CN107733483A

CN107733483A - A kind of method and relevant apparatus for determining antenna port number

Info

Publication number: CN107733483A
Application number: CN201610666459.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 黄秋萍; 陈润华; 高秋彬; 拉盖施
Original assignee: China Academy of Telecommunications Technology CATT
Current assignee: China Academy of Telecommunications Technology CATT; Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd
Priority date: 2016-08-12
Filing date: 2016-08-12
Publication date: 2018-02-23
Anticipated expiration: 2036-08-12
Also published as: CN107733483B

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention discloses a kind of method and relevant apparatus for determining antenna port number.In the embodiment of the present invention, receiving device obtains the transmission number of plies for sending the data that equipment is sent, and according to the transmission number of plies and the mapping relations of antenna port number, determines antenna port number corresponding to the transmission number of plies of the data.Due to there is provided the mapping relations of the transmission number of plies and antenna port number, therefore antenna port number can be determined according to the transmission number of plies of data；On the other hand, by setting the transmission number of plies and the mapping relations of antenna port number, correspond to relative to the data of any number of plies for arbitrary antenna port number, the data of a certain number of plies can be corresponded on suitable antenna port number, be more beneficial for saving the expense of resource.

Description

Method for determining number of antenna ports and related device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a method for determining the number of antenna ports and a related apparatus.

Background

In a conventional communication system, channel information is used in both scheduling and demodulation of a terminal by a base station, and for example, the channel information is measured to determine the transmission power and modulation and coding scheme of the terminal, and data is detected using the channel information. Similarly, the terminal also needs to estimate the channel for data transmission. In a conventional global system for Mobile communications (GSM) system, LTE (Long Term Evolution), and other systems, Channel estimation is performed using a Reference Signal, such as a Cell-specific Reference Signal (CRS), a Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS), a Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS), and the like.

For the CSI-RS adopted by the LTE system, in a static Channel scenario, the Channel change is slow, and even if the CSI-RS experiences scheduling delay and CSI feedback delay, the CSI feedback can better reflect the quality of an actual Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), so that the closed-loop spatial multiplexing in the LTE system is suitable for a low-speed scenario. However, in a non-static channel scenario (e.g., a high speed scenario), the CSI feedback delay may seriously affect the accuracy of CSI feedback, and at this time, open loop multiple-Input multiple-Output (MIMO) can provide better robustness. And, compared to the CRS-based transmission mode, the DMRS-based transmission mode has better precoding flexibility under a large antenna array, but under the DMRS-based transmission mode, an open-loop MIMO scheme has not been considered at present.

In the current 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3 GPP) conference, an open loop MIMO scheme based on DMRS is under discussion. For open-loop MIMO based on DMRS, one layer of data may be mapped to multiple DMRS antenna ports, and a terminal needs to know the number of DMRS antenna ports, so that a method for determining the number of antenna ports is needed at present, so that the terminal can obtain the number of antenna ports.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the invention provides a method for determining the number of antenna ports and a related device, which are used for determining the number of the antenna ports.

The method for determining the number of the antenna ports provided by the embodiment of the invention comprises the following steps:

the receiving equipment acquires the transmission layer number of the data sent by the sending equipment;

and the receiving equipment determines the number of the antenna ports corresponding to the number of the transmission layers of the data according to the mapping relation between the number of the transmission layers and the number of the antenna ports.

Optionally, the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports satisfies the following condition:

the number of transmission layers is less than or equal to the number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers.

if the number of transmission layers is less than or equal to N₁Then the number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers is M₁；

If the number of transmission layers is greater than N_i-1And is less than or equal to N_iThen the number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers is M_i；

Wherein M is₁≥N₁，M_i≥N_i，i＝2……n，M₁，M_i，N₁，N_iIs a non-zero integer, and n is an integer of 2 or more.

if the number of transmission layers is less than or equal toThe antenna port corresponding to the transmission layer numberNumber is

If the number of transmission layers is greater thanAnd is not more thanThe number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers isWherein k is₁、k_nIs an integer of 1 or more and satisfies k_n＞k_n-1(ii) a Wherein N is an integer of 2,3, 4.

Optionally, the acquiring, by the receiving device, the number of transmission layers of the data includes:

the receiving equipment acquires the number of the code words of the data, obtains the number of the transmission layers corresponding to the number of the code words of the data according to the mapping relation between the number of the code words and the number of the transmission layers, and uses the number of the transmission layers as the number of the transmission layers of the data; or,

and the receiving equipment receives the transmission layer number of the data sent by the sending equipment.

Optionally, the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports is obtained by the receiving device in the following manner:

the mapping relation between the number of the transmission layers and the number of the antenna ports is predetermined by the sending equipment and the receiving equipment; or,

and the receiving equipment receives the information of the number of the antenna ports sent by the sending equipment and obtains the mapping relation between the number of the transmission layers and the number of the antenna ports according to the information of the number of the antenna ports.

