Repeater Discovery in Wireless Networks

Abstract

Various aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communications. In some aspects, a repeater can identify an operator of a wireless network providing services on a first frequency band, and can send a communication to a user device using a second frequency band associated with the repeater, the communication including information associated with the operator of the wireless network, and information indicating that the repeater can provide a layer 1 repeater function associated with the first frequency band to the user device. In some aspects, the first frequency band and the second frequency band are on different frequencies. Several other aspects are provided.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62 / 769,878, filed on November 20, 2018, entitled “RELAY DISCOVERY IN AWIRELESS NETWORK,” and U.S. Non-Provisional Application No. 16 / 688,868, filed on November 19, 2019, entitled “RELAY DISCOVERY IN A WIRELESS NETWORK,” which are hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communications, and to techniques and apparatus for repeater discovery in wireless networks. Background Art

[0004] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide a variety of telecommunication services, such as telephony, video, data, messaging, and broadcasting. Typical wireless communication systems may employ multiple access technologies that can support communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, etc.). Examples of such multiple access technologies include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA) systems, and long term evolution (LTE). LTE / LTE-Advanced is a set of enhancements to the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) mobile standard promulgated by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).

[0005] A wireless communication network may include multiple base stations (BS) that may support communications for multiple user equipment (UE). A user equipment (UE) may communicate with a base station (BS) via a downlink and an uplink. A downlink (or forward link) refers to a communication link from a BS to a UE, while an uplink (or reverse link) refers to a communication link from a UE to a BS. As will be described in more detail herein, a BS may be referred to as a Node B, gNB, access point (AP), radio head, transmit receive point (TRP), new radio (NR) BS, 5G Node B, etc.

[0006] The above-mentioned multiple access technologies have been adopted in various telecommunication standards to provide a public protocol that enables different user equipment to communicate in municipal, national, regional and even global ranges. New Radio (NR) (which may also be referred to as 5G) is an enhanced set of LTE mobile standards promulgated by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). NR is designed to better support mobile broadband Internet access by improving spectrum efficiency, reducing costs, improving services, utilizing new spectrum, and using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) (CP-OFDM) with cyclic prefix (CP) on the downlink (DL), using CP-OFDM and / or SC-FDM (e.g., also known as discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM)) on the uplink (UL), and supporting beamforming, multiple input multiple output (MIMO) antenna technology and carrier aggregation and better integration with other open standards. However, as the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, it is necessary to further improve LTE and NR technologies. Preferably, these improvements should be applicable to other multiple access technologies and telecommunication standards that adopt these technologies. Summary of the invention

[0007] In some aspects, a method of wireless communication performed by a repeater may include identifying an operator of a wireless network providing service on a first frequency band. The method may include sending a communication to a user device using a second frequency band associated with the repeater, the communication including: information associated with the operator of the wireless network, and information indicating that the repeater is capable of providing a layer 1 repeater function associated with the first frequency band to the user device, wherein the first frequency band and the second frequency band are at different frequencies.

[0008] In some aspects, a repeater for wireless communication may include a memory and one or more processors operably coupled to the memory. The memory and the one or more processors may be configured to identify an operator of a wireless network providing services on a first frequency band. The memory and the one or more processors may be configured to send a communication to a user device using a second frequency band associated with the repeater, the communication including: information associated with the operator of the wireless network, and information indicating that the repeater can provide a layer 1 repeater function associated with the first frequency band to the user device, wherein the first frequency band and the second frequency band are on different frequencies.

[0009] In some aspects, a non-transitory computer-readable medium may store one or more instructions for wireless communication. The one or more instructions, when executed by one or more processors of a repeater, may cause the one or more processors to: identify an operator of a wireless network providing services on a first frequency band. The one or more instructions, when executed by one or more processors of the repeater, may cause the one or more processors to send a communication to a user device and using a second frequency band associated with the repeater, the communication including: information associated with the operator of the wireless network, and information indicating that the repeater is capable of providing a layer 1 repeater function associated with the first frequency band to the user device, wherein the first frequency band and the second frequency band are at different frequencies.

[0010] In some aspects, an apparatus for wireless communication may include means for identifying an operator of a wireless network providing service on a first frequency band. The apparatus may include means for sending a communication to a user equipment and using a second frequency band associated with the apparatus, the communication including: information associated with the operator of the wireless network, and information indicating that the apparatus is capable of providing a layer 1 repeater function associated with the first frequency band to the user equipment, wherein the first frequency band and the second frequency band are at different frequencies.

[0011] In some aspects, a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE) may include receiving an instruction from a base station and on a first frequency band to monitor a second frequency band associated with a repeater, wherein the repeater is capable of providing a layer 1 repeater function associated with the first frequency band, and wherein the first frequency band and the second frequency band are at different frequencies. The method may include detecting the repeater based at least in part on monitoring the second frequency band. The method may include associating with the repeater to use the layer 1 repeater function associated with the first frequency band provided by the repeater based at least in part on detecting the repeater. The method may include communicating with the base station using the layer 1 repeater function of the repeater.

[0012] In some aspects, a UE for wireless communication may include a memory and one or more processors operably coupled to the memory. The memory and the one or more processors may be configured to receive an instruction to monitor a second frequency band associated with a repeater from a base station and on a first frequency band, wherein the repeater is capable of providing a layer 1 repeater function associated with the first frequency band, and wherein the first frequency band and the second frequency band are at different frequencies. The memory and the one or more processors may be configured to detect the repeater based at least in part on monitoring the second frequency band. The memory and the one or more processors may be configured to associate with the repeater to use the layer 1 repeater function associated with the first frequency band provided by the repeater based at least in part on detecting the repeater. The memory and the one or more processors may be configured to communicate with the base station using the layer 1 repeater function of the repeater.

