CN117751533A - Remote beam management for network controlled repeater - Google Patents

Abstract

An apparatus configured to communicate in a wireless communication network is configured to acquire information about an on/off mode based on reception of a signal and/or to acquire information about a communication mode based on reception of a signal. The apparatus is configured to operate according to the obtained information to amplify and forward the received signal to repeat the received signal.

Description

Remote beam management for network controlled repeater

The present invention relates to remote beam management for Network Controlled Repeaters (NCRs) that are considered reduced capability (RedCap) Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) nodes. The present invention relates in particular to an apparatus such as a user equipment, an apparatus such as a base station and an apparatus such as a repeater operable in a wireless communication network, either alone or in combination. The present invention relates to the use and impact of repeaters in wireless communication scenarios.

In cellular wireless networks, coverage is typically location dependent. This results in reduced availability and/or throughput of wireless connections in certain areas. This problem can still occur even with well-planned macro base station deployments, especially in outdoor to indoor scenarios, and in frequency range 2 (FR 2) where millimeter wave spectrum is used, where the impact of building shadows is significantly stronger. While standardization of layer two (L2) relay, i.e., integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) nodes, is underway, mobile network operators are seeking simpler solutions to expand coverage and increase capacity.

Thus, in addition to deploying more macro cells and/or small cells or IAB nodes, wireless repeaters have proven to extend wireless coverage to point or area locations that were previously poorly served.

However, repeaters in the millimeter wave spectrum present significant challenges because the communications therein rely on highly directional transmissions, which require accurate and updated information about the channel state. In this respect, problems arise, as described in [ RP202748 ].

How does beamforming be managed for the link between the gNB and the repeater?

How does beamforming be managed for the link between the relay and the UE? In particular, consider that UE repeater beam management will be performed from the gNB, what impact on UE beam management?

How does the repeater's transmitter power manage? Power control of the repeater-gcb link is critical to coexistence.

How does transmitter power be managed at the UE? That is, the SNR observed and reported by the UE is the SNR from the repeater, but the gNB will manage the power.

What affects the synchronicity of TDD? gNB-Relay control interface-this will involve a timing aspect, since the relay needs to be informed how to set up PDSCH beams, CSI beams, etc. to the UE before sending the data.

What is the effect of coexistence with neighboring operators?

Furthermore, in [ R4-2101156], when timing advance is determined, a problem relating to initial access is raised; i.e. determining the timing advance of the repeater and how the repeater determines the timing for reception. FIG. 1.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of the problem of timing advance and uplink transmission timing according to R42101156. It can be seen that there is a mismatch 1002 between the time the repeater determines its uplink timing advance on the one hand and the timing for reception on the other hand.

The advantages of coverage extension by a repeater are numerous, including the following:

the behavior of the repeater is transparent to the UE and the gNB (network).

The cell coverage is extended by:

o amplifying a received signal before retransmission

O illuminate areas that the original base station did not illuminate well due to blocking, extra transmission loss (like windows) or simply due to distance (cell edge)

No complex signaling is required between base station/UE and repeater

A very low additional delay (typically about a fraction of the guard interval/channel impulse response) is introduced by the repeater.

As long as loop amplification is avoided, many repeaters can be deployed within a zone

Conversely, while taking advantage of these advantages, certain drawbacks and potential new issues must also be considered:

fixed coverage extension area

Fixed transmit power or fixed amplification of repeated signals

Due to the transparency of the repeaters, the base station (network) and the UE may not know that the link between them comprises one or more repeaters

Beamforming/beam steering at the repeater may not be supported

The repeater is unaware of its impact on coverage extension

It is difficult to optimize coverage extension without comparing measurements of previously poorly covered areas

With uncoordinated coverage extension (overlapping coverage areas belonging to different cells or SSBs) of higher density repeaters and/or multiple repeaters, unknown interference situations may occur.

Fig. 2 shows a schematic block diagram of the time-frequency structure of a known Synchronization Signal Block (SSB). For example, the time-frequency structure of SSBs relates to the arrangement of Primary Synchronization Signals (PSS) 1004, secondary Synchronization Signals (SSS) 1006, physical Broadcast Channels (PBCH) 1008, which are arranged on different OFDM symbols and subcarriers. This arrangement may be fixed and may span a total of 240 subcarriers and 4 OFDM symbols.

Some notes about SSB structure:

SSBs consist of a Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS), a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), and a Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS). As shown in fig. 2, these are arranged in a specific sequence of consecutive OFDM symbols.

Each SSB occupies 4 OFDM symbols in the time domain and is distributed over 240 subcarriers (20 RBs) in the frequency domain.

The PSS occupies the first OFDM symbol and spans 127 subcarriers.

The SSS is located in the third OFDM symbol, spanning 127 subcarriers. There are 8 unused sub-carriers below the SSS and 9 unused sub-carriers above the SSS.

The PBCH occupies two complete OFDM symbols (second and fourth), each spanning 240 subcarriers. In the third OFDM symbol, the PBCH spans 48 subcarriers below and above the SSS. This results in the PBCH occupying (240+48+48+240) or 576 total subcarriers over three OFDM symbols.

The PBCH DM-RS occupies 144 REs, one quarter of the total REs, and the rest is for the PBCH payload (576-144=432 REs).

SSBs are transmitted with a period of 5ms, 10ms, 20ms, 40ms, 80ms, or 160 ms.

Longer SSB periods improve the energy performance of the network.

A shorter SSB period allows faster cell search by the UE.

During initial cell search or idle mode mobility, the UE may assume a default periodicity of 20 ms.

SS burst set

To achieve beam scanning of PSS/SSS and PBCH, SS burst sets are defined. The SS burst set consists of a set of SSBs, each of which can potentially be transmitted on a different beam.

The SS burst set consists of one or more SSBs.

SSBs in SS burst sets are transmitted in a time division multiplexed manner.

The SS burst set is always limited to within the 5ms window and is located either in the first half or in the second half of the 10ms radio frame.

The network sets the SSB period via the RRC parameter SSB-periodic service cell, which may take values in the range 5ms,10ms,20ms,40ms,80ms,160 ms.

The maximum number of candidate SSBs in the SS burst set (L _max ) Depending on the carrier frequency/band, the following is true: f (f) _c ≤3GHz→L _max ＝4；3GHz≤f _c <＝6GHz→L _max =8; f _c >6GHz→L _max ＝64。

Within the 5ms half frame, the starting OFDM symbol index of the candidate SSB within the SS burst is dependent on the subcarrier spacing (SCS) and carrier frequency/band, summarized from [3gpp TS 38.213 version 16.5.0 version 16 (month 4 of 2021), section 4.1 ] as detailed by the table shown in fig. 3.

SCS = 30khz case: for paired spectrum, 3GHz is used, and for unpaired spectrum, 2.4GHz is used. The entry in the curly brace represents the OFDM start symbol of the candidate SSB.

However, the details shown in the table of fig. 3 may vary from version to version.

NB: when the network does not use beamforming, it can only send one SSB and therefore only one SSB start position.

For example, for the case where scs=15 kHz and carrier frequency is between 3GHz and 6GHz, the timing of candidate SSBs in SS burst set is shown in the following chart

How SSB is used with beam index

As a simple example, reference is made to the table of fig. 3, based on case a in the table, fig. 4 and 5a further explaining, where L _max =4, and thus for having beam 1012 ₁ To 1012 to ₄ Is a combination of the beam patterns 1014 of (a) for a total of 4 beams 1012 ₁ To 1012 to ₄ 。

Fig. 5a refers to the known prior art SoTA case of beamforming, describing the use of SSB as covering a wider area, then beamforming CSI-RS, within SSB coverage, and finally fine tuning of the finer narrow beam obtained by the beam management procedure shown in fig. 6 a-c).

From the above prior art, there may be a need for improvements in wireless communication systems or network operated repeaters.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus, such as a user equipment, an apparatus, such as a base station, and an apparatus, such as a repeater, and a method for operating the same, to enhance wireless communication.

The previous insight of the present invention is that a repeater whose operation is transparent at least to the UE benefiting from the repeater allows minimizing the impact on the UE.

According to an embodiment, an apparatus, such as a UE, is configured for communication in a wireless communication network. The apparatus is a first apparatus configured to determine information indicating that communication to a second apparatus within the wireless communication network is based on a signal repeatedly sent by a third apparatus to or from the first apparatus to obtain a determination result. The apparatus is configured to transmit a signal to the wireless communication network, the signal containing information indicative of the determination result. Alternatively or additionally, the apparatus is configured to adjust the communication based on the determination. That is, the device may communicate with awareness of benefiting from the repeater.

According to an embodiment, an apparatus, such as a base station, is configured to communicate in a wireless communication network. The apparatus is a first apparatus configured to determine communication with a second apparatus within a wireless communication network includes repeating a signal via a third apparatus to obtain a determination result. The apparatus is configured to adjust communications in the wireless communication network and/or to send signals to the second apparatus using channels internal or external to the wireless communication network based on the determination, the signals indicating instructions requesting the second apparatus to perform measurements in the wireless communication network to obtain measurement results, the measurement results indicating whether the communications to the second apparatus include repetition of signals by the third apparatus. This allows the device to obtain information whether to repeat its communication to allow adaptation of the communication.

According to an embodiment, an apparatus, such as a repeater, is configured to communicate in a wireless communication network. The apparatus is configured to receive a wireless signal; acquiring information indicating information about an on/off mode from a wireless communication network; and control information of at least one of the information on the communication mode; and operating according to the obtained control information to repeat the wireless signal.

Advantageous embodiments of the invention are defined in the dependent claims.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

fig. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of the problem of known timing advance and uplink transmission timing in a repeater-aid communication channel;

fig. 2 shows a schematic block diagram of the time-frequency structure of a known Synchronization Signal Block (SSB);

fig. 3 shows an example table relating to SS burst sets taken from 3gpp TS 38.213 section 4.1;

fig. 4-5a show schematic details regarding the table of fig. 3 and how it relates to repeater-aid communication;

FIG. 5b shows a schematic diagram of the behavior of a repeater according to an embodiment, and in a diagram to be compared with FIG. 5 a;

figures 6a-6c show schematic diagrams of known beam management procedures;

fig. 7 shows a schematic block diagram of a known use of a spatial filter for beamforming;

Fig. 8 shows a schematic diagram of a known type 2 port selection for CSI-RS using beamforming;

FIG. 9 illustrates the difference between known type 1 and known type 2 codebook feedback;

FIG. 10 shows a schematic table containing details about PMI reporting;

fig. 11 shows a schematic block diagram illustrating an example of intra-frame generated TDD mode configured by RRC using cell-specific and user-specific configuration options;

FIGS. 12-13 illustrate tables containing different known DCI formats;

FIG. 14 shows a schematic block diagram of an apparatus, which may be referred to as a type 1 intelligent repeater, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 15 shows a schematic block diagram of an apparatus, which may be referred to as a type 2A intelligent repeater, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 16 shows a schematic block diagram of an apparatus, which may be referred to as a type 2B intelligent repeater, in accordance with an embodiment;

17a-c show schematic block diagrams of scenarios of different implementations of a repeater according to embodiments;

fig. 18 shows a schematic block diagram of a wireless communication network according to an embodiment;

fig. 19 shows a schematic diagram relating to a method of utilization of existing beam management and CSI reporting schemes in embodiments described herein;

FIGS. 20a-b show schematic block diagrams of the behavior of a repeater according to embodiments;

Fig. 21 shows a schematic block diagram illustrating a scenario according to an embodiment, according to which a repeater is configured to connect to more than one base station simultaneously or sequentially;

FIG. 22 shows a schematic block diagram of a scenario in which a repeater maintains more than one link, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 23 shows a schematic diagram of a scenario with an intelligent repeater in which signal processing is handled by a digital signal processor, according to an embodiment;

fig. 24 shows a schematic diagram of a scenario in which a multi-repeater reception scenario at a UE is implemented, according to an embodiment;

fig. 25 shows a schematic block diagram of a scenario in which inter-channel interference is resolved, according to an embodiment;

fig. 26 shows a schematic block diagram of a wireless scenario with at least two base stations operated by the same or different network operators according to an embodiment;

fig. 27 shows a schematic block diagram of a scenario according to an embodiment to illustrate a keyhole effect when using a single antenna repeater from outdoors into the interior of a building;

FIG. 28a shows a schematic block diagram of SSB transmissions in a scenario with an SR, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 28b shows a schematic block diagram of a scenario according to an embodiment, wherein only a single SSB is received by the SR, based on which the SR itself sends a higher number of SSBs, compared to the embodiment of FIG. 28 a;

Fig. 29 shows simulation results indicating that the physical downlink control channel PDCCH may always be transmitted within CORESET according to an embodiment;

FIG. 30 shows a schematic diagram of a possible PDCCH mapping to CORESET, according to an embodiment;

fig. 31 shows a schematic representation of PDCCH parameters according to an embodiment;

fig. 32 shows a schematic block diagram illustrating an overview of PDCCH processing in NR;

fig. 33 shows a schematic representation showing an example of an SS burst set consisting of 8 SS blocks;

fig. 34 shows a schematic representation of how 8 SSBs map to 8 beams; and

fig. 35 shows a schematic representation of SSB bursts with a subcarrier spacing (SCS) of 15 kHz.

Equivalent or equivalent elements or elements having equivalent or equivalent functions are denoted by equivalent or equivalent reference numerals in the following description even if they appear in different drawings.

In the following description, numerous details are set forth to provide a more thorough explanation of embodiments of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that embodiments of the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form, rather than in detail, in order to avoid obscuring embodiments of the present invention. Furthermore, features of different embodiments described below may be combined with each other unless specifically stated otherwise.

Fig. 5b shows a schematic diagram of the behavior of an SR according to an embodiment, and in a schematic diagram compared to fig. 5a, a repeater may be turned off during a specified time unit, e.g. a time slot, a symbol, etc. Thus, the figure shows various beamforming options for a fixed/static beam illuminating a constant spatial region over an access link. The second row shows an example of a periodically switched beam pattern, allowing the SR to illuminate/cover various spatial areas/directions at different times with more power, where these areas may occupy multiple users. A third example describes refined beamforming within a switched beam, allowing separation of users served in the same time slot/period by utilizing multiple refined beams facing the user, utilizing spatial multiplexing and/or diversity. It must be noted that all of these beamforming examples may require close coordination between the backhaul link and the associated access link such that all necessary Reference Signals (RSs) and channels are mapped in the downlink and/or uplink from the backhaul link to the forwarded access link. Since some signals/messages are mapped onto channels/beams in a temporal manner, embodiments provide related content to synchronize and coordinate such temporal behavior when mapping/forwarding backhaul beams to access beams. The temporal relationship is described by adding color to the beam, illustrating an example of a temporal to spatial beam relationship.

Based on/OFF signaling or other mechanisms, an SR according to an embodiment, e.g., a type 1 SR, may be at some time interval Δt, taking into account the use of beam 192 to transmit signals _ON During which it is active or on, and at other time intervals deltat _OFF During which it is inactive or shut off, in the possible casesIn case no beam is generated in the relevant frequency range at least for TX purposes. Forming the beam may involve at the entire time interval Δt _ON During which a beam 192 is formed. However, other implementations of embodiments, such as type 2A and/or 2B repeaters, may allow for multiple beams 192 to be generated ₁ To 192 _N For example, at corresponding time intervals Deltat _ON Sequentially generated one after the other while not at the off interval deltat _OFF A beam is generated. The number of N may be at least 2, for example 2, 3, 4, 6 or more.

Fig. 6a to 6c show schematic diagrams of beam management procedures. In step P1 shown in fig. 6a, SSB is used to obtain n relatively wide beams 1022 transmitted by base station 1024 ₁ To 1022 _n . A device 1026, e.g., a UE, may transmit a response 1028, which response 1028 may allow base station 1024 to transmit a relatively narrower beam 1032 in step P2 shown in fig. 6b, toward the device 1026 determined based on the response 1028 indicating one of the receive beams 1022 ₁ To 1032 of _M Beam 1032 is comparable to beam 1022 ₁ And 1032 (V) _M Narrower. Base station 1024 can use CSI-RS (channel state information reference signal) to determine beam 1032 ₁ To 1032 of _m Beam 1032 in a set of (a) _s Most suitably in communication with device 1026, devices 1-26 form one or more beams 1034 using the sounding reference signal SRS in step P3 as shown in fig. 6c ₁ To 1034 _O 。

As shown in fig. 7, a plurality of antenna elements 1042 may be used ₁ To 1042 of _p Generating beam 1032, these antenna elements are connected to spatial filter 1044 ₁ To 1044 _q And is fed with a corresponding CSI-RS1046 ₁ To 1046 _r . That is, different spatial filters may be applied to different CSI-RSs, as known by Dahlman et al.

Overview of CSI-RS in NR

Channel State Information (CSI) is a mechanism by which a UE measures wireless channel quality and reports the result to a base station. While SSBs may be used to estimate, for example, path loss and average channel quality, they are not suitable for more detailed channel sounding due to limited bandwidth and low duty cycle. Thus, for beam management and mobility, the primary DL reference signal is CSI-RS.

CSI resources and reporting

NR provides a flexible and comprehensive framework to configure CSI measurement resources and associated reporting.

DL resource configuration configured by RRC defines: (i) DL resources on which measurements are to be performed; (ii) A specific number or set of numbers to report, and (iii) how the report will be delivered to the base station.

Specifically, the UE is configured with measurement settings using the IE CSI-MeasConfig. The IE is used to configure CSI-RS (reference signal) belonging to the serving cell, a channel state information report to be transmitted on PUCCH on the serving cell including the IE, and a channel state information report on PUSCH triggered by DCI received on the serving cell including CSI-MeasConfig. In summary, the measurement configuration includes N.gtoreq.1 CSI report settings and M.gtoreq.1 resource settings [ Ongggosanusi, et al ]. The IE CSI-ResourceConfig defines a set of one or more CSI resource sets. These resource sets may include so-called non-zero power (NZP) CSI-RS sets, interference management sets, i.e. CSI-IM and/or CSI-SSB resource sets (TS 38.331). The resource set links the resources using the resource ID and set specific parameters. To measure channel characteristics, a resource configuration is associated with at least one NZP-CSI-RSResourceSet. Although it is named nzp_csi-RS, it may contain a configuration related to a set of CSI-RS or a set of SS blocks.