Optionally, the information on the number of antenna ports includes identification information on a mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports;

the receiving device obtains the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports according to the information of the number of antenna ports, and the method comprises the following steps:

and the receiving equipment obtains the mapping relation between the number of the transmission layers and the number of the antenna ports according to the mapping relation identification information between the number of the transmission layers and the number of the antenna ports.

Optionally, before the receiving device determines, according to the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports, the number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers of the data, the method further includes:

and the receiving equipment receives the transmission mode adopted by the sending equipment to send the data.

Optionally, the acquiring, by the receiving device, a transmission mode used by the sending device to send the data includes:

and the receiving equipment receives the antenna port number information sent by the sending equipment, wherein the antenna port number information comprises a transmission mode adopted by the sending equipment to send the data.

Optionally, the transmission mode corresponds to a mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports;

after the receiving device obtains the transmission mode of the data, the method further includes:

and the receiving equipment obtains the mapping relation between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports corresponding to the transmission mode of the data according to the transmission mode of the data and uses the mapping relation as the mapping relation between the number of the transmission layers and the number of the antenna ports.

the receiving equipment receives the indication information sent by the sending equipment; the indication information is used for indicating whether the sending equipment sends the data to be sent according to the mapping relation between the number of the transmission layers and the number of the antenna ports;

and the receiving equipment determines that the sending equipment sends the data to be sent according to the mapping relation between the number of the transmission layers and the number of the antenna ports according to the indication information.

The embodiment of the invention provides a method for determining the number of antenna ports, which comprises the following steps:

the method comprises the steps that a sending device obtains data to be sent and the transmission layer number of the data to be sent;

the sending device determines the number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers of the data to be sent according to the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports, so that the data to be sent is sent to the receiving device through the antenna ports corresponding to the number of antenna ports.

Optionally, the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports is predetermined by the sending device and the receiving device; or,

the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports is configured by the sending device.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

the sending equipment sends the information of the number of the antenna ports to the receiving equipment;

the antenna port number information includes any one or any combination of the following: the number of transmission layers of the data to be sent, mapping relation identification information of the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports, and a transmission mode adopted by the sending equipment to send the data to be sent; or, the antenna port number information includes the number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers of the data to be transmitted.

Optionally, the sending device sends the antenna port number information to the receiving device, including:

the sending equipment sends uplink control information UCI or downlink control information DCI to the receiving equipment; the UCI and the DCI carry the information of the number of the antenna ports; or,

and the transmitting equipment transmits the antenna port number information to the receiving equipment by adopting a special signaling which is pre-agreed by the transmitting equipment and the receiving equipment.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

the sending equipment sends indication information to the receiving equipment; the indication information is used for indicating whether the sending equipment sends the data to be sent according to the mapping relation between the number of the transmission layers and the number of the antenna ports.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a receiving device, where the receiving device includes:

the acquisition module is used for acquiring the transmission layer number of the data sent by the sending equipment;

and the determining module is used for determining the number of the antenna ports corresponding to the number of the transmission layers of the data according to the mapping relation between the number of the transmission layers and the number of the antenna ports.

if the number of transmission layers is less than or equal toThe number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers is

Optionally, the obtaining module is specifically configured to obtain the number of transmission layers of the data by:

acquiring the number of code words of the data, acquiring the number of transmission layers corresponding to the number of code words of the data according to the mapping relation between the number of code words and the number of transmission layers, and using the number of transmission layers as the number of transmission layers of the data; or,

and receiving the transmission layer number of the data sent by the sending equipment.

Optionally, the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports is predetermined by the sending device and the receiving device; or, the obtaining module is further configured to receive information on the number of antenna ports sent by the sending device, and obtain a mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports according to the information on the number of antenna ports.

the acquisition module is specifically configured to:

and obtaining the mapping relation between the number of the transmission layers and the number of the antenna ports according to the mapping relation identification information between the number of the transmission layers and the number of the antenna ports.

Optionally, before the determining module determines the number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers of the data, the obtaining module is further configured to:

and receiving a transmission mode adopted by the sending equipment to send the data.

Optionally, the obtaining module is specifically configured to:

and receiving antenna port number information sent by the sending equipment, wherein the antenna port number information comprises a transmission mode adopted by the sending equipment to send the data.

the acquisition module is further configured to:

and obtaining the mapping relation between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports corresponding to the transmission mode of the data according to the transmission mode of the data, and taking the mapping relation as the mapping relation between the number of the transmission layers and the number of the antenna ports.

Optionally, the receiving device further includes a receiving module, configured to: receiving indication information sent by the sending equipment before the determining module determines the number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers of the data according to the mapping relation between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports; the indication information is used for indicating whether the sending equipment sends the data to be sent according to the mapping relation between the number of the transmission layers and the number of the antenna ports;

the determination module is further to: and determining that the sending equipment sends the data to be sent according to the mapping relation between the number of the transmission layers and the number of the antenna ports according to the indication information.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a transmission device, where the transmission device includes:

an obtaining module, configured to obtain data to be sent and a number of transmission layers of the data to be sent;

and the determining module is configured to determine, according to a mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports, the number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers of the data to be sent, so that the data to be sent is sent to a receiving device through the antenna ports corresponding to the number of antenna ports.