[0013] In some aspects, a non-transitory computer-readable medium may store one or more instructions for wireless communication. The one or more instructions, when executed by one or more processors of a UE, may cause the one or more processors to receive an instruction to monitor a second frequency band associated with a repeater from a base station and on a first frequency band, wherein the repeater is capable of providing a layer 1 repeater function associated with the first frequency band, and wherein the first frequency band and the second frequency band are at different frequencies. The one or more instructions, when executed by one or more processors of the UE, may cause the one or more processors to detect the repeater based at least in part on monitoring the second frequency band. The one or more instructions, when executed by one or more processors of the UE, may cause the one or more processors to associate with the repeater to use the layer 1 repeater function associated with the first frequency band provided by the repeater based at least in part on detecting the repeater. The one or more instructions, when executed by one or more processors of the UE, may cause the one or more processors to communicate with the base station using the layer 1 repeater function of the repeater.

[0014] In some aspects, an apparatus for wireless communication may include components for receiving, from a base station and on a first frequency band, monitoring a second frequency band associated with a repeater, wherein the repeater is capable of providing a layer 1 repeater function associated with the first frequency band, and wherein the first frequency band and the second frequency band are at different frequencies. The apparatus may include components for detecting the repeater based at least in part on monitoring the second frequency band. The apparatus may include components for associating with the repeater to use the layer 1 repeater function associated with the first frequency band provided by the repeater based at least in part on detecting the repeater. The apparatus may include components for communicating with the base station using the layer 1 repeater function of the repeater.

[0015] Aspects generally include methods, apparatus, systems, computer program products, non-transitory computer-readable media, user equipment, base stations, wireless communication devices, and processing systems as substantially described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings and as illustrated in the drawings and the specification.

[0016] The features and technical advantages of the examples according to the present disclosure have been outlined quite extensively above so that the following detailed description may be better understood. Additional features and advantages will be described below. The disclosed concepts and specific examples may be readily used as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for performing the same purpose of the present disclosure. Such equivalent constructions do not depart from the scope of the appended claims. The features of the concepts disclosed herein, their organization and methods of operation, and associated advantages will be better understood from the following description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Each of the accompanying drawings is provided for illustrative and descriptive purposes and not as a definition of limitations of the claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] In order that the above-mentioned features of the present disclosure may be understood in detail, a more specific description briefly summarized above may be made with reference to various aspects, some of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. However, it should be noted that the accompanying drawings only illustrate certain typical aspects of the present disclosure and therefore should not be considered as limiting the scope thereof, as the description may allow for other equivalent aspects. The same reference numerals in different drawings may represent the same or similar elements.

[0018] Figure 1 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example of a wireless communication network in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0019] Figure 2 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example of a base station communicating with a user equipment (UE) of a wireless communication network in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0020] Figure 3A is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example of a frame structure in a wireless communication network according to various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0021] Figure 3B is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an exemplary synchronous communication hierarchy in a wireless communication network in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0022] Figure 4 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example slot format with a normal cyclic prefix in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0023] Figure 5A and 5B is a diagram illustrating an example of repeater discovery in a wireless network in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0024] Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of repeater discovery in a wireless network in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0025] Figure 7 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary process, for example, performed by a repeater, according to various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0026] Figure 8 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary process, for example, performed by a user equipment, according to various aspects of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] Various aspects of the present disclosure are described more fully below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present disclosure can be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to any specific structure or function presented throughout the present disclosure. More specifically, these aspects are provided so that the present disclosure will become thorough and complete, and the scope of the present disclosure will be fully conveyed to those skilled in the art. Based on the teachings herein, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the scope of the present disclosure is intended to cover any aspect of the present disclosure disclosed herein, whether independent of any other aspect of the present disclosure or implemented in combination with any other aspect of the present disclosure. For example, any number of aspects set forth herein can be used to implement a device or a method can be practiced. In addition, the scope of the present disclosure is intended to cover this device or method, using other structures, functionality, or structures and functionality that supplement or replace the various aspects of the present disclosure set forth herein to practice the device or method. It should be understood that any aspect of the present disclosure disclosed herein can be embodied by one or more elements of the claims.

[0028] Several aspects of telecommunication systems will now be presented with reference to various devices and techniques. These devices and techniques will be described in the following detailed description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings by various blocks, modules, components, circuits, steps, processes, algorithms, etc. (collectively referred to as "elements"). These elements may be implemented using hardware, software, or any combination thereof. Whether such elements are implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0029] It should be noted that although terms generally associated with 3G and / or 4G wireless technologies may be used herein to describe various aspects, various aspects of the present disclosure may be applied to other generation-based communication systems (such as 5G and subsequent versions, including NR technology).

[0030] Figure 1is a diagram showing a wireless network 100 in which various aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented. The wireless network 100 may be an LTE network or some other wireless network, such as a 5G or NR network. The wireless network 100 may include a plurality of BSs 110 (shown as BSs 110a, BSs 110b, BSs 110c, and BSs 110d) and other network entities. A BS is an entity that communicates with a user equipment (UE) and may also be referred to as a base station, NR BS, Node B, gNB, 5G Node B (NB), access point, transmit receive point (TRP), etc. Each BS may provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area. In 3GPP, the term "cell" may refer to a coverage area of ​​a BS and / or a BS subsystem serving the coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used.

[0031] A BS may provide communication coverage for a macro cell, a pico cell, a femto cell, and / or another type of cell. A macro cell may cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access to UEs with service subscriptions. A pico cell may cover a relatively small geographic area and may allow unrestricted access to UEs with service subscriptions. A femto cell may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home) and may allow restricted access to UEs associated with the femto cell (e.g., UEs in a closed subscriber group (CSG)). A BS for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro BS. A BS for a pico cell may be referred to as a pico BS. A BS for a femto cell may be referred to as a femto BS or a home BS. In Figure 1 In the example shown, BS 110a may be a macro BS for macro cell 102a, BS 110b may be a pico BS for pico cell 102b, and BS 110c may be a femto BS for femto cell 102c. A BS may support one or more (e.g., three) cells. The terms "eNB", "base station", "NR BS", "gNB", "TRP", "AP", "Node B", "5G NB", and "cell" may be used interchangeably herein.

