CN111294917B

CN111294917B - Method, device, storage medium and user equipment for estimating timing deviation based on PDCCH

Info

Publication number: CN111294917B
Application number: CN201910645255.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 高泽庆
Original assignee: Spreadtrum Communications Shanghai Co Ltd
Current assignee: Spreadtrum Communications Shanghai Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-07-17
Filing date: 2019-07-17
Publication date: 2021-08-27
Anticipated expiration: 2039-07-17
Also published as: CN111294917A

Abstract

A method, a device, a storage medium and a user equipment for estimating a timing offset based on a PDCCH (physical Downlink control channel), wherein the method for estimating the timing offset based on the PDCCH comprises the following steps: receiving frequency domain data of a PDCCH broadband demodulation reference signal; performing correlation calculation on the frequency domain data and the UE local PDCCH demodulation reference signal sequence to obtain a frequency domain channel estimation value sequence; transforming the frequency domain channel estimation value sequence into a time domain channel estimation value sequence; determining the final main path position based on the time domain channel estimation value sequence; the final main diameter position is compared with the target timing to obtain a timing deviation. The technical scheme of the invention can estimate the timing deviation more timely and accurately.

Description

Method, device, storage medium and user equipment for estimating timing deviation based on PDCCH

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a method, an apparatus, a storage medium, and a device for estimating a timing offset based on a PDCCH in an NR system.

Background

An lte (long Term evolution) system refers to a long Term evolution system dominated by 3GPP, and a Network architecture thereof includes an Access Network (Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network, abbreviated as E-UTRAN) portion and a Core Network (Evolved Packet Core, abbreviated as EPC) portion. The nr (new Radio) system refers to a fifth Generation mobile communication system dominated by 3GPP, and a Network architecture thereof includes an Access Network (Next-Generation Radio Access Network, NG-RAN for short) portion and a Core Network (5G Core Network, 5GC for short) portion.

The concept of Quasi Co-Location (QCL for short) is introduced in both LTE and NR systems. In particular, if one antenna port is configured with the other antenna ports as QCLs, it may be assumed by a User Equipment (User Equipment, UE) that large-scale properties of a signal received from one antenna port (or a channel corresponding to the antenna port) are the same as or partially the same as signals received from the other antenna port (or a channel corresponding to the antenna port), the large-scale properties including doppler spread, doppler shift, average delay associated with timing offset, delay spread, average gain, and the like.

In the NR system, four types of QCLs, i.e., QCL-TypeA, QCL-TypeB, QCL-TypeC, and QCL-TypeD, are provided, wherein the QCL-TypeA and QCL-TypeC contain timing information therein. For example, when a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) and a Reference Signal (RS) are configured as QCL-type a or QCL-type c, the timing offset estimated using the Reference Signal is also applied to the PDCCH.

However, the timeliness and accuracy of the timing offsets estimated by these reference signals may be poor in some scenarios.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention solves the technical problem of how to timely and accurately estimate the timing deviation of a channel.

To solve the above technical problem, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for estimating a timing offset based on a PDCCH in an NR system, where the method includes: receiving frequency domain data of a PDCCH demodulation reference signal, wherein the PDCCH demodulation reference signal is configured to be a broadband demodulation reference signal; carrying out correlation calculation on the received frequency domain data and a UE local PDCCH demodulation reference signal sequence corresponding to the PDCCH demodulation reference signal to obtain a frequency domain channel estimation value sequence; transforming the frequency domain channel estimation value sequence into a time domain channel estimation value sequence; selecting a main path with the maximum receiving power of each receiving antenna at the UE in a time domain channel estimation value sequence, and determining the position with the maximum occurrence frequency in the main path as a final main path position; and determining a difference value obtained by comparing the final main path position with the target timing saved at the UE as the timing deviation of the PDCCH.

Optionally, the timing of the UE is adjusted based on the timing offset of the PDCCH.

Optionally, selecting, in the time domain channel estimation value sequence, a main path with the maximum respective received power of each receiving antenna at the UE includes: the main path with the maximum receiving power of each receiving antenna is selected through the multipath window of each receiving antenna, and the multipath window is a numerical range related to the number of IFFT points.

Alternatively, the number of IFFT points is 256, the length of the multipath window is set to 64 points, and the range of values is between 1 and 32 and between 225 and 256.

Optionally, the PDCCH demodulation reference signal is configured to be a wideband demodulation reference signal by setting a CORESET parameter precoding granularity of the PDCCH to alloconteguoussrbs.

Optionally, the frequency domain channel estimation value sequence obtained by performing correlation calculation on the received frequency domain data and the UE local PDCCH demodulation reference signal sequence corresponding to the PDCCH demodulation reference signal is: the received frequency domain data and a UE local PDCCH demodulation reference signal sequence corresponding to the PDCCH demodulation reference signal are subjected to conjugate multiplication through a correlation formula to obtain a frequency domain channel estimation value sequence, wherein the correlation formula is as follows:

H_cch_dmrs(l,rx,m)＝R_cch_dmrs(l,rx,m)*conj(local(l,m))，

wherein, H _ cch _ dmrs (l, rx, m) is a frequency domain channel estimation value sequence, R _ cch _ dmrs (l, rx, m) is received frequency domain data, local (l, m) is a UE local PDCCH demodulation reference signal sequence, l is a symbol, rx is a receiving antenna parameter, and m is a physical resource block parameter.

Optionally, a reference signal corresponding to QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC does not exist in the time slot where the PDCCH is located.

