting device setting, for example, set or preset by the receiving device or determined by inter-device negotiation, etc., the receiving device may transmit the second capability information to the transmitting device through S403 so that the transmitting device can learn the capability of the receiving device.
S404, the transmitting device sequentially transmits one or more UWB frames to the receiving device on M channels in a first duration according to the first parameter. Accordingly, the receiving device receives one or more UWB frames from the transmitting device sequentially over the M channels for a first duration according to the first parameter. Wherein at least one UWB frame may be transmitted over one channel.
The transmitting device and the receiving device may need to re-synchronize after switching channels, and if the former part of a UWB frame is transmitted on channel 1 and the latter part is transmitted on channel 2, the synchronization header of the UWB frame (including information for synchronization) may be carried on channel 1, and switching to channel 2 may cause the transmitting device and the receiving device to fail to synchronize according to the UWB frame, thereby causing the receiving device to receive failure. To this end, optionally, any of the one or more UWB frames may be transmitted on only one of the M channels, i.e., the transmitting device will not typically put one UWB frame on two or more channels to transmit. For a receiving device, upon receiving any one of the one or more UWB frames, it also receives on one of the M channels.
After the transmitting device indicates the first parameter to the receiving device, the transmitting device may perform frequency hopping transmission on M channels according to the first parameter, and the receiving device may perform reception according to the first parameter. The maximum transmission power of the transmitting device on a first channel of the M channels may be determined according to the duration of the first channel, for example, any one of the M channels.
In the embodiment of the application, the maximum transmitting power also meets the constraint of the PSD regulation of UWB. For example, the PSD within 1ms corresponding to the maximum transmit power may be less than or equal to a first threshold, e.g., an upper limit of the PSD within 1ms of a channel carrying UWB frames. Optionally, the PSD within 1ms corresponding to the maximum transmit power may be as close to the first threshold as possible, which is an objective of the embodiments of the present application to make the PSD within 1ms corresponding to the maximum transmit power equal to the first threshold, so that the transmitting device may reach the maximum transmit power, and improve the coverage area of the UWB device to a greater extent. For example, according to the requirements of UWB regulations, a UWB device occupies at least 500MHz of channel bandwidth, and the PSD per 1ms does not exceed-41.3 dBm/MHz, then the first threshold is, for example, -41.3dBm/MHz. Alternatively, the first threshold may also vary according to UWB regulations and the like, and this is not a limitation.
Alternatively, the maximum transmit power may satisfy the following relationship:
Pmax ＝A+10*log10 (BW/1MHz)+10*log10 (1 ms/T) (equation 1)
In formula 1, Pmax Representing the maximum transmit power, a represents a first threshold, BW represents the bandwidth of the first channel, and T represents the duration of the first channel. For example, t=1/3 ms, bw=500 MHz, a= -41.3dBm/MHz, then substitution into equation 1 is available, Pmax ＝-9.5dBm。
The transmitting apparatus may determine a maximum transmission power of each of the M channels according to equation 1, and when one channel is transmitted, the actual transmission power may be less than or equal to the maximum transmission power of the channel. The transmitting device may make the actual transmit power of a channel as close as possible to the maximum transmit power of the channel, so as to improve the coverage of the transmitting device to a greater extent.
If the third implementation manner introduced in S401 is adopted for the first parameter, the embodiment of the present application takes the example that the third indication information indicates that the UWB frame is received in the next one or more first time windows. If the third indication information indicates that no UWB frame is received within the next one or more first time windows, S404 may not be performed.
Additionally, if the first parameter employs the third implementation manner as above, optionally, the transmitting device may carry second indication information in some or all of the one or more transmitted UWB frames, to indicate whether there are UWB frames to be transmitted, or whether to continue to receive UWB frames, or whether there are UWB frames next, or whether there are next UWB frames. For example, the one or more UWB frames include a first UWB frame, which may include second indication information. After receiving the first UWB frame, the receiving device may determine whether there is a UWB frame to be transmitted according to the second indication information. Alternatively, the second indication information may be carried in the MHR or PHR of the first UWB frame. For example, the second indication information may occupy 1 bit (bit), and if the value of the bit is "1", it indicates a UWB frame to be transmitted; if the bit has a value of "0", it indicates that there are no UWB frames to be transmitted.
The first UWB frame is, for example, a frame transmitted in any one of N first time windows included in a first period, and may be a first UWB frame transmitted in the first time window, or an intermediate UWB frame transmitted in the first time window, or a last UWB frame transmitted in the first time window. Wherein if the first UWB frame is the last frame transmitted in any one of the N first time windows except the last first time window in one first period, if the second indication information indicates a UWB frame to be transmitted, the receiving device continues to receive UWB frames in the next first time window of the first time window. Wherein between the two first time windows, the receiving device may enter a state of not receiving (or detecting) UWB signals or enter a sleep state. If the first UWB frame is the last frame transmitted in the last one of the N first time windows in one first period, the receiving device continues to receive UWB frames in the first time window in the next first period in the second period if the second indication information indicates a UWB frame to be transmitted. Wherein between the two first time windows, the receiving device may enter a state of not receiving (or detecting) UWB signals or enter a sleep state.