[0032] In some aspects, the cell may not necessarily be fixed, and the geographic area of ​​the cell may move depending on the location of the mobile BS. In some aspects, the BSs may be interconnected with each other and / or with one or more other BSs or network nodes (not shown) in the wireless network 100 through various types of backhaul interfaces such as direct physical connections, virtual networks, etc. using any suitable transport network.

[0033] The wireless network 100 may also include a relay station. A relay station is an entity that can receive transmissions of data from an upstream station (e.g., a BS or a UE) and send transmissions of data to a downstream station (e.g., a UE or a BS). A relay station may also be a UE that can relay transmissions for other UEs. Figure 1 In the example shown, a relay station 110d may communicate with the macro BS 110a and the UE 120d to facilitate communication between the BS 110a and the UE 120d. A relay station may also be referred to as a relay BS, a relay base station, a relay, or the like.

[0034] The wireless network 100 may be a heterogeneous network including different types of BSs, such as a macro BS, a pico BS, a femto BS, a relay BS, etc. These different types of BSs may have different transmit power levels, different coverage areas, and different effects on interference in the wireless network 100. For example, a macro BS may have a high transmit power level (e.g., 5 to 40 watts), while a pico BS, a femto BS, and a relay BS may have a lower transmit power level (e.g., 0.1 to 2 watts).

[0035] A network controller 130 may be coupled to a set of BSs and may provide coordination and control for these BSs. The network controller 130 may communicate with the BSs via a backhaul. The BSs may also communicate with each other via a wireless or wired backhaul (eg, directly or indirectly).

[0036] UE 120 (e.g., 120a, 120b, 120c, etc.) can be dispersed throughout the wireless network 100, and each UE can be fixed or mobile. UE can also be referred to as an access terminal, terminal, mobile station, subscriber unit, station, etc. UE can be a cellular phone (e.g., a smart phone), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a tablet computer, a camera, a gaming device, a netbook, a smartbook, an ultrabook, a medical device or equipment, a biometric sensor / device, a wearable device (smart watch, smart clothing, smart glasses, smart wristband, smart jewelry (e.g., smart ring, smart bracelet, etc.)), an entertainment device (e.g., a music or video device, or satellite radio, etc.), a vehicle component or sensor, a smart meter / sensor, an industrial manufacturing device, a global positioning system device, or any other suitable device configured to communicate via a wireless or wired medium.

[0037] Some UEs may be considered to be machine type communication (MTC) or evolved or enhanced machine type communication (eMTC) UEs. MTC and eMTC UEs include, for example, robots, drones, remote devices such as sensors, meters, monitors, location tags, etc. that can communicate with a base station, another device (e.g., a remote device), or some other entity. A wireless node may provide a connection to or provide a connection to a network, for example, (e.g., a wide area network such as the Internet or a cellular network) via a wired or wireless communication link. Some UEs may be considered to be Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and / or may be implemented as NB-IoT (narrowband Internet of Things) devices. Some UEs may be considered to be customer premises equipment (CPE). UE 120 may be included inside a housing that houses components of UE 120 (such as a processor component, a memory component, etc.).

[0038] Generally, any number of wireless networks can be deployed in a given geographic area. Each wireless network can support a specific RAT and can operate on one or more frequencies. RAT can also be referred to as radio technology, air interface, etc. Frequency can also be referred to as carrier, frequency channel, etc. Each frequency can support a single RAT in a given geographic area to avoid interference between wireless networks of different RATs. In some cases, NR or 5G RAT networks can be deployed.

[0039] In some aspects, two or more UEs 120 (e.g., shown as UE 120a and UE 120e) may communicate directly using one or more sidelink channels (e.g., without using base station 110 as an intermediary for communicating with each other). For example, UE 120 may use peer-to-peer (P2P) communication, device-to-device (D2D) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) protocols (e.g., which may include vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) protocols, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) protocols, etc.), mesh networks, etc. In this case, UE 120 may perform scheduling operations, resource selection operations, and / or other operations described elsewhere herein as being performed by base station 110.

[0040] As indicated above, Figure 1 These are provided as examples only. Other examples may differ from those described herein. Figure 1 The example described.

[0041] Figure 2 Block diagram 200 shows a base station 110 and a UE 120, which may be Figure 1 Base station 110 may be equipped with T antennas 234a through 234t, and UE 120 may be equipped with R antennas 252a through 252r, where in general T≧1 and R≧1.

[0042] At the base station 110, the transmit processor 220 may receive data for one or more UEs from the data source 212, select one or more modulation and coding schemes (MCS) for each UE based at least in part on a channel quality indicator (CQI) received from the UE, process data (e.g., encode and modulate the data) for each UE based at least in part on the (multiple) MCS selected for the UE, and provide data symbols for all UEs. The transmit processor 220 may also process system information (e.g., for semi-static resource partitioning information (SRPI) and the like) and control information (e.g., CQI requests, grants, upper layer signaling, etc.) and provide overhead symbols and control symbols. The transmit processor 220 may also generate reference symbols for reference signals (e.g., cell-specific reference signals (CRS)) and synchronization signals (e.g., primary synchronization signals (PSS) and secondary synchronization signals (SSS)). A transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on ​​data symbols, control symbols, overhead symbols, and / or reference symbols (if applicable), and may provide T output symbol streams to T modulators (MOD) 232a to 232t. Each modulator 232 may process a corresponding output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator 232 may further process the output sample stream (e.g., convert it to analog, amplify it, filter it, and up-convert it) to obtain a downlink signal. The T downlink signals from modulators 232a to 232t may be transmitted via T antennas 234a to 234t, respectively. According to various aspects described in more detail below, position coding may be used to generate synchronization signals to convey additional information.