Optionally, a reference signal corresponding to PDCCH QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC exists in the time slot where the PDCCH is located, and a period of the reference signal corresponding to PDCCH QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC is 20 milliseconds, 40 milliseconds, or 80 milliseconds.

Optionally, the reference signal associated with PDCCH QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC is SSB or CSI-RS.

The embodiment of the invention also provides another method for estimating the timing deviation based on the PDCCH in the NR system, which comprises the following steps: receiving frequency domain data of a PDCCH demodulation reference signal, wherein the PDCCH demodulation reference signal is configured to be a broadband demodulation reference signal; carrying out correlation calculation on the received frequency domain data and a UE local PDCCH demodulation reference signal sequence corresponding to the PDCCH demodulation reference signal to obtain a frequency domain channel estimation value sequence; transforming the frequency domain channel estimation value sequence into a time domain channel estimation value sequence; selecting a main path with the maximum receiving power of each receiving antenna at the UE in a time domain channel estimation value sequence, and determining the position with the maximum occurrence frequency in the main path as a final main path position; determining a difference value obtained by comparing the final main path position with a target timing saved at the UE as a first timing deviation of the PDCCH; receiving a reference signal corresponding to a PDCCH QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC; obtaining a second timing offset for the PDCCH based on a reference signal to the PDCCH QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC; setting a timing offset of the PDCCH according to one of: if the obtaining time of the first timing deviation is not later than the obtaining time of the second timing deviation, setting the first timing deviation as the timing deviation of the PDCCH, otherwise, setting the second timing deviation as the timing deviation of the PDCCH; the other of the two is: and setting the weight of the first timing deviation and the weight of the second timing deviation according to the ratio of the sampling frequency of the PDCCH demodulation reference signal to the sampling frequency of the reference signal of the PDCCH QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC, and carrying out weighted summation on the first timing deviation and the second timing deviation to obtain the timing deviation of the PDCCH.

Optionally, selecting, in the time domain channel estimation value sequence, a main path with the maximum respective received power of each receiving antenna at the UE includes:

the main path with the maximum receiving power of each receiving antenna is selected through the multipath window of each receiving antenna, and the multipath window is a numerical range related to the number of IFFT points.

H_cch_dmrs(l,rx,m)＝R_cch_dmrs(l,rx,m)*conj(local(l,m))，

Optionally, the period of the reference signal to the PDCCH QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC is 10, 20, 40 or 80 milliseconds.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a device for estimating a timing offset based on a PDCCH in an NR system, where the device includes: the receiving module is suitable for receiving frequency domain data of a PDCCH demodulation reference signal, wherein the PDCCH demodulation reference signal is configured to be a broadband demodulation reference signal; the calculation module is suitable for carrying out correlation calculation on the received frequency domain data and a UE local PDCCH demodulation reference signal sequence corresponding to the PDCCH demodulation reference signal to obtain a frequency domain channel estimation value sequence; a transformation module adapted to transform the frequency domain channel estimate sequence into a time domain channel estimate sequence; the selection module is suitable for selecting a main path with the maximum receiving power of each receiving antenna at the UE in the time domain channel estimation value sequence and determining the position with the maximum occurrence frequency in the main path as the final main path position; and the determining module is suitable for determining a difference value obtained by comparing the final main path position with the target timing saved at the UE as the timing deviation of the PDCCH.

Optionally, the apparatus includes an adjusting module adapted to adjust a timing of the UE based on a timing offset of the PDCCH.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides another apparatus for estimating a timing offset based on a PDCCH in an NR system, where the another apparatus includes: a first module comprising a first receiving sub-module adapted to receive frequency domain data of a PDCCH demodulation reference signal, a calculating sub-module, a transforming sub-module, a selecting sub-module, and a determining sub-module, the PDCCH demodulation reference signal is configured as a broadband demodulation reference signal, the calculation submodule is suitable for performing correlation calculation on received frequency domain data and a UE local PDCCH demodulation reference signal sequence corresponding to the PDCCH demodulation reference signal to obtain a frequency domain channel estimation value sequence, the transformation submodule is suitable for transforming the frequency domain channel estimation value sequence into a time domain channel estimation value sequence, the selection submodule is suitable for selecting a main path with the maximum receiving power of each receiving antenna at the UE in the time domain channel estimation value sequence, the position with the maximum occurrence frequency in the main path is determined as a final main path position, and the determination submodule is suitable for determining a difference value obtained by comparing the final main path position with target timing stored at the UE as a first timing deviation of the PDCCH; a second module comprising a second receiving sub-module adapted to receive a reference signal from the PDCCH QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC, and an obtaining sub-module adapted to obtain a second timing offset of the PDCCH based on the reference signal from the PDCCH QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC; a third module adapted to set a timing offset of the PDCCH according to one of: if the obtaining time of the first timing deviation is not later than the obtaining time of the second timing deviation, setting the first timing deviation as the timing deviation of the PDCCH, otherwise, setting the second timing deviation as the timing deviation of the PDCCH; the other of the two is: and setting the weight of the first timing deviation and the weight of the second timing deviation according to the ratio of the sampling frequency of the PDCCH demodulation reference signal to the sampling frequency of the reference signal of the PDCCH QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC, and carrying out weighted summation on the first timing deviation and the second timing deviation to obtain the timing deviation of the PDCCH.

Optionally, the another apparatus includes a fourth module adapted to adjust a timing of the UE based on a timing offset of the PDCCH.

The embodiment of the invention also discloses a storage medium, wherein a computer instruction is stored on the storage medium, and the computer instruction executes the steps of the method for estimating the timing deviation based on the PDCCH in the NR system when running.