Alternatively, if the first UWB frame is the last frame to be transmitted over the last one of the M first time windows in one first period and the second indication information indicates a UWB frame to be transmitted, the receiving device may start a first timer, e.g., the first timer may also be referred to as an idle timer (idle timer), or the like, to wait for continued reception of the UWB frame over the first channel in the next first period. The timing duration of the first timer may be configured by the transmitting device or the receiving device, or determined by a negotiation of the transmitting device and the receiving device, or a preset, e.g. predefined by a protocol. For example, the timing duration of the first timer may be less than or equal to the time interval between the end time domain position of the last first time window in one first period and the start time domain position of the first time window in the next first period. During operation of the first timer, the receiving device may enter a state in which no UWB signal is received (or detected) or enter a sleep state.
Alternatively, if the second indication information indicates that there is no UWB frame to be transmitted, the receiving device may enter a state of not receiving (or not detecting) the UWB frame, or enter a sleep state, no matter which of the N first time windows the first UWB frame is a UWB frame transmitted within, and whether there is a first period after the current first period, until the current second period ends, which corresponds to the second indication information may deactivate the next first time window or windows.
Reference is made to fig. 7, which is a schematic diagram of the second indication information. Fig. 7 illustrates m=2 and n=2 as examples, where two channels are CH8 and CH9, respectively, and CH8 is located in one first time window and CH9 is located in another first time window. Fig. 7 also shows a time offset between the first configuration information included in the first parameter and a first time window in a first period. As can be seen from fig. 7, for example, the second indication information carried by the UWB frame sent by the sending device in the first time window where CH9 is located indicates the UWB frame to be transmitted, where the first time window where CH9 is located is the last first time window in the current first period, and the receiving device may start the first timer, where the timing duration of the first timer is, for example, equal to the time interval between the end time domain position of the first time window where CH9 is located and the start time domain position of the first time window where CH8 is located in the next first period. And in the next first period, the second indication information carried by the UWB frame sent by the sending device in the first time window where the CH8 is located indicates that there is no UWB frame to be transmitted, and then the receiving device may enter a state of not receiving (or not detecting) the UWB signal from the CH9 (or from the end of the CH 8) or enter a sleep state until the end of the current second period.
In this embodiment of the present application, the transmitting device may sequentially transmit UWB frames to the receiving device over a plurality of channels in a first time period less than or equal to 1ms, which is equivalent to replacing an original one of the channels with a plurality of channels. After using the plurality of channels, the duration of each channel is reduced relative to the duration of the existing one channel, which results in an increase in the transmit power of each channel relative to the transmit power of the existing one channel. For example, if M channels are used to replace an original channel in a case where the channel energy is constant, the transmission power of one of the M channels may be M times the transmission power of the original channel. Therefore, through the technical scheme of the embodiment of the application, the transmitting power of the UWB signal can be effectively improved, so that the coverage range of UWB equipment is improved.
Next, another communication method is provided in the embodiments of the present application, please refer to fig. 8, which is a flowchart of the method.
S801, the transmitting device determines a first parameter.
The first parameter may include a transmission parameter of the transmitting device in M time domain units, M being an integer greater than or equal to 2. For example, the duration of each of the M time domain units is less than or equal to the first duration, and the time offset between two adjacent ones of the M time domain units is greater than or equal to the first duration, for an understanding of which reference is made to the embodiment shown in fig. 4. Alternatively, the first time period is, for example, 1ms.
For example, when the transmitting device transmits in M time-domain units, the frequency-domain resources used are the same. Alternatively, the embodiment shown in fig. 8 may be applied in combination with the embodiment shown in fig. 4, for example, one of M time domain units in the embodiment of the present application may include P channels (optionally, each of M time domain units may include P channels), where P is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and when the transmitting device transmits on the P channels, the frequency domain resources used may be different, which may be considered that the transmitting device performs frequency hopping transmission on the P channels, and a specific transmission manner may refer to the embodiment shown in fig. 4. It is understood that the transmitting device may perform time-sharing transmission in M time-domain units. Compared with the scheme of continuous transmission of the current transmitting equipment, the transmission time length of the transmitting equipment in each time domain unit is shortened through M time domain units, and under the condition that the bandwidth of a channel is still 500MHz, the transmission time length of the transmitting equipment in one time domain unit is shortened, so that the transmission power of the transmitting equipment in one time domain unit in the M time domain units is improved relative to the existing transmission power. For example, if M time domain units are used to replace the original continuous time under the condition of a certain channel energy, the transmission power of the transmitting device in one time domain unit of the M time domain units can be increased by 10 log compared with the original transmission power10 M dB. Therefore, through the technical scheme of the embodiment of the application, the transmitting power of the UWB signal can be effectively improved, so that the coverage range of UWB equipment is improved. In addition, the technical scheme of the embodiment of the application does not need to increase the channel bandwidth, so that extra processing complexity is not brought due to the increase of the channel bandwidth. In addition, the frequency hopping is not needed in the embodiment of the application, and the frequency of the sending device on the M time domain units can be the same, so that the processing complexity of the sending device is reduced.