[0043] At UE 120, antennas 252a to 252r may receive downlink signals from base station 110 and / or other base stations and may provide received signals to demodulators (DEMODs) 254a to 254r, respectively. Each demodulator 254 may condition the received signal (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize it) to obtain input samples. Each demodulator 254 may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain received symbols. MIMO detector 256 may obtain received symbols from all R demodulators 254a to 254r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols (if applicable), and provide detected symbols. Receive processor 258 may process the detected symbols (e.g., demodulate and decode them), provide decoded data for UE 120 to data sink 260, and provide decoded control information and system information to controller / processor 280. The channel processor may determine reference signal received power (RSRP), received signal strength indicator (RSSI), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), channel quality indicator (CQI), etc. In some aspects, one or more components of UE 120 may be included in a housing.

[0044] On the uplink, at the UE 120, a transmit processor 264 may receive and process data from a data source 262 and control information from a controller / processor 280 (e.g., for reports including RSRP, RSSI, RSRQ, CQI, etc.). The transmit processor 264 may also generate reference symbols for one or more reference signals. The symbols from the transmit processor 264 may be precoded by a TX MIMO processor 266 (if applicable), further processed by modulators 254a through 254r (e.g., for DFT-s-OFDM, CP-OFDM, etc.), and transmitted to the base station 110. At the base station 110, uplink signals from the UE 120 and other UEs may be received by the antenna 234, processed by the modulator 232, detected by the MIMO detector 236 (if applicable), and further processed by the receive processor 238 to obtain decoded data and control information transmitted by the UE 120. The receive processor 238 may provide the decoded data to the data sink 239 and provide the decoded control information to the controller / processor 240. The base station 110 may include a communication unit 244 and communicate with the network controller 130 via the communication unit 244. The network controller 130 may include a communication unit 294, a controller / processor 290, and a memory 292.

[0045] The controller / processor 240 of the base station 110, the controller / processor 280 of the UE 120, and / or Figure 2Any other (multiple) components of may perform one or more techniques associated with relay discovery in a wireless network, as described in more detail elsewhere herein. For example, the controller / processor 240 of the base station 110, the controller / processor 280 of the UE 120, and / or Figure 2 Any other component(s) may perform or direct e.g. Figure 7 The process of 700 Figure 8 The operations of process 800 and / or other processes as described herein. Memories 242 and 282 may store data and program codes for base station 110 and UE 120, respectively. Scheduler 246 may schedule UEs to transmit data on the downlink and / or uplink.

[0046] In some aspects, a repeater (e.g., BS 110, UE 120, and / or another device) may include: a component for identifying an operator of a wireless network providing service on a first frequency band; a component for sending a communication to user equipment 120 and using a second frequency band associated with the repeater, the communication including: information associated with the operator of the wireless network, and information indicating that the repeater is capable of providing a layer 1 repeater function associated with the first frequency band to user equipment 120, wherein the first frequency band and the second frequency band are at different frequencies, etc. In some aspects, such components may include a combination of Figure 2 One or more components of BS 110 and / or UE 120 are described.

[0047] In some aspects, UE 120 may include: components for receiving, from base station 110, monitoring a second frequency band associated with a repeater on a first frequency band, wherein the repeater is capable of providing layer 1 repeater functionality associated with the first frequency band, and wherein the first frequency band and the second frequency band are at different frequencies; components for detecting the repeater based at least in part on monitoring the second frequency band; components for associating with the repeater to use the layer 1 repeater functionality associated with the first frequency band provided by the repeater based at least in part on detecting the repeater; components for communicating with base station 110 using the layer 1 repeater functionality of the repeater, and so on. In some aspects, such components may include combining Figure 2 One or more components of UE 120 are described.

[0048] As indicated above, Figure 2 These are provided as examples only. Other examples may differ from those described herein. Figure 2 The example described.

[0049] Figure 3AAn exemplary frame structure 300 for frequency division duplex (FDD) in a telecommunication system (e.g., NR) is shown. The transmission timeline for each of the downlink and uplink may be segmented into units of radio frames (sometimes referred to as frames). Each radio frame may have a predetermined duration (e.g., 10 milliseconds (ms)) and may be segmented into a set of Z (Z ≥ 1) subframes (e.g., indexed 0 to Z-1). Each subframe may have a predetermined duration (e.g., 1 ms) and may include a set of time slots (e.g., in Figure 3A The 2 m time slots, where m is the number of symbols used for transmission, such as 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.). Each time slot may include a set of L symbol periods. For example, each time slot may include fourteen symbol periods (e.g., Figure 3A ), seven symbol periods, or another number of symbol periods. In the case where a subframe includes two slots (e.g., when m=1), the subframe may include 2L symbol periods, where the 2L symbol periods in each subframe may be assigned indices from 0 to 2L-1. In some aspects, the scheduling unit for FDD may be frame-based, subframe-based, slot-based, symbol-based, etc.

[0050] Although some techniques are described herein in conjunction with frames, subframes, time slots, etc., these techniques may be equally applicable to other types of wireless communication structures, which may be referred to using terms other than "frames," "subframes," "time slots," etc. in 5G NR. In some aspects, a wireless communication structure may refer to a periodic, time-bounded communication unit defined by a wireless communication standard and / or protocol. Additionally or alternatively, a wireless communication structure may be used in conjunction with a wireless communication standard and / or protocol. Figure 3A The wireless communication structures shown are different wireless communication structures.

[0051] In some telecommunications (e.g., NR), a base station may send synchronization signals. For example, a base station may send a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), etc. on the downlink of each cell supported by the base station. The UE may use the PSS and SSS for cell search and acquisition. For example, the UE may use the PSS to determine symbol timing, and the UE may use the SSS to determine a physical cell identifier associated with the base station, and frame timing. The base station may also send a physical broadcast channel (PBCH). The PBCH may carry some system information, such as system information that supports initial access of the UE.

[0052] In some aspects, a base station may transmit a PSS, SSS, and / or PBCH according to a synchronization communication hierarchy (e.g., a synchronization signal (SS) hierarchy) including multiple synchronization communications (e.g., synchronization signal (SS) blocks), as described below in conjunction with Figure 3B Give a description.