The embodiment of the invention also discloses another storage medium, which is stored with computer instructions, and the computer instructions execute the steps of the method for estimating the timing deviation based on the PDCCH in the NR system when running.

The embodiment of the invention also discloses user equipment which comprises a memory and a processor, wherein the memory is stored with computer instructions capable of running on the processor, and the processor executes the step of the method for estimating the timing deviation based on the PDCCH in the NR system when running the computer instructions.

The embodiment of the invention also discloses another user equipment which comprises a memory and a processor, wherein the memory is stored with computer instructions capable of running on the processor, and the processor executes the steps of the method for estimating the timing deviation based on the PDCCH in the NR system when running the computer instructions.

Compared with the prior art, the technical scheme of the embodiment of the invention has the following beneficial effects:

when a PDCCH demodulation Reference Signal (De-modulated Reference Signal, abbreviated DM-RS) is configured as a wideband demodulation Reference Signal (wideband DM-RS), it can effectively adapt to a channel that changes faster because the period of the Reference Signal is short, compared to a possibly longer period of the Reference Signal with PDCCH QCL-typeA or QCL-typeC.

And, compared with the possible smaller number of RSs configured with reference signals of PDCCH QCL-typeA or QCL-typeC (the samples are small, thereby affecting the accuracy of the timing estimation result), when the PDCCH DM-RS is configured as wideband DM-RS, the number of RSs of PDCCH DM-RS is larger than that of the RSs configured with reference signals, thereby more accurately estimating the timing deviation.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a flowchart of a method for estimating a timing offset based on a PDCCH in an NR system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a flowchart of a method for estimating a timing offset based on a PDCCH in an NR system according to another embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus for estimating timing offset based on PDCCH in an NR system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus for estimating timing offset based on PDCCH in an NR system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The related art performs timing adjustment on PDCCH using Reference signals with PDCCH QCL-type a or QCL-type c, such as Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) configured with or without trs-Info and Synchronization Signal Block (SSB). On the one hand, however, if the period of these reference signals is long, this may result in that the timing of the reference signals cannot timely follow the variations of these fast-varying channels when these fast-varying channels exist; on the other hand, when the number of RSs occupied by the reference signals in the frequency domain is small, the accuracy of the timing estimation is poor.

For example, the period of CSI-RS (CSI-RS for tracking) may be configured to be 10, 20, 40, 80 ms (see section 5.1.6.1.1 of 3GPP protocol TS 38.214), when the period is configured to be a larger period (e.g., 40 or 80 ms), in case of fast channel change (e.g., the changed period is less than 40 or 80 ms), the timing information estimated by using CSI-RS may be untimely; and, if the CSI-RS for tracking is configured with a smaller number of RSs, it will sample fewer samples, thereby affecting the accuracy of the timing offset estimation.

In contrast, in the technical solution of the present invention, when the PDCCH DM-RS is configured as a wideband DM-RS (that is, when a parameter precoding granularity of a Control Resource Set (CORESET for short) of the PDCCH is Set as all continuous serving rbs), on one hand, the signal period is short, and even each downlink timeslot is issued, so that denser PDCCH DM-RS can be scheduled to estimate timing information, thereby estimating timing offset more timely, and on the other hand, the number of RSs of the PDCCH DM-RS is greater than the number of RSs of the reference signal (such as CSI-RS), and a sample sampled by the PDCCH DM-RS is also higher, thereby improving accuracy of timing offset estimation. The technical scheme of the invention can estimate the timing deviation more timely and accurately, thereby correcting the timing deviation more quickly and accurately, and further effectively improving the receiving performance of various subsequent Downlink channels, such as a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH for short), a PDCCH (Physical Downlink control Channel), and the like.

The technical solution of the present invention is implemented at the UE, and the PDCCH DM-RS configuration information received by the UE is set by using a higher layer signaling (for example, Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling).

In order to make the aforementioned objects, features and advantages of the present invention comprehensible, embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below.

Fig. 1 is a flowchart of a method 100 for estimating a timing offset based on a PDCCH in an NR system according to an embodiment of the present invention, including the following steps:

step S110: receiving frequency domain data of a PDCCH demodulation reference signal, wherein the PDCCH demodulation reference signal is configured to be a broadband demodulation reference signal;

step S120: carrying out correlation calculation on the received frequency domain data and a UE local PDCCH demodulation reference signal sequence corresponding to the PDCCH demodulation reference signal to obtain a frequency domain channel estimation value sequence;

step S130: transforming the frequency domain channel estimation value sequence into a time domain channel estimation value sequence;

step S140: selecting a main path with the maximum receiving power of each receiving antenna at the UE in a time domain channel estimation value sequence, and determining the position with the maximum occurrence frequency in the main path as a final main path position;

step S150: and determining a difference value obtained by comparing the final main path position with the target timing saved at the UE as the timing deviation of the PDCCH.

In the implementation of step S110, the UE receives a PDCCH DM-RS configured as a wideband DM-RS.

Specifically, CORESET indicates the number of Resource Blocks (RBs) occupied by the PDCCH in the frequency domain and the number of symbols (symbols) occupied in the time domain, where the number of occupied RBs is set by a parameter frequency domain Resource in a ControlResourceSet Information Element (also referred to as ControlResourceSet IE), the number of occupied symbols is set by a parameter duration in the ControlResourceSet IE, and a precoding attribute is set by a parameter precoding syntax in the ControlResourceSet IE, which may be set to all _ contactsrbs or sameasureg _ bundle, and when the precoding syntax is set to all _ contactresourceser, the PDCCH DM-RS is characterized as a wideband-RS. The ControlResourceSet IE is sent by the base station to the UE via downlink at RRC layer (see section 7.3.2.2 of 3GPP protocol TS 38.211 and section 6.3.2 of TS 38.331).