The transmitting device may set the first parameter by itself, and the transmitting device determines the first parameter, that is, sets the first parameter. After setting the first parameter, the transmitting device may indicate the first parameter to the receiving device. For example, the transmitting device may transmit first configuration information to the receiving device, the first configuration information being usable to configure the first parameter. The receiving device can obtain the first parameter based on the first configuration information.
Alternatively, the first parameter may be set by the receiving device, and the receiving device may indicate the first parameter to the transmitting device after setting the first parameter. For example, the receiving device may send first configuration information to the sending device, the first configuration information being usable to configure the first parameter. The transmitting device may specifically determine the first parameter by the transmitting device obtaining the first parameter according to the first configuration information.
Alternatively, the first configuration information may be included in a UWB frame, for example, the first configuration information may be included in an MHR or PHR of the UWB frame. Alternatively, the first configuration information may be included in other types of frames, such as bluetooth frames, etc.
Alternatively, the first parameter may be preset, for example, predefined by a protocol, or may be determined by negotiation between the sending device and the receiving device, etc., which is not limited in the determining manner of the first parameter in the embodiments of the present application.
There are a number of different implementations of the first parameter, as exemplified below.
1. A first implementation of the first parameter.
The first parameter may include (or indicate) one or more of the following: in the first period, the duration of each time domain unit in the M time domain units or the proportion of the duration occupied in the first duration, the time offset between the frame carrying the first configuration information and the starting time domain position of the first time domain unit in the M time domain units, the effective duration information of the first parameter, or the time range of the receiving device sending the response information. The acknowledgement information may also be referred to as feedback information or the like, for example, as an Acknowledgement (ACK) or Negative Acknowledgement (NACK).
The duration of the first period may be greater than or equal to the first duration, e.g. the first period may be understood as a period of the time domain unit.
The first parameter may include a duration of at least one time domain unit of the M time domain units, e.g., m=3, and the durations of the 3 time domain units are T1, T2, and T3, respectively, and then the first parameter may include T1, T2, and T3. Or if the duration of two time domain units in the M time domain units is equal, the first parameter may include the duration of one of the time domain units. For example, m=3, the duration of these 3 time domain units is T1, T2, T3, t1=t2, respectively, then the first parameter may include T1 and T3.
Alternatively, the first parameter may include a proportion of a time duration occupied by at least one time domain unit of the M time domain units, where the proportion of the time duration occupied by one time domain unit refers to a proportion of the time duration occupied by one time domain unit in the first time duration or in 1 millisecond. For example, m=3, the duration of these 3 time domain units is T1, T2, T3, respectively, the first duration or 1 millisecond duration is denoted by T0, and the first parameter may include T1/T0, T2/T0, T3/T0. Alternatively, if the proportion of time periods occupied by two time period units in the first time period or in 1 millisecond is equal in the M time period units, the first parameter may include the proportion of time periods occupied by one time period unit in the first time period or in 1 millisecond. For example, m=3, the ratio of the time periods occupied by the 3 time domain units in the first time period is T1/T, T2/T, T3/T, and t1=t2, then the first parameter may include T1/T0 and T3/T0.
Regarding the effective duration information of the first parameter, reference may be made to S401 in the embodiment shown in fig. 4.
The first parameter may indicate a time range in which the receiving device transmits the response information, for example, the first parameter may indicate the time range by indicating the earliest time and the latest time at which the receiving device transmits the response information, or the first parameter may indicate the time range by indicating the earliest time and the duration at which the receiving device transmits the response information, or the first parameter may indicate the time range by indicating the duration and the latest time at which the receiving device transmits the response information, or the like. Alternatively, the first parameter may indicate the time range by other means, for example, the first parameter may indicate one or more time windows, where the receiving device sends the response information. The acknowledgement information is, for example, corresponding to a UWB frame received by the receiving device from the transmitting device over M time domain units, e.g., the acknowledgement information may indicate success or failure of the UWB frame reception.
It should be noted that if the transmitting device and the receiving device communicate in half duplex, M time-domain units are used for the transmitting device to transmit information to the receiving device, and thus the transmitting device may not be able to receive information from the receiving device within the M time-domain units. Alternatively, the one or more time windows may not overlap with the M time-domain units, so that the reply information is not transmitted in the M time-domain units, and the transmitting device can correctly receive the reply information.
If the transmitting device transmits the first configuration information to the receiving device to configure the first parameter, the first configuration information is further used for activating the first parameter, that is, the first configuration information is used for configuring and activating the first parameter; alternatively, the first configuration information is used to configure the first parameter and not to activate the first parameter, but the "configuration" is regarded as "activation", and then the first parameter may further include a time offset between the frame carrying the first configuration information and the first time domain unit of the M time domain units, so that the receiving device can determine the time domain position of the first time domain unit of the M time domain units, and thus can determine the time domain position of the M time domain units. The first time domain unit in the M time domain units refers to the time domain unit that arrives first in time sequence in the M time domain units. For an understanding of the time offset between the frame carrying the first configuration information and the first time domain unit of the M time domain units, reference may be made to S401 in the embodiment shown in fig. 4.