Optionally, the sending device further includes a sending module, configured to send information about the number of antenna ports to the receiving device;

Optionally, the sending module is specifically configured to:

sending uplink control information UCI or downlink control information DCI to the receiving equipment; the UCI and the DCI carry the information of the number of the antenna ports; or,

and sending the antenna port number information to the receiving equipment by adopting a special signaling agreed in advance by the sending equipment and the receiving equipment.

Optionally, the sending device further includes a sending module, configured to send instruction information to the receiving device; the indication information is used to indicate whether the sending device sends the data to be sent according to the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports.

In the above embodiments of the present invention, the receiving device obtains the number of transmission layers of the data sent by the sending device, and determines the number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers of the data according to the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports. In the embodiment of the invention, because the mapping relation between the number of the transmission layers and the number of the antenna ports is set, the number of the antenna ports can be determined according to the number of the transmission layers of the data; on the other hand, by setting the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports, data of a certain number of layers can be corresponding to the appropriate number of antenna ports relative to the situation that data of any number of layers corresponds to any number of antenna ports, which is more favorable for saving the expenditure of resources.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings needed to be used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious for those skilled in the art to obtain other drawings based on these drawings without inventive exercise.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a network architecture suitable for use with the present invention;

fig. 2 is a schematic flowchart corresponding to a method for determining the number of antenna ports according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a receiving device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a sending device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings attached hereto.

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention clearer, the present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, and it is apparent that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

The terms "including" and "having," and any variations thereof, in the description and claims of the invention and the above-described drawings are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not limited to only those steps or elements listed, but may alternatively include other steps or elements not listed, or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture to which the embodiment of the present invention is applied. The network architecture includes a base station 101, and one or more terminals connected to the base station 101, such as a first terminal 1021, a second terminal 1022, and a third terminal 1023 shown in fig. 1. The base station and each terminal perform data transmission through a network, specifically, the base station 101 may send downlink data to any one of the first terminal 1021, the second terminal 1022, and the third terminal 1023 through the network, and the terminal may obtain the number of antenna ports through which the base station 101 sends the downlink data, so that a transmission channel of the data may be estimated according to the number of antenna ports or used for other processing. Similarly, the first terminal 1021, the second terminal 1022, and the third terminal 1023 can all transmit uplink data to the base station 101 through the network, and the base station 101 can obtain the number of antenna ports of any terminal transmitting uplink data, so that the transmission channel of data can be estimated according to the number of antenna ports or used for other processing.

The number of antenna ports in the embodiment of the present invention is the number of antenna ports of a reference signal corresponding to data transmission, where the reference signal may be a plurality of reference signals, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present invention. For example, it may be a reference signal for demodulation, measurement, etc. functions.

The base station according to the embodiments of the present invention includes, but is not limited to, a node, a station controller, an Access Point (AP), or any other type of interface device capable of operating in a wireless environment.

The terminal according to the embodiments of the present invention may be a wireless terminal. A wireless terminal may refer to a device that provides voice and/or data connectivity to a user, a handheld device having wireless connection capability, or other processing device connected to a wireless modem. Wireless terminals, which may be mobile terminals such as mobile telephones (or "cellular" telephones) and computers having mobile terminals, such as portable, pocket, hand-held, computer-included, or vehicle-mounted mobile devices, may communicate with one or more core networks via a Radio Access Network (e.g., a Radio Access Network, RAN). A wireless Terminal may also be referred to as a Mobile Station (Mobile Station), a Mobile Station (Mobile), a Remote Station (Remote Station), an Access Point (Access Point), a Remote Terminal (Remote Terminal), an Access Terminal (Access Terminal), a User Terminal (User Terminal), a User Agent (User Agent), a User Device (User Device), or a User Equipment (User Equipment).

The communication system to which the above network architecture is applicable includes but is not limited to: GSM, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) IS-95, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) 2000, Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Time Division duplex Long Term Evolution (TDD LTE), Frequency Division duplex Long Term Evolution (FDD), Long Term Evolution enhancement (Long Term Evolution-Advanced, LTE), Personal hand-held telephone system (Personal-phone system, 802.11 series), Wireless internet protocol (WiFi), and future Wireless Access (WiFi).

Because the mapping relation between the number of data layers and the number of DMRS antenna ports is not related in the existing open-loop MIMO scheme based on the DMRS, the method for determining the number of the antenna ports provided by the embodiment of the invention is particularly suitable for the scene.

Based on the network architecture shown in fig. 1, fig. 2 shows a flowchart corresponding to a method for determining the number of antenna ports according to an embodiment of the present invention, and as shown in fig. 2, the method includes:

step 201, a sending device obtains data to be sent and the number of transmission layers of the data to be sent;

step 202, the sending device determines, according to a mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports, the number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers of the data to be sent, so as to send the data to be sent to a receiving device through the antenna ports corresponding to the number of antenna ports;

step 203, the receiving device obtains the number of transmission layers of the data sent by the sending device;

and 204, the receiving device determines the number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers of the data according to the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports.