CSI-RS resources may be periodic, aperiodic (event triggered), and semi-persistent, which are also configured by RRC signaling. The UE is informed of the aperiodic transmission instance through DCI while the activation/deactivation of the semi-persistent resource transmission is performed using a MAC control element MAC CE.

Reporting is done according to the configuration in CSI-ReportConfig. The IE CSI-ReportConfig is used to configure periodic or semi-persistent reports sent on PUCCH on cells including CSI-ReportConfig. It is also used to configure semi-persistent or periodic reports sent on PUSCH triggered by DCI received on a cell including CSI-ReportConfig.

Transmitting CSI-RS per port

Definition of up to 32 ports in NR

With different CSI-RS sequences per port

To minimize pilot overhead, the CSI-RS resources will be orthogonally transmitted using a combination of

Code domain sharing (CDM)

Frequency domain sharing (FDM)

O time domain sharing (TDM)

gNB can filter the CSI-RS ports at each port using spatial filter B

The filter and the actual number of antennas are not visible to the UE

The UE sees only the number of CSI ports used by the gNB

B is closely related to the concept of antenna ports

CSI acquisition and feedback

There are two types of CSI, type I CSI and type IICSI, which differ in the structure and size of the precoder codebook.

O type I CSI is mainly directed to scenarios where a single user is scheduled within a given time/frequency resource (non MU-MIMO), possibly transmitting a relatively large number of layers in parallel (higher order spatial multiplexing);

o type IICSI is mainly directed to MU-MIMO scenarios, scheduling multiple devices simultaneously within the same time/frequency resource,

but the number of spatial layers per scheduled device is limited (at most two layers).

The codebook of type I CSI is relatively simple and the main purpose is to focus the transmit energy to the target receiver. It is assumed that interference between potentially large numbers of parallel layers is handled mainly by receiver processing with multiple receive antennas.

The codebook of type IICSI is significantly more extensive, allowing Precoding Matrix Indicators (PMIs) to provide channel information with much higher spatial granularity. The broader channel information allows the network to select a downlink DL precoder that not only concentrates the transmit energy at the target device, but also limits interference to other devices.

Fig. 8 shows type 2 port selection of CSI-RS using beamforming, i.e. the beams in block 1052 are preconfigured by the gNB, so the UE can only select from the provided beams. In contrast, in conventional type 2, the UE must calculate the appropriate precoding (DFT weights) and then select up to l=4 beams from among these beams to report. According to an embodiment, such a codebook is implemented in a repeater.

The distinction between type I/type 1 and type II/type 2 codebook feedback is shown in fig. 9. The key is that type I selects only one specific beam from a group of beams, while type II selects a group of beams and combines all beams within the group linearly. According to an embodiment, such type I and/or type II codebooks are implemented in the repeater.

Fig. 10 shows a schematic diagram containing details about PMI reporting.

No CRS-like signals are present in NR. In contrast, the only "normally open" NR signal is an SS block transmitted over a limited bandwidth, which is much more periodic than LTE CRS. The SS block may be used for power measurements to estimate, for example, path loss and average channel quality. However, due to the limited bandwidth and low duty cycle, SS blocks are not suitable for more detailed channel sounding that aims to track rapidly changing channel characteristics in time and/or frequency.

Instead, the concept of CSI-RS is reused in NR and further extended to provide support for beam management and mobility, for example, as a complement to SS blocks.

In NR, CSI-RS is always configured on a per-device basis. The per-device based configuration does not necessarily mean that the transmitted CSI-RS can only be used by a single device. The same CSI-RS may be configured individually for multiple devices, meaning in practice that a single CS-RS is shared between the devices. In general, CSI-RS may be configured for periodic, semi-persistent, or aperiodic transmission.

In the case of periodic CSI-RS transmissions, the device may assume that a configured CSI-RS transmission occurs once every N slots, where N ranges from as low as four, i.e., once every four slots, to as high as 640, i.e., only once every 640 slots. In addition to periodicity, the device is also configured with a specific slot offset for CSI-RS transmission.

In the case of semi-persistent CSI-RS transmissions, the particular CSI-RS periodicity and corresponding slot offsets are configured in the same manner as for periodic CSI-RS transmissions. However, the actual CSI-RS transmission may be activated/deactivated based on a MAC control element (MAC CE). Once the CSI-RS transmission has been activated, the device may assume that the CSI-RS transmission will continue according to the configured periodicity until it is explicitly deactivated. Similarly, once a CSI-RS transmission has been deactivated, the device may assume that there will be no CSI-RS transmission depending on the configuration until it is explicitly reactivated.

In the case of aperiodic CSI-RS, no periodicity is configured. In contrast, each CSI-RS transmission time instant is explicitly notified ("triggered") to the device through signaling in the DCI.

In addition to being configured with CSI-RS, a device may also be configured with one or more sets of CSI-RS resources, formally known as NZP-CSI-RS-resources. Each such set of resources includes one or several configured CSI-RSs. The resource set may then be used as part of a reporting configuration describing the measurements to be completed by the device and the corresponding reports. Alternatively, the NZP-CSI-RS-resource set may include pointers to a set of SS blocks in addition to names. This reflects the fact that some device measurements, in particular measurements related to beam management and mobility, may be made on CSI-RS or SS blocks.

Time domain mode signaling to UE

NR supports configuration of slot formats in static, semi-static or full-dynamic modes. Static and semi-static slot configuration is done through RRC, while dynamic slot configuration uses PDCCH DCI.

RRC signaling

The slot configuration via RRC consists of or consists of two parts. The first part is the cell specific information element IE in system information block 1SIB1, i.e. TDD-UL-DL ConfigurationCommon, which provides a cell specific DL/UL mode for all UEs in the cell, where TDD means time division duplexing.

The second part is configured by the IE TDD-UL-DL-configuration dedicatedly via dedicated radio resource control RRC signaling. This UE-specific configuration further modifies/allocates unallocated (flexible) slots and symbols by TDD-UL-DL-configuration common. The IE TDD-UL-D-configuration Common is carried in SIB1 within servingCellConfigCommon IE (refer to TS 38.331, section 6.3.2, V16.4.1 (2021-04). IE TDD-UL-DL ConfigDedicated determines a UE-specific uplink/downlink TDD configuration that may override the common configuration. This configuration further modifies/allocates unallocated (flexible) timeslots and symbols. IE TDD-UL-DL-configuration Common is optional, and if the network does not configure the IE, the UE uses the TDD-UL-DL-configuration Common alone to derive the timeslot configuration.

The configuration in TDD-UL-DL-configuration de-tected only overwrites flexible symbols per slot, and cannot change the slots/symbols already allocated for downlink/uplink via UL-DL-configuration command (see 38.331V16.4.1 (20104), section 6.3.2).

Fig. 11 shows a schematic block diagram illustrating an example of intra-frame generated TDD mode, configured by RRC using cell-specific and user-specific configuration options, as can be seen in the reference https:// info-nrlite.

DCI indication of slot format

In group common PDCCH (GC PDCCH), flexible time slots may be dynamically signaled via DCI. In configuring dynamic signaling, the UE needs to monitor GC-PDCCH carrying dynamic Slot Format Indication (SFI). For this purpose, a PDCCH DCI format 2_0 with CRC scrambled with SFI-RNTI (radio network temporary identifier) is used. Thus, by utilizing layer 1 signaling, the remaining flexible symbols (if any) can be dynamically reconfigured. Multiple UEs within a group are allocated the same SFI-RNTI and therefore all UEs decode the same PDCCH (DCI). Each UE extracts its own SFI based on its location in the DCI (configured by RRC).

Configuration via scheduling

In addition to the mechanisms discussed above, the network may dynamically inform the UE of the transmit/receive mode when the network is already scheduling the UE with scheduling grants/assignments. That is, in the downlink frame slot, the UE assumes that downlink transmission occurs only in downlink or flexible symbols, while in the uplink UL frame slot, the UE transmits only in uplink or flexible symbols.

If the UE is not configured with SlotFormatIndicator and during flexible symbols configured by DL-configuration communication and TDD-UL-DL-configuration defined (if configured);

-if the UE receives a corresponding indication through DCI format 1_0, DCI format 1_1 or DCI format 0_1, the UE receives PDSCH or CSI-RS in the symbol set of the slot.

-if the UE receives a corresponding indication via DCI format 0_0, DCI format 0_1, DCI format 1_0, DCI format 1_1 or DCI format 2_3, the UE transmits PUSCH, PUCCH, PRACH or SRS in the symbol set of the slot.

The following two sections describe aspects of DCI related to scheduling in the context of LTE first and NR second.

DCI in the context of LTE

The PDCCH transmits Downlink Control Information (DCI) including downlink scheduling assignment, uplink scheduling assignment (i.e., UL grant), and power control information to the UE. A plurality of DCI formats are defined, e.g., formats 0/1/1A/1B/1C/1D/2/2A/2B/2C/3/3A/4, depending on downlink or uplink scheduling assignments, carried control information (e.g., power control, MCC change), transmission scheme and payload size. The LTE DCI format specified in release 10 is summarized in the table shown in fig. 12, which is taken from [ Lei et al ], which also shows the use of the format.

The flexible frame structure is advantageous to accommodate traffic in the downlink and uplink. The signaling of the slot format required for the UE to acquire the frame structure includes cell-specific higher layer configuration, UE group DCI, and UE-specific DCI.

DCI in the context of NR

The PDCCH carries Downlink Control Information (DCI) for PDSCH scheduling, PUSCH scheduling, or some set of control information, such as power control information for PUSCH/PUCCH/SRS, slot format configuration, and direct link configuration. A defined set of DCI formats (see also 3gpp TS 38.212 release 16.5.0 release 16 (2021-04)) is shown in the table shown in fig. 13, taken from [ Lei et al ], which illustrates the NR DCI format and its use.

Similar to LTE, in order to minimize PDCCH decoding delay, the PDCCH is typically located at the first 1/2/3 OFDM symbols of the slot in the time domain. However, PDCCH does not span the entire carrier bandwidth in the frequency domain as in LTE. The reason is that the UE channel bandwidth may be smaller than the carrier bandwidth and the resource granularity of the PDCCH across the entire carrier bandwidth is coarse, which may result in increased resource overhead, especially for larger bandwidths, e.g. 100MHz. Thus, the number of resource blocks in the frequency domain is configured for PDCCH by higher layers. Multiplexing of PDCCH and PDSCH in one slot is similar to TDM, but not pure TDM. In NR, when PDSCH overlaps with a configured control resource set, PDSCH resource mapping performs rate matching around the control resource set. The resource unit allocated for the PDCCH is called a control resource set (core). Control resource set is composed of N of frequency domain _RB ^CORESET N in each resource block and time domain _symb ^CORESET Each symbol, wherein the resource blocks are configured by a bitmap. These two parameters are configured by higher layer parameters ControlResourceSet IE. The allocated resource blocks are in the form of a plurality of Resource Block Groups (RBGs), each consisting of six consecutive resource blocks. Up to three control resource sets may be configured for one UE to reduce PDCCH blocking probability.

Given the configured PDCCH resources, the PDCCH is mapped onto these resources and transmitted. The PDCCH is formed by aggregating a plurality of Control Channel Elements (CCEs), depending on the aggregation level of the specific PDCCH. The aggregation level may be 1, 2, 4, 8 or 16. One CCE consists of six Resource Element Groups (REGs), where REGs are equal to one resource block during one OFDM symbol. There is one resource element for PDCCH DM-RS every four resource elements in one REG, so the number of available resource elements for one CCE is 48. The REGs in the control resource set are numbered in ascending order in a time-first manner, starting with the first OFDM symbol in the control resource set and the 0 of the lowest numbered resource block. .

It is noted that the information in the previous section is only for enhancing the understanding of the background of the invention and thus may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Some embodiments described herein relate to adding functionality to a non-regenerative repeater in which an incoming wireless signal is received by a receiving antenna, filtered, amplified, and forwarded and transmitted by another antenna to a directional area where coverage extension is desired. Regenerative relaying, such as full decoding and forward relaying standardized in LTE-Advanced 3GPP or IAB nodes as introduced in 3GPP (see e.g. relay technology in LTE-Advanced, NTT Docomo Technical Journal, vol 2, no.2 or research on integrated access and backhaul; 3GPP TR 38.874 V16.0.0 (2018-12)) is outside the scope of this embodiment.

Embodiments are based on the discovery that simple amplification and forward (a & F) repeaters can be enhanced by introducing "intelligence" allowing their effectiveness and efficiency to be controlled by considering evidence-based (measured) inputs. To implement and design such intelligent repeaters, the intelligent repeater (SR), i.e. the network control repeater, NCR or RedCap IAB node, must have the following functions:

control Channel (CC) (unidirectional or bidirectional) between SR and network

The o CC may be in-band, out-of-band, OTT, measurement control channel, etc.

The following can be controlled: amplification, output power, band filtering, spectral, temporal and spatial receive and transmit filters/shaping, beamforming, specific other input-output relationships, set one-way or two-way validity, facilitating synchronization

Feedback mechanisms that allow the identification of the presence of active repeaters and their configuration impact, thereby creating specific coverage situations

UE and/or network assisted end-to-end radio link measurement with a repeater in between

Coordination mechanism between repeater configuration/setup and measurement procedure

Method of associating a specific repeater configuration with a measurement/observation of repeater effects

Features that make the repeater identifiable to the UE and/or the network when there is a correlation in the radio link between the UE and the base station.

When operating a repeater using only a single antenna, at least one side (the communication link between the base station and repeater and/or the communication link between the repeater and the UE) portion of the concatenated channel is "compressed" into the MISO and/or SIMO spatial channels, thus reducing the spatial freedom to 1, although it operates in a rich multipath propagation environment.

This effect is called forced rank deficiency or keyhole channel and must be detected and processed accordingly.

Other mechanisms in the CSI feedback framework are not affected except for the reduced spatial rank, and therefore may be an existing means of identifying and reporting keyhole channels on one or more links.

For example, the effects of the 2 MIMO feedback schemes (type I and type II) and the keyhole channel in fig. 8 and/or 9 are briefly described herein.

Assuming a MIMO antenna at the base station and a single antenna on at least one side of the repeater, the transmitted radio signal from the base station in the downlink will reach the backhaul receive antennas of the repeater after passing through multiple multipath components (MPCs). Thus, if the base station transmits through only a single antenna, the effective channel between the base station transmit antenna and the receiver antenna becomes a MISO channel (multiple input single output) or a SISO channel (single input single output). In SISO/MISO channels, the resulting rank (spatial degree of freedom) is 1, which can be derived by decomposing the spatial channel into its eigenspace using Singular Value Decomposition (SVD). In practice, this means that signals mapped onto different OFDM sub-carriers will propagate via the same path and thus experience only a frequency dependent effective signal phase when superimposed at a single receive antenna of the repeater. If multiple independent streams are transmitted from the base station, these streams are superimposed in a similar manner, with a frequency dependent phase offset reflecting the different locations and/or radiation patterns of the second antenna and/or stream. To the inventors' knowledge, spatial separation of the two streams is almost impossible, especially when signal processing is performed in a narrowband scheme, as is typically done in OFDM systems.

Thus, even if the access side of the repeater (the communication link between the repeater and the UE) provides multiple antennas and/or there is a rich multipath propagation environment, the resulting spatial freedom is still 1.

In the CSI feedback scheme, as illustrated in fig. 8, the UE receiver observes/measures a propagation channel by evaluating the phase and amplitude of a Reference Signal (RS) embedded in an OFDM frame structure. These reference signals are pre-mapped onto different antenna ports of the base station prior to transmission to mark specific antenna ports, transmit beams, etc. In type I CSI feedback, the UE evaluates and selects the best (strongest) antenna/beam and reports its index to the base station. Thus, the base station will use the beam/antenna with the best effective transmission channel between the base station and the UE. In the example we give this will be the beam that is most directed to the backhaul receive antenna of the repeater, so the type I feedback will automatically select the best backhaul beam to be transparently forwarded by the repeater. It has to be noted that this assumes that a fixed receiver and transmission mode is applied at the repeater during the type I CSI feedback process.

In type II feedback, the UE will report a subset of the transmit beams provided by the base station, and how the beams should be combined in phase and amplitude. When such a procedure is performed on the keyhole channel portion of at least two concatenated channels, the reported feedback will request the beam that is optimally directed to the repeater backhaul antenna. Thus, CSI type II feedback is a perfect means of optimizing the backhaul link, which makes transparent measurements through the relay. According to an embodiment, the repeater cooperates with such a UE by utilizing multipath propagation between the repeater 184 and at least one BS and forwards multiple links to the UE 194, as shown in the scenario of fig. 22.

Since all and every UE behind the repeater will choose the same best beam (type I feedback) or report phase and amplitude combination (type II feedback), which effectively requests the base station to use the same beam, CSI feedback from several UEs is compared, especially if these UEs are not collocated, an indication can be provided that these UEs are served from the base station via the repeater.

By the described embodiments and by introducing SRs into the network, e.g. acting as a repeater for network control, several aspects are solved:

definition of o-repeater architecture, including interfaces and functions

For example, one of the requirements may be that the SR operation needs to be transparent to the UE, i.e. not have an impact on the UE, or that introducing the SR will have minimal impact. The following aspects need to be studied, in particular in order to ensure maximum UE transparency

Initial access (, sync, measurement, RACH)

Beam management (UL and DL P1, P2, P3 procedure, repeater panel/beam selection)

MIMO (PDSCH demodulation and CSI reporting when the # of the antenna at the repeater is not as large as the BS)

If the repeater operates on only a single stream, a reduced channel rank is detected and processed (rank deficient, key Kong Xindao).