Reference is made to fig. 9, which is a schematic diagram illustrating the content indicated by the first parameter in the first implementation. In FIG. 9, the first parameter may include a time offset between a frame carrying the first configuration information and a first time domain unit in a first period, and a duration T1-T including M time domain unitsM 。
2. A second implementation of the first parameter.
In such an implementation, the first parameter may be regarded as a parameter in a low energy consumption mode or in a power saving mode, i.e. a power saving mechanism may be introduced. Under the energy-saving mechanism, the receiving device can wake up to receive only in the activation time, and other times can not receive or enter a sleep state, so that the power consumption of the device can be reduced.
The first parameter may include (or indicate) one or more of the following: the first period, the second period, a time offset between the frame carrying the first configuration information and a first one of the M first time windows (or a time offset between the frame carrying the first configuration information and each of the M first time windows), effective duration information of the first parameter, information of some or all of the K second time windows in the second period, or information of some or all of the first time windows in the first period. Wherein the M first time windows correspond to the M time domain units, e.g., one first time window may include one time domain unit. A first one of the M first time windows, for example, a first time window comprising a first one of the M time domain units. The first time domain unit of the M time domain units is the time domain unit that arrives earliest in time among the M time domain units.
Wherein the duration of the first period is greater than or equal to 1ms, e.g., the duration of the first period is greater than or equal to the first duration, and the duration of the second period is greater than or equal to the duration of the first period. Thus, the first period may also be referred to as a short period and the second period may also be referred to as a long period. The first time window corresponds to one of the M time domain units. The duration of the second time window is a second duration, e.g. the second duration may be less than or equal to 1ms. A first time window corresponds to a second time window, e.g., there is a second time window before each first time window starts, e.g., K is equal to the number of first time windows in the second period; alternatively, a first period corresponds to a second time window, e.g., there is a second time window before or at the beginning of each first period, then the number of K may be equal to the number of repetitions of the first period within the second period; alternatively, a second period corresponds to a second time window, e.g. there is a second time window before or at the beginning of each second period, the number of K may be equal to 1.K is a positive integer. Alternatively, the first time window may also be referred to as an activation time window, a duration window, a time window, a wake-up time window, or a transmission time window, etc., and the second time window may also be referred to as a wake-up time window, etc., without limitation to the name.
The first period is for example a period of one time domain unit, or is understood to be a period of a first time length, or is understood to be a period of a first time window. The second period may be determined based on the period of the UWB service, e.g., the second period is equal to the period of the UWB service, e.g., 20ms. For example, the second period is a period of M time domain units, or understood as a period of M first time durations, or understood as a period of M first time windows.
The information of the first time window indicated by (or including) the first parameter may include start time domain position information and duration information of the first time window, or include end time domain position information and duration information of the first time window, or include start time domain position and end time domain position information of the first time window, etc.
The first parameter may also indicate information of some or all of the K second time windows, for which reference may be made to S401 in the embodiment shown in fig. 4.
The second time window may be used to indicate whether or not to receive UWB frames. For example, the transmitting device may transmit the third indication information in some or all of the K second time windows, and the receiving device may receive the third indication information from the transmitting device in the corresponding second time window. The third indication information may indicate whether UWB frames are received within the next one or more first time windows or whether UWB frames are to be transmitted within the next one or more first time windows. Alternatively, the third indication information may indicate that a UWB frame is received within the next one or more first time windows or that a UWB frame is to be transmitted within the next one or more second time windows. For this part, reference may be made to S401 in the embodiment shown in fig. 4.
If the transmitting device transmits the first configuration information to the receiving device to configure the first parameter, the first configuration information is further used for activating the first parameter, that is, the first configuration information is used for configuring and activating the first parameter; alternatively, the first configuration information is used to configure the first parameter and not to activate the first parameter, but the "configuration" is considered to be "activated", then the first parameter may include a time offset between the frame carrying the first configuration information and a first one of the M first time windows or a time offset between the frame and a first one of the K second time windows, thereby enabling the receiving device to ascertain the time domain position of the M first time windows or the time domain position of the K second time windows.
In addition to the above two implementations, the first parameter may be implemented in other manners, which is not limited in particular.
The foregoing describes that the first configuration information may be used to configure the first parameter and activate the first parameter, or the first configuration information is used to configure the first parameter and not activate the first parameter, but "configuration" is also regarded as "activation", and the first configuration information may also be referred to as parameter indication information, etc., and the first configuration information may be sent in a dynamic manner. Or it is also possible that the first configuration information is used for configuring the first parameter and not for activating the first parameter, and that "configuring" is not considered "activating", i.e. that activation is also required after configuration. In this case, the first configuration information may be configured in a semi-static manner, i.e., the first configuration information may be used a plurality of times after configuring the first parameter. Also in this case, the transmitting device may also transmit an activation indication to activate the first parameter. For this part, reference may be made to S401 in the embodiment shown in fig. 4.