[0053] Figure 3B is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an exemplary SS hierarchy, which is an example of a synchronous communication hierarchy. Figure 3B As shown, the SS hierarchy may include an SS burst set, which may include a plurality of SS bursts (identified as SS burst 0 to SS burst B-1, where B is the maximum number of repetitions of the SS burst that may be sent by the base station). As further shown, each SS burst may include one or more SS blocks (identified as SS block 0 to SS block (b max_SS-1 ), where b max_SS-1 is the maximum number of SS blocks that a SS burst can carry). In some aspects, different SS blocks can be beamformed in different ways. Figure 3B As shown, the SS burst set may be sent by the wireless node periodically, such as once every X milliseconds. In some aspects, the SS burst set may have a fixed or dynamic length. Figure 3B is shown as Y milliseconds.

[0054] Figure 3B The SS burst sets shown in are examples of synchronous communication sets, and other synchronous communication sets may be used in conjunction with the techniques described herein. Figure 3B The SS blocks shown in are examples of synchronous communications, and other synchronous communications may be used in conjunction with the techniques described herein.

[0055] In some aspects, an SS block includes resources that carry PSS, SSS, PBCH, and / or other synchronization signals (e.g., a third synchronization signal (TSS)) and / or synchronization channels. In some aspects, multiple SS blocks are included in an SS burst, and the PSS, SSS, and / or PBCH may be the same on each SS block of the SS burst. In some aspects, a single SS block may be included in an SS burst. In some aspects, the length of an SS block may be at least four symbol periods, where each symbol carries one or more of a PSS (e.g., occupying one symbol), an SSS (e.g., occupying one symbol), and / or a PBCH (e.g., occupying two symbols).

[0056] In some aspects, such as Figure 3B As shown, the symbols of the SS blocks are continuous. In some aspects, the symbols of the SS blocks are non-continuous. Similarly, in some aspects, one or more SS blocks of an SS burst may be sent in continuous radio resources (e.g., continuous symbol periods) during one or more time slots. Additionally or alternatively, one or more SS blocks of an SS burst may be sent in non-continuous radio resources.

[0057] In some aspects, an SS burst may have a burst periodicity, whereby the base station transmits an SS block of the SS burst according to the burst periodicity. In other words, the SS block may be repeated during each SS burst. In some aspects, an SS burst set may have a burst set periodicity, whereby the base station transmits an SS burst in the SS burst set according to a fixed burst set periodicity. In other words, the SS burst may be repeated during each SS burst set.

[0058] The base station may send system information, such as system information blocks (SIBs), on a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) in certain time slots. The base station may send control information / data on a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in C symbol periods of a time slot, where B may be configurable for each time slot. The base station may send traffic data and / or other data on the PDSCH in the remaining symbol periods of each time slot.

[0059] As indicated above, Figure 3A and 3B Provided as an example. Other examples may differ from Figure 3A and 3B The example described.

[0060] Figure 4 An exemplary slot format 410 with a normal cyclic prefix is ​​shown. The available time-frequency resources may be partitioned into resource blocks. Each resource block may cover a set of subcarriers (e.g., 12 subcarriers) in a slot and may include multiple resource elements. Each resource element may cover a subcarrier in a symbol period (e.g., in time) and may be used to send a modulation symbol, which may be a real value or a complex value.

[0061] In some telecommunication systems (e.g., NR), an interlaced scan structure may be used for each of the downlink and uplink of FDD. For example, Q interlaced scans indexed from 0 to Q-1 may be defined, where Q may be equal to 4, 6, 8, 10, or some other value. Each interlaced scan may include time slots spaced apart by Q frames. Specifically, an interlaced scan q may include time slots q, q+Q, q+2Q, etc., where q∈{0,...,Q-1}.

[0062] A UE may be located within the coverage of multiple BSs. One of these BSs may be selected to serve the UE. The serving BS may be selected based at least in part on various criteria such as received signal strength, received signal quality, path loss, etc. The received signal quality may be quantified by a signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) or a reference signal received quality (RSRQ) or some other metric. The UE may operate in a dominant interference scenario, in which the UE may observe high interference from one or more interfering BSs.

[0063] Although aspects of the examples described herein may be associated with NR or 5G technology, aspects of the present disclosure may be applicable to other wireless communication systems. New Radio (NR) may refer to a radio configured to operate according to a new air interface (e.g., in addition to an air interface based on Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA)) or a fixed transport layer (e.g., in addition to Internet Protocol (IP)). In various aspects, NR may utilize OFDM with CP (referred to herein as cyclic prefix OFDM or CP-OFDM) and / or SC-FDM on the uplink, may utilize CP-OFDM on the downlink, and include support for half-duplex operation using time division duplex (TDD). In various aspects, NR may, for example, utilize OFDM with CP (referred to herein as CP-OFDM) and / or discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-s-OFDM) on the uplink, may utilize CP-OFDM on the downlink, and include support for half-duplex operation using TDD. NR may include enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) services for wide bandwidths (e.g., 80 megahertz (MHz) and higher), millimeter wave (mmW) for high carrier frequencies (e.g., 60 gigahertz (GHz)), massive MTC (mMTC) for non-backward compatible MTC technologies, and / or mission critical ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC) services.

[0064] In some aspects, a single component carrier bandwidth of 100 MHZ may be supported. NR resource blocks may span 12 subcarriers with a subcarrier bandwidth of 60 or 120 kilohertz (kHz) in a duration of 0.1 milliseconds (ms). Each radio frame may include 40 time slots and may have a length of 10 ms. Thus, each time slot may have a length of 0.25 ms. Each time slot may indicate a link direction (e.g., DL or UL) for data transmission, and the link direction for each time slot may be switched dynamically. Each time slot may include DL / UL data as well as DL / UL control data.

[0065] Beamforming can be supported and the beam direction can be dynamically configured. MIMO transmission with precoding can also be supported. MIMO configuration in DL can support up to 8 transmit antennas, with multi-layer DL transmission with up to 8 streams and up to 2 streams per UE. Multi-layer transmission with up to 2 streams per UE can be supported. Aggregation of multiple cells can be supported for up to 8 serving cells. Alternatively, NR can support different air interfaces in addition to OFDM-based interfaces. NR networks can include entities such as such a central unit or distributed units.