O UL power control

O UL timing advance

O RRM (SCell activated/deactivated, switch, …)

O) and the functions required by this intelligent repeater, for example:

the repeater maintains the minimum existing "UE" functionality required for the link with the BS,

o existing "UE" functions (e.g. mobility

The BS controls the new functions of the repeater.

New Radio (NR) repeaters have been discussed in 3gpp [ rp-202748 ]. In the recent status reports RAN [ RP-210750] and [ RP-210818] submitted to the Technical Specification Group (TSG), one major premise is to assume that the repeater does not perform adaptive beamforming to the UE.

Furthermore, the foregoing Work Item Description (WID) states that in a system with TDD access and multi-beam operation, some side control information is needed to support more intelligent amplification and forwarding operations.

3GPP standardization of repeaters for NR

[ RP-210750] captures some aspects of the NR repeater forward path and these aspects are considered relevant in the context of at least some of the embodiments described herein, particularly in the context of the proposed novel solution components/aspects.

Some embodiments relate to minimizing the impact on the UE, i.e. the repeater operation is implemented as transparent as possible to the UE.

The embodiments describe a set of features and implementation options that can be used with repeaters of various functionality and complexity levels. The components of the embodiments described herein may be combined in whole or in part, depending on the scenario or use of the intelligent repeater SR or network control repeater NCR, and the requirements of the operator. The present invention thus relates to the selective addition of new features to the family of simple Amplifying and Forward (AF) repeaters, providing a means to "intelligent" operation of a "simple" repeater.

Some repeaters may be introduced into the existing network to provide extension or padding of radio coverage. Thus, the introduction of repeaters in the network should make the best use of existing channels, signaling and protocol frameworks already in use in the network and defined in the relevant standards and specifications. This not only helps to ensure that the installation and configuration of the repeater is straightforward, ensures that existing network elements are not adversely affected by their presence, and ensures that minimal network maintenance is required, but also provides some means of forward compatibility that requires future upgrades.

In the presented embodiment, the repeaters can be classified into two broad categories according to function and signal processing. They may be named SR type 1 and SR type 2. SR type 1 in UL and/or DL may, for example, perform only limited signal processing, which may include decoding information regarding TDD mode and/or dynamic slot indications. This may be signaled to the repeater using, for example, a separate communication channel (e.g., out-of-band LTE), or may be signaled by the NR base station through a repeater specific sequence (signal). In UL, SR type 1 may perform conventional Amplitude and Forward (AF). The repeater according to embodiments may operate according to a TDD scheme, according to an FDD scheme, or according to a combination thereof, for example, in full duplex. Limited signal processing may be implemented accordingly in the FDD scheme.

An intelligent repeater according to embodiments may be configured to connect or interconnect two or more devices. For example, the SR may be connected to two gnbs, e.g., for interconnecting them or for extending respective links of each of them, e.g., to respective associated UEs. The SR may forward such corresponding signals on two different frequencies. Alternatively or additionally, the control channel for the SR may be established by using only one of the frequencies. This is further explained in connection with fig. 26, which shows that the SR may be connected to two gnbs, which may be forwarded on two different frequencies, and the control channel may be fully implemented on only one of the frequencies.

SR type 2 may be adapted to provide DL signal processing functionality that allows it to decode channels that typically carry TDD information of UEs (i.e., MIB and SIB 1). Furthermore, it is contemplated that the base station may introduce additional DCI formats, in particular signaling the relay, providing for example a slot format indication. This means that SR type 2 can decode PDSCH and PDCCH. Each repeater may be configured to receive and process control signals and operate accordingly. Such control signals may be received via in-band or out-of-band control channels of the wireless communication network, although control channels are not mandatory. The control information is preferably, but not necessarily, received as a wireless signal. Instead of or in addition to sending specific control signals to the relay, the relay may indirectly determine instructions and/or other control information, for example by determining a pattern in resources or the like. For example, the use of a particular beam, reference signal, resource configuration, etc. may implicitly indicate an instruction to the repeater.

Fig. 14 shows a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 140, which may be referred to as a type 1 intelligent repeater, in accordance with an embodiment. The apparatus 140 comprises an antenna arrangement 142, the antenna arrangement 142 comprising at least one antenna or antenna element, wherein the antenna arrangement 142 is operable as a receiving antenna and a transmitting antenna. Such functionality may be split into different antenna arrangements of the device 140, which may also be implemented by a common antenna arrangement with one or more antenna elements. Alternatively or additionally, the device 140 may comprise more than one antenna arrangement, each possibly being used as an arrangement dedicated for transmitting, dedicated for receiving or for transmitting and receiving wireless signals. An antenna arrangement, such as antenna arrangement 142, may include at least one and up to N (1: N) antennas and/or antenna arrays. Alternatively, different antennas and/or Radio Frequency (RF) units may be shared or used between the mobile terminal MT part and the repeater/forwarding part of the SR-SR/NCR-Fwd to enable at least one in-band and at least one out-of-band control channel.

The apparatus 140 is configured to communicate in a wireless communication network or a wireless communication scenario.

The apparatus 140 may comprise a radio frequency RF unit configured to receive and pre-process radio signals, such as a radio signal 146 received using the antenna arrangement 142.

Alternatively or additionally, the RF unit 144 may be configured to provide a signal to the antenna arrangement 142 to force the antenna arrangement 142 to transmit the wireless signal 148. The RF unit 144 together with the antenna arrangement 142 may be referred to as a radio unit. Without limiting the embodiments to a particular communication partner of the device 140, where the communication partner is a base station, the wireless signal 146 may be considered a downlink signal and the wireless signal 148 may be considered an uplink signal. However, the apparatus 142 may not only forward signals from the base stations to the UE, or vice versa, but may also provide D2D communication between base stations and/or between non-base stations such as UEs.

The apparatus 140 may include at least one of a processing unit 152 for downlink Rx signal processing and a processing unit 154 for uplink Rx signal processing. Although the processing units 152 and 154 may be combined with each other in a common processing unit, they may also be implemented as respective independent units.

Although the processing unit 152 may be configured to perform limited downlink received signal processing to obtain information about, for example, a communication mode, e.g., TDD and/or FDD modes, which allow for operation accordingly by potentially adapting the reception and/or transmission of wireless signals to the communication mode, the processing unit may also perform mode acquisition, dynamic slot format indication acquisition, etc., to determine a frame structure or other parameters of the communication in which the repeater operates. That is, the repeater may determine its desired mode of operation by receiving and/or evaluating the received signal 146, the signal 146 being transmitted in the uplink or downlink.

Alternatively or additionally, the device 140 may obtain information about the on/off mode by using the antenna arrangement 142 and the RF unit 144, for example by monitoring a control channel. Such control channels may be established between one or more entities of the network and the device 140, i.e. the MT parts thereof, to exchange configuration and control messages, alternatively or in addition to on/off configuration, status reports, etc. The on/off information or control may be advantageous for the network control repeater to control the behavior of NCR-Fwd, which refers to the radio units, i.e. antennas and RF units, and is configured as a forwarding unit or forwarding part of the SR/NCR. Embodiments provide detailed mechanisms for on/off indication and determination, e.g., temporary use or deactivation of NCR, e.g., based on measured use. Embodiments relate to explicit or implicit indication of such on/off information. The on/off information or control may be a part of information or side information transmitted through a control channel.

In other words, the apparatus 140 may implement a type 1 intelligent repeater, which may be implemented for limited signal processing. For example, it may be signaled by the base station using a repeater specific signal, operating in this way. The RF unit 144 may be used for TDD and/or FDD, and may contain all functions required for RF transmission and reception. The RF unit 144 may map signals to appropriate antenna elements and corresponding resource elements of the antenna arrangement 142. However, this operation may be combined with other functions. The apparatus 140 may be configured to perform limited DL received signal processing to obtain a communication mode, e.g., TDD and/or FDD, and may operate accordingly.

Fig. 15 shows a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 150 operable as a type 2A intelligent repeater. The apparatus 150 may be configured to perform extended DL received signal processing that is extended compared to the limited processing of the apparatus 140. Such extended DL received signal processing may be used to obtain information about the communication mode. Alternatively or additionally, the apparatus 150 may obtain a specific signal and/or sequence indicating a change in the slotted mode or the symbol mode through signal processing. Alternatively or additionally, the apparatus 150 may decode the transmit power control commands, i.e. by performing such signal processing on e.g. a control channel, the intelligent repeater may be controlled taking into account that amplification in terms of output power is to be achieved when forwarding the signal, e.g. minimum output power and/or maximum output power, taking into account band filtering, spectral, temporal and/or spatial reception and/or transmission filters, shaping achieved, beam forming or any other specific input/output relation. Limited signal processing, such as UL signal processing and/or DL signal processing, may include, for example, decoding only information regarding TDD mode and dynamic time slots or even symbol indications. This may be signaled to the repeater using, for example, a separate communication channel, using, for example, RRC signaling (TDD mode), operation and administration (O & M/OAM), configuration, or any combination of DCI indications (optional) for dynamic flexible slot/symbol indications. For example, flexible symbols may be used for the control channel, c-link.

Alternatively or additionally, with respect to beamforming, limited signal processing may be achieved by using handover beams only on the backhaul and/or access, which may be signaled using pre-configuration, RRC signaling, MAC CE, DCI indication, or any combination of these methods.

As limited signal processing in DL and/or UL, it may be understood that only information regarding e.g. TDD mode and dynamic time slots or even symbol indications is decoded according to an embodiment. This may be signaled to the repeater using, for example, a separate communication channel or control channel. For example, any combination of DCI indications (optional) such as RRC signaling (TDD mode), O & M configuration, or for dynamic flexible slot/symbol indication may be used.

Further, in connection with beamforming, limited signal processing may mean that the handover beam is used only at backhaul and/or access, which may be signaled using pre-configuration, RRC signaling, DCI indication, or any combination of these methods.

The extended functionality may include enabling the device to decode DCI of various (more) formats (which relate to, for example, DL PDSCH/PDCCH scheduling, PUCCH/PUSCH scheduling, backhaul and/or access link (on DL) on/off and power control), decoding wider RRC signaling (including various system information broadcast messages, which may be introduced for relay only) compared to limited signal processing. We can also encode UCI if the repeater has a transmitter towards the gNB. Alternatively, this may include dynamic beam information for the access and backhaul links, e.g., via a combination of DCI and O & M or RRC signaling. It should be noted that any form of signaling to the relay, i.e., DCI, UCI, MAC CE, RRC signaling, including system information messages, etc., may depend on the current format, fields, control elements. Alternatively, the signaling space of these signaling techniques may be extended to include repeater-specific CEs, fields, formats, etc.

The extended functionality may include enabling SRs to decode DCI of various (more) formats (involving, for example, DL PDSCH/PDCCH scheduling, PUCCH/PUSCH scheduling, on/off and power control of backhaul and/or access links (on DL)), decoding wider RRC signaling (including various system information broadcast messages, which may be introduced for relay only) compared to limited UL/DL signal processing. Embodiments also relate to encoding UCI if the repeater has a transmitter towards the gNB.

For beam pointing of the access link of NCR-Fwd, dynamic pointing and semi-static pointing can be implemented. According to an embodiment, the maximum number of beams may be configured for NCR Fwd access links, e.g. 1, 2, 3 or more, e.g. 4, 6 or 8.

The extended DL signal processing may alternatively or additionally include dynamic beam information for access and backhaul links, e.g., via a combination of DCI and O & M or RRC or MAC signaling.

The enhanced processing unit 152' compared to the processing unit 152 of the apparatus 140 may be configured for decoding a master information block MIB and/or a system information block SIB1 of type 1, or for decoding DCI or relay specific downlink control information DCI, e.g. by decoding a physical downlink control channel PDCCH, for implementing relay specific power control, etc.

Alternatively or additionally, the apparatus 150 may include a processing unit 154' that is enhanced as compared to the processing unit 154 of the apparatus 140. For example, the processing unit 154' may be configured to generate and/or evaluate UL power statistics, e.g., to provide tunable UL gain or tunable channel gain, e.g., for a group of UEs in the uplink.

Device 150 may be enhanced for one or both of processing units 152 and 154 as compared to device 140.

In other words, fig. 15 shows an SR of type 2A, which has extended Rx signal processing on DL, and may further include an Rx signal processor function on UL. RF unit 144 may be for TDD and/or FDD, and/or any combination thereof (e.g., full duplex), may contain all the functionality required for RF transmission and reception, and may map signals to the appropriate antenna elements and resource elements.

Fig. 16 shows a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 160, the apparatus 160 comprising a processing unit 156 when compared to the apparatus 150, such that the apparatus is configured to perform transmit signal processing in downlink and/or uplink. Such a device may be referred to as a type 2B repeater. For example, the apparatus 160 may provide a relay-specific signal to other apparatuses, such as a UE and/or a gNB, which may allow the apparatus 160 to identify itself to the wireless communication network or corresponding other apparatuses using a relay-specific ID or reference signal or other identifying information. For example, the apparatus 160 as a relay may use RRC and/or relay-specific RRC signaling. That is, using processing unit 156, apparatus 160 may implement repeater-specific signaling towards other apparatuses. Each of the devices 140, 150, and/or 160 may be configured to establish a control channel with a different device to receive control signals from and/or transmit control signals to the device. The control channel may be in-band or out-of-band of the wireless communication network.

Embodiments relate to an implementation of the device 140, 150 and/or 160 as a mobile device, such as a drone or a steering device, adapted to establish communication with at least one UE and adapted to establish communication with at least one base station, i.e. to forward communications between the UE and the base station.

For example, such an apparatus may be configured to establish or maintain communication with at least one UE for at least one base station during a mobile mode or a flight mode, and switch to a stationary mode or a non-flight mode while further amplifying and forwarding signals.

Embodiments provide the possibility to set up beam management for the UE. For example, when using type 1SR, the gNB may beam manage the UE, e.g., without repeater assistance. Alternatively or additionally, using SRs of type 2A and/or type 2B may allow providing beam management for the UE with the assistance of the relay.

In other words, fig. 16 shows SR of type 2B with extended Rx signal processing on DL and UL. Further, the apparatus 160 may be adapted to generate, insert or create repeater specific transmit signals for UL and/or DL. RF unit 144' may be used for TDD and/or FDD and any combination thereof (e.g., full duplex) and may contain all the functionality required for RF transmission and reception and may map signals to the appropriate antenna elements and resource elements.

According to embodiments, the repeater operation may be transparent to the UE, for example, in case the repeater is controlled by a network, e.g. a control entity or a base station, this may allow at least one path component provided by the repeater to be identified by the UE as any other path component. However, embodiments are not limited to such transparent operations. According to embodiments that may alternatively or additionally be implemented, the repeater may identify itself to the network and/or the UE, and/or may mark paths or identify its components, which may allow, for example, distinguishing repeater-based path components from other components, and selecting or avoiding these marked path components by the UE. That is, a repeater according to an embodiment, such as a type 1 repeater, may be transparent to the UE in terms of time-frequency mode, spatial mode, power level, etc., or use a specific reference signal to make itself identifiable to the UE. Alternatively, additionally, b) based on the reception of the control signal, e.g. via a control channel, the repeater may enter an on or off mode and/or may enter a duplex mode such as TDD, FDD or full duplex mode or switch between duplex modes.

The type 2A repeater may be based on the receipt of control signals via a control channel for example,

Muting transmission of reference signals during specific slots/symbols on an access link

Changing the temporal pattern of reference signals on DL

-decoding the transmit power control command and subsequently changing the power on the access link

Beam switching between e.g. preconfigured beams

The type 2B repeater may be based on the reception of control signals via a control channel for example,

-performing one or more or all of the above; and/or

More extensive decoding, e.g. all DCI formats, including those possibly introduced only for the repeater

Decoding more extensive RRC signaling, including various system information broadcast messages, including repeater-specific incoming system information and dedicated RRC signaling that may be introduced only for the repeater

Decoding the (modified) timing advanced MAC CE for the repeater,

decoding MAC CEs for beam indication or activation/deactivation of specific reference signals such as CSI-RS/CSI-IM on access links

-decoding beam indication of an access link indicated via RRC, DCI, MAC CE or O & M message

Encoding uplink control information, which may carry acknowledgements regarding DL control information,

-encoding a MAC CE message, which may carry an acknowledgement regarding DL commands

Encoding RRC messages (e.g., RRCRECONfigure complete, repeat-capability information, etc.)

Adaptive beamforming on access link with the aid of gNB

The control information received and/or derived by the repeater may relate to at least one of:

-a gain factor to be applied for forwarding the radio signal;

-a power margin to be maintained;

-a power level of a signal transmitted by the device for repeating the wireless signal;

-beam steering applied to repeated radio signals;

direction and distance constraints for beamforming, e.g. black list or white list

Beam tapering (refinement), e.g. for sidelobe suppression

Recovering beam candidates, e.g. in case of congestion or link failure

Beam scanning procedure

-beam pairing procedure

Beamforming set generation and identification with or without Reference Symbols (RS)

-timing or delay to be applied to forward the wireless signal;

resource selection to be applied for repeating radio signals

-acknowledgement of the command performed in response to the control information.

For a mobile repeater scenario, at least two main relative mobility scenarios and combinations thereof can be distinguished:

scenario 1 describes the mobility of the access link while the spatial relationship between SR and UE remains unchanged. This includes, for example, a repeater mounted on a vehicle, including a UE within a vehicle (bus, train, car, airplane). Fig. 17a shows a schematic block diagram of such a scenario 1, wherein a vehicle or moving object 182 carries a repeater 184 according to an embodiment. For example, the repeater 184 may be the repeater 140, 150, 160, 170 or a combination thereof.