The CORESET concept is introduced in the NR system and not involved in the LTE system. In the NR system, the parameter precoding granularity is used to configure precoding. However, the prior art does not consider the use of the parameter precoding granularity for applications other than configuring precoding. Specifically, the prior art does not consider the characteristic that the timing information can be estimated in time because the period of the PDCCH DM-RS is short when the parameter precoding granularity is set to be alloconteuousrbs, or consider the characteristic that the timing offset estimation accuracy can be improved because the RS number of the PDCCH DM-RS is greater than the RS number of the reference signal (such as CSI-RS) when the parameter precoding granularity is set to be alloconteuousrbs.

In the implementation of step S120, the frequency domain data of the PDCCH DM-RS received by the UE and the PDCCH DM-RS sequence corresponding to the PDCCH DM-RS and stored locally in the UE are correlated to obtain a frequency domain channel estimation value sequence.

In one embodiment, the frequency domain channel estimation value sequence is obtained by conjugate multiplying the received PDCCH DM-RS frequency domain data and the UE local PDCCH DM-RS sequence corresponding to the PDCCH DM-RS by a correlation formula, which is the following formula (1):

H_cch_dmrs(l,rx,m)＝R_cch_dmrs(l,rx,m)*conj(local(l,m)) (1)

where H _ cch _ dmrs (l, Rx, m) is a frequency domain channel estimation value sequence, R _ cch _ dmrs (l, Rx, m) is received PDCCH DM-RS frequency domain data, local (l, m) is a UE local PDCCH DM-RS sequence, conj () is a conjugate function, l is a symbol (l _ start, or l _ start, l _ start +1, l _ start +2, l _ start is a starting symbol of PDCCH-associated core set), Rx is a receiving antenna parameter (Rx is 0, 1, … …, Rx _ ant-1) (Rx _ ant is a receiving antenna number), and m is a Physical resource block (m is 0, 1, 2, … …, Nprb 3-1, Nprb is an associated Physical Resource Block (PRB) occupied by a Physical resource block, which is abbreviated as "PRB").

And obtaining L _ symb Rx _ ant frequency domain channel estimated values through the correlation formula, wherein the L _ symb is the number of symbols of the wideband DM-RS in the PDCCH.

In the implementation of step S130, the frequency domain channel estimate value sequence is transformed into a time domain channel estimate value sequence.

In one embodiment, the frequency domain channel estimation value sequence is transformed into a time domain channel estimation value sequence by Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT), see the following formula (2):

h_cch_dmrs(l,rx,n)＝ifft(H_cch_dmrs,Nfft) (2)

where H _ cch _ dmrs (l, Rx, n) is a time domain channel estimation value sequence, H _ cch _ dmrs (l, Rx, m) is a frequency domain channel estimation value sequence, IFFT () is an IFFT function, l is a symbol (according to an actual configuration, l _ start, or l _ start, l _ start +1, l _ start +2, l _ start is a starting symbol of a PDCCH-associated CORESET), Rx is a receiving antenna parameter (Rx is 0, 1, … …, Rx _ ant-1), n is a number of Resource elements (RE, abbreviated as) occupied by PDCCH DM-RS, the specific number depends on a configuration of a base station log, and Nfft is a value rounded up to the top of 2(3 Nprb).

In the implementation of step S140, a final main path position is determined based on the time domain channel estimation value sequence calculated by equation (2).

Specifically, the time domain channel estimation value sequence calculated by equation (2) relates to Rx _ ant receiving antennas at the UE, each receiving antenna receives a multipath signal respectively, determines a multipath signal valid for each receiving antenna by setting a respective multipath window of each receiving antenna, and determines a maximum received power position of each receiving antenna in its corresponding multipath window as a main path of the receiving antenna. And comparing the main paths of all the receiving antennas, and determining the position with the most occurrence times in the main paths as the final main path position.

More specifically, the time domain channel estimation value sequence calculated by equation (2) is noisy and needs to be denoised. The multipath window sets the signal outside the window as a noise path to be zero, and takes the signal inside the window as an effective signal; the multipath window is a range of values related to the number of IFFT points, where the value i represents the ith value of the time domain channel estimate sequence. How many samples of the time domain channel estimate are needed to cover the delay spread can be determined from the multipath delay spread, i.e., the multipath window can be dynamically adjusted to cover the multipath delay spread.

For example, the subcarrier spacing is 30Khz, the sampling frequency is 122.88Mhz, the number of IFFT points is 256, and the time resolution of the time domain channel estimation value sequence after IFFT processing is 4/122.88 μ s. If it is desired to adjust the main path to a position of 1, the main path will fall at a position where the number of IFFT points is 1 when the received timing signal is not deviated, i +1 if the timing signal is received i samples earlier (indicating that the timing is shifted forward by i x 4/122.88 μ s), and 257-i if the timing signal is received i samples later (indicating that the timing is shifted backward by i x 4/122.88 μ s) (the IFFT has a cyclic shift characteristic); the calculation of the main radius to the other desired position is similar to the calculation of the position desired to adjust the main radius to 1 described above. In one embodiment, the number of IFFT points is 256, the length of the multipath window is set to 64 points, and the value of the multipath window can be set between 1 and 32 and between 225 and 256.