In a first implementation of the first parameter as above, the first parameter may include (or indicate) a time offset between a frame carrying the first configuration information and a first time domain unit (or each time domain unit) of the M time domain units; in a second implementation of the first parameter as above, the first parameter may include (or indicate) a time offset between a frame carrying the first configuration information and a first (or each) first one of the M first time windows. Then, if the transmitting device transmits both the first configuration information and the activation instruction, the information (for example, several kinds of information listed in this paragraph) related to the first configuration information, which is included in the first parameter, may be replaced by the information related to the activation instruction, and the information related to the activation instruction may be included in the activation instruction instead of the first configuration information, which is equivalent to that the first parameter may be respectively carried in the first configuration information and the activation instruction.
For example, in a first implementation of the first parameter as above, the first parameter may include (or indicate) a time offset between a frame carrying the activation indication and a first time domain unit (or each time domain unit) of the M time domain units, which may be included in the activation indication; in a first implementation of the first parameter as above, the first parameter may include (or indicate) a time offset between a frame carrying the activation indication and a first (or each) first time window of the M first time windows, which may be included in the activation indication. Alternatively, the frame carrying the activation indication is, for example, a UWB frame, or may be another type of frame, such as a bluetooth frame, or the like.
Optionally, whether the transmitting device transmits the first configuration information and does not transmit the activation indication, or transmits both the first configuration information and the activation indication, the transmitting device may transmit the deactivation indication to deactivate the first parameter when continued use of the first parameter is not required. For example, the deactivation indication may be sent after the end of the last first period (or the last first period). After the sending device sends the deactivation indication, the first parameter is no longer used. After receiving the deactivation indication, the receiving device does not use the first parameter. With continued reference to fig. 9, a deactivation indication is shown. Alternatively, the deactivation indication may be included in a UWB frame, such as may be included in an MHR or PHR of the UWB frame.
Alternatively, if the first parameter includes valid duration information of the first parameter, both the transmitting device and the receiving device can determine a use time of the first parameter according to the valid duration information, and the transmitting device may not need to transmit the deactivation indication.
S802, the sending device sends one or more UWB frames to the receiving device on M time domain units in sequence according to the first parameter. Accordingly, the receiving device receives one or more UWB frames from the transmitting device over M time domain units in turn according to the first parameter. Wherein at least one UWB frame may be transmitted over one time domain unit.
The maximum transmission power of the transmitting device on the first time domain unit of the M time domain units may be determined according to the duration of the first time domain unit, for example, any one of the M time domain units. For the calculation method of the maximum transmission power, reference is made to S404 in the embodiment shown in fig. 4. Where BW may represent the bandwidth of the transmitting device over the first time domain unit and T represents the duration of the first time domain unit when using equation 1.
If the second implementation manner introduced in S801 is adopted for the first parameter, the embodiment of the present application takes the example that the third indication information indicates that the UWB frame is received in the next one or more first time windows. If the third indication information indicates that no UWB frame is received within the next one or more first time windows, it may not be necessary to perform S802.
Additionally, if the first parameter employs the second implementation as described above, optionally, the transmitting device may carry second indication information in some or all of the one or more UWB frames transmitted to indicate whether there are UWB frames to be transmitted, or whether to continue to receive UWB frames, or whether there are UWB frames next, or whether there are next UWB frames. For example, the one or more UWB frames include a first UWB frame, which may include second indication information. After receiving the first UWB frame, the receiving device may determine whether there is a UWB frame to be transmitted according to the second indication information. Alternatively, the second indication information may be carried in the MHR or PHR of the first UWB frame. For example, the second indication information may occupy 1 bit, and if the value of the bit is "1", it indicates that the UWB frame is to be transmitted; if the bit has a value of "0", it indicates that there are no UWB frames to be transmitted.
The first UWB frame is, for example, a frame transmitted in any one of M first time windows included in a second period, and may be a first UWB frame transmitted in the first time window, or an intermediate UWB frame transmitted in the first time window, or a last UWB frame transmitted in the first time window. Wherein if the first UWB frame is the last frame transmitted in any one of the M first time windows except the last first time window in one second period, the receiving device continues to receive UWB frames in the next first time window of the first time window if the second indication information indicates that UWB frames are to be transmitted. Wherein between the two first time windows, the receiving device may enter a state of not receiving (or detecting) UWB signals or enter a sleep state. And if the first UWB frame is the last frame transmitted in the last first time window of the M first time windows in one second period, if the second indication information indicates a UWB frame to be transmitted, the receiving device may continue to receive the UWB frame without temporarily entering a state of not receiving the UWB signal or a sleep state.
Alternatively, if the first UWB frame is the last frame transmitted over the last first time window of the M first time windows in one second period and the second indication information indicates the UWB frame to be transmitted, the receiving device may start the first timer to continue receiving the UWB frame. The timing duration of the first timer may be configured by the transmitting device or the receiving device, or determined by a negotiation of the transmitting device and the receiving device, or a preset, e.g. predefined by a protocol. For example, the timing duration of the first timer may be less than or equal to the time interval between the end time domain position of the last first time window within a second period and the end time domain position of the second period. During operation of the first timer, the receiving device may enter a state in which no UWB signal is received (or detected) or enter a sleep state.