The vehicle 182 and the repeater 184 are translationally and/or rotationally moved from a position or direction L1 to a different position or direction L2, thereby changingThe relative position between relay 184 and base station BS162, base station BS162 may operate, at least in part, as a known BS (e.g., BS 1024) and/or as a gNB. And at position 186 ₂ Beam pattern 186 marked with "Y" formed thereat ₂ In contrast, the repeater may be at location L ₁ Where different beam patterns 186 marked with an "X" are formed ₁ . This may allow BS162 to be tracked with repeater 184 to compensate for movement 188.BS162 may use different beams 1012 ₁ To 1012 to _N To track the repeater 184. Beam 1012 may be any beam, for example, beams 1022 and/or 1032. The repeater 184 may operate a constant beam 192 toward the UE 194 based on the unchanged relative position between the repeater 184 and the UE 194.

In this scenario 1, beamforming and tracking is primarily between SR and gNB, so the ability of backhaul beam management can be exploited. For example, in position L ₁ Where MT-like entities within the SR may facilitate such backhaul tracking functionality without excluding other implementation options. Link dynamics is mainly due to the mobile backhaul links.

Scenario 2 describes a fixed backhaul link and UE tracking at an access link. An example of scenario 2 is shown in the schematic block diagram of fig. 17b, where, in comparison to fig. 17a, the UE 194 is moved relative to the repeater 184 by the movement 188, thereby causing the repeater 184 to use the changing beam patterns 192, respectively ₁ 、192 ₂ To track UE 194 while the substantially constant relative position between repeater 184 and BS162 may allow beam 186 to be maintained. In such a scenario, a beamforming option as described in fig. 5a may be beneficial, e.g., with channel/beam feedback from UE 194 to gNB 162, gNB 162 may forward control signals to SRs to control the beams on the access link. The link dynamics is mainly at the access link end.

Scene 3 is a combination of scene 1 and scene 2, as shown in the example block diagram in fig. 17 c. For example, the vehicle 182 may be an onboard SR (drone, balloon, airplane) that may use a backhaul link to a more remote gNB to cover an under-service area with UEs inside. When compared to fig. 17a and 17b, repeater 184 is relative to BS192 and phaseFor at least one UE 194 ₁ To 194 of ₃ Or a set of movements thereof. Such a repeater 184 may be configured to track BS162 as well as UE 194 by changing beam patterns based on changes in relative position ₁ To 194 of ₃ . Such a scenario may be saved as a standard use case for emergency services with a first responder and requires beam tracking at the backhaul and access links.

The following sections describe various aspects of the functionality provided by or for an SR.

Section 1 (synchronization of intelligent repeater to network) consider how SRs synchronize automatically to networks supporting different TDD and FDD modes, including coexistence considerations where coverage areas of several networks operated by different MNOs overlap, both in quasi-collocated with non-collocated deployment variants. This means that the location of SR deployments may be covered by multiple beams of one and/or multiple gnbs and thus be the subject of time-invariant or time-variant service and interference scenarios, where it is expected that collocated deployments and non-collocated deployments may require different levels of beam coordination.

Section 2 (control channel (CC) between intelligent repeater and network) means to establish a communication channel between the network and SR for exchanging configuration and control messages, including status reports, switches, etc.

Section 3 (measurement framework based on network configuration of intelligent repeater) the necessary measurement framework is described in detail to operate the SR as transparent as possible to the UE, while allowing to observe the effect of the SR on coverage, capacity, interference, handover, etc.

Section 4 (intelligent repeater identification with wireless link) a solution is proposed that is able to identify SRs within the wireless link, taking into account both directions in the uplink and downlink as well as in the concatenated SR link.

Section 5 (intelligent repeater mode of operation) different modes of operation SR are described, including single antenna input and single antenna output (SISO-SR), MIMO towards a gNB (backhaul link) and/or UE (access link), fixed and/or flexible beams and coverage areas again on the backhaul and/or access links. Furthermore, this section includes different options and degrees of intelligence in terms of signal selection for forwarding in the uplink and downlink.

Section 6 (network optimization using intelligent repeaters) introduces a viable solution for efficient network optimization using the intelligent nature of SRs. The cost of using SRs for coverage extension is the introduction of additional inter-cell interference (ICI) and potential confusion/undesired interactions with other network optimization mechanisms/loops performed at the gNB, e.g., beam scanning (SSB), for coordinating with neighbors to optimize the illumination of the coverage area of the gNB.

Section 7 Solutions are proposed (by intelligent repeater authentication of the network) how the SR authenticates to the network to declare its presence, capabilities, configuration, consistency, etc.

1-intelligent repeater and network synchronization

This section describes the messages and parameters to be read/monitored, i.e. the configuration exchange between SR and network (gNB and/or CN).

The SR should be synchronized on the DL signal from the base station (gNB), which should provide network and cell specific settings (MIB, SIB, DCI), e.g. extract TDD structure, frame start, center frequency, etc.

The SR should be synchronized at least on the strongest SSB received from at least one gNB

O in case of simultaneous anchoring (backhaul) to distributed RRU (DAS), SSBs, gnbs or bands (CA); the SR should have primary synchronization on one of the beams, the gNB, and monitor the other beams, the gNB being in synchronization and the change of DL broadcast channel

2. Control Channel (CC) between intelligent repeater and network

This section describes a configuration exchange between SR and network (gNB and/or CN) defining the message space of control and parameters.

The CC between SR and controller may be anchored in the associated gNB and/or Core Network (CN) or any other control entity

Example of a campus network in which some SRs are controlled by a local CN using off-the-shelf small/macro elements

The CC may be in-band (intra-RAT) LTE (NSA) or 5G-NR (SA and NSA) or out-of-band (inter-RAT and/or out-of-RAT), e.g., LTE, wiFi, satellite

The o in-band channel may be implemented using a UE type receiver or transceiver with an SR specific ID, e.g. a SIM card, to identify the SR as part of the network via the user ID and to establish e.g. an RRC connection for controlling the SR as a special device (UE) → this is somewhat similar to the MT concept used in the IAB network; the network control relay MT, NCR-MT may be defined as a functional entity that communicates with the gNB via a control link (C-link) to enable information exchange (e.g. side control information). C link based on NR Uu interface

If MT functionality is provided, the gNB (CU) can directly control the SR using the complete set of control commands available on the RRC and data payloads.

The out-of-band CC may include:

o NB-IoT is used for simple basic exchange of identity authentication and control messages to set SR operations, control some actions, responses, etc. -if NB-IoT is not connected to the same network, such CC may operate within the 3GPP ecosystem controlled by CN or OTT.

The NTN link using 5G or other non-3 GPP RAT is attached to the same CN or as a non-3 GPP OTT internet link.

O separate control channel, wherein a part of the control information, e.g. configuration settings, is provided via side channel and additional information (control information) for triggering, activating or deactivating certain modes may be done in-band only by SR via Rx. Further extensions may include ACKs towards the network. This includes forced deactivation or reactivation of the repeater associated with the BS cell ID or beam number. These actions are performed in order to control interference while providing coverage.

3. Measurement framework based on network configuration of intelligent repeater

This section describes which specific messages to exchange to configure the UE to make measurements and informs the UE of explicit or implicit tag IDs of SRs

The framework should be an existing CSI and IM framework

The UE should be responsible for making certain measurements, including differential measurements associated with certain settings of the SR

Differential measurement may be triggered, synchronized by:

o single UE configuration using RRC message, or

Broadcast flag in MIB, SIB (1 … 7), DCI, CORESET to be monitored by ue→orchestration allowing coordinated group measurements

The SR should be responsible for responding/not responding to a particular SSB and associated CSI-RS beam

The o task may be semi-persistent, dynamic with OTA SSB detection and forwarding and/or repetitive SSB occurrence patterns based on expectations/predictions.

O responsive to configuration

4. Intelligent repeater identification within a wireless link

Fig. 18 shows a schematic block diagram of a wireless communication network 1700 including BS162, where BS162 may operate at least in part as a known BS (e.g., BS 1024) using beams 1032 of several narrow CSI-RS markers within the coverage of a wider beamwidth of one SSB 1022 ₁ To 1032 of _K . Suppose CSI-RS beam 1032 ₁ To 1032 of _K Is long-term static in terms of direction, beamwidth, and power, may pick up a provided CSI-RS beam 1032 above a given threshold based on the antennas of the repeater 170 of the devices 140, 150, and/or 160 toward the BS162 ₁ To 1032 of _K To provide for distinguishing such CSI-RS beams 1032 in terms of received signal reference power RSRP ₁ To 1032 of _K Is a part of the prior art. RSRQ and/or RSSI may also replace or supplement RSRP. Further consider that repeater 170 is facing user 164 on the access side ₁ 、164 ₂ Forwarding all CSI-RS1032 associated with a particular SSB beam 1022 ₁ To 1032 of _K Beam, if the repeater is operating in a fixed amplification mode, UEs within the coverage area of the repeater 170 will also experience a received signal power ratio. And (3) injection: if the repeater 170 is operating in a fixed output power mode, the UE will have to estimate the error vector magnitude EVM and/or signal-to-noise ratio SNR for each CSI-RS beam as a measure to distinguish its channel quality according to Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), etc.

More details about the measurement framework can be found in section 6 above (network optimization using intelligent repeaters). Concepts related to a method of estimating that the UE 164 is behind a repeater in DL and/or UL are disclosed herein.

Since the feeder link of the repeater 170 is a keyhole, if a single antenna array and/or single beam operation is used, all UEs will observe the CSI-RS beam 1032 ₁ To 1032 of _K Thus, if UE 164 ₁ ，164 ₂ Is identical and decisions are made using the same software, the rank is reported, ordered or the best beam set is selected in a similar or identical manner. Thus, when analyzed in BS162, similar channel feedback from a group of users may be an indication that all UEs of the group have experienced from BS162 to UE 164 ₁ ，164 ₂ Possibly controlled by the repeater feeder link in the case of a repeater. Depending on the distance, the reported RSRP may be different.

At the slave UE 164 ₁ ，164 ₂ In the reverse link to BS162 (uplink) Channel State Information (CSI), measurements performed at BS162 may provide further indications, indicating to UE 164 ₁ ，164 ₂ Operate after relaying because all incoming signals via the relay/repeater 170 contain the same multipath component (MPC). Furthermore, if two UEs 164 behind the repeater ₁ ，164 ₂ Is very similar, then such UE 164 ₁ ，164 ₂ Likely close to each other and sharing similar directional and directional behavior of its uplink beams.

Given the same spatial signature on the last hop to BS162, BS162 may utilize beam correspondence and optimize UL and DL beamformers towards intelligent repeater (SR) 170. Furthermore, if the access link beam of the SR remains fixed in space. Polarization and power-all UE 164 ₁ ，164 ₂ The means of beam management setup between BS162 will work given the fact that BS162 feeds more or less perfectly to the repeater pick-up antenna. In addition, the BS can provide instructions to SR type 2, based thereon, the SR can perform micro-on the access linkAnd (5) beam forming.

If no exact match is given, and significant power overflow around the repeater directly into the UE 164 ₁ 、164 ₂ May be ambiguous in the beam management process. The MT in fig. 18 may represent a mobile terminal that may be connected to the repeater 170 and may operate similarly to the IAB. The MT may be a logical entity that may receive side control information for controlling the relay 170 towards the links of the UE and the gNB.

Fig. 19 shows a schematic diagram relating to a method for developing an existing beam management and CSI reporting scheme to determine whether a UE is served by an intelligent repeater. To provide a means for determining whether the UE is behind an intelligent repeater or in a direct channel to the BS, for example, by the base station 162 of the network 1700, it is proposed to extend the existing CSI-RS reporting mechanism to allow a detection mechanism of the intelligent repeater in the channel between the BS and the UE. The purpose of the new component is to enable the UE to identify whether it is served by the SR and whether it is in mixed mode (direct channel from BS and exposed to SR channel), to determine in a similar way e.g. the received power ratio between the two channel components, e.g. using Rician factors to describe the received signal power of LOS compared to NLOS components. The Zero Power (ZP) mode may also refer to an Almost Blank Subframe (ABS) concept introduced in inter-cell interference coordination (ICIC), where the BS mutes certain subframes to improve the channel estimation and interference measurement of the UE.

CSI-RS report 202 may be used for Channel Measurements (CM) 204 and interference channel measurements (IM), where IM may be performed at the BS using Zero Power (ZP) settings 206 and non-zero power (NZP) settings 208. ZP IM 206 measurements are built on the fact that RSs for a particular UE are turned off in a particular time slot known to the UE and that all received signals measured on these particular RS subcarriers can be attributed to interference from other sources.

Such ZP in combination with a specific NZP setting may be signaled to the UE in step 212 or 214 or simply applied to measure the interference caused by e.g. the beam from the gNB. The store-and-forward relay/UE may measure the RS alone (step 215).

Further, the UE may be configured to perform aperiodic measurements 216 and/or periodic measurements 218 (e.g., via RRC 332) and then provide commands via the UE-specific DCI and/or MAC-CE 228. RRC signaling 332 provides UE-specific signaling options, while group-specific signaling is provided in SSB broadcast channel 224 using MIB, SIB, and DCI.

The means for using these configured UEs to measure and report certain CSI-RS beams in step 334 may be marked or tagged indirectly that these beams are likely to be received via a repeater.

By using MIB/SIB/relay specific RRC/DCI messages 222, srs and UEs associated with a specific set of CSI-RS beams are notified and signaled that certain settings are to be made and/or that certain specific measurements are to be made and reported. The relay specific RRC/DCI, UCI or other signaling may be sent to and/or by the relay and may optionally include a relay identification.

In this way, the SR may be triggered, e.g. it should change the power setting including the on/off setting. This will enable the UE to measure the difference between SRs in the loop or not. The difference of these two different measurements can be used to determine the power ratio of the SR channel/non-SR channel, which provides an indication of how well the CSI report discloses the SR dominant channel description and which part is still the direct channel component between the BS and the UE.

Furthermore, ZP mode (switched SR on/off) provides a means for active IM measurement based on CSI-RS.

The setting of the SR, how to interpret the specific DCI/RRC/MIB/SIB flags may be configured/programmed/signaled through a side channel, which may be LTE, wiFi or any other suitable way, or inband by equipping the SR with some MT functionality that allows SR specific RRC signaling to be established with the BS.

Furthermore, consider the case of an initial out-of-coverage (OOC) scenario of a network, where the intelligent repeater (SR) is an intelligent mobile repeater (SMR), such as a bus, train, and or UAV or drone. In addition to forwarding downlink signals from surrounding mobile networks, other functions of the SMR include, but are not limited to, at least one of:

network coverage detection mode (search of the repeater for DL signals of any and/or particular cellular network),

network selective synchronization with time and frequency and forwarding of DL and UL signals for one or more networks (SMR synchronization to signals of a particular network and its base station)

Identifying the network as a repeater connecting one or more devices/UEs in OOC or partial OOC mode (SMR initiates, for example, RACCH procedures in which the network is notified that the SMR is bridging to an OOC region, some of which may not be subscribers to the network addressed as anchors for such OOC bridges)

The network may provide/grant access to SMR covered guest devices/UEs by authorizing conditional network access while running RACCH procedures and checking network subscriptions before network access is granted/denied.

The SMR may signal to the network which network subscription these UEs belong to on behalf of one, some or all UEs in the OOC area/mode (such feature may be enabled if the SMR treats the UEs like an independent base station and analyzes network authentication during RACCH), for the network the SMR acts like an MT in the IAB, performs RACCH procedures and establishes an RRC connection to the network.

In the case of UAV-mounted SMRs, the bridging function may be implemented by:

after o activation, the SMR is searching for available cellular network/base station signals.

If no network is found, the OOC scene ends.

If in OOC, SMR activates a transmission mode to "emulate" the PDCCH of the base station in order to trigger devices/UEs in range to initiate RACH. This may include frequency scanning across several frequency bands and "emulating" a different network by changing PLMNs.

If the UE initiates RACCH, the SMR may allow them to camp on the cell and/or signal capability to provide bridging from OOC areas/modes.

After a reasonable time to explore OOC proximity, and after a sufficient number of UEs have been collected in OOC mode, an SMR mounted on the UAV may activate/activate the UAV module to autonomously take off and increase distance from one or more UEs in order to find a 3D location that allows for identification of a distant cellular network.

When flying and scanning 3D space, SMR keeps wireless connection with one or more UEs to stay within wireless communication range.

When an SMR installed on a UAV successfully detects a cellular network, it will synchronize to and possibly authenticate to such network, where the authentication process may include at least one of the above-described features and capabilities to be signaled.

When the SMR authenticates over the network, the SMR may initiate standard repeater operation by either:

o enable OOC zone oriented repeater mode without advertisement, or

O signals or configures a Handover (HO) or conditional HO to the network to be forwarded in repeater mode.

If the link between the SMR and one or more UEs is based on another RAT, e.g., wiFi, or in an unlicensed band, e.g., ISM, NRU, the SMR may initiate initial communications via the ISM band or an alternate RAT

In this way, an SMR mounted on a UAV may "fly" to a location that allows bridging between the cellular network and the OOC area of the network or other networks.

That is, the repeater according to embodiments may be a mobile device, e.g. a drone, adapted to establish communication with at least one UE and adapted to establish communication with at least one base station. For example, the repeater is configured to establish or maintain communication with at least one UE and/or at least one base station during a mobile mode or a flight mode, and to switch to a stationary mode or a non-flight mode while further amplifying and forwarding signals.

4.1 detection of SRs by BS-enabled UEs, e.g., gNB-enabled SR detection by UEs

The present invention provides specific messages exchangeable to inform the UE about explicit or implicit tag IDs of SRs

Means for marking/identifying signals to be associated with an SR

Specific changes in the forwarded signal

Specific flags related to specific SSBs forwarded by SR (RS, bits in MIB, SIB, DCI)

Differential SR identification by comparing time slots to task measurements of SR on/off using Almost Blank Subframe (ABS) techniques

Parallel detection of multiple SRs in measurement

O for identifying cascaded SR links in UL and DL

4.2 SR-assisted detection by SR-assisted UE, e.g. SR-assisted SR detection by UE

The purpose of the repeater is to reduce white spots and poor coverage areas without significantly increasing the inter-beam interference. The mechanisms described herein enable remote beam management of network controlled relays, called reduced capability IAB nodes, with the aid of UEs, observing repeated signals, where the repeated signals can be marked with relay specific sequences.