For determining the final main path position, please see the following formula (3):

Pos＝PathSelect(Pos_h_pss) (3)

wherein Pos is the final main path position, Pos _ h _ pss is the main path of each receiving antenna, and PathSelect is the final main path position selection function.

The technical scheme of the invention is not suitable for the situation that the parameter precoding granularity in the controlResourceSet IE is set to sameAsREG-bundle. Specifically, in this case, since the precoding is based on REG-bundle, different REG-bundles may have different phase differences, which may result in that the maximum power received by each receiving antenna (also referred to as the main path power of the receiving antenna) after transforming to the time domain is not obvious, so that the main path of the receiving antenna cannot be distinguished, and the final main path position cannot be calculated. Therefore, the case of setting the parameter precoding granularity in the ControlResourceSet IE to sameaasereg-bundle cannot be used to calculate the timing offset.

In the implementation of step S150, a difference obtained by comparing the final main path position calculated by formula (3) with the target timing saved at the UE is determined as the timing offset of the PDCCH, please refer to the following formula (4):

△t＝Pos–Pos_target (4)

where Δ t is the timing offset, Pos is the final main path position, and Pos _ target is the target timing.

In a particular embodiment, the timing of the UE is adjusted based on the determined timing offset. Therefore, the timing deviation can be corrected more quickly and accurately at the UE, and the receiving performance of various subsequent downlink channels is effectively improved.

In some technical schemes of the invention for determining the timing deviation based on the wideband DM-RS in the PDCCH, no reference signal with the QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC exists in the time slot where the PDCCH is located. This may be achieved by a pre-conditioned determination before implementing the solutions, the pre-conditioned determination including determining whether the time slot is a time slot in which the PDCCH is located and determining whether a reference signal (e.g., SSB or CSI-RS) exists for the PDCCH QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC. By determining the timing offset by combining the precondition judgment, on one hand, the timing offset can be determined by the technical scheme of the invention based on the wireless band DM-RS in the PDCCH under the condition that the timing offset cannot be estimated by using the reference signal with the PDCCH QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC, and on the other hand, the technical scheme of the wireless band DM-RS based on the PDCCH can be avoided under the condition that the timing offset is estimated by using the reference signal with the PDCCH QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC, thereby simplifying the design and implementation of the scheme for estimating the timing offset.

In other embodiments of the present invention, which determine the timing offset based on the wideband DM-RS in the PDCCH, reference signals QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC may exist in the time slot where the PDCCH is located, but the reference signals have a longer period (in a specific scenario, the longer period is, for example, 20 ms, 40 ms, or 80 ms). This may be achieved by a pre-conditioning prior to implementing the techniques, where the pre-conditioning includes determining whether the time slot is a time slot in which the PDCCH is located and determining whether a reference signal with a longer period (e.g., SSB or CSI-RS) exists with the PDCCH QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC. In the case that even the timing offset can be estimated using a reference signal with a longer period from the PDCCH QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC, the timing offset is estimated more timely by actively selecting the wideband DM-RS in the PDCCH, taking into account that the reference signal with a longer period may not be able to timely estimate the timing offset of a channel that changes faster in a particular scenario, such as the PDCCH.

Fig. 2 is a flowchart of a method 200 for estimating timing offset based on PDCCH in an NR system according to another embodiment of the present invention, which includes the following steps:

step S210: receiving frequency domain data of a PDCCH demodulation reference signal, wherein the PDCCH demodulation reference signal is configured to be a broadband demodulation reference signal;

step S220: carrying out correlation calculation on the received frequency domain data and a UE local PDCCH demodulation reference signal sequence corresponding to the PDCCH demodulation reference signal to obtain a frequency domain channel estimation value sequence;

step S230: transforming the frequency domain channel estimation value sequence into a time domain channel estimation value sequence;

step S240: selecting a main path with the maximum receiving power of each receiving antenna at the UE in a time domain channel estimation value sequence, and determining the position with the maximum occurrence frequency in the main path as a final main path position;

step S250: determining a difference value obtained by comparing the final main path position with a target timing saved at the UE as a first timing deviation of the PDCCH;

step S260: receiving a reference signal corresponding to a PDCCH QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC;

step S270: obtaining a second timing offset for the PDCCH based on a reference signal to the PDCCH QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC;

step S280: obtaining the timing offset of the PDCCH according to one of the following conditions: if the obtaining time of the first timing deviation is not later than the obtaining time of the second timing deviation, setting the first timing deviation as the timing deviation of the PDCCH, otherwise, setting the second timing deviation as the timing deviation of the PDCCH; the other of the two is: and setting the weight of the first timing deviation and the weight of the second timing deviation according to the ratio of the sampling frequency of the PDCCH demodulation reference signal to the sampling frequency of the reference signal of the PDCCH QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC, and carrying out weighted summation on the first timing deviation and the second timing deviation to obtain the timing deviation of the PDCCH. The above steps include a first obtaining step (including steps S210, S220, S230, S240, and S250) of obtaining a first timing deviation and a second obtaining step (S260 and S270) of obtaining a second timing deviation, wherein the first obtaining step may be performed before, after, or simultaneously with the second obtaining step.

For more on steps S210, S220, S230, S240 and S250, please refer to the above description of steps S110, S120, S130, S140 and S150, respectively.

In the implementation of step S260, the UE receives a reference signal with PDCCH QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC.