Alternatively, if the second indication information indicates that there is no UWB frame to be transmitted, the receiving device may enter a state of not receiving (or not detecting) the UWB frame, or enter a sleep state, no matter which of the M first time windows the first UWB frame is a UWB frame transmitted within, and no matter whether there is a second period after the current second period, until the current second period ends, equivalent to the second indication information may deactivate the next first time window or windows.
For example, referring to fig. 10, which is a schematic diagram of M time domain units in the embodiment of the present application, fig. 10 is an example where m=2, a duration of each time domain unit is 0.5ms, and a first duration is 1 ms. In fig. 10, the transmitting device transmits UWB frames distributed within 2 1ms, with a transmission time (i.e., duration of one time domain unit) within each 1ms being 0.5ms. According to equation 1, if the channel bandwidth is 500MHz, the maximum transmit power of the transmitting device per time domain unit may be-11.3 dBm. Whereas if the transmitting device transmits within 2ms in succession, the maximum transmit power of the transmitting device is-14.3 dBm. Compared with the scheme of continuous transmission, the scheme of the embodiment of the application can effectively improve the transmitting power.
Optionally, the embodiment of the present application may further include S803: the transmitting device transmits the first indication information to the receiving device. Accordingly, the receiving device receives the first indication information from the transmitting device. The first indication information may indicate duration information of a synchronization field included in at least one of the one or more UWB frames. For example, the UWB frame may include a SHR that may include a synchronization field therein, e.g., denoted SYNC. The synchronization field may include pilot symbols that the receiving device may perform one or more of ranging, synchronization, or channel estimation by detecting. S803 may occur before S802, after S802, or concurrently with S802.
For example, the number of the one or more UWB frames is greater than 1, the duration of the synchronization field included in at least two UWB frames may be different or the number of pilot symbol repetitions may be different among the one or more UWB frames. For example, for a first UWB frame of the one or more UWB frames (which may be the UWB frame first transmitted by the transmitting device of the one or more UWB frames or the UWB frame first generated by the transmitting device of the one or more UWB frames), the duration of the synchronization field included in the synchronization field may be longer, and the receiving device may perform more accurate processing, such as performing more accurate ranging, synchronization, or channel estimation, according to the synchronization field; and for other UWB frames except the first UWB frame in the one or more UWB frames, the duration of the synchronization field included in the one or more UWB frames can be shorter, in the sending time of the other UWB frames, the synchronization error can be considered to be smaller, or the channel environment can be considered to be basically unchanged, and the like, so that the duration of the synchronization field can be reduced to reduce the overhead of the synchronization field.
For another example, among the M time domain units, different time domain units may have a corresponding association relationship therebetween. For example, one association is represented by every H time domain units of the M time domain units having an association. Then the transmitting device may send part or all of the UWB frame in the first time domain unit of each H time domain units, which may include a synchronization field that may be longer in duration, and the receiving device may perform more accurate processing according to the synchronization field, for example, perform more accurate ranging, synchronization, or channel estimation; for the subsequent time domain units except the first time domain unit in every H time domain units, the time duration of the synchronization field included by the transmitting device in the time domain units can be shorter, and in the subsequent time domain units, the synchronization error can be considered smaller, or the channel environment can be considered to be basically unchanged compared with the first time domain unit, so that the time duration of the synchronization field can be reduced to reduce the cost of the synchronization field. Wherein H is a positive integer less than or equal to M.
The first indication information may indicate the duration of the synchronization field in different ways. For example, the first indication information may indicate an index of the pilot symbols included in the synchronization field and indicate the number of repetitions of the pilot symbols included in the synchronization field. For example, the index of the pilot symbol has a corresponding relation with the duration of the pilot symbol, so that the receiving device can determine the duration of one pilot symbol according to the index of the pilot symbol, and then determine the duration of the synchronization field by combining the repetition number of the pilot symbol. Or, the index of the pilot symbol has a corresponding relation with the pilot code used for generating the pilot symbol and the value of L, so that the receiving device can determine the pilot code used for generating the pilot symbol according to the index of the pilot symbol and can determine the value of L, thereby determining the duration of one pilot symbol, and determining the duration of the synchronization field by combining the repetition times of the pilot symbol. As another example, the first indication information may indicate a duration of a pilot symbol included in the synchronization field and a number of repetitions of the pilot symbol included in the synchronization field, or indicate a pilot code for generating the pilot symbol and a value of L, or directly indicate the duration of the synchronization field.
Wherein the pilot symbols may be generated by pilot codes. The pilot code is, for example, a sequence, the length of which is, for example, C. By inserting L-1 0 s between adjacent two elements of the pilot code, pilot symbols can be generated, i.e., the pilot symbols have a length of lxc. Thus, the pilot code and L are determined, and the duration of the pilot symbol can be determined.
Alternatively, if the physical load of the one or more UWB frames is the same and the modulation and coding scheme (modulation and coding scheme, MCS) is the same, PHR may not be necessarily included in each UWB frame to save the overhead of UWB frames. For example, the first indication information may also indicate one or more of the following information for each of the one or more UWB frames: whether to include PHR, the size of physical load, or MCS.