The repeater specific markers may include:

the SSB may be modified to signal both states AND the repeater is configured to respond by operating in either mode 1 OR mode 2, delay OR immediately trigger the AND/OR UE to observe the channel on the time-frequency resources associated with mode 1 AND mode 2, AND report within the CSI framework

As long as the CSI report can be reliably related to the operation mode of the relay, this should be transparent to the UE

The o mode 1 or 2 may be two modes of repeater activity or repeater inactivity, or partial frequency mode, etc.

O blanking or modulating specific time-frequency resources

O adding or inserting repeater specific reference signals, e.g. in null sub-carriers

The SR of type 2B may identify itself to the UE by inserting a specific message in the PDCCH and or CORESET described herein (CORESET describes the time-frequency band/region where specific information is to be found-specifying that such CORESET filled by the SR inserted signal may be encoded and broadcast by the base station/network.

Further, during OOC mode or blank or almost blank (sub) frames, the SR may "simulate" a base station and send a typical SSB signature to the UE, wherein specific signals, identifiers, etc. may allow the UE to recognize the presence of the SR and/or its capabilities/characteristics.

The UE may identify or be served by the repeater by observing the rank of the effective radio channel from the base station. In case there is only one transmit/receive antenna on the backhaul or access side of the SR, the rank of the channel will decrease to 1, representing a key Kong Xindao over the entire bandwidth. In case of a mix of repetition and direct channels with the base station, the UE will identify rank >1.

5. Intelligent repeater mode of operation

Detection and reporting of keyhole channels

The forwarded channel may be considered as a concatenation of individual channel segments, where any degradation of the spatial degrees of freedom will determine the overall spatial degrees of freedom (channel rank) describing the amount of multipath propagation available in the entire end-to-end channel from the gNB to the UE. One classical example is the case of SRs deployed in rich multipath environments on both the backhaul and access sides. But one side of the repeater is provided with N antennas and the other side is provided with M antennas. As a result, the total channel rank will always be less than the minimum of N and M. If N or M is 1, then the end-to-end channel rank is reduced to 1 corresponding to the keyhole channel. One simple rank enhancement is to use a dual polarized antenna and two forwarding chains in the SR.

Spatial mode: single beam and multi-beam support of SRs (embodiments provide messages that can be exchanged, so as to stay in existing CSI frameworks, such as type I and type II feedback),

o backhaul single beam (static and switchable)

MIMO of backhaul (including polarization multiplexing and multi-beam support at pick-up antennas towards the gNB)

O single beam and multiple beams of an access link

MIMO of an access link

The time slots of the SR and SSB specific forwarding (embodiments provide for messages that can be exchanged in what order),

O SSB puncture

ABS (almost blank subframe) in DL and UL Interference Management (IM) and SR identification (CSI)

The SR may operate (embodiments provide messages that may be exchanged and in what order):

o is highly autonomous, if the configuration is better/worse and/or to be preserved/changed, simplifying configuration change status reporting and network feedback, or

Measurement of UL and/or DL by gNB, assisted by network (core or/and park), or

Network assisted full or partial configuration control by measurements in UL and/or DL

6. Network optimization using intelligent repeater

Embodiments provide a method (process for measuring and optimizing loops) of identifying the impact of a particular SR configuration (covering sectors, overlapping other SSBs, other cells, power control, operating mode, etc.).

For SR type 2:

UL power may differ in access and BH and may be configurable or even dynamic (e.g. slot format)

The gain of the repeater should be adaptive (i.e. autonomously controlled or responsive to signals from one or more UEs and/or base stations) -the repeater can act as a UL range extender

The gNB can control the power of the UEs so they can be scaled up (limited by maximum power) or down

O gNB can control repeater operation at a specific altitude, speed, area, location, defined geographical area (important for UAV-mounted SMR)

The gNB knows the absolute power level or power headroom of the UE with respect to the Transmit Power Control (TPC) of the relay. The base station may use the repeater gain as a tunable channel gain for a group of UEs in the UL. The channel gain may be configured at the slot level.

The SR may be configured to respond to signals from one or more UEs and/or signals from one or more base stations (i.e., one or more networks).

The o SR may be configured to "emulate" a base station, triggering RACH.

Two repeater types can:

o are dynamically turned on and off. Beam steering on BH and access links is optional.

O uses frequency conversion as a method of mitigating interference.

O type 1-observe and respect instructions from the gNB,

the o type 2 response may not be just on/off. Type 2A can only receive and detect from the base station and type 2B can send messages such as UCI. It may respond with a message. Type a can only respond by action/behavior.

Embodiments relate to the subject of how a UE is caused to perform measurements coordinated with a particular action/configuration of SR

7. The intelligent repeater is authenticated over the network.

Capability signaling for repeater types

Activation/deactivation

Implementation by in-band or out-of-band CC through SIM card using MT (UE) functionality

The following implementation by out-of-band CC may be used:

o SIM card, e.g. LTE or NB-IoT as RAT, or

O other authentication tokens for identifying SR

Identifying intelligent repeaters to identify repeaters and/or path components or multipath components

In order to make the signals transmitted by the repeater described herein identifiable, a further purpose is allowed, for example, identifying the path or route of the transmitted signal when further additional information such as the location of the repeater is considered. By making the repeater identifiable, the path component or multipath component generated by or dependent on the intelligent repeater can thus become identifiable to the receiver receiving the signal.

Alternatively or additionally, the identification of the intelligent repeater may be based on repeater specific information, i.e. transmitter specific information, transmitted by the repeater. Such information may be included at a predetermined location, e.g., indicated by the base station, that indicates the resources, e.g., CORESET, in which the repeater should include its transmitter specific information. According to an embodiment, a repeater, such as repeater 140, 150, 160 and/or 170, as described herein, may be configured to insert repeater/transmitter specific information into a predetermined resource, such as a time and/or frequency resource, such as CORESET, of a frame of a wireless communication network in response to receiving a corresponding instruction received from the wireless communication network. This may be understood as inserting the repeater specific information into the repeated signal, i.e. the signal transmitted by the repeater, which makes it possible at the receiver to identify that the signal is received from the repeater, the specific repeater, respectively. The repeater may be configured to insert transmitter specific information as an identifier of a marker path component (e.g., a multipath component created by the device), or to mark the device. According to a further embodiment, the device using the repeater may actively select a path component or a multipath component for transmitting signals to or receiving signals from the direction, e.g. which component may be known to be reliable. According to an embodiment, the transmitter specific information is specific to a group of devices or to a single device.

Advantageously, the repeater unit provides information via the generated activity signal for identifying the MPC and for positioning purposes.

According to an embodiment, a wireless communication scenario is provided, wherein the wireless communication scenario is configured to instruct at least one repeater to insert transmitter specific information into a predetermined resource, e.g. a time and/or frequency resource such as CORESET, wherein the repeater is configured to operate accordingly. That is, the base station may leave some specific resources unused, the repeater may insert its information, and the members may use this received information. According to an embodiment, there is a wireless communication scenario in which a member is configured to receive transmitter specific information and to use the transmitter specific information as an identifier marking a path component.

According to an embodiment, there is a wireless communication scenario in which the transmitter specific information is specific to a group of repeaters or a single repeater. Such insertions may be orchestrated within the network to allow for a variety of advantages.

According to an embodiment, there is a wireless communication scenario in which a member is configured to identify a relay or path component based on received transmitter specific information, e.g. for communication purposes and/or positioning purposes.

That is, the repeater may utilize the space (time resources and/or frequency resources) of the empty or partially empty CORESET to add a particular signal. The location may be known or expected at the receiver. If the signal space is well designed, the receiver can distinguish between different MPCs when a superposition of several or more such signals is received. Such empty CORESET may be provided by the gNB at regular intervals. Similar to an almost blank subframe. The repeater may be synchronized to the frame structure and may optionally compensate for timing advance. Such a repeater may be configured to repeat a signal to be repeated received from a second apparatus, such as a BS or UE, and determine a modified timing advance compared to the timing advance of the source of the signal to be repeated based on instructions indicated in the received and processed control signal. The repeater may repeat the signal based on the modified timing advance.

With respect to alignment timing or reception and/or transmission, the effect of internal delays on the following timing relationship may be addressed: a) DL reception timing and DL transmission timing of NCR-Fwd; and/or b) UL transmit timing and UL receive timing of NCR-Fwd.

The control channel, which may be used to indicate the SR, e.g., the control channel established between the SR and the gNB, may be anchored in the control entity or coordinator node. Such a control entity may be located within the repeater or collocated with the repeater. Considering that the control entity and SR are preferably time aligned, internal processing delays may be considered. For example, in the UL, different timing advances may be applied to different UEs and control entities. Thus, there may be a group timing advance applied to all UEs (e.g., based on the timing advance of the furthest UE) that is different from the timing advance from the control entity to the gNB. There may also be internal delays within the SR caused by switching between DL and UL or any other function. Thus, embodiments provide a solution to take into account the different time requirements to achieve such delays that may affect the UL transmission timing of the repeater and the control unit. For example, in a wireless communication network, a base station or control entity may be configured to control a set of devices to individually implement a controllable delay for each device in the set of devices to timely align communications for the set of devices.

In principle, the repeater should be aligned with the TDD frame structure provided by the gNB, taking into account the Timing Advance (TA) between the SR and the gNB. Furthermore, the TA and TDD switching at the furthest UE will shift the switching time further from DL to UL, further exploiting the flexible frame, slot and symbol structure provided in NR. Since the SR overlays additional switching patterns on the switching patterns provided by the gNB, some time resources may not be available in DL and/or UL and should be excluded from UE scheduling by the gNB.

Authentication may be beneficial to advertise SRs in a network and/or to provide information about the presence and/or capabilities of SRs to a wireless communication network. This may allow a wireless communication network, such as a base station or coordinator node, to select SRs to engage in a communication or form part of a path of a communication based on available information.

According to an embodiment, a device such as an SR, e.g., relay 140, 150, 160, and/or 170, may be configured to authenticate to a wireless communication network. For example, the apparatus may comprise a mobile terminal MT and be configured to perform an authentication procedure with a wireless communication network, e.g. using an MT which may have a subscriber identity module, SIM, etc. Alternatively or additionally, the apparatus may be configured to authenticate to the wireless communication network based on joining the wireless communication network, e.g., during power up, reboot of the network, entering the coverage of a base station, etc. During authentication, the repeater may report one or more of the following: presence, location, provided at least one path component, e.g. a corresponding identifier or the like, capability, e.g. MIMO capability on access side and/or backhaul side, signal processing capability, supported operation mode, in particular network controllable operation mode, remaining or planned operation time, remaining battery power, travel route, speed of the device or any other relevant information.

Such information may be accessed by the network, e.g., for selection and/or coordination of use of the repeater, e.g., to optimize overall throughput, minimize interference, etc. For example, the base station may select one or more from a set of available repeaters based on the requirements of communication and/or overall communication with a particular device. Embodiments do not exclude UEs selecting or requesting to communicate using a repeater. That is, the UE may request the relay or the network to base its communication on the selected relay to initiate use from the access side.

In addition to authentication, different information sources are provided according to embodiments to provide a basis for the UE and/or the network side (e.g., base station or coordinator node). For example, an apparatus, such as a UE, may be configured to obtain context information from another network entity to determine at least a portion of a determination result that indicates that communications of the apparatus are based on a relay. Such context information may indicate at least one mode of operation of the repeater, an option of a third device related to at least one of the first device and the second device. Such options may relate to interactions, dependencies, signaling, etc. that the repeater device may provide for the UE and/or the base station. For example, this may allow one or more specific capabilities of the SR and how it relates to the UE and/or BS to be determined to allow for optimized communication. Alternatively or additionally, the context information may include one or more of the following:

The relation between the devices is such that,

-the state and condition in which the device is located

-operating band, repeater enhancement frame, time slot, bandwidth part, duplexing scheme

-related KPIs for link optimization

The capacity of the device-the capacity of the apparatus,

-a history log file;

-energy, signaling constraints;

-amplification gain and/or margin;

-beam direction/pattern;

-and so on.

Alternatively or additionally, the apparatus may be configured to obtain capability information from another network entity to determine at least a part of the determination, the capability information indicating at least one mode of operation of a third apparatus controllable by at least one of the first apparatus and the second apparatus.

For example, knowing which capabilities and/or modes of operation the repeater supports may allow for efficient selection and/or control of components engaged in communications, e.g., controlling the repeater to a desired mode of operation for further use thereof.

Other solution Components

Single, some or all of the following advantageous modifications may be implemented in the source, repeater and/or sink of the signal to be repeated, separately, alone or in combination.

The purpose of the repeater is to reduce white spots and poorly covered areas without significantly increasing the inter-beam interference. The mechanism according to an embodiment may enable remote beam management of network controlled repeaters (which may be referred to as reduced capability IAB nodes) with the aid of UEs, observing repeated signals, which may be marked with repeater specific sequences.

In order to control the behaviour of the NCR at least for the access link, e.g. by remote beam management as described herein, the individual beam information of the reference beam or the identification beam may benefit, in particular for FR2. Thus, embodiments provide a mechanism for indicating and determining beams, for example, by identifying corresponding multipath components.

Whether and/or how to handle broadcast and cell specific signal/channel forwarding may be implemented for each cell individually or globally within at least a portion of a larger area of a network or scenario. From a signaling design perspective, the following mechanism can be considered for the access link beamforming of NCR-Fwd.

Option 1: dynamic beam indication only; option 2: only semi-static beam indication; or option 3: dynamic beam pointing and semi-static beam pointing.

For example, to enable access link beam indication, the access link beam may be indicated by: beam index. Such an index may be supplemented by information indicating the corresponding time domain resources of the beam. Alternatively or additionally, the index may already carry the information.

Alternatively or additionally, an index of the source RS (e.g., an indicator like TCI) may be used. The source RS is then defined in the network or cell. The indicated or requested portion of the link may indicate the corresponding time domain resources of the beam, e.g., based on a definition of an association between the source RS and the beam in the network.

Features of at least some embodiments:

the repeater may have some intelligence to update a look-up table on, for example, the SSB. This means that the repeater can respond on some SSBs, but not on others, i.e. selectively on SSBs. The repeater may forward signals from one or more base stations on different carriers/bands. The repeater may then selectively repeat a different SSB for each carrier using the filter. This should be configurable, for example, by a macro base station. The combinations of different SSB carriers do not necessarily have the same beam structure (e.g., the beam widths may be different), and therefore (the repeater must know which beam comes from which base station, which frequency should be repeated and when).

If a repeater branch/tree structure (cascade of repeaters) is present, the keyhole may be revisited (e.g., by corresponding control).

The relay may be configured to determine information indicating the ULDL structure through RRC signaling or by detecting MIB and SIB.

The repeater may include control channels for beamforming.

The o control channel may be an inboard channel or other auxiliary channel that the macro base station uses to establish a closed loop channel with the repeater. It may be used for beam management towards the UE. The UE may send feedback (via the relay) to the base station, which may not be decoded by the relay. Based on this information, the base station may instruct the relay how to manage the access side of the link.

O control the actions of the repeater-it may be used out-of-band or in-band, like an IAB-MT (IAB mobile terminal).

On the other hand, the repeater may not need to have full beam management capabilities. In other words, it does not necessarily handle user feedback. The BS is instructing the UE to do something. The base station and the relay need to coordinate.

The repeater may perform a mapping to a sphere. Some SSBs may not be useful to a repeater, while some SSBs may be whitelisted. The repeater may be informed which BF direction should not use SSB.

If the codebook-based precoding CSI-RS is used, channel estimation and beam management of the UE are simplified.

As auxiliary information, the repeater may also attempt to detect and measure CSI-RS on the white list SSB.

The user may provide feedback regarding a particular SSB or SSBs. It may be slow if the mapping is changed.

Bidirectional amplify and forward-BH input BF and accessed output BF. It requires at least an envelope detector.

The TDD repeater may use knowledge about the TDD structure, e.g. receive it or derive it itself.

If there is one beam for backhaul BH among more than one beam on the access side, it is combined with knowledge on UL (MIB/SIB).

According to an embodiment, the repeater may not be able to decode or be configured to skip decoding at least temporarily. UEs scheduled on a particular SSB, in particular coded ues= > use as much as possible the signals from the BS, beam management at the IAB node access side.

Capability is added to the UE to make it believe that the connection is made via the macrocell.

Marking: celID, subnet, tag structure.

The UE may report feedback to the BS or the relay, for example. The UE may specifically report the modulated signal. For example, type 2 feedback, because the signals come from two different locations. The BS may use knowledge of the UE behind the repeater. Feedback may be important because it is addressable to the BS and it is via the repeater.

SSB-specific TA (macro vs. repeater) amplified by the repeater.

Knowledge from the UE may be used whether a certain SSB is measurable at a certain location and whether it is received directly or via a repeater.

Beams targeted for users served by the repeater may be forwarded while one, some, or all other beams are not forwarded or may be muted (at the repeater), allowing for improved overall throughput.

The network NW/BTS may signal to the repeater: when to repeat or mute; or follow a specific sequence identifiable by reading a message from MIB/SIB/SSB. This may be accomplished using messages and/or sequences:

Message o: these messages may be sent using MIB or SIB, and the relay may be configured to decode them. The message may take the form of some known pattern.

Sequence o: these sequences may be sent in specific resource elements that signal specific repeater actions (e.g., forward, not forward). That is, instead of or in addition to sending a specific control signal to the repeater, the repeater may indirectly determine instructions and/or other control information, for example, by determining a pattern in resources or the like.