[0066] As indicated above, Figure 4 are provided as examples. Other examples may differ from those described in Figure 4 The example described.

[0067] In some cases, two or more slave entities (e.g., UEs) can communicate with each other using sidechain signals. Practical applications of such sidechain communications may include public safety, proximity services, UE-to-network relays, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, Internet of Everything (IoE) communications, IoT communications, mission-critical mesh networks, and / or various other suitable applications. Typically, a sidechain signal may refer to a signal transmitted from one slave entity (e.g., UE1) to another slave entity (e.g., UE2) without relaying the transmission through a scheduling entity (e.g., UE or BS), even if the scheduling entity may be used for scheduling and / or control purposes. In some aspects, a licensed spectrum (unlike wireless local area networks that typically use unlicensed spectrum) may be used to transmit sidechain signals.

[0068] In some cases, the wireless communication link may not fully utilize the potential capabilities of the user equipment. For example, the base station may communicate with the user equipment using a frequency band that requires the user equipment to use a relatively large antenna, which limits the number of antennas that can be included in the user equipment.

[0069] Some aspects described herein allow a greater number of antennas to be included in a user device by including a repeater in a wireless communication link between the user device and a base station. The repeater can be located closer to the user device and can therefore communicate with the user device using a second frequency band having a shorter wavelength relative to the wavelength of the first frequency band used by the base station to communicate with the repeater and the user device. In this way, the base station and the repeater can communicate using the first frequency band, and the repeater and the user device can communicate using the second frequency band.

[0070] In some aspects, the repeater may have a larger physical size and / or form factor relative to the user equipment, and therefore may include a greater number of antennas compatible with the first frequency band relative to the user equipment. In some aspects, since the second frequency band may have a shorter wavelength compared to the wavelength of the first frequency band, the user equipment may include a greater number of antennas compatible with the second frequency band. In this way, the repeater increases the throughput, transmission rate, and utilization of the wireless communication link between the base station and the user equipment. However, in some cases, the user equipment may not know that the repeater is available for use by the user equipment, and / or may not be able to discover the repeater, thereby offsetting the above-mentioned increase in throughput, transmission rate, and utilization of the wireless communication link between the base station and the user equipment.

[0071] Some aspects described herein provide techniques and apparatus for repeater discovery in a wireless network. In some aspects, a repeater can identify a first frequency band associated with an operator of the wireless network, and can send a communication to a user device using a second frequency band associated with the repeater, the communication including information associated with the first frequency band, and information indicating that the repeater can provide a repeater function associated with the first frequency band to the user device.

[0072] In this way, the user equipment can receive the communication and can discover the repeater based at least in part on the information included in the communication. This enables the user equipment to communicate with the base station using the repeater function provided by the repeater, which increases the throughput, transmission rate and utilization of the wireless communication link between the user equipment and the base station.

[0073] The repeater may be a layer 1 repeater in that the repeater performs physical layer processing for traffic sent between the user equipment and the base station, while higher layer processing is not handled by the repeater but is managed directly between the user equipment and the base station. The user equipment may configure the repeater with the user equipment's credentials so that the repeater is allowed to connect to wireless networks that the user equipment is authorized to access. This allows the repeater to be controlled by the user equipment in a manner where the repeater acts as a remote radio head, distributed unit, or wireless switch for the user equipment, which may control the repeater as a mobile centralized unit.

[0074] Figure 5A and 5B is a diagram illustrating an example 500 of repeater discovery in a wireless network according to various aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 5A As shown, example 500 may include a base station (eg, BS 110a), a user equipment (eg, UE 120), and a relay (eg, relay 110b). In some aspects, example 500 may include a greater number of base stations, user equipment, and / or relays.

[0075] like Figure 5A As further shown, BS 110a and UE 120 may communicate directly via a first frequency band, BS 110 and relay 110b may communicate via a first frequency band, relay 110b and UE 120 may communicate via a second frequency band, and BS 110a may communicate with UE 120 via relay 110b.

[0076] In some aspects, the BS 110a may be associated with a wireless network, and the first frequency band may be a frequency band on which the wireless network operates. In some aspects, the first frequency band and the second frequency band may be at different frequencies (e.g., the first frequency band and the second frequency band may be non-overlapping frequency bands, the first frequency band and the second frequency band may partially overlap, etc.). As an example, the first frequency band may include a frequency band below 7 GHz (e.g., a 700 MHz frequency band, a 1700 MHz frequency band, etc.), and the second frequency band may include a millimeter wave (mmW) frequency band (e.g., a 60 GHz frequency band, a 71 to 76 GHz frequency band, etc.).

[0077] In some aspects, the relay 110b may include a base station (e.g., a macro cell, a small cell, a relay BS, etc.). In some aspects, the relay 110b may include a user equipment and / or another device that can provide a relay function to the BS 110a, can provide a relay function to another base station included in a wireless network, can provide a relay function to another base station included in another wireless network, can provide a relay function to the UE 120, can provide a relay function to other user equipment, etc. The relay function may include processing and forwarding traffic sent by the BS 110a to the UE 120 and / or other user equipment, may include processing and forwarding traffic sent by the UE 120 and / or other user equipment to the BS 110a, etc.

[0078] like Figure 5A As further shown, repeater 110b may include a layer 1 (e.g., physical layer) repeater. As such, repeater 110b may be a layer 1 repeater (or remote radio head or wireless switch) for UE 120 because the repeater functionality includes performing physical layer processing on traffic sent between BS 110a and UE 120 (e.g., performing all physical layer processing if UE 120 and BS 110a communicate only via repeater 110b; performing some physical layer processing if UE 120 and BS 110a communicate directly and via repeater 110b). For example, repeater 110b may receive traffic from BS 110a on a first frequency band, may decode the traffic, may encode the traffic for transmission on a second frequency band, and may transmit the encoded traffic to UE 120 on the second frequency band. As another example, relay 110b may receive traffic from UE 120 on the second frequency band, may decode the traffic, may encode the traffic for transmission on the first frequency band, and may transmit the encoded traffic to BS 110a on the first frequency band.