In the embodiment of the invention, because the mapping relation between the number of the transmission layers and the number of the antenna ports is set, the number of the antenna ports can be determined according to the number of the transmission layers of the data; on the other hand, by setting the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports, data of a certain number of layers can be corresponding to the appropriate number of antenna ports relative to the situation that data of any number of layers corresponds to any number of antenna ports, which is more favorable for saving the expenditure of resources. For example, in open-loop MIMO, if the number of transmission layers of data is 2, when transmitting with 2 DMRS antenna ports, DMRS overhead per Physical Resource Block (PRB) is 12 Resource Elements (REs), but if transmitting with 4 DMRS antenna ports, DMRS overhead per PRB is 24 REs, so in the embodiment of the present invention, by setting a mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports, when the number of transmission layers of data is 2, the data can be set to correspond to 2 DMRS antenna ports, and DMRS overhead of 12 REs can be effectively saved.

In the above-described flow, step 201 and step 202 are the flow of determining the number of antenna ports provided based on the angle of the transmitting device in the embodiment of the present invention, and step 203 and step 204 are the flow of determining the number of antenna ports provided based on the angle of the receiving device in the embodiment of the present invention.

Specifically, in the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports, the number of transmission layers and the number of corresponding antenna ports may be the same or different. For example, the number of transmission layers is 2, and the number of corresponding antenna ports is also 2; alternatively, the number of transmission layers is 1, and the number of corresponding antenna ports is 2.

The number of the plurality of transmission layers may correspond to the same number of antenna ports, for example, when the number of the data transmission layers is 1 or 2, the number of the corresponding antenna ports may be all 2.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports should satisfy the following conditions: the number of transmission layers is less than or equal to the number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers, so that the problems that the orthogonality of data of each layer is difficult to ensure and the data cannot be demodulated correctly if the number of antenna ports for transmitting the data is less than the number of data layers are solved effectively.

In the embodiment of the invention, if the number of transmission layers is less than or equal to N₁Then the number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers is M₁(ii) a If the number of transmission layers is greater than N_i-1And is less than or equal to N_iThen the number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers is M_i(ii) a Wherein M is₁>＝N₁，M_i>＝N_i，i＝2……n，M₁，M_i，N₁，N_iIs a non-zero integer, and n is an integer of 2 or more. That is, as shown in table 1, there is an exemplary mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports, where M is the number of antenna ports, and L is the number of transmission layers.

Table 1: exemplary mapping relationship between number of transmission layers and number of antenna ports

For example, when the number of data layers is less than or equal to 4, the number of corresponding antenna ports is 4; when the number of transmission layers of the data is more than 4 and less than or equal to 8, the number of corresponding antenna ports is 8; when the number of transmission layers of the data is greater than 8 and less than or equal to 12, the number of corresponding antenna ports is 12, and so on.

In the embodiment of the present invention, regarding the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports, the following may also be satisfied:

As an example, if the number of transmission layers is less than or equal to 2, the number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers is 2; if the number of transmission layers is greater than 2^m-1And is less than or equal to 2^mThen the number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers is 2^m(ii) a m is an integer of 2 or more. As shown in table 2, a specific mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports is provided based on this idea in the embodiment of the present invention.

Table 2: specific mapping relation between transmission layer number and antenna port number

Number of antenna ports (M)	Number of transmission layers (L)
		2	1 or 2
4	3 or 4
		8	5. 6, 7 or 8

As another example, if the number of transmission layers is less than or equal to 4, the number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers is 4; if the number of transmission layers is greater than 2^j-1And is less than or equal to 2^jThen the number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers is 2^j(ii) a j is 3 … … z, and z is an integer of 3 or more. As shown in table 3, a specific mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports is provided based on this idea in the embodiment of the present invention.

Table 3: specific mapping relation between transmission layer number and antenna port number

Number of antenna ports (M)	Number of transmission layers (L)
		4	1. 2,3 or 4
8	5. 6, 7 or 8

In this embodiment of the present invention, the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports may be predetermined by the sending device and the receiving device, that is, the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports is specified in a transmission protocol. Alternatively, the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports may be configured by the sending device and notified to the receiving device.

The mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports is configured by the sending device and notified to the receiving device, and specifically includes:

the transmission protocol prescribes the mapping relation between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports, the sending equipment configures one of the mapping relations, and then informs the receiving equipment of the configured mapping relation through signaling; or,

the transmission protocol defines mapping relationships between multiple transmission layer numbers and antenna port numbers, and the transmitting device selects a mapping relationship from only a subset of the multiple mapping relationships, which may be referred to as a candidate mapping relationship set of the transmitting device. The sending device signals the receiving device of its candidate mapping relationship set. Subsequently, the receiving device is informed of the identification information of the mapping relation configured by the receiving device in the candidate mapping relation set through signaling; or,

the transmission protocol defines mapping relations between a plurality of transmission layer numbers and antenna port numbers, and the receiving device can only adopt a subset of the mapping relations, which can be called as a candidate mapping relation set of the receiving device. The receiving device sends a notification message to notify the receiving device of the candidate mapping relationship set. And the subsequent sending equipment informs the receiving equipment of the identification information of the configured mapping relation in the candidate mapping relation set through signaling.

Further, the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports may be the same or different at different times. That is to say, the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports may be kept unchanged within the set time period, so that the sending device and the receiving device may perform data transmission based on the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports within the set time period, and a new mapping relationship does not need to be agreed again, thereby saving processing resources. Or, the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports may also be dynamically changed, that is, the transmission condition in the actual process is fully considered, so that the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports is changed in real time, so as to better meet the actual condition.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports may be dedicated for the terminal (or a terminal group including a plurality of terminals), and the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports of different terminals may be the same or different. In this case, the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports may be set based on different users, which is flexible. Or, the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports may be cell-specific, in which case, the same mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports is adopted when the terminal and the base station in one cell perform data transmission.

In step 202, after the sending device determines the number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers of the data to be sent, the embodiment of the present invention may also send information on the number of antenna ports to the receiving device, where the information on the number of antenna ports includes any one or any combination of the following: the number of transmission layers of the data to be sent, mapping relation identification information of the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports, and a transmission mode adopted by the sending equipment to send the data to be sent; or, the antenna port number information includes the number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers of the data to be transmitted.

The information included in the antenna port number information according to the embodiments of the present invention may be determined according to specific situations, and will be described later with reference to the embodiments.

Further, the transmitting device transmits the antenna port number information to the receiving device, where the antenna port number information may be carried in various information such as control information and broadcast information, or may be transmitted by the transmitting device through dedicated signaling. Specifically, a sending device sends Uplink Control Information (UCI) or Downlink Control Information (DCI) to the receiving device, where the UCI and the DCI carry Information of the number of antenna ports; or, the sending device sends the antenna port number information to the receiving device by using a dedicated signaling predetermined by the sending device and the receiving device.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the sending device may further send indication information to the receiving device, where the indication information is used to indicate whether the sending device sends the data to be sent according to the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports. Specifically, the indication information may include identification information of the transmission mode, or other information having an indication function. As another example with indication information, if the indication message corresponds to a certain state (e.g., corresponds to 1), the sending device determines whether to send the data to be sent according to the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports, and if the indication message corresponds to another state (e.g., corresponds to 0), the sending device determines whether to send the data to be sent according to the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports. The embodiment of the present invention is not particularly limited to this.

The indication information sent by the sending device to the receiving device is carried in various information such as control information and broadcast information, or may be sent by the sending device through dedicated signaling. Specifically, a sending device sends UCI or DCI to the receiving device, where the UCI and the DCI carry the indication information; or the sending equipment sends the indication information to the receiving equipment by adopting a special signaling appointed by the sending equipment and the receiving equipment in advance; or, the indication information is carried in the antenna port number information. In step 203, the receiving device may obtain the number of transmission layers of the data in a plurality of manners, for example, manner one: and the receiving equipment acquires the number of the code words of the data, obtains the number of the transmission layers corresponding to the number of the code words of the data according to the mapping relation between the number of the code words and the number of the transmission layers, and uses the number of the transmission layers as the number of the transmission layers of the data. The second method comprises the following steps: the receiving device receives the number of transmission layers sent by the sending device, specifically, the number of transmission layers may be included in the antenna port number information, and the number of transmission layers may be obtained after the receiving device receives the antenna port number information; or, the number of transmission layers may also be directly carried in UCI, DCI, or other control information, and sent to the receiving device by the sending device; or, the transmission device may also send the number of transmission layers to the receiving device through dedicated signaling of the preset number of transmission layers. In step 204, the receiving device may obtain the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports in a plurality of manners, for example, a manner one: the mapping relation between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports is predetermined by the sending equipment and the receiving equipment; the second method comprises the following steps: the receiving device receives the information of the number of antenna ports sent by the sending device, and obtains the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports according to the information of the number of antenna ports, specifically, the information of the number of antenna ports may include identification information of the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports, and the receiving device obtains the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports according to the identification information of the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports. The mapping relationship identification information of the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports may be an index number or an identification with unique identification, which is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present invention.

Further, before the receiving device determines the number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers of the data, the method further includes: and the receiving equipment receives the transmission mode adopted by the sending equipment for sending the data. That is, after receiving the transmission mode adopted by the sending device to send the data, the receiving device performs the subsequent operation of acquiring the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports; if the transmission mode adopted by the sending equipment for sending the data is not received, the mapping relation between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports is not acquired, so that the processing resources are saved.