Network Assisted Repeater Forwarding Control (NARFC) (bent-tube repeater with on/off control)

Such a repeater may use a specific DCI format scrambled with a repeater specific RNTI to signal UL/DL resources related to all UEs served by the repeater (such a repeater may have MT functionality as in an IAB and the BTS knows a set of UEs served by the repeater and creates a multi-UE schedule).

With respect to NARFC, UE-specific topics include:

the CSI report from the UE may be marked as "observed after repeater", e.g., by marking or other mechanisms described herein

UE can estimate and report the ratio of direct to repetition channel power

The BTS can inform the UEs that they may be served by the repeater, and the repeater specific flags and how the UE should report certain observations

Having described advantageous implementation and use of a repeater in a wireless communication network, further reference is made to an apparatus configured for communication in a wireless communication network, such as a UE, e.g., UE 164.

Together with or separate from devices such as UEs, base stations or other organization nodes may also benefit from the use of repeaters. Such an apparatus may be configured to communicate in a wireless communication network. The apparatus may be a first apparatus and configured to determine that communication with a second apparatus within the wireless communication network includes repetition of signals by a third apparatus to obtain a determination result; and adjusting communication in the wireless communication network based on the determination; and/or transmitting a signal to the second device using a channel internal or external to the wireless communication network, the signal indicating an instruction requesting the device to perform a measurement in the wireless communication network to obtain a measurement result, the measurement result indicating whether the communication to the second device includes repetition of the signal by the third device.

According to an embodiment, a device, such as a base station, for example, is configured to communicate in a wireless communication network operating in a Time Division Duplex (TDD) or Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) mode, wherein the base station is configured to:

transmitting a signal to a third apparatus, the signal indicating an instruction regarding a duplex mode used in the wireless communication network and/or a slot format indication (e.g., for a type 1 repeater) requesting the third apparatus to perform a change in at least one of a slot, a symbol, and a duplex mode upon repeating the signal; and/or

Transmitting a signal to a third apparatus, the signal indicating a particular signal/sequence to instruct the third apparatus to perform a change in at least one of a slot, a symbol, and a duplex mode used in a wireless communication network; or a power control command to reconfigure a third device (e.g., for a type 2A repeater); and/or

Transmitting a signal to the third device, the signal indicating a specific signal/sequence to instruct the third device to perform a change in slot/symbol/TDD or FDD mode or power control command; and/or to send/insert/replace specific messages/signals into repeated signals, e.g., a type 2B repeater may insert a forwarding stream of signals therein (e.g., for a type 2B repeater).

According to an embodiment, the apparatus is adapted to obtain information repeating a signal related to a channel rank of the communication, and to adjust the communication based on the channel rank.

According to an embodiment, the apparatus is configured to identify a path component of the wireless communication network based on the received transmitter specific information received at a predetermined resource, e.g. a time and/or frequency resource, e.g. CORESET, of a frame of the wireless communication network, and a signal received from the transmitter.

According to an embodiment, the apparatus is configured to instruct at least one apparatus to insert transmitter specific information into a predetermined resource, e.g. a time and/or frequency resource of CORESET, when operating as a transmitter.

Further embodiments relate to methods for operating an apparatus, such as a UE described herein, a base station described herein, and/or a repeater described herein.

Fig. 20a and 20b show schematic block diagrams of the behaviour of a repeater according to an embodiment. Whether it is implemented as a type 1, type 2A, or type 2B repeater, for example, the most suitable beam for communication between the gNB and the repeater, and/or with one or more UEs is determined. According to fig. 20a-b, multi-beam communication may be established by the relay on the backhaul side (to the base station) and/or on the access side (to the UE). The number of beams that repeater 184 forms or may form toward gNB 186 may correspond to the number of beams 1012 that gNB 162 may form (e.g., beams 1022 and/or 1022) (n=n), as shown in fig. 20a, or may be different (N versus M) as shown in fig. 20b, where M may be greater than or less than N in this case. The number of beams 192 formed by the repeater 184 towards the UE 194 may be the same as the number of backhaul beams 186, as shown in fig. 20a, or may be different, where the number of P is greater or less than N, as shown in fig. 20 b.

Fig. 21 shows a schematic block diagram illustrating a scenario according to an embodiment, according to which a repeater 184 is configured to connect to more than one base station 162 simultaneously or sequentially ₁ And 162 (V) ₂ E.g., a number of at least 2, at least 3, or more, and will multiple base stations 162 ₁ /162 ₂ Is forwarded or relayed to the UE194, e.g., to effect a handover or multiple connections. Possibly, but not necessarily, this may be combined to form a signal directed towards the respective BS162 ₁ And 162 (V) ₂ Is beam 186 of (2) ₁ And 186 (A) ₂ . For forwarding, either static or dynamic beams 192 may be used. Such behavior may be implemented for more than one UE at a time for the same, partially different, or completely new groups of base stations. As shown in fig. 21, the repeater 184 may connect multiple gnbs.

Fig. 22 shows a repeater 184 and a base station 162 ₁ A schematic block diagram of a scene of at least one link is maintained, e.g., one link along a line-of-sight (LoS) path 284 and at least one link along a non-line-of-sight (nLoS) path 286, the non-line-of-sight (LoS) path 286 including reflection or scattering on an object such as a building 288. According to the type II feedback described in fig. 8 and 9, the UE194 may provide feedback to the gNB 162 of which links to use, while in practice the repeater benefits from the beam 1012 provided by the gNB ₂ And 1012(s) _N To facilitate providing data to UE 194. This does not exclude the relay 184 and/or the UE 194 from being with another base station 162 ₂ Is a communication of (a). The repeater 184 may have MIMO capabilities on the backhaul side and/or the access side for supporting type II feedback.

Fig. 23 shows a schematic diagram of a scenario with SR 184, where signal processing for DL detection of messages from the gNB162 and UL transmission to the gNB162 is handled by a digital signal processor DSP 292 within the SR 184. In this example, the repeater unit 184 may be of an amplify-and-forward type and may include a power amplifier PA. The repeater 184 may be configured to perform access side beam scanning or beam set selection that may be assisted by the gNB 162. Based on this, UE 194 ₁ To 194 ₃ May be detected and provided with communication services, e.g., based on information from the UE 194 ₃ Is formed into an appropriate beam 296 ₃ Is a response to (a) is provided. The gNB162 may support both FR1 and FR2, where FR2 may be advantageous, particularly for backhaul BH links with the repeater 184. An in-band or out-of-band control channel 294 may be established between network sides (e.g., the gNB162 on one side and the repeater 184 on the other side).

Fig. 24 shows that by using more than one repeater, e.g., at least 2, at least 3, or more repeaters 184 ₁ And 184 ₂ To implement a schematic diagram of a scenario of a multi-repeater receive scenario at the UE 194. Multiple repeaters by using corresponding beams 192 ₁ And 192 ₂ Providing coverage, beam 192 ₁ And 192 ₂ May spatially overlap in an overlap region 298. This may allow UE 194 to benefit from two connections in overlap region 298. Using SSB2 or beam 1022 ₂ Does not prevent the UE 194 from benefiting from other multipath components, such as the non-line-of-sight path 286 enabled by the object 288. This may lead to a situation where the UE 194 may experience a direct LoS or non-LoS path 286 and a repeater-based path.

The direct path and multipath components may result in different timing advance TAs, e.g., different per SSB. For example, this may be accomplished by combining one of the deviated SSBs (e.g., beam 1022 ₂ ) Excluding from communication and/or compensating for different path lengths by using TAs specific to the respective SSBs (e.g., at 1022 ₁ And 1022 ₂ Between) to reach the region 298. According to an embodiment, the repeater may be tagged, for example, by tagging a signal transmitted with the repeater 184, for example, by using a particular power profile, pattern, or sequence. The indicia may be provided, for example, by the gNB 162, e.g., using instructions or a configuration, e.g., a neighborhood list. The marking may be block-chained, for example, to allow multiple hops to be used, while retaining the previous marking when marking the next hop, particularly when using a number of more than 2 hops, for example, at least 3, at least 4, or more.

For example, UE 194 may report to relay 184, gNB 192, or a different node whether the received signal or path component is received directly from gNB162 or forwarded by the relay.

Fig. 25 shows a schematic block diagram of a scenario according to an embodiment, which deals with inter-channel interference ICI caused by using multiple repeaters. For example, UE 194 may be at repeater 184 ₂ For example using antenna arrangement 142 _2,1 Provided that it is suitable for beam 192 _2,2 Is experiencing ICI on the receive beam 302. Repeater 184 ₁ May cause, for example, beam 192 _1，1 ICI, where different causes of ICI or other types of interference may occur in the scene processed with the embodiments. By using remote beam management, i.e. repeater 184 ₁ And/or 184 ₂ The beams used are steered, for example, by using coordinator nodes, such interference may be reduced or avoided. For example, a repeater according to embodiments may receive a signal containing instructions to activate a particular beam and/or avoid using a particular beam, e.g., by at least temporarily disabling the beam. For example, the repeater 184 may be indicated ₂ Using beam 192 _2，2 And/or not using beam 192 _2，1 The latter may allow to avoid that another device is disturbed. Alternatively or additionally, the repeater 184 may be instructed ₁ Deactivating beam 192 _1，1 To prevent UE194 from suffering ICI.

Remote beam management for SR or IAB nodes with reduced capabilities may be implemented, for example, in a cell on a time slot basis, e.g., for BH links using beam 186 and/or by using beam mapping, e.g., for access links using beam 192. The polarization multiplexing MUX may be used on the BH side and/or beam multiplexing may be used on the access side. Type 2 feedback may be supported via relay SRs. Embodiments introduce a way of repeater-specific marking on repeated signals to distinguish components of the SFN channel. Remote beam management may benefit from inter-gcb coordination, i.e., coordination by not only a single base station, but also by multiple base stations (particularly multiple base stations that are part of the same or even different networks). The remote beam management may be organized or determined, for example, at a base station or coordinator node, where the coordinator node may have knowledge of communications associated with more than one base station in one or more networks. The base station may be informed of the beamforming used at the RS, e.g., by a coordinator node or a different entity.

Fig. 26 shows a schematic block diagram of a wireless scenario having at least two base stations 162 ₁ And 162 (V) ₂ Operated by the same or different network operators, and includes a repeater 184, which repeater 184 may maintain more than one link in the backhaul, e.g., to a respective base station 162 ₁ And 162 (V) ₂ Or a different node. One or more of the links may be used for exchange of control information, and such exchange may alternatively or additionally be out-of-band. And corresponding beam 186 ₁ And 186 (A) ₂ The associated links may be at different frequencies f ₁ And f ₂ But may be forwarded together to at least one UE 194 or a group or respective location thereof.

Fig. 27 shows a schematic block diagram of a scenario illustrating the keyhole effect when a single antenna repeater is used from outside to inside of building 308.

Fig. 28a shows a schematic block diagram of SSB transmission in a scenario with SR. An example of the time domain behavior of a repeater is described. The repeater 184 may mute during symbols or slots in which SSBs associated therewith are not transmitted. The scanning may be performed during an SS burst of 5 milliseconds. For example, in a system implementing a small number of beams (e.g., much less than 64), many slots may not carry SS beams. Even if 64 beams are implemented, 8 slots do not carry SS blocks.

FIG. 28b shows that there is only one SSB 1022 compared to the embodiment of FIG. 28a ₄ Schematic diagram of a scene received by SR 184. On the other hand, according to an embodiment, SR 184 may be configured to receive instructions, e.g., from a network such as base station 162 or a different authorizing entity, to beamform SSBs in different directions on the access side in the appropriate slots/symbols, e.g., so as not to interfere with other gNB SSBs. This is done by 2 beams 142 _4，1 And 142 _4，2 Is illustrative of an example number of (1), wherein any of the may be selectedOther numbers or patterns.

Fig. 29 shows simulation results indicating that the physical downlink control channel PDCCH may always be transmitted within CORESET. The configured CORESET need not carry PDCCH.

Fig. 30 shows a schematic representation of a possible PDCCH mapping to CORESET.

Fig. 31 shows a schematic representation of PDCCH parameters, comprising a plurality of control channel elements CCEs, aggregation levels, etc. That is, the resource elements in CORESET are organized in RE groups (REGs). One REG is one resource block, i.e., 12 REs in the frequency domain and one OFDM symbol in the time domain. The control channel element is a combination of multiple REGs. The PDCCH is carried by 1, 2, 4, 8 or 16 CCEs to accommodate different DCI payload sizes or different coding rates. Each CCE consists of 6 REGs.

Fig. 32 shows a schematic block diagram of an overview of PDCCH processing in NR.

Fig. 33 shows a schematic representation of an example showing SS burst set 402 consisting of eight SS blocks 412, the eight SS blocks 412 spanning 14 OFDM symbols. In this example, 8 SS blocks 412 fit in the first slot (1 ms). By default, SS bursts may repeat after twenty slots (20 ms).

Fig. 34 shows a schematic diagram of how 8 SSBs, e.g. fig. 32, including index (0 … 7) are mapped to 8 beams 1022, which beams 1022 are arranged to provide coverage in different directions. The received signal strength at two different UE locations is also shown.

Fig. 35 shows the subcarrier spacing scs=15 kHz, L in the time domain _max Schematic diagram of SSB burst=8.

Embodiments according to the present disclosure relate to an apparatus such as, but not limited to, a UE.

According to an embodiment, such an apparatus is configured to communicate in a wireless communication network, wherein the apparatus is a first apparatus, and is configured to determine information indicating a third apparatus, such as a repeater, that is repeatedly sending signals to or from the first apparatus to communicate with a second apparatus (e.g., a base station/gNB) in the wireless communication network to obtain a determination result. This may be described as determining information-measurements or even derivative meanings thereof indicating that the UE is behind the relay. The apparatus may transmit a signal containing information indicating the determination result, for example, for reporting that the UE is located behind the repeater; and/or may adjust the communication based on the determination, for example, to adjust the control to be behind the repeater.

According to an embodiment, the device is adapted to

Acquiring information of repeated signals related to a channel rank of communication to determine a determination result; and

communication is adjusted based on the channel rank.

According to an embodiment, the device is adapted to

Acquiring information about the direction of the repeated signal and the communication, e.g. the direction of the signal path, to determine at least part of the determination; for use in

The communication is adjusted based on the determined direction.

According to an embodiment, the device is adapted to

Acquiring information about delays of the repeated signal and the communication, e.g. delays along the signal path, to determine at least part of the determination; for use in

The communication is adjusted based on the determined delay.

According to an embodiment, the device is adapted to

Acquiring information about the repetitive signal and a specific signal component attribute of the communication to determine at least part of the determination result; for use in

Adjusting the communication based on the determined specific signal component attribute, wherein the specific signal component attribute is at least one of:

rank of channel

Spatial signal path components, i.e. directions

Delay of signal path components

Power of signal path component

-time-frequency resources.

According to an embodiment, the apparatus is configured to obtain location related information from another network entity to determine that the communication indicating to the second apparatus is based on information of a third apparatus, the location related information indicating at least one of an angular direction of the reference signal, a location of the second or third apparatus, a location of the apparatus itself. This may allow, for example, determining a deviation between the direct path and the repeater-based path. Some information about the transmitted signal, such as the angular direction of the reference signal or the location of the gNB, UE or SR, may be obtained by another network entity such as, for example, an LMF, a database, etc.

According to an embodiment, the apparatus is configured to obtain context information from another network entity to determine a result of the determination of at least a part, the context information being indicative of at least one operation mode of the third apparatus, options of the third apparatus related to at least one of the first apparatus and the second apparatus, e.g. information indicative of interactions/dependencies/signalling, e.g. to determine a specific function of the RS and its relationship with the UE and/or BS.

According to an embodiment, the apparatus is configured to obtain capability information from the further network entity to determine at least part of the determination, the capability information indicating at least one operation mode of a third apparatus controllable by at least one of the first apparatus and the second apparatus.

According to an embodiment, an apparatus is configured to

Transmitting the first signal directly to the second device and transmitting the first or second signal directly to the third device to cause the third device to forward to the second device; and/or

The third signal is received directly from the second device and the fourth signal is received directly from the third device, the fourth signal being forwarded by the third device to the first device.

According to an embodiment, the apparatus is configured to identify a path component of the wireless communication based on the transmitter specific information received at a predetermined resource, e.g. a time and/or frequency resource of a frame of the wireless communication network, e.g. CORESET, and the signal received from the transmitter.

According to an embodiment, the path component is used by a third device, e.g. a repeater, to forward signals to or from the device.

According to an embodiment, the apparatus is configured to identify the path component by at least one of

-propagation path delay;

a power delay profile of the power spectrum,

-path direction

The angle of arrival AoA,

received signal strength (RSSI, RSRS), wherein part of the received signal is directly from the second means,

the other part comes from the third device.

According to an embodiment, the apparatus is configured to identify the path component by determining a metric, e.g. a power ratio between a direct path (e.g. gNB to UE) and an indirect path (e.g. gNB to SR and SR to UE).

According to an embodiment, an apparatus is configured to report metrics to a wireless communication network. For example, this may relate to a power ratio, which may be a reportable channel feedback describing how much the SR affects the entire channel between the gNB and the UE, and vice versa.

According to an embodiment, the apparatus is configured to report to the wireless communication at least a subset of the identified path components, parameters or values derived therefrom and/or actions determined from the identified path components.

Embodiments according to the present disclosure relate to an apparatus such as, but not limited to, a base station, e.g., a gNB.

According to an embodiment, an apparatus (e.g., a base station) is configured to communicate in a wireless communication network, wherein the apparatus is a first apparatus and is configured to

Determining communication with a second device, e.g., a UE, within the wireless communication network includes repeating the signal by a third device, e.g., a repeater, to obtain a determination; and adjusting communication in the wireless communication network based on the determination. This may be relevant to determining whether the UE is behind a relay. Alternatively or additionally, for example, to instruct the UE to measure whether it is behind a repeater, the apparatus may be configured to send a signal to the second apparatus using a channel internal or external to the wireless communication network, the signal indicating an instruction requesting the second apparatus to perform measurements in the wireless communication network to obtain a measurement result indicating whether the communication to the second apparatus includes repetition of the signal by the third apparatus.