In this embodiment of the present application, the transmitting device may transmit UWB frames to the receiving device in M time domain units, which is equivalent to replacing the original continuous time with a plurality of time domain units. After using the plurality of time domain units, the duration of each time domain unit is reduced relative to the existing continuous time, which results in an increase in transmit power on each time domain unit for the transmitting device relative to the existing transmit power on the continuous time. For example, in the case where the channel energy is constant, if the original continuous time is replaced by M time domain units, the transmission power of the transmitting device on one time domain unit of the M time domain units may be M times the original transmission power on the continuous time. Therefore, through the technical scheme of the embodiment of the application, the transmitting power of the UWB signal can be effectively improved, so that the coverage range of UWB equipment is improved.
The embodiment shown in fig. 4 and the embodiment shown in fig. 8 provide different transmission mechanisms, as to what transmission mechanism the transmitting device adopts, the preset may be predefined, for example, by a protocol, or determined by the transmitting device negotiating with the receiving device, or may be set by the transmitting device or the receiving device. Taking the setting of the transmitting device as an example, the transmitting device may determine the transmission mode and the transmission parameter corresponding to the transmission mode according to factors such as the channel condition and/or the communication distance, and notify the receiving device of the determined transmission mode and parameter, for example, the number of channels of the frequency hopping transmission mode or the number of time domain units of time-sharing transmission may be smaller when the channel condition is good, and the number of channels of the frequency hopping transmission mode or the number of time domain units of time-sharing transmission may be larger when the channel condition is poor. Wherein the transmitting device may determine the channel condition from the signal (e.g., UWB frame) from the receiving device, or the receiving device may also transmit channel information to the transmitting device, from which the transmitting device may determine the channel condition. In addition, the transmission mode may also be switched. For example, the hopping transmission mode is selected during a first period of time and may be switched to the time-sharing transmission mode during a second period of time. Whether to switch the transmission mode may be determined, for example, by the transmitting apparatus or the receiving apparatus according to factors such as channel conditions and/or communication distances; or the switching mode may be preset, for example, predefined by a protocol, for example, the protocol specifies that the time-division transmission mode is used in the first time period and the frequency-hopping transmission mode is used in the second time period; alternatively, the switching manner may be determined by negotiation between the transmitting apparatus and the receiving apparatus.
Fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication apparatus 1100 may be a transmitting device or circuitry of the transmitting device in the embodiment shown in any of the figures in fig. 4 or 8 for implementing the method corresponding to the transmitting device in the above-described method embodiment. Alternatively, the communication apparatus 1100 may be a receiving device or circuitry of the receiving device in the embodiment shown in any one of fig. 4 or fig. 8, for implementing a method corresponding to the receiving device in the above-described method embodiment. Specific functions can be seen from the description of the method embodiments described above. One type of circuitry is, for example, a chip system.
The communication device 1100 includes at least one processor 1101. The processor 1101 may be used for internal processing of the device, implementing certain control processing functions. Optionally, the processor 1101 includes instructions. Optionally, the processor 1101 may store data. Alternatively, the different processors may be separate devices, may be located in different physical locations, and may be located on different integrated circuits. Alternatively, the different processors may be integrated in one or more processors, e.g., integrated on one or more integrated circuits.
Optionally, the communications device 1100 includes one or more memories 1103 to store instructions. Optionally, the memory 1103 may also store data therein. The processor and the memory may be provided separately or may be integrated.
Optionally, the communication device 1100 includes a communication line 1102, and at least one communication interface 1104. In fig. 11, the memory 1103, the communication line 1102, and the communication interface 1104 are optional, and are indicated by broken lines.
Optionally, the communication device 1100 may also include a transceiver and/or an antenna. Wherein the transceiver may be used to transmit information to or receive information from other devices. The transceiver may be referred to as a transceiver, a transceiver circuit, an input-output interface, etc. for implementing the transceiver function of the communication device 1100 through an antenna. Optionally, the transceiver comprises a transmitter (transmitter) and a receiver (receiver). Illustratively, a transmitter may be used to generate a radio frequency (radio frequency) signal from the baseband signal, and a receiver may be used to convert the radio frequency signal to the baseband signal.
The processor 1101 may include a general purpose central processing unit (central processing unit, CPU), microprocessor, application specific integrated circuit (application specific integrated circuit, ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of programs of the present application.
Communication line 1102 may include a pathway to transfer information between the aforementioned components.
Communication interface 1104 uses any transceiver-like device for communicating with other devices or communication networks, such as ethernet, radio access network (radio access network, RAN), wireless local area network (wireless local area networks, WLAN), wired access network, etc.
The memory 1103 may be, but is not limited to, a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (random access memory, RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (compact disc read-only memory) or other optical disk storage, a compact disc storage (including compact disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, blu-ray disc, etc.), a magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. The memory 1103 may be independent and connected to the processor 1101 through a communication line 1102. Alternatively, the memory 1103 may be integrated with the processor 1101.