Further, before the receiving device determines the number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers of the data, the method further includes: and the receiving equipment receives the transmission mode adopted by the sending equipment for sending the data, and determines that the transmission mode is the identification transmission mode. And the identification transmission mode is used for indicating the receiving equipment to determine the number of the antenna ports corresponding to the transmission layer number of the data according to the mapping relation between the transmission layer number and the antenna port number. That is to say, after determining that the transmission mode adopted by the sending device to send the data is the identification transmission mode, the receiving device indicates that the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports exists in the transmission mode, and at this time, the receiving device may perform the subsequent operation of obtaining the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports; if the transmission mode is not the identification transmission mode, it indicates that the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports does not exist in the transmission mode, and at this time, the receiving device may not perform the acquiring of the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports, so as to save processing resources.

Specifically, the receiving device may determine whether a transmission mode used by the sending device to send the data is the identified transmission mode in multiple ways, for example, the receiving device may maintain a table, where identification information for identifying the transmission mode is stored in the table, and further, the table may be agreed by a transmission protocol or notified to the receiving device by the sending device, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present invention. The receiving device obtains the transmission mode adopted by the sending device to send the data, and can compare the identification information of the transmission mode with the identification information in the table to determine whether the transmission mode is the identification transmission mode.

Specifically, the receiving device may obtain a transmission mode used by the sending device to send the data in multiple ways, for example, the receiving device receives information on the number of antenna ports sent by the sending device, where the information on the number of antenna ports includes the transmission mode used by the sending device to send the data; or, the receiving device receives indication information sent by the sending device, where the indication information includes a transmission mode used by the sending device to send the data; or, the transmission mode may also be directly carried in UCI, DCI, or other control information, and sent by the sending device to the receiving device; alternatively, the transmission mode may be transmitted from the transmitting device to the receiving device through dedicated signaling of a preset transmission mode.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers corresponding to different transmission modes (identified transmission modes) and the number of antenna ports may be the same or different.

One transmission mode (identifying a transmission mode) may correspond to one or more mappings of the number of transmission layers to the number of antenna ports. In step 204, if the transmission mode adopted by the sending device to send the data only corresponds to a mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports, the receiving device may obtain, according to the transmission mode of the data, the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports corresponding to the transmission mode of the data, and use the mapping relationship as the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports. And further obtaining the number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers of the data according to the mapping relation between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports and the number of transmission layers of the data. In step 204, if the transmission mode used by the sending device to send the data corresponds to the mapping relationship between the multiple transmission layer numbers and the antenna port numbers, at this time, the receiving device may determine the mapping relationship between the transmission layer number corresponding to the transmission mode and the antenna port number according to the mapping relationship identification information between the transmission layer number and the antenna port number.

Before step 204, the receiving device may further receive indication information sent by the sending device, where the indication information is used to indicate whether the sending device sends the data to be sent according to the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports. Specifically, the indication information may include identification information of the transmission mode, or other information having an indication function. As another example with indication information, if the indication message corresponds to a certain state (e.g., corresponds to 1), the sending device determines whether to send the data to be sent according to the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports, and if the indication message corresponds to another state (e.g., corresponds to 0), the sending device determines whether to send the data to be sent according to the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports. The embodiment of the present invention is not particularly limited to this.

The present invention will be described with reference to specific examples.

Implementing one step:

the mapping relation between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports is agreed in advance by the sending equipment and the receiving equipment. The sending equipment determines the number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers of the data to be sent according to a mapping relation between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports and the number of layers of the data to be sent, which are predetermined, and sends the data to be sent to the receiving equipment through the antenna ports corresponding to the number of antenna ports.

And after receiving the data sent by the sending equipment, the receiving equipment acquires the number of the code words of the data, and obtains the number of transmission layers corresponding to the number of the code words of the data according to the mapping relation between the number of the code words and the number of the transmission layers, and the number of the transmission layers is used as the number of the transmission layers of the data.

And the receiving equipment can determine the number of the antenna ports corresponding to the number of the transmission layers of the data according to the number of the transmission layers of the data and the mapping relation between the number of the transmission layers and the number of the antenna ports which is agreed in advance.

After determining the number of the output antenna ports, the receiving device may perform channel estimation, demodulation, and the like on the data at the corresponding number of antenna ports.

In the above process, since the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports is predetermined, and the number of transmission layers of data is obtained by the receiving device according to the number of code words of the data, the transmitting device does not need to transmit the information of the number of antenna ports to the receiving device, thereby effectively saving signaling overhead and transmission resources.

Example two

The sending equipment determines the number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers of the data to be sent according to the mapping relation between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports configured by the sending equipment and the number of layers of the data to be sent, sends the data to be sent to the receiving equipment through the antenna ports corresponding to the number of antenna ports, and sends the information of the number of antenna ports to the receiving equipment, wherein the information of the number of antenna ports comprises the mapping relation between the number of transmission layers configured by the sending equipment and the number of antenna ports.