According to an embodiment, the apparatus is configured to receive a report containing a metric or an identification of path components provided by the third apparatus for the second apparatus; wherein the apparatus is configured to determine a measurement based on the report, the measurement indicating how much the third apparatus has an effect on an overall channel between the apparatus and the second apparatus.

According to an embodiment, the apparatus is configured to receive information from a network entity indicating beamforming to be applied by a base station to form part of a coordinated beam management of a wireless communication network. That is, the base station may be informed of the beamforming used on the RS.

According to an embodiment, the apparatus is configured to receive information from the network entity indicating beamforming to be applied by the third apparatus to form part of a coordinated beam management of the wireless communication network. For example, the base station is informed of the beamforming used by the SR.

According to an embodiment, an apparatus, e.g. a base station, is configured to communicate in a wireless communication network operating in duplex mode, wherein the base station is configured to:

transmitting a signal to a third apparatus, e.g., a repeater, the signal indicating an instruction regarding a duplex mode used in the wireless communication network and/or a slot format indication requesting the third apparatus to perform a change in at least one of a slot, a symbol, and a duplex mode upon repeating the signal, e.g., to operate a type 1 repeater; and/or

Transmitting a signal to the third device, the signal indicating a particular signal/sequence to instruct the third device a) to perform a change in at least one of a slot, a symbol, and a duplex mode used in the wireless communication network; or b) providing power control commands or beamforming commands to reconfigure the third device, e.g., to operate the type 2A repeater; and/or

Transmitting a signal to the third apparatus, the signal indicating a particular signal/sequence to instruct the third apparatus to a) perform a change in at least one of a slot, a symbol, and a duplex mode or b) provide a power control command or a beam forming command; and/or c) instruct to send/insert/replace specific information/signals into the repeated signal, e.g. a type 2B repeater may insert a forwarding stream of signals therein, e.g. to operate a type 2B repeater; and/or

Transmitting a signal to the third apparatus, the signal indicating a particular signal/sequence to instruct the third apparatus to a) perform a change in at least one of a slot, a symbol, a duplex mode, or b) a power control command or a beam forming command; and/or c) send specific information to the device, such as command execution acknowledgements, measurement results, status reports, capability information, etc., which may be relevant to covering MT response capabilities towards the base station, when the SR may be similar to a UE processing and response protocol.

According to an embodiment, the apparatus is configured to select a third apparatus to participate in communication from a group of apparatuses authenticated to the wireless communication network.

According to an embodiment, the apparatus is configured to access information indicative of at least one of:

-conditions of the third device;

-the presence of a third device;

-the capabilities of the third device;

-a path component provided by the third means;

-signal processing capabilities of the third means;

-a supported operating mode of the third device;

-a remaining or scheduled operation time of the third device;

-the remaining battery level of the third device;

-a travel route of the third device; and

the speed of the device is chosen to be such that,

and selecting a third device based on the accessed information.

According to an embodiment, the base station apparatus is adapted to obtain information about a channel rank of the communication of the repeated signal, and to adjust the communication based on the channel rank.

According to an embodiment, the apparatus is configured to identify a path component of the wireless communication based on the transmitter specific information received at a predetermined resource, e.g. a time and/or frequency and/or spatial resource, e.g. CORESET, in a frame used in the wireless communication, and a signal received from the transmitter.

According to an embodiment, the base station apparatus is configured to instruct at least one apparatus, e.g. a repeater, to insert transmitter specific information into predetermined resources, e.g. CORESET, time and/or frequency resources and/or space resources of the beam when operating as a transmitter.

According to an embodiment, the base station apparatus is configured to obtain context information from another network entity to determine a result of the determination of at least a part, the context information indicating at least one operation mode of the third apparatus, options of the third apparatus related to at least one of the first apparatus and the second apparatus.

According to an embodiment, the base station apparatus is configured to obtain capability information from the further network entity to determine a determination of at least a part, the capability information indicating at least one operation mode of a third apparatus controllable by at least one of the first apparatus and the second apparatus.

Embodiments according to the present disclosure relate to devices such as, but not limited to, repeaters.

According to an embodiment, an apparatus (e.g., a repeater) is configured to communicate in a wireless communication network, wherein the apparatus is configured to

Receiving a wireless signal;

acquiring control information indicating at least one of information about an on/off mode and information about a communication mode from a wireless communication network; and

and operating according to the obtained control information to repeat the wireless signal.

According to an embodiment, an apparatus is configured to obtain control information from a wireless signal; and/or for receiving control signals containing control information.

According to an embodiment, the control information indicates at least one of:

-a gain factor to be used for forwarding the radio signal;

-power margin to be maintained

-a power level of a signal transmitted by the device for repeating the wireless signal;

-beam steering to be applied to repeat the radio signal;

Direction and distance constraints for beamforming, e.g. black list or white list

Beam tapering (refinement), e.g. for sidelobe suppression

Recovering beam candidates, e.g. in case of congestion or link failure

Beam scanning procedure

-beam pairing procedure

Beamforming set generation and identification with or without Reference Symbols (RS)

-timing or delay to be applied to forward the wireless signal;

resource selection to be applied for repeating radio signals

-acknowledgement of the executed command in response to the control information.

According to an embodiment, an apparatus is configured to authenticate an identity to a wireless communication network.

According to an embodiment, the apparatus comprises a mobile terminal MT and is configured to perform an authentication procedure with a wireless communication network.

According to an embodiment, an apparatus is configured to authenticate to a wireless communication network based on joining the wireless communication network.

According to an embodiment, the apparatus is configured to perform limited received signal processing on a received signal, e.g. a wireless signal, to obtain a communication mode, e.g. a TDD mode and/or an FDD mode, e.g. a type 1 repeater.

According to an embodiment, the apparatus is configured to use a specific reference signal to identify itself or path components provided by the apparatus.

According to an embodiment related to, for example, a type 2A repeater, the control information a) indicates a specific signal/sequence to be applied in at least one of a time slot, a symbol and a duplex mode used when forwarding a received signal in the wireless communication network; or b) providing power control commands or beam forming commands to reconfigure the device for changes to be applied to the structure of the transmitted signal compared to the structure of the signal to be forwarded and/or to reconfigure the device for changes in the transmission and/or reception behaviour, e.g. how to amplify and forward as power control, e.g. as delay, beam, filtering, frequency control.

According to an embodiment, the apparatus is configured to perform extended received signal processing, e.g. in DL (network controlled) and/or UL (UE controlled) of the signal, to obtain the communication mode.

According to an embodiment, the apparatus is configured for at least one of:

muting transmission of reference signals during specific slots/symbols of an access link

Changing the time pattern of the reference signal, e.g. on the downlink DL

-decoding the transmit power control command and then changing the power on the link towards the UE

Beam switching between e.g. preconfigured beams.

According to embodiments related to type 2B repeaters, for example, the apparatus is configured to perform transmit signal processing to provide a repeater specific signal to the apparatus, such as the UE and the gNB, e.g., to allow the apparatus to identify itself to the wireless communication network or the apparatus, such as the UE, using the repeater specific ID/reference signal.

According to an embodiment, the apparatus is configured to perform at least one of the following based on the control information:

muting transmission of reference signals during specific slots/symbols of an access link

Changing the time pattern of the reference signal, e.g. on the downlink DL

-decoding the transmit power control command and then changing the power on the link towards the UE

Beam switching between e.g. preconfigured beams

Performing a more extensive decoding, e.g. decoding all DCI formats, including those that may be introduced only for the relay

Decoding more extensive RRC signaling, including various system information broadcast messages, including repeater specific system information and dedicated RRC signaling possibly introduced only for the repeater

Decoding the (modified) timing advanced MAC CE for the repeater,

decoding a MAC CE for beam indication or activation/deactivation of specific reference signals, e.g. CSI-RS/CSI-IM on an access link

-decoding beam indication of an access link indicated via RRC, DCI, MAC CE or operation and maintenance message

Encoding uplink control information, which can carry acknowledgements with respect to DL control information,

-encoding a MAC CE message capable of carrying an acknowledgement regarding a DL command

Encoding RRC messages (e.g., RRCRECONfigure Complete, repeater-capability information, etc.),

-adaptive beamforming on the access link with the aid of the gNB.

According to an embodiment, the apparatus is a first apparatus and is configured for establishing a control channel with a second apparatus, e.g. a base station or UE, to receive control signals from the second apparatus and/or to send second control signals to the second apparatus, e.g. as a response to the indication device.

According to an embodiment, the apparatus is configured for communication in an in-band or out-of-band control channel, e.g. using NR, LTE or other over-the-air transmission techniques.

According to an embodiment, the apparatus is configured to use the control channel to control actions of the apparatus for the at least one access link and/or to use the control channel to exchange control information.

According to an embodiment, the control information includes power control for transmitting signals, and beam management; at least one of radio resource control RRC, medium access control MAC, downlink control information DCI, uplink control information UCI, and operation and maintenance O & M messages.

According to embodiments, the apparatus is capable of supporting mobility of at least one UE and/or at least one base station and/or the apparatus itself, e.g. a drone, adapted to establish communication with at least one UE over a first link and to establish communication with at least one base station over a second link. Such means may be, for example, an unmanned aerial vehicle, a vehicle-mounted SR or a stationary SR tracking at least a portion of a mobile UE.

According to an embodiment, the apparatus is configured for establishing or maintaining communication with at least one UE and/or at least one base station, tracking a relative spatial or directional relationship between the apparatus and at least one of the UE and the base station; and

when mobility on at least one of the first link and the second link is below a threshold, switching to a geospatial communication mode or a non-flight mode on at least one of the first link and the second link to further amplify and forward signals between the at least one base station and the at least one UE in the downlink and/or uplink.

According to an embodiment, the apparatus is a first apparatus and is configured for repeating a signal to be repeated of a second apparatus, wherein the first apparatus is configured for determining a timing advance of the first apparatus for communicating with the base station based on an instruction determined from the control signal, and for repeating the signal to be repeated to the base station based on the timing advance.

According to an embodiment, the apparatus is configured to derive an instruction from the control signal, the instruction indicating a delay to be achieved in forwarding the signal; and operates accordingly.

According to an embodiment, the apparatus is configured for implementing the delay by using a corresponding delay line or by digitizing, storing, reading and forwarding the signal.

According to an embodiment, the apparatus is configured for inserting transmitter specific information into predetermined resources, e.g. time and/or frequency and/or spatial resources, e.g. CORESET, of a frame or beam for wireless communication in response to receiving a corresponding instruction received from the wireless communication network.

According to an embodiment, the apparatus is configured for inserting the transmitter specific information as a marker signal path component, e.g. a multipath component created by the apparatus, a location or an identifier of the marker apparatus.

According to an embodiment, the device specific information is specific to a group of devices or a single device.

Embodiments according to the present disclosure relate to an apparatus such as, but not limited to, a coordinator node for a wireless communication network.

According to an embodiment, the coordinator node comprises a control unit configured to derive instructions for a plurality of repeater devices for jointly controlling communication and/or operation of the plurality of repeaters; and controlling the plurality of repeaters directly or indirectly.

According to an embodiment, the control unit is configured for controlling the plurality of repeater devices to mitigate overall interference caused by the plurality of repeaters.

According to an embodiment, at least one of the plurality of repeater devices is a repeater according to the present disclosure.

According to an embodiment, the coordinator node is configured to control a set of devices to individually implement a controllable delay for each of the set of devices to timely align communication of the set of devices.

Embodiments according to the present disclosure relate to devices such as, but not limited to, wireless communication networks.

According to an embodiment, a wireless communication network includes:

at least one UE device as described herein as a first device;

at least one base station apparatus as described herein as a second apparatus; and

at least one repeater as described herein as a third device;

wherein the third device is configured to amplify and forward the first signal received from the first device to the second device to repeat the first signal; and/or for amplifying and forwarding the second signal received from the second device to the first device to repeat the second signal.

According to an embodiment, the third apparatus is configured to determine the spatial degree of freedom, e.g. by its backhaul or access side capabilities/number of antennas.

According to an embodiment, the third apparatus is configured to provide the same or reduced channel rank as compared to the direct channel between the first apparatus and the second apparatus, but at a higher signal power level, e.g. in one case the system/link SNR is very high, but the rank is still low, e.g. undesirable 1 in the direct link between the BTS and the UE.

According to an embodiment, the second device is configured to control a set of devices comprising the second device to individually implement a controllable delay for each of the set of devices to timely align communication of the set of devices.

Embodiments according to the present disclosure relate to methods.

According to an embodiment, a method for operating a first device comprises:

determining information indicating that communication to a second device within the wireless communication network is repeatedly sent to or from the first device based on a third device to obtain a determination result; and

transmitting a signal containing information indicating the determination result; and/or

And adjusting the communication based on the determination.

According to an embodiment, a method for operating a second device:

determining communication with the second device within the wireless communication network includes repeating the signal by a third device to obtain a determination; and adjusting communication in the wireless communication network based on the determination; and/or

A signal is transmitted to the second device using a channel internal or external to the wireless communication network, the signal indicating an instruction requesting the second device to perform a measurement in the wireless communication network to obtain a measurement result, the measurement result indicating whether the communication to the second device includes repetition of the signal by the third device.

According to an embodiment, a method for operating a second device comprises:

transmitting a signal to a third apparatus, the signal indicating an instruction regarding a duplex mode used in the wireless communication network and/or a slot format indication requesting the third apparatus to perform a change in at least one of a slot, a symbol, and a duplex mode when the signal is repeated; and/or

Transmitting a signal to the third apparatus, the signal indicating a particular signal/sequence to instruct the third apparatus a) to perform a change in at least one of a slot, a symbol, and a duplex mode used in the wireless communication network; or b) providing a power control command or a beam forming command to reconfigure the third device; and/or

Transmitting a signal to the third apparatus, the signal indicating a particular signal/sequence to instruct the third apparatus to a) perform a change in at least one of a slot, a symbol, and a duplex mode, or b) provide a power control command or a beam forming command; and/or c) instruct to send/insert/replace a specific message/signal into the repeated signal, e.g. a forwarding stream in which a type 2B repeater may insert a signal; and/or

Transmitting a signal to the third apparatus, the signal indicating a particular signal/sequence to instruct the third apparatus to a) perform a change in at least one of a slot, a symbol, a duplex mode, or b) a power control command or a beam forming command; and/or c) sending a specific message to the device.

According to an embodiment, a method for operating a first device, a method for operating a device such as a repeater, comprises:

receiving a wireless signal;

acquiring control information indicating at least one of information about an on/off mode and information about a communication mode from a wireless communication network; and

and operating according to the obtained control information to repeat the wireless signal.

The methods described herein may be transferred to a computer readable digital storage medium having stored thereon a computer program having program code for performing the methods when run on a computer.

In the description, reference is made to a coordinator node, device or set of devices for performing the described functions. To achieve such functionality, the apparatus may include hardware components and optionally software components. For example, to transmit and/or receive wireless signals, a device may include an antenna arrangement having at least one antenna. Multiple antennas may be used to allow for the beamforming function. For decoding and/or evaluating the signals, for determining or processing the information, the apparatus may comprise a processing unit, such as a processor, a microcontroller, a field programmable gate array FPGA, a central processing unit CPU, a graphics processing unit GPU, etc., to perform the described operations, which may include executing a piece of software. To store information, the apparatus may include or have wireless or wired access to a data store. To amplify a signal, the apparatus described herein may include an amplifier entity lamp.

Although some aspects are described in the context of apparatus, it is evident that these aspects also represent descriptions of corresponding methods in which a block or apparatus corresponds to a method step or a feature of a method step. Similarly, aspects described in the context of method steps also represent descriptions of corresponding blocks or items or features of corresponding apparatus.

Embodiments of the invention may be implemented in hardware or software, according to certain implementation requirements. The implementation may be performed using a digital storage medium, such as a floppy disk, DVD, CD, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, or flash memory, having electronically readable control signals stored thereon, which cooperate (or are capable of cooperating) with a programmable computer system, such that the corresponding method is performed.

Some embodiments according to the invention comprise a data carrier with electronically readable control signals, which are capable of cooperating with a programmable computer system, in order to carry out one of the methods described herein.

In general, embodiments of the invention may be implemented as a computer program product having a program code for performing one of the methods when the computer program product runs on a computer. The program code may for example be stored on a machine readable carrier.

Other embodiments include a computer program stored on a machine-readable carrier for performing one of the methods described herein.

In other words, an embodiment of the inventive method is thus a computer program having a program code for performing one of the methods described herein, when the computer program runs on a computer.

A further embodiment of the inventive method is thus a data carrier (or digital storage medium, or computer readable medium) comprising a computer program recorded thereon for performing one of the methods described herein.

Thus, a further embodiment of the inventive method is a data stream or signal sequence representing a computer program for executing one of the methods described herein. The data stream or signal sequence may, for example, be configured to be transmitted via a data communication connection, for example via the internet.

Further embodiments include a processing means, such as a computer or programmable logic device, configured or adapted to perform one of the methods described herein.

Further embodiments include a computer having installed thereon a computer program for performing one of the methods described herein.

In some embodiments, a programmable logic device (e.g., a field programmable gate array) may be used to perform some or all of the functions of the methods described herein. In some embodiments, a field programmable gate array may cooperate with a microprocessor to perform one of the methods described herein. In general, it is preferred that the method is performed by any hardware device.

The above described embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles of the present invention. It will be understood that modifications and variations of the arrangements and details described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. It is therefore intended that the scope of the following patent claims be limited only, and not by the specific details provided by way of description and explanation of the embodiments herein.