[0079] Furthermore, because the relay 110 b is a layer 1 relay for the UE 120, the BS 110 a and the UE 120 can handle the processing of higher layer protocols (e.g., medium access control (MAC), radio link control (RLC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), etc.) for traffic transmitted between the BS 110 a and the UE 120. This reduces the complexity of deploying the relay 110 b, reduces the complexity of configuring and maintaining the relay 110 b, etc.

[0080] like Figure 5B As shown and by reference numeral 502, in order to provide repeater functionality to BS 110a and UE 120, repeater 110b may monitor the first frequency band to determine that the operator of the wireless network is using the first frequency band to provide services. In some aspects, repeater 110b may be configured to monitor various frequency bands, such as the first frequency band, to determine whether one or more operators of the wireless network are providing services on the respective frequency bands. Thus, repeater 110b may determine that the operator of the wireless network is using the first frequency band to provide services based at least in part on detecting that BS 110a is operating on the first frequency band.

[0081] like Figure 5B As further shown and by reference numeral 504, the repeater 110b may receive information associated with the operator of the wireless network from the BS 110a. In some aspects, the repeater 110b may send a request for information associated with the operator of the wireless network to the BS 110a and based at least in part on determining that the operator of the wireless network is providing service using the first frequency band. The repeater 110b may receive information associated with the operator of the wireless network from the BS 110a and based at least in part on sending the request.

[0082] In some aspects, the information associated with the operator of the wireless network may include information identifying the operator of the wireless network (e.g., a public land mobile network (PLMN) identifier associated with the operator of the wireless network, a mobile network code (MNC) associated with the operator of the wireless network, etc.), system information associated with the wireless network (e.g., scheduling information of one or more system information blocks (SIBs) transmitted by BS 110a, cell identifier information associated with BS 110a, a master information block (MIB), an associated cell identity to which the relay 110b is connected, etc.), information identifying a radio frame structure associated with BS 110a (e.g., information identifying a downlink control channel structure (including a 5G NR synchronization signal block, referred to as an SSB), information identifying a downlink shared channel structure, etc.), etc. The information identifying the BS 110a to relay 110b channel structure transmitted over the relay 110b to UE 120 link may also include an implicit or explicit timing reference regarding the time at which such information is transmitted over the BS 110a to UE 120 link.

[0083] like Figure 5B As further shown in and by reference numeral 506, to provide a repeater function associated with the first frequency band, the repeater 110b may detect one or more user equipment (e.g., UE 120) operating on the first frequency band. In some aspects, the repeater 110b may detect the UE 120 based at least in part on monitoring the first frequency band for user equipment operating on the first frequency band. In some aspects, the repeater 110b may monitor the first frequency band based at least in part on determining that the BS 110a is operating on the first frequency band.

[0084] As in Figure 5BAs further shown in and by reference numeral 508, the repeater 110b may send a communication to the UE 120 using the second frequency band, the communication including information associated with the operator of the wireless network and information indicating that the repeater 110b is capable of providing the UE 120 with a repeater function associated with the first frequency band. For example, the repeater 110b may send a communication based at least in part on detecting that the UE 120 uses the first frequency band. In this way, the repeater 110b may allow the UE 120 to be able to discover the repeater 110b so that the UE 120 can associate with the repeater 110b to use the repeater function provided by the repeater 110b. In addition to indicating the availability of the repeater function, the repeater 110b may also indicate a certain proportion or portion of the available repeater function capacity in terms of data rate and / or available resources. For example, if relay 110b utilizes 25% of the resources of relay 110b to serve UE 110 associated with relay 110b, relay 110b may advertise a maximum data rate capacity of relay 110b based at least in part on the signal quality of the communication link between BS 110a and relay 110b, and may set the proportion and / or portion of available resources to 75%. Combining these with the values, UE 120 may be able to calculate whether relay 110b can support another UE 120 based at least in part on the signal quality of the communication link between relay 110b and UE 120.

[0085] In this way, UE 120 can receive the communication, can use the information included in the communication to associate with the repeater 110b (e.g., connect with the repeater 110b in a communicative manner, obtain services from the repeater 110b, etc.), and use the repeater function associated with the first frequency band. For example, UE 120 can send services to BS 110a via repeater 110b, can receive services from BS 110a via repeater 110b, etc. In this way, since the repeater 110b can have a larger physical size and / or form factor relative to UE 120, the repeater 110b can include a greater number of antennas compatible with the first frequency band relative to UE 120. Since the second frequency band can have a shorter wavelength than the wavelength of the first frequency band, the UE 120 can include a greater number of antennas compatible with the second frequency band, which increases the throughput, transmission rate, and wireless resource utilization between BS 110a and UE 120.

[0086] In some aspects, the repeater 110b can perform the actions described with reference to reference numerals 502 to 508 for other base stations associated with the wireless network (e.g., operating on the first frequency band, operating on another frequency band, etc.) and for other base stations associated with another wireless network (e.g., operating on the first frequency band, operating on another frequency band), etc. In this way, the repeater 110b can provide repeater functionality for multiple base stations and / or wireless networks.

[0087] As indicated above, Figure 5A and 5B Provided as one or more examples. Other examples may differ from Figure 5A and 5B The example described.

[0088] Figure 6 6 is a diagram illustrating an example 600 of repeater discovery in a wireless network according to various aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 6 As shown, similar to the above-described example 500, example 600 may include BS 110a, UE 120, and relay 110b. In some aspects, example 600 may include a greater number of base stations, user equipment, and / or relays.

[0089] like Figure 6 As shown in and by reference numeral 602, UE 120 may receive an instruction from BS 110a and on a first frequency band to monitor a second frequency band associated with repeater 110b. For example, BS 110a may be configured with information indicating that repeater 110b may be used to provide layer 1 repeater functionality for the first frequency band, and may be configured to send an instruction to UE 120 instructing UE 120 to discover repeater 110b. In some aspects, the instruction may include information identifying the second frequency band, information identifying a repeater identifier associated with repeater 110b, and the like.