Specifically, the UE receives Downlink Control Information (DCI) through a Downlink, and the DCI includes QCL indication Information indicating that a large-scale attribute (e.g., timing offset) of a signal received from one antenna port is identical to that of a signal received from other antenna ports in whole or in part. Wherein, the QCL-TypeA and the QCL-TypeC contain timing information.

In the implementation of step S270, the UE obtains a second timing offset of the PDCCH based on the reference signal with the PDCCH QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC.

Specifically, when the PDCCH and a reference signal (e.g., CSI-RS, SSB, etc., as described above) are configured as QCL-type a or QCL-type c, the timing offset estimated using the reference signal is also applicable to the PDCCH.

In the implementation of step S280, the timing offset of the PDCCH may be obtained in one of two ways.

One way is as follows: and if the obtaining time of the first timing deviation is not later than that of the second timing deviation, setting the first timing deviation as the timing deviation of the PDCCH, otherwise, setting the second timing deviation as the timing deviation of the PDCCH. In particular, aspects of the present invention consider that the reception performance of the downlink channel is severely affected when the timing offset cannot be obtained in time. According to the corresponding technical scheme, on one hand, two timing deviation estimation means are adopted simultaneously (namely, PDCCH timing deviation is estimated based on wideband DM-RS in PDCCH and PDCCH timing deviation is estimated based on reference signals of QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC of PDCCH); on the other hand, the timing deviation obtained at the previous moment in the two estimation means is set as the timing deviation of the PDCCH, so that the obtained timing deviation is more timely, and the receiving performance of the subsequent downlink channel is effectively guaranteed.

The other mode is as follows: and setting the weight of the first timing deviation and the weight of the second timing deviation according to the ratio of the sampling frequency of the PDCCH demodulation reference signal to the sampling frequency of the reference signal of the PDCCH QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC, and carrying out weighted summation on the first timing deviation and the second timing deviation to obtain the timing deviation of the PDCCH. Specifically, the sampling frequency of the PDCCH demodulation reference signal and the sampling frequency of the reference signal of PDCCH QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC are compared to obtain a ratio therebetween (for example, if the ratio is 1:3, the weight of the first timing offset may be 1/4, and the weight of the second timing offset may be 3/4), and then the first timing offset and the second timing offset are multiplied by the respective weights respectively and summed (i.e., weighted sum) to calculate the timing offset of PDCCH. According to the corresponding technical scheme, on one hand, two timing deviation estimation means are adopted simultaneously (namely, PDCCH timing deviation is estimated based on wideband DM-RS in PDCCH and PDCCH timing deviation is estimated based on reference signals of QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC of PDCCH); on the other hand, the timing deviation of the PDCCH is obtained by weighted summation of the first timing deviation and the second timing deviation estimated by the two estimation means, so that the obtained timing deviation is more accurate, and the receiving performance of a subsequent downlink channel is effectively guaranteed.

Fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus 300 for estimating timing offset based on PDCCH in an NR system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The one apparatus 300 includes a receiving module 310, a calculating module 320, a transforming module 330, a selecting module 340, and a determining module 350.

Specifically, the receiving module 310 is adapted to receive frequency domain data of a PDCCH demodulation reference signal, wherein the PDCCH demodulation reference signal is configured as a wideband demodulation reference signal; the calculating module 320 is adapted to perform correlation calculation on the received frequency domain data and a UE local PDCCH demodulation reference signal sequence corresponding to the PDCCH demodulation reference signal to obtain a frequency domain channel estimation value sequence; the transforming module 330 is adapted to transform the frequency domain channel estimate sequence into a time domain channel estimate sequence; a selecting module 340, adapted to select a main path with the maximum receiving power of each receiving antenna at the UE in the time domain channel estimation value sequence, and determine a position with the maximum occurrence number in the main path as a final main path position; a determining module 350, adapted to determine a difference obtained by comparing the final main path position with the target timing saved at the UE as the timing offset of the PDCCH.

In a particular embodiment, the one apparatus 300 includes an adjustment module adapted to adjust a timing of a UE based on a timing offset of a PDCCH.

For more details of the operation principle and operation mode of the apparatus 300 for estimating timing offset based on PDCCH in an NR system, reference may be made to the above description of the method 100 for estimating timing offset based on PDCCH in an NR system, which is not repeated herein.

Fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus 400 for estimating timing offset based on PDCCH in an NR system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

The alternative apparatus includes a first module 410, a second module 420, and a third module 430.

Specifically, the first module 410 includes a first receiving submodule 411, a calculating submodule 412, a transforming submodule 413, a selecting submodule 414 and a determining submodule 415, and the first receiving submodule 411 is adapted to receive frequency domain data of a PDCCH demodulation reference signal, wherein the PDCCH demodulation reference signal is configured as a wideband demodulation reference signal; the calculating submodule 412 is adapted to perform correlation calculation on the received frequency domain data and a UE local PDCCH demodulation reference signal sequence corresponding to the PDCCH demodulation reference signal to obtain a frequency domain channel estimation value sequence; the transform submodule 413 is adapted to transform the sequence of frequency domain channel estimates into a sequence of time domain channel estimates; the selection submodule 414 is adapted to select a main path with the maximum respective received power of each receiving antenna at the UE in the time domain channel estimation value sequence, and determine a position with the maximum occurrence number in the main path as a final main path position; the determination submodule 415 is adapted to determine a difference obtained by comparing the final main path position with a target timing saved at the UE as a first timing offset of the PDCCH. The second module 420 comprises a second receiving submodule 421 and an obtaining submodule 422, the second receiving submodule 421 being adapted to receive a reference signal corresponding to PDCCH QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC; the obtaining sub-module 422 is adapted to obtain a second timing offset for the PDCCH based on a reference signal to the PDCCH QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC. The third module 430 is adapted to set the timing offset of the PDCCH according to one of: if the obtaining time of the first timing deviation is not later than the obtaining time of the second timing deviation, setting the first timing deviation as the timing deviation of the PDCCH, otherwise, setting the second timing deviation as the timing deviation of the PDCCH; the other of the two is: and setting the weight of the first timing deviation and the weight of the second timing deviation according to the ratio of the sampling frequency of the PDCCH demodulation reference signal to the sampling frequency of the reference signal of the PDCCH QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC, and carrying out weighted summation on the first timing deviation and the second timing deviation to obtain the timing deviation of the PDCCH.