Reference to the literature

Abbreviations (abbreviations)

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Claims (65)

1. An apparatus, e.g. a user equipment, UE, configured for communication in a wireless communication network, wherein the apparatus is a first apparatus and is configured for:

determining that the communication indicated to the second device within the wireless communication network is based on information of a third device that repeatedly sends signals to or from the first device to obtain a determination result; and

transmitting a signal containing information indicating the determination result; and/or

And adjusting the communication based on the determination.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the device is adapted to

Obtaining information about a channel rank of the repeated signal and the communication to determine a determination result; and

communication is adjusted based on the channel rank.

3. The device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the device is adapted to

Acquiring information about the direction of the repeated signal and the communication, e.g. the direction of the signal path, to determine at least part of the determination; for use in

The communication is adjusted based on the determined direction.

4. The device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the device is adapted to

Acquiring information about delays of the repeated signal and the communication, e.g. delays along the signal path, to determine at least part of the determination; for use in

The communication is adjusted based on the determined delay.

5. The device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the device is adapted to

Acquiring information about the repetitive signal and a specific signal component attribute of the communication to determine at least part of the determination result; for use in

Adjusting the communication based on the determined specific signal component attribute, wherein the specific signal component attribute is at least one of:

rank of channel

Spatial signal path components, i.e. directions

Delay of signal path components

Power of signal path component

-time-frequency resources.

6. An apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the apparatus is configured to obtain location related information from another network entity to determine that the communication to the second apparatus is based on information of a third apparatus, the location related information being indicative of at least one of an angular direction of the reference signal, a location of the second or third apparatus, a location of the apparatus itself.

7. An apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the apparatus is configured to obtain context information from another network entity to determine at least a part of the determination, the context information indicating at least one operation mode of the third apparatus, options of the third apparatus related to at least one of the first apparatus and the second apparatus.

8. An apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the apparatus is configured to obtain capability information from another network entity to determine at least part of the determination, the capability information being indicative of at least one mode of operation of a third apparatus controllable by at least one of the first apparatus and the second apparatus.

9. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the apparatus is configured to

Transmitting the first signal directly to the second device and transmitting the first or second signal directly to the third device to cause the third device to forward to the second device; and/or

The third signal is received directly from the second device and the fourth signal is received directly from the third device, the fourth signal being forwarded by the third device to the first device.

10. An apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the apparatus is configured to identify a path component of the wireless communication based on the transmitter specific information received at a predetermined resource, such as a time and/or frequency resource of a frame of the wireless communication network, such as CORESET, and the signal received from the transmitter.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the path component is used by a third apparatus to forward signals to or from the apparatus.

12. The apparatus according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the apparatus is configured to identify the path component by at least one of

-propagation path delay;

a power delay profile of the power spectrum,

the direction of the path is chosen,

the angle of arrival AoA,

-received signal strength (RSSI, RSRS), wherein part of the received signal is directly from the second means and another part is from the third means.

13. The apparatus according to any of claims 10 to 12, wherein the apparatus is configured to identify the path component by determining a metric, such as a power ratio between a direct path (gNB to UE) and an indirect path (gNB to SR/SR to UE).

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the apparatus is configured to report the metrics to the wireless communication network.

15. The apparatus according to any of claims 10 to 14, wherein the apparatus is configured to report to the wireless communication at least a subset of the identified path components, parameters or values derived therefrom, and/or actions determined from the identified path components.

16. An apparatus, such as a base station, configured for communication in a wireless communication network, wherein the apparatus is a first apparatus and is configured for

Determining communication with the second device within the wireless communication network includes repeating the signal by a third device to obtain a determination; and adjusting communication in the wireless communication network based on the determination; and/or

A signal is transmitted to the second device using a channel internal or external to the wireless communication network, the signal indicating an instruction requesting the second device to perform a measurement in the wireless communication network to obtain a measurement result, the measurement result indicating whether the communication to the second device includes repetition of the signal by the third device.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the apparatus is configured to receive a report containing metrics or identifications of path components provided by a third apparatus for a second apparatus; wherein the apparatus is configured to determine a measurement based on the report, the measurement indicating how much the third apparatus has an effect on an overall channel between the apparatus and the second apparatus.

18. The apparatus according to claim 16 or 17, wherein the apparatus is configured to receive information from a network entity indicating beamforming to be applied by the base station to form part of a coordinated beam management of the wireless communication network.

19. An apparatus according to any of claims 16 to 18, wherein the apparatus is configured to receive information from a network entity indicating beamforming to be applied by the third apparatus to form part of coordinated beam management of the wireless communication network.

20. An apparatus, such as a base station, configured for communication in a wireless communication network operating in duplex mode, wherein the base station is configured for:

transmitting a signal to a third apparatus, the signal indicating an instruction regarding a duplex mode used in the wireless communication network and/or a slot format indication requesting the third apparatus to perform a change in at least one of a slot, a symbol, and a duplex mode when the signal is repeated; and/or

Transmitting a signal to the third apparatus, the signal indicating a particular signal/sequence to instruct the third apparatus a) to perform a change in at least one of a slot, a symbol, and a duplex mode used in the wireless communication network; or b) providing a power control command or a beam forming command to reconfigure the third device; and/or

Transmitting a signal to the third apparatus, the signal indicating a particular signal/sequence to instruct the third apparatus to a) perform a change in at least one of a slot, a symbol, and a duplex mode, or b) provide a power control command or a beam forming command; and/or c) instruct to send/insert/replace a specific message/signal into the repeated signal, e.g. a forwarding stream in which a type 2B repeater may insert a signal; and/or

Transmitting a signal to the third apparatus, the signal indicating a particular signal/sequence to instruct the third apparatus to a) perform a change in at least one of a slot, a symbol, a duplex mode, or b) a power control command or a beam forming command; and/or c) send specific messages to the device, such as command execution acknowledgements, measurement results, status reports, capability information, etc.

21. An apparatus according to any of claims 16 to 20, wherein the apparatus is configured to select a third apparatus to participate in communication from a group of apparatuses authenticated to the wireless communication network.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the apparatus is configured to access information indicative of at least one of:

-conditions of the third device;

-the presence of a third device;

-the capabilities of the third device;

-a path component provided by the third means;

-signal processing capabilities of the third means;

-a supported operating mode of the third device;

-a remaining or scheduled operation time of the third device;

-the remaining battery level of the third device;

-a travel route of the third device; and

the speed of the device is chosen to be such that,

and selecting a third device based on the accessed information.

23. An apparatus according to any one of claims 16 to 22, wherein the apparatus is adapted to obtain information about a channel rank of the repeated signal to communicate, and to adjust the communication based on the channel rank.

24. An apparatus according to any of claims 16 to 23, wherein the apparatus is configured to identify path components of the wireless communication based on the transmitter specific information received at predetermined resources, such as time and/or frequency and/or spatial resources like CORESET in frames used in the wireless communication, and the signal received from the transmitter.

25. An apparatus according to any one of claims 16 to 24, wherein the apparatus is configured to instruct at least one apparatus to insert transmitter specific information into predetermined resources, such as, for example, CORESET, time and/or frequency resources of a beam and/or space resources, when operating as a transmitter.

26. An apparatus according to any of claims 16 to 25, wherein the apparatus is configured to obtain context information from another network entity to determine at least a part of the determination, the context information indicating at least one operation mode of the third apparatus, options of the third apparatus related to at least one of the first apparatus and the second apparatus.

27. The apparatus according to any of claims 16 to 26, wherein the apparatus is configured to obtain capability information from another network entity to determine at least a part of the determination, the capability information indicating at least one operation mode of a third apparatus controllable by at least one of the first apparatus and the second apparatus.

28. An apparatus, such as a repeater, configured for communication in a wireless communication network, wherein the apparatus is configured for receiving wireless signals;

acquiring control information indicating at least one of information about an on/off mode and information about a communication mode from a wireless communication network; and

And operating according to the obtained control information to repeat the wireless signal.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the apparatus is configured to obtain control information from a wireless signal; and/or for receiving control signals containing control information.

30. The apparatus according to claim 28 or 29, wherein the control information indicates at least one of:

-a gain factor to be used for forwarding the radio signal;

-a power margin to be maintained;

-a power level of a signal transmitted by the device for repeating the wireless signal;

-beam steering to be applied to repeat the radio signal;

direction and distance constraints for beamforming, such as black-list or white-list;

beam tapering (refinement), e.g. for sidelobe suppression

Recovering beam candidates, e.g. in case of congestion or link failure

Beam scanning procedure

-beam pairing procedure

Beamforming set generation and identification with or without Reference Symbols (RS)

-timing or delay to be applied to forward the wireless signal;

resource selection to be applied for repeating radio signals

-in response to the acknowledgement of the command performed by the control information.

31. The apparatus of any of claims 28 to 30, configured for authentication with a wireless communication network.

32. The apparatus according to claim 31, wherein the apparatus comprises a mobile terminal MT and is configured to perform an authentication procedure with a wireless communication network.

33. The apparatus according to claim 32 or 33, wherein the apparatus is configured to authenticate to the wireless communication network based on joining the wireless communication network.

34. An apparatus according to any one of claims 28 to 33, wherein the apparatus is configured to perform limited received signal processing on a received signal, such as a wireless signal, to obtain a communication mode, such as a TDD mode and/or an FDD mode.

35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the apparatus is configured to use a particular reference signal to identify itself or path components provided by the apparatus.

36. Apparatus according to any one of claims 28 to 35; wherein the control information indicates a particular signal/sequence to be applied in at least one of a slot, a symbol, and a duplex mode used when forwarding a received signal in the wireless communication network; or b) providing power control commands or beam forming commands to reconfigure the apparatus for changes to be applied to the structure of the transmitted signal compared to the structure of the signal to be forwarded and/or to reconfigure the apparatus for changes in the transmission and/or reception behaviour.

37. The apparatus according to any of claims 28 to 36, wherein the apparatus is configured to perform extended received signal processing, e.g. in DL (network controlled) and/or UL (UE controlled) of the signal, to obtain a communication mode.

38. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the apparatus is configured for at least one of:

muting transmission of reference signals during specific slots/symbols of an access link

Changing the time pattern of the reference signal, e.g. on the downlink DL

-decoding the transmit power control command and then changing the power on the link towards the UE

Beam switching between e.g. preconfigured beams.

39. The apparatus according to any of claims 28 to 38, wherein the apparatus is configured to perform transmit signal processing to provide relay specific signals to the apparatus, such as UE and gNB, for example to allow the apparatus to identify itself to a wireless communication network or apparatus, such as UE, using relay specific ID/reference signals.

40. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein the apparatus is configured to perform at least one of the following based on the control information:

muting transmission of reference signals during specific slots/symbols of an access link

Changing the time pattern of the reference signal, e.g. on the downlink DL

-decoding the transmit power control command and then changing the power on the link towards the UE

Beam switching between e.g. preconfigured beams

Performing a more extensive decoding, e.g. decoding all DCI formats, including those that may be introduced only for the relay

Decoding more extensive RRC signaling, including various system information broadcast messages, including repeater specific system information and dedicated RRC signaling possibly introduced only for the repeater

Decoding the (modified) timing advanced MAC CE for the repeater,

decoding a MAC CE for beam indication or activation/deactivation of specific reference signals, e.g. CSI-RS/CSI-IM on an access link

-decoding beam indication of an access link indicated via RRC, DCI, MAC CE or operation and maintenance message

Encoding uplink control information, which can carry acknowledgements with respect to DL control information,

-encoding a MAC CE message capable of carrying an acknowledgement regarding a DL command

Encoding RRC messages (e.g., RRCRECONfigure Complete, repeater-capability information, etc.),

-adaptive beamforming on the access link with the aid of the gNB.

41. An apparatus according to any one of claims 28 to 40, wherein the apparatus is a first apparatus and is configured to establish a control channel with a second apparatus to receive control signals from and/or transmit control signals to the second apparatus.

42. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein the apparatus is configured for communication in an in-band or out-of-band control channel, e.g., using NR, LTE, or other over-the-air transmission techniques.

43. The apparatus according to claim 41 or 42, wherein the apparatus is configured to use a control channel to control the actions of the apparatus for at least one access link and/or to use the control channel to exchange control information.

44. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein the control information comprises power control for transmitting signals, and beam management; at least one of radio resource control RRC, medium access control MAC, downlink control information DCI, uplink control information UCI, and operation and maintenance O & M messages.

45. Apparatus according to any of claims 28 to 44, capable of supporting mobility of at least one UE and/or at least one base station and/or the apparatus itself, e.g. a drone, adapted to establish communication with at least one UE over a first link and to establish communication with at least one base station over a second link.

46. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein the apparatus is configured to establish or maintain communication with at least one UE and/or at least one base station, tracking a relative spatial or directional relationship between the apparatus and at least one of the UE and the base station; and

when mobility on at least one of the first link and the second link is below a threshold, switching to a geospatial communication mode or a non-flight mode on at least one of the first link and the second link to further amplify and forward signals between the at least one base station and the at least one UE in the downlink and/or uplink.

47. An apparatus according to any one of claims 28 to 46, wherein the apparatus is a first apparatus and is configured to repeat a signal to be repeated for a second apparatus, wherein the first apparatus is configured to determine a timing advance for the first apparatus for communicating with the base station based on the instruction determined from the control information, and to repeat the signal to be repeated to the base station based on the timing advance.

48. Apparatus according to any one of claims 28 to 47, wherein the apparatus is configured to derive instructions from the control information, the instructions indicating a delay to be achieved in forwarding the signal; and operates accordingly.

49. The apparatus of claim 48, wherein the apparatus is configured to implement the delay by using corresponding delay lines or by digitizing, storing, reading and forwarding signals.

50. An apparatus according to any of claims 28 to 49, wherein the apparatus is configured to insert transmitter specific information into predetermined resources, e.g. time and/or frequency and/or spatial resources such as CORESET, of a frame or beam for wireless communication in response to receiving a corresponding instruction received from the wireless communication network.

51. The apparatus of claim 50, wherein the apparatus is configured to insert the transmitter specific information as a marker signal path component such as a multipath component created by the apparatus, a location, or an identifier of the marker apparatus.

52. The device of claim 50 or 51, wherein the device specific information is specific to a group of devices or a single device.

53. A coordinator node comprising a control unit configured to derive instructions for a plurality of repeater devices for jointly controlling communication and/or operation of the plurality of repeaters; and controlling the plurality of repeaters directly or indirectly.

54. The coordinator node of claim 53 wherein the control unit is configured to control the plurality of repeater devices to mitigate overall interference caused by the plurality of repeaters.

55. A coordinator node according to claim 53 or 54, wherein at least one of the plurality of repeater devices is an apparatus according to any one of claims 28 to 52.

56. The coordinator node of any one of claims 53 to 55, wherein the coordinator node is configured to control a set of devices to individually implement a controllable delay for each of the set of devices to timely align communication of the set of devices.

57. A wireless communication network, comprising:

at least one device according to any one of claims 1 to 15 as a first device;

at least one device according to any one of claims 16 to 27 as a second device; and

at least one device according to any one of claims 28 to 56 as a third device;

wherein the third means is configured to amplify and forward the first signal received from the first means to the second means to repeat the first signal; and/or for amplifying and forwarding the second signal received from the second device to the first device to repeat the second signal.

58. A wireless communication network as defined in claim 57, wherein the third means is configured to determine a spatial degree of freedom, e.g., by its backhaul or access side capabilities/number of antennas.

59. A wireless communication network as claimed in claim 57 or 58, wherein the third means is configured to provide the same or a reduced channel rank as compared to the direct channel between the first means and the second means, but at a higher signal power level, e.g. in one case the system/link SNR is very high, but the rank is still low, e.g. 1 which is undesirable in the direct link between the BTS and the UE.

60. A wireless communication network as claimed in any of claims 57 to 59, wherein the second device is configured to control a group of devices including the second device to individually implement a controllable delay for each of the group of devices to timely align communication of the group of devices.

61. A method for operating a first device, comprising:

determining information indicating that communication to a second device within the wireless communication network is repeatedly sent to or from the first device based on a third device to obtain a determination result; and

transmitting a signal containing information indicating the determination result; and/or

And adjusting the communication based on the determination.

62. A method for operating a first device, comprising:

determining communication with the second device within the wireless communication network includes repeating the signal by a third device to obtain a determination; and adjusting communication in the wireless communication network based on the determination; and/or

A signal is transmitted to the second device using a channel internal or external to the wireless communication network, the signal indicating an instruction requesting the second device to perform a measurement in the wireless communication network to obtain a measurement result, the measurement result indicating whether the communication to the second device includes repetition of the signal by the third device.

63. A method for operating a first device, comprising:

transmitting a signal to a third apparatus, the signal indicating an instruction regarding a duplex mode used in the wireless communication network and/or a slot format indication requesting the third apparatus to perform a change in at least one of a slot, a symbol, and a duplex mode when the signal is repeated; and/or

Transmitting a signal to the third apparatus, the signal indicating a particular signal/sequence to instruct the third apparatus a) to perform a change in at least one of a slot, a symbol, and a duplex mode used in the wireless communication network; or b) providing a power control command or a beam forming command to reconfigure the third device; and/or

Transmitting a signal to the third apparatus, the signal indicating a particular signal/sequence to instruct the third apparatus to a) perform a change in at least one of a slot, a symbol, and a duplex mode, or b) provide a power control command or a beam forming command; and/or c) instruct to send/insert/replace a specific message/signal into the repeated signal, e.g. a forwarding stream in which a type 2B repeater may insert a signal; and/or

Transmitting a signal to the third apparatus, the signal indicating a particular signal/sequence to instruct the third apparatus to a) perform a change in at least one of a slot, a symbol, a duplex mode, or b) a power control command or a beam forming command; and/or c) sending a specific message to the device.

64. A method for operating a device, comprising:

receiving a wireless signal;

acquiring control information indicating at least one of information about an on/off mode and information about a communication mode from a wireless communication network; and

and operating according to the obtained control information to repeat the wireless signal.

65. A computer readable digital storage medium having stored thereon a computer program having a program code for performing the method of any of claims 61 to 64 when run on a computer.