# US 2026/0088959 A1 · Communication method and apparatus

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- Number: US 2026/0088959 A1
- Document ID: US20260088959A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 19/404,738
- Filed: 2025-12-01
- Published: 2026-03-26
- Earliest claimed: 2023-06-02
- Assignees: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
- Applicants: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
- Inventors: Ruonan Yang; Ying Chen; Xiaolu Wang; Yunfei Qiao; Yinggang Du; Jun Wang
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20260088959A1

## CPC

- H04L 5/0051: {of dedicated pilots, i.e. pilots destined for a single user or terminal}
- H04B 7/185: Space-based or airborne stations; {Stations for satellite systems}(H04B7/204 takes precedence)
- H04L 5/0012: {Hopping in multicarrier systems}
- H04W 72/044: based on the type of the allocated resource
- H04W 84/06: Airborne or Satellite Networks (space-based or airborne stations H04B7/185)
- H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M)
- H04B: TRANSMISSION
- H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72)

## Abstract

A communication method and apparatus are provided, to reduce uplink signal interference caused by a PCI modulo conflict, thereby improving communication performance. The method includes: A second device sends first information, where the first information is used to obtain a virtual PCI of a first cell, and the virtual PCI is different from a PCI of the first cell; a first device receives the first information from the second device; the first device obtains the virtual PCI of the first cell based on the first information; the first device sends a first reference signal based on the virtual PCI; and the second device receives the first reference signal from the first device.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A communication method, wherein the method comprises:
receiving, by a first device, first information from a second device;
obtaining, by the first device, a virtual PCI of a first cell based on the first information, wherein the virtual PCI is different from a physical cell identifier PCI of the first cell; and
sending, by the first device, a first reference signal based on the virtual PCI.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein the virtual PCI is a sequence group parameter, and sending the first reference signal based on the virtual PCI comprises:
determining, by the first device, a sequence group based on the sequence group parameter; and
sending, by the first device, the first reference signal based on the sequence group.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The method according to claim 2, wherein
the sequence group parameter, a preset value i of a modulo conflict, and the sequence group meet the following formula:
u
=
(
f
g
⁢
h
+
n
ID
R
⁢
S
)
⁢
mod
⁢
i
,
the mod function is a modulo function, u is the sequence group, fgh is a group frequency hopping function of the sequence group, and
n
ID
R
⁢
S
is the sequence group parameter.

### Claim 4 (depends on 2)

The method according to claim 2, wherein
the first information comprises a value of the sequence group parameter; or
the first information comprises an offset value of the sequence group parameter relative to the PCI of the first cell.

### Claim 5 (depends on 2)

The method according to claim 2, wherein the first information is used to trigger calculation of the sequence group parameter, the PCI of the first cell is a first PCI, and the method further comprises:
determining, by the first device, the sequence group parameter based on the first PCI, the preset value i of the modulo conflict, and a preset parameter X, wherein
the sequence group parameter, the preset value i of the modulo conflict, and the first PCI meet the following formula:
Sequence
⁢
group
⁢
parameter
=
First
⁢
PCI
+
[
First
⁢
PCI
/
i
]
+
X
,
wherein
the [ ] function is a rounding function.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein the virtual PCI is a first resource position parameter, and sending the first reference signal based on the virtual PCI comprises:
updating, by the first device, a time-frequency resource position of a reference signal corresponding to the first cell from a first time-frequency resource position to a second time-frequency resource position based on the first resource position parameter, wherein the second time-frequency resource position is different from the first time-frequency resource position; and
sending, by the first device, the first reference signal at the second time-frequency resource position.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The method according to claim 6, wherein
the PCI of the first cell is a first PCI, and the first PCI, a preset value i of a modulo conflict, and the first resource position parameter meet the following formula:
First
⁢
resource
⁢
position
⁢
parameter
=
[
First
⁢
PCI
/
i
]
+
1
,
the [ ] function is a rounding function.

### Claim 8

An apparatus, comprising:
at least one processor; and
one or more memories coupled to the at least one processor and storing programming instructions for execution by the at least one processor to:
receive first information from a second device;
obtain a virtual PCI of a first cell based on the first information, wherein the virtual PCI is different from a physical cell identifier PCI of the first cell; and
send a first reference signal based on the virtual PCI.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the virtual PCI is a sequence group parameter, and sending the first reference signal based on the virtual PCI comprises:
determining, by the first device, a sequence group based on the sequence group parameter; and
sending, by the first device, the first reference signal based on the sequence group.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein
the sequence group parameter, a preset value i of a modulo conflict, and the sequence group meet the following formula:
u
=
(
f
g
⁢
h
+
n
ID
R
⁢
S
)
⁢
mod
⁢
i
,
wherein
the mod function is a modulo function, u is the sequence group, fgh is a group frequency hopping function of the sequence group, and
n
ID
R
⁢
S
is the sequence group parameter.