The receiving device receives the information of the number of antenna ports sent by the sending device, obtains the number of transmission layers of the data and the mapping relation between the number of the transmission layers and the number of the antenna ports, and combines the number of the data layers obtained by the receiving device according to other information or the information of the number of the antenna ports, so that the number of the antenna ports corresponding to the number of the transmission layers of the data can be obtained.

The mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports included in the antenna port number information may be mapping relationship identification information between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports. For example, a protocol is agreed or a mapping relationship between K transmission layer numbers and antenna port numbers is agreed in advance by the receiving device and the transmitting device, and a mapping relationship between the transmission layer numbers and the antenna port numbers included in the antenna port number information corresponds to identification information of the 1 st to K mapping relationships, for example, when the mapping relationship is 1, the mapping relationship between the first transmission layer number and the antenna port number is indicated, and when the mapping relationship is K, the mapping relationship between the kth transmission layer number and the antenna port number is indicated.

The mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports agreed in advance by the receiving device and the transmitting device may also be a table. The transmitting device notifies the receiving device of the information contained in the table in advance, or the receiving device notifies the transmitting device of the information contained in the table in advance. The antenna port number information includes serial number identification information in a table of mapping relationships between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports.

In the above process, the number of transmission layers of the data and the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports are both sent to the receiving device by the sending device, so that the receiving device can directly obtain the number of transmission layers of the data and the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports, thereby quickly determining the number of antenna ports and saving the processing resources of the receiving device.

EXAMPLE III

The sending equipment determines the number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers of the data to be sent according to the mapping relation between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports configured by the sending equipment and the number of layers of the data to be sent, sends the data to be sent to the receiving equipment through the antenna ports corresponding to the number of antenna ports, and sends the information of the number of antenna ports to the receiving equipment, wherein the information of the number of antenna ports comprises the number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers of the data to be sent.

After receiving the information of the number of the antenna ports sent by the sending equipment, the receiving equipment can directly obtain the number of the antenna ports, thereby further saving the processing resources of the receiving equipment. And, because the sending device sends the data through the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports, the sending device can correspond the data of a certain number of layers to the appropriate number of antenna ports, which is more favorable for saving the cost of resources.

Example four

The mapping relation between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports is agreed in advance by the sending equipment and the receiving equipment. The sending equipment determines the number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers of the data to be sent according to a mapping relation between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports and the number of layers of the data to be sent, sends the data to be sent to the receiving equipment through the antenna ports corresponding to the number of antenna ports, and sends the information of the number of antenna ports to the receiving equipment, wherein the information of the number of antenna ports comprises the number of transmission layers of the data and a transmission mode adopted by the sending equipment for sending the data to be sent.

And after receiving the antenna port number information sent by the sending equipment, the receiving equipment obtains the transmission layer number of the data and the transmission mode. And the receiving equipment judges whether the transmission mode is the identification transmission mode, if so, obtains the mapping relation between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports corresponding to the transmission mode of the data according to the transmission mode of the data, and uses the mapping relation as the mapping relation between the number of the transmission layers and the number of the antenna ports, thereby determining the number of the antenna ports. In this case, the transmission mode only corresponds to a mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports, so that the receiving device can directly obtain the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports according to the transmission mode. If the transmission mode corresponds to the mapping relationship between two or more transmission layer numbers and the antenna port numbers, the receiving device may obtain the mapping relationship between the transmission layer numbers and the antenna port numbers in other manners.

In the above process, the information about the number of antenna ports includes a transmission mode, and the receiving device executes an operation of obtaining a mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports after determining that the transmission mode is the identification transmission mode, and if the transmission mode is not the identification transmission mode, the receiving device may not execute the operation of obtaining the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports, so as to save processing resources.

The first to fourth embodiments are only four exemplary illustrations, and other cases may be included in the embodiments of the present invention, which are not further described herein.

For the above method flow, embodiments of the present invention further provide a receiving device and a sending device, and specific contents of the receiving device and the sending device may be implemented with reference to the above method.

Fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a receiving device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 3, the receiving apparatus 300 includes:

an obtaining module 301, configured to obtain the number of transmission layers of data sent by a sending device;

a determining module 302, configured to determine, according to a mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports, the number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers of the data.

Optionally, the obtaining module 301 is specifically configured to obtain the number of transmission layers of the data by:

Optionally, the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports is predetermined by the sending device and the receiving device; or, the obtaining module 301 is further configured to receive antenna port number information sent by the sending device, and obtain a mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports according to the antenna port number information.

the obtaining module 301 is specifically configured to:

Optionally, before the determining module 302 determines the number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers of the data, the obtaining module 301 is further configured to:

Optionally, the obtaining module 301 is specifically configured to:

the obtaining module 301 is further configured to:

The receiving device further comprises a receiving module 303 configured to: before the determining module 302 determines the number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers of the data according to the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports, receiving indication information sent by the sending device; the indication information is used for indicating whether the sending equipment sends the data to be sent according to the mapping relation between the number of the transmission layers and the number of the antenna ports;

the determining module 302 is further configured to: and determining that the sending equipment sends the data to be sent according to the mapping relation between the number of the transmission layers and the number of the antenna ports according to the indication information.

Fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a sending device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 4, the transmission apparatus 400 includes:

an obtaining module 401, configured to obtain data to be sent and a number of transmission layers of the data to be sent;

a determining module 402, configured to determine, according to a mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports, the number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers of the data to be sent, so that the data to be sent is sent to a receiving device through the antenna ports corresponding to the number of antenna ports.

Optionally, the sending device further includes a sending module 403, configured to send information about the number of antenna ports to the receiving device;

Optionally, the sending module 403 is specifically configured to:

Optionally, the sending device further includes a sending module 403, configured to send instruction information to the receiving device; the indication information is used to indicate whether the sending device sends the data to be sent according to the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports.

From the above, it can be seen that: in the embodiment of the invention, the receiving equipment acquires the transmission layer number of the data sent by the sending equipment, and determines the antenna port number corresponding to the transmission layer number of the data according to the mapping relation between the transmission layer number and the antenna port number. Because the mapping relation between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports is set, the number of the antenna ports can be determined according to the number of the transmission layers of the data; on the other hand, by setting the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports, data of a certain number of layers can be corresponding to the appropriate number of antenna ports relative to the situation that data of any number of layers corresponds to any number of antenna ports, which is more favorable for saving the expenditure of resources.

It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that embodiments of the present invention may be provided as a method, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

The present invention is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

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.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, additional variations and modifications in those embodiments may occur to those skilled in the art once they learn of the basic inventive concepts. Therefore, it is intended that the appended claims be interpreted as including preferred embodiments and all such alterations and modifications as fall within the scope of the invention.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the present invention fall within the scope of the claims of the present invention and their equivalents, the present invention is also intended to include such modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A method for determining a number of antenna ports, the method comprising:

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports satisfies the following condition:

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports satisfies the following condition:

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports satisfies the following condition:

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving device obtaining the number of transmission layers of the data comprises:

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports is obtained by the receiving device by:

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the information on the number of antenna ports includes identification information on a mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports;

8. The method of claim 1, wherein before the receiving device determines the number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers of the data according to a mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports, the method further comprises:

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the obtaining, by the receiving device, the transmission mode in which the data is transmitted by the transmitting device comprises:

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the transmission mode corresponds to a mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports;

11. The method of claim 1, wherein before the receiving device determines the number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers of the data according to a mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports, the method further comprises:

12. A method for determining a number of antenna ports, the method comprising:

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports is predetermined by the transmitting device and the receiving device; or,

14. The method of claim 12 or 13, further comprising:

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the transmitting device transmitting antenna port number information to the receiving device, comprising:

16. The method of claim 12 or 13, further comprising:

17. A receiving apparatus, characterized in that the receiving apparatus comprises:

18. The receiving device of claim 17, wherein the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports satisfies the following condition:

19. The receiving device of claim 17, wherein the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports satisfies the following condition:

20. The receiving device of claim 17, wherein the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports satisfies the following condition:

21. The receiving device of claim 17, wherein the obtaining module is specifically configured to obtain the number of transmission layers of the data by:

22. The receiving device of claim 17, wherein the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports is pre-agreed by the transmitting device and the receiving device; or, the obtaining module is further configured to receive information on the number of antenna ports sent by the sending device, and obtain a mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports according to the information on the number of antenna ports.

23. The receiving device according to claim 22, wherein the information on the number of antenna ports includes identification information on a mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports;

the acquisition module is specifically configured to:

24. The receiving device of claim 17, wherein before the determining module determines the number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers of the data, the obtaining module is further configured to:

25. The receiving device of claim 24, wherein the obtaining module is specifically configured to:

26. The receiving device of claim 24, wherein the transmission mode corresponds to a mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports;

the acquisition module is further configured to:

27. The receiving device of claim 17, wherein the receiving device further comprises a receiving module to: receiving indication information sent by the sending equipment before the determining module determines the number of antenna ports corresponding to the number of transmission layers of the data according to the mapping relation between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports; the indication information is used for indicating whether the sending equipment sends the data to be sent according to the mapping relation between the number of the transmission layers and the number of the antenna ports;

28. A transmitting device, characterized in that the transmitting device comprises:

29. The transmitting device of claim 28, wherein the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports is pre-agreed by the transmitting device and the receiving device; or,

30. The transmitting device of claim 28 or 29, further comprising a transmitting module for transmitting antenna port number information to the receiving device;

31. The sending device of claim 30, wherein the sending module is specifically configured to:

32. The transmitting device of claim 28 or 29, further comprising a transmitting module for transmitting indication information to the receiving device; the indication information is used to indicate whether the sending device sends the data to be sent according to the mapping relationship between the number of transmission layers and the number of antenna ports.