In a particular embodiment, the another apparatus 400 includes a fourth module adapted to adjust timing of the UE based on a timing offset of the PDCCH.

For more details of the operation principle and operation mode of the apparatus 400 for estimating timing offset based on PDCCH in another NR system, reference may be made to the above description of the method 200 for estimating timing offset based on PDCCH in another NR system, which is not repeated herein.

The embodiment of the invention discloses a storage medium, which is stored with computer instructions, and the computer instructions execute the steps of the method 100 for estimating the timing deviation based on the PDCCH in the NR system when running.

The embodiment of the invention discloses another storage medium, which stores computer instructions, and the computer instructions execute the steps of the method 200 for estimating the timing deviation based on the PDCCH in another NR system when running.

The storage medium includes a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and the like. The storage medium may further include a Non-volatile memory (Non-volatile) or a Non-transitory memory (Non-transient), and the like.

The embodiment of the invention discloses user equipment, which comprises a memory and a processor, wherein the memory is stored with computer instructions capable of running on the processor, and the processor executes the steps of the method 100 for estimating the timing deviation based on the PDCCH in the NR system when running the computer instructions.

The embodiment of the invention discloses another user equipment, which comprises a memory and a processor, wherein the memory is stored with computer instructions capable of running on the processor, and the processor executes the steps of the method 200 for estimating the timing deviation based on the PDCCH in the NR system when running the computer instructions.

The user equipment is a terminal applied to an NR system, and the terminal includes mobile terminal equipment such as a mobile phone.

Although the present invention is disclosed above, the present invention is not limited thereto. Various changes and modifications may be effected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for estimating a timing offset based on a PDCCH in an NR system, the method comprising:

receiving frequency domain data of a PDCCH demodulation reference signal, wherein the PDCCH demodulation reference signal is configured as a broadband demodulation reference signal;

performing correlation calculation on the received frequency domain data and a UE local PDCCH demodulation reference signal sequence corresponding to the PDCCH demodulation reference signal to obtain a frequency domain channel estimation value sequence;

transforming the frequency domain channel estimation value sequence into a time domain channel estimation value sequence;

selecting a main path with the maximum receiving power of each receiving antenna at the UE in the time domain channel estimation value sequence, and determining the position with the maximum occurrence frequency in the main path as the final main path position;

and determining a difference value obtained by comparing the final main path position with a target timing saved at the UE as a timing deviation of the PDCCH.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein timing of the UE is adjusted based on a timing offset of the PDCCH.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting the main path with the maximum received power for each receiving antenna at the UE in the time domain channel estimation value sequence comprises:

and selecting a main path with maximum receiving power of each receiving antenna through a multipath window of each receiving antenna, wherein the multipath window is a numerical range related to the number of IFFT points.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the number of IFFT points is 256, the length of the multipath window is set to 64 points, and the value range is between 1 and 32 and between 225 and 256.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the PDCCH demodulation reference signal is configured as the wideband demodulation reference signal by setting a CORESET parameter precoding granularity of the PDCCH to alloContiguousSRBs.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the correlating the received frequency domain data with a UE local PDCCH demodulation reference signal sequence corresponding to the PDCCH demodulation reference signal to obtain a frequency domain channel estimation value sequence is:

and performing conjugate multiplication on the received frequency domain data and a UE local PDCCH demodulation reference signal sequence corresponding to the PDCCH demodulation reference signal through a correlation formula to obtain a frequency domain channel estimation value sequence, wherein the correlation formula is as follows:

H_cch_dmrs(l,rx,m)＝R_cch_dmrs(l,rx,m)*conj(local(l,m))，

wherein, H _ cch _ dmrs (l, rx, m) is the frequency domain channel estimation value sequence, R _ cch _ dmrs (l, rx, m) is the received frequency domain data, local (l, m) is the UE local PDCCH demodulation reference signal sequence, l is a symbol, rx is a receiving antenna parameter, and m is a physical resource block parameter.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the PDCCH does not have a reference signal QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC from the PDCCH in a time slot in which the PDCCH is located.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the PDCCH is located in a time slot in which a reference signal corresponding to the PDCCH QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC exists, and wherein a period of the reference signal corresponding to the PDCCH QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC is 20 milliseconds, 40 milliseconds, or 80 milliseconds.

9. The method of claim 7 or 8, wherein the reference signal to the PDCCH QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC is SSB or CSI-RS.