### Claim 11 (depends on 9)

The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein
the first information comprises a value of the sequence group parameter; or
the first information comprises an offset value of the sequence group parameter relative to the PCI of the first cell.

### Claim 12 (depends on 9)

The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the first information is used to trigger calculation of the sequence group parameter, the PCI of the first cell is a first PCI, and the one or more memories further storing programming instructions for execution by the at least one processor to:
determine the sequence group parameter based on the first PCI, the preset value i of the modulo conflict, and a preset parameter X, wherein
the sequence group parameter, the preset value i of the modulo conflict, and the first PCI meet the following formula:
Sequence
⁢
group
⁢
parameter
=
First
⁢
PCI
+
[
First
⁢
PCI
/
i
]
+
X
,
the [ ] function is a rounding function.

### Claim 13 (depends on 9)

The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the virtual PCI is a first resource position parameter, and the one or more memories storing programming instructions for execution by the at least one processor to:
update a time-frequency resource position of a reference signal corresponding to the first cell from a first time-frequency resource position to a second time-frequency resource position based on the first resource position parameter, wherein the second time-frequency resource position is different from the first time-frequency resource position; and
send the first reference signal at the second time-frequency resource position.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein
the PCI of the first cell is a first PCI, and the first PCI, a preset value i of a modulo conflict, and the first resource position parameter meet the following formula:
First
⁢
resource
⁢
position
⁢
parameter
=
[
First
⁢
PCI
/
i
]
+
1
,
wherein
the [ ] function is a rounding function.

### Claim 15

An apparatus, comprising:
at least one processor; and
one or more memories coupled to the at least one processor and storing programming instructions for execution by the at least one processor to:
send first information, wherein the first information is used to obtain a virtual PCI of a first cell, and the virtual PCI is different from a PCI of the first cell; and
receive a first reference signal from a first device, wherein the first reference signal is sent based on the virtual PCI.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein
the virtual PCI is a sequence group parameter, the first reference signal is determined based on a sequence group, and the sequence group is determined based on the sequence group parameter.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein
the sequence group parameter, a preset value i of the modulo conflict, and the sequence group meet the following formula:
u
=
(
f
g
⁢
h
+
n
ID
R
⁢
S
)
⁢
mod
⁢
i
,
wherein
the mod function is a modulo function, u is the sequence group, fgh is a group frequency hopping function of the sequence group, and
n
ID
R
⁢
S
is the sequence group parameter.

### Claim 18 (depends on 16)

The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein
the first information comprises a value of the sequence group parameter; or
the first information comprises an offset value of the sequence group parameter relative to the PCI of the first cell.

### Claim 19 (depends on 16)

The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the PCI of the first cell is a first PCI, the PCI of the second cell is a second PCI, a PCI of a third cell is a third PCI, the preset value i of the modulo conflict indicates a quantity of reference signal combinations, and the method further comprises:
when the modulo conflict between the PCI of the first cell and the PCI of the second cell is a modulo i conflict, determining, by the second device, that the first PCI, the second PCI, the preset value i of the modulo conflict, and the sequence group parameter meet the following formula:
(
Sequence
⁢
group
⁢
parameter
⁢
mod
⁢
i
)
≠
(
First
⁢
PCI
⁢
mod
⁢
i
)
and/or
(
Sequence
⁢
group
⁢
parameter
⁢
mod
⁢
i
)
≠
(
Second
⁢
PCI
⁢
mod
⁢
i
)
;
and
when the neighboring cell of the first cell further comprises the third cell, determining, by the second device, that the sequence group parameter, the preset value i of the modulo conflict, and the third PCI meet the following formula:
(
Sequence
⁢
group
⁢
parameter
⁢
mod
⁢
i
)
≠
(
Third
⁢
PCI
⁢
mod
⁢
i
)
.

### Claim 20 (depends on 16)

The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the one or more memories further storing programming instructions for execution by the at least one processor to:
determine the sequence group parameter based on the first PCI, the preset value i of the modulo conflict, and a preset parameter X, wherein
the sequence group parameter, the preset value i of the modulo conflict, and the first PCI meet the following formula:
Sequence
⁢
group
⁢
parameter
=
First
⁢
PCI
+
[
First
⁢
PCI
/
i
]
+
X
,
wherein
the [ ] function is a rounding function.