The memory 1103 is used for storing computer-executable instructions for executing the embodiments of the present application, and the processor 1101 controls the execution. The processor 1101 is configured to execute computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 1103, thereby implementing steps performed by the transmitting apparatus as described in the embodiment shown in any one of fig. 4 or fig. 8, or implementing steps performed by the receiving apparatus as described in the embodiment shown in any one of fig. 4 or fig. 8.
Alternatively, the computer-executable instructions in the embodiments of the present application may be referred to as application program codes, which are not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.
In a particular implementation, the processor 1101 may include one or more CPUs, such as CPU0 and CPU1 of FIG. 11, as an embodiment.
In a particular implementation, as one embodiment, the communications device 1100 may include multiple processors, such as the processor 1101 and the processor 1105 in fig. 11. Each of these processors may be a single-core (single-CPU) processor or may be a multi-core (multi-CPU) processor. A processor herein may refer to one or more devices, circuits, and/or processing cores for processing data (e.g., computer program instructions).
When the apparatus shown in fig. 11 is a chip, for example, a chip of a transmitting device or a chip of a receiving device, the chip includes a processor 1101 (may further include a processor 1105), a communication line 1102, a memory 1103, and a communication interface 1104. In particular, the communication interface 1104 may be an input interface, a pin or a circuit, or the like. The memory 1103 may be a register, a cache, or the like. The processor 1101 and the processor 1105 may be a general purpose CPU, microprocessor, ASIC, or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of the programs of the communication method of any of the embodiments described above.
The embodiment of the application may divide the functional modules of the apparatus according to the above method example, for example, each functional module may be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions may be integrated into one processing module. The integrated modules may be implemented in hardware or in software functional modules. It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the division of the modules is schematic, which is merely a logic function division, and other division manners may be implemented in actual implementation. For example, in the case of dividing each functional module into respective functional modules by corresponding respective functions, fig. 12 shows a schematic diagram of an apparatus, and the apparatus 1200 may be a transmitting device or a receiving device, or a chip in the transmitting device or a chip in the receiving device, which are involved in each of the above-described method embodiments. The apparatus 1200 comprises a transmitting unit 1201, a processing unit 1202 and a receiving unit 1203.
It should be understood that the apparatus 1200 may be used to implement the steps performed by the transmitting device or the receiving device in the communication method according to the embodiments of the present application, and the relevant features may refer to the embodiments shown in any one of the foregoing fig. 4 or fig. 8, which are not described herein again.
Alternatively, the functions/implementation procedures of the transmitting unit 1201, the receiving unit 1203, and the processing unit 1202 in fig. 12 may be implemented by the processor 1101 in fig. 11 calling computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 1103. Alternatively, the functions/implementation procedures of the processing unit 1202 in fig. 12 may be implemented by the processor 1101 in fig. 11 calling computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 1103, and the functions/implementation procedures of the transmitting unit 1201 and the receiving unit 1203 in fig. 12 may be implemented by the communication interface 1104 in fig. 11.
Alternatively, when the apparatus 1200 is a chip or a circuit, the functions/implementation procedures of the transmitting unit 1201 and the receiving unit 1203 may also be implemented by pins or circuits, or the like.
The present application also provides a computer readable storage medium storing a computer program or instructions that, when executed, implement the method performed by a transmitting device or a receiving device in the foregoing method embodiments. Thus, the functions described in the above embodiments may be implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application may be embodied in essence or contributing part or part of the technical solution in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium, including several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the methods described in the embodiments of the present application. The storage medium includes: a usb disk, a removable hard disk, a ROM, a RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk, etc.
The present application also provides a computer program product comprising: computer program code which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method performed by the transmitting device or the receiving device in any of the method embodiments described above.
The embodiment of the application also provides a processing device, which comprises a processor and an interface; the processor is configured to perform a method performed by the transmitting device or the receiving device according to any of the method embodiments described above.
In the above embodiments, it may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When loaded and executed on a computer, produces a flow or function in accordance with embodiments of the present application, in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable apparatus. The computer instructions may be stored in or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another, for example, by wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital Subscriber Line (DSL)), or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. that contains an integration of one or more available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a Solid State Disk (SSD)), or the like.
The various illustrative logical blocks and circuits described in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (digital signal processor, DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (application specific integrated circuit, ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (field-programmable gate array, FPGA), or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the general purpose processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a digital signal processor core, or any other similar configuration.
The steps of a method or algorithm described in the embodiments of the present application may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software element executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software elements may be stored in RAM, flash memory, ROM, erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), EEPROM, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. In an example, a storage medium may be coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC, which may reside in a terminal device. In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside in different components in a terminal device.
These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The matters in the various embodiments of the present application may be referenced to each other in terms and/or descriptions consistent with each other and to each other in the absence of specific illustrations and logic conflicts between, the technical features of the different embodiments may be combined to form new embodiments based on the inherent logic relationships.
It will be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the transmitting device and/or the receiving device may perform some or all of the steps in the embodiments of the present application, these steps or operations are merely examples, and in the embodiments of the present application, other operations or variations of various operations may also be performed. Furthermore, the various steps may be performed in a different order presented in accordance with embodiments of the present application, and it is possible that not all of the operations in the embodiments of the present application may be performed.