10. A method for estimating a timing offset based on a PDCCH in an NR system, the method comprising:

determining a difference value obtained by comparing the final main path position with a target timing saved at the UE as a first timing deviation of the PDCCH;

receiving a reference signal with the PDCCH QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC;

obtaining a second timing offset for the PDCCH based on a reference signal to the PDCCH QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC;

obtaining a timing offset of the PDCCH according to one of: setting the first timing offset as the timing offset of the PDCCH if the obtaining time of the first timing offset is not later than the obtaining time of the second timing offset, otherwise setting the second timing offset as the timing offset of the PDCCH, wherein the other one of the two is as follows: and setting the weight of the first timing deviation and the weight of the second timing deviation according to the ratio of the sampling frequency of the PDCCH demodulation reference signal to the sampling frequency of the reference signal of the PDCCH QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC, and carrying out weighted summation on the first timing deviation and the second timing deviation to obtain the timing deviation of the PDCCH.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein timing of the UE is adjusted based on a timing offset of the PDCCH.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the selecting the main path with the maximum received power for each receiving antenna at the UE in the time domain channel estimation value sequence comprises:

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the number of IFFT points is 256, the length of the multipath window is set to 64 points, and the value range is between 1 and 32 and between 225 and 256.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the PDCCH demodulation reference signal is configured as the wideband demodulation reference signal by setting a CORESET parameter precoding granularity of the PDCCH to alloconteguous rbs.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the correlating the received frequency domain data with a UE local PDCCH demodulation reference signal sequence corresponding to the PDCCH demodulation reference signal to obtain a frequency domain channel estimation value sequence is:

H_cch_dmrs(l,rx,m)＝R_cch_dmrs(l,rx,m)*conj(local(l,m))，

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the reference signal associated with the PDCCH QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC has a period of 10, 20, 40, or 80 milliseconds.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein the reference signal to the PDCCH QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC is SSB or CSI-RS.

18. An apparatus for estimating a timing offset based on a PDCCH in an NR system, comprising:

the device comprises a receiving module, a transmitting module and a receiving module, wherein the receiving module is suitable for receiving frequency domain data of a PDCCH demodulation reference signal, and the PDCCH demodulation reference signal is configured to be a broadband demodulation reference signal;

the calculation module is suitable for carrying out correlation calculation on the received frequency domain data and a UE local PDCCH demodulation reference signal sequence corresponding to the PDCCH demodulation reference signal to obtain a frequency domain channel estimation value sequence;

a transformation module adapted to transform the frequency domain channel estimate sequence into a time domain channel estimate sequence;

a selection module, adapted to select a main path with the maximum receiving power of each receiving antenna at the UE in the time domain channel estimation value sequence, and determine a position with the maximum occurrence number in the main path as a final main path position;

a determining module, adapted to determine a difference obtained by comparing the final main path position with a target timing saved at the UE as a timing offset of the PDCCH.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the apparatus comprises an adjustment module adapted to adjust the timing of the UE based on a timing offset of the PDCCH.

20. An apparatus for estimating a timing offset based on a PDCCH in an NR system, comprising:

a first module, where the first module includes a first receiving submodule adapted to receive frequency-domain data of a PDCCH demodulation reference signal, where the PDCCH demodulation reference signal is configured as a wideband demodulation reference signal, a transforming submodule adapted to transform the frequency-domain channel estimation value sequence into a time-domain channel estimation value sequence, a selecting submodule adapted to select a main path with the maximum receiving power of each receiving antenna at a UE in the time-domain channel estimation value sequence, and determine a position with the maximum occurrence number in the main path as a final main path position, and a determining submodule, where the first receiving submodule is adapted to receive the frequency-domain data of the PDCCH demodulation reference signal, where the calculating submodule is adapted to perform correlation calculation on the received frequency-domain data and a UE local PDCCH demodulation reference signal sequence corresponding to the PDCCH demodulation reference signal to obtain a frequency-domain channel estimation value sequence, the determining submodule is suitable for determining a difference value obtained by comparing the final main path position with a target timing saved at the UE as a first timing deviation of the PDCCH;

a second module comprising a second receiving sub-module adapted to receive a reference signal from the PDCCH QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC, and an obtaining sub-module adapted to obtain a second timing offset for the PDCCH based on the reference signal from the PDCCH QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC;

a third module adapted to obtain a timing offset of the PDCCH according to one of: setting the first timing offset as the timing offset of the PDCCH if the obtaining time of the first timing offset is not later than the obtaining time of the second timing offset, otherwise setting the second timing offset as the timing offset of the PDCCH, wherein the other one of the two is as follows: and setting the weight of the first timing deviation and the weight of the second timing deviation according to the ratio of the sampling frequency of the PDCCH demodulation reference signal to the sampling frequency of the reference signal of the PDCCH QCL-TYPEA or QCL-TYPEC, and carrying out weighted summation on the first timing deviation and the second timing deviation to obtain the timing deviation of the PDCCH.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the apparatus comprises a fourth module adapted to adjust timing of the UE based on a timing offset of the PDCCH.

22. A storage medium having stored thereon computer instructions, wherein the computer instructions are operable to perform the steps of the PDCCH-based timing offset estimation method in an NR system according to any of claims 1 to 9.

23. A storage medium having stored thereon computer instructions, wherein the computer instructions are operable to perform the steps of the PDCCH-based timing offset estimation method in an NR system according to any of claims 10 to 17.

24. A user equipment comprising a memory and a processor, the memory having stored thereon computer instructions executable on the processor, wherein the processor, when executing the computer instructions, performs the steps of the PDCCH-based timing offset estimation method in the NR system of any one of claims 1 to 9.

25. A user equipment comprising a memory and a processor, the memory having stored thereon computer instructions executable on the processor, wherein the processor when executing the computer instructions performs the steps of the PDCCH-based timing offset estimation method in the NR system of any one of claims 10 to 17.