[0090] like Figure 6 As further shown in FIG. 1 and by reference numeral 604, UE 120 may detect relay 110b based at least in part on receiving an instruction from BS 110a. For example, UE 120 may monitor the second frequency band, may receive a signaling communication from relay 110b based at least in part on monitoring the second frequency band, and may detect relay 110b based at least in part on identifying a relay identifier included in the signaling communication.

[0091] like Figure 6As further shown and by reference numeral 606, the UE 120 may associate with the repeater 110b based at least in part on detecting the repeater 110b to utilize layer 1 repeater functionality associated with the first frequency band provided by the repeater 110b. In some aspects, to associate with the repeater 110b, the UE 120 may send a request for information associated with the first frequency band, may send a request for information indicating that the repeater 110b is capable of providing layer 1 repeater functionality associated with the first frequency band, and the like. In this way, UE 120 can use the layer 1 relay function of repeater 110b to send traffic to BS110a (e.g., by using the physical layer processing of repeater 110b to send traffic to BS110a), can use the layer 1 relay function of repeater 110b to receive traffic from BS110a (e.g., by using the physical layer processing of repeater 110b to receive traffic from BS110a), etc., which increases the throughput, transmission rate and wireless resource utilization between BS110a and UE 120. In some aspects, UE 120 can manage and process high-layer signaling between UE 120 and BS110a directly (e.g., without using repeater 110b).

[0092] As indicated above, Figure 6 are provided as examples. Other examples may differ from those described in Figure 6 The example described.

[0093] Figure 7 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary process 700, for example, performed by a repeater, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. Exemplary process 700 is an example of a repeater (eg, repeater 110b) performing repeater discovery in a wireless network.

[0094] like Figure 7 As shown, in some aspects, process 700 may include identifying an operator of a wireless network providing service on a first frequency band (block 710). For example, the repeater (e.g., using transmit processor 220, receive processor 238, controller / processor 240, memory 242, receive processor 258, transmit processor 264, controller / processor 280, memory 282, etc.) may identify an operator of a wireless network providing service on a first frequency band as described above.

[0095] like Figure 7As further shown, in some aspects, process 700 may include sending a communication to a user device and using a second frequency band associated with a repeater, the communication including information associated with an operator of the wireless network and information indicating that the repeater is capable of providing layer 1 repeater functions associated with the first frequency band to the user device, wherein the first frequency band and the second frequency band are at different frequencies (block 720). For example, the repeater (e.g., using transmit processor 220, controller / processor 240, memory 242, transmit processor 264, controller / processor 280, memory 282, etc.) may send a communication to a user device and using a second frequency band associated with the repeater, the communication including information associated with an operator of the wireless network and information indicating that the repeater is capable of providing layer 1 repeater functions associated with the first frequency band to the user device as described above. In some aspects, the first frequency band and the second frequency band are at different frequencies.

[0096] Process 700 may include additional aspects, such as any single aspect and / or any combination of aspects described below and / or in conjunction with one or more other processes described elsewhere herein.

[0097] In a first aspect, the first frequency band comprises a frequency band below 7 GHz and the second frequency band comprises a millimeter wave frequency band. In a second aspect, alone or in combination with the first aspect, the repeater function associated with the first frequency band comprises performing physical layer processing of traffic sent between the user equipment and a base station included in the wireless network using the first frequency band.

[0098] In a third aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first or second aspects, the repeater function associated with the first frequency band includes performing a portion of physical layer processing of a service transmitted between the user equipment and a base station included in the wireless network using the first frequency band. In a fourth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to third aspects, the first frequency band is associated with one or more operators of a plurality of wireless networks, and the information indicating that the repeater is capable of providing the repeater function associated with the first frequency band to the user equipment includes information indicating that the repeater is capable of providing the repeater function for a plurality of operators of a plurality of wireless networks.

[0099] In a fifth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to fourth aspects, the information associated with the operator of the wireless network includes at least one of the following: information identifying the operator of the wireless network; system information related to the wireless network, the system information including the identity of the associated cell to which the repeater is connected; information identifying the frame structure associated with the operator of the wireless network for the first frequency band, etc. In a sixth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to fifth aspects, the information identifying the operator of the wireless network includes at least one of the following: a public land mobile network identifier associated with the operator of the wireless network; a mobile network code associated with the operator of the wireless network, etc. In a seventh aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to sixth aspects, the repeater includes at least one of the following: a small cell; a macro cell; another user equipment, etc.

[0100] although Figure 7 An exemplary block diagram of process 700 is shown, but in some aspects, Figure 7 Process 700 may include additional blocks, fewer blocks, different blocks, or differently arranged blocks than those depicted in . Additionally or alternatively, two or more blocks of process 700 may be performed in parallel.

[0101] Figure 8 8 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary process 800, performed, for example, by a UE, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. Exemplary process 800 is an example of a UE (eg, UE 120) performing relay discovery in a wireless network.

[0102] like Figure 8 As shown, in some aspects, process 800 may include receiving from a base station and on a first frequency band an instruction to monitor a second frequency band associated with a repeater, wherein the repeater is capable of providing a layer 1 repeater function associated with the first frequency band, and wherein the first frequency band and the second frequency band are at different frequencies (block 810). For example, the UE (e.g., using the receive processor 258, the controller / processor 280, the memory 282, etc.) may receive from a base station and on a first frequency band an instruction to monitor a second frequency band associated with a repeater as described above. In some aspects, the repeater is capable of providing a layer 1 repeater function associated with the first frequency band. In some aspects, the first frequency band and the second frequency band are at different frequencies.

[0103] like Figure 8 As shown, in some aspects, process 800 may include detecting a repeater based at least in part on monitoring the second frequency band (block 820). For example, the UE (e.g., using receive processor 258, transmit processor 264, controller / processor 280, memory 282, etc.) may detect a repeater based at least in part on monitoring the second frequency band as described above.

[0104] like Figure 8 As shown, in some aspects, process 800 may include associating with the relay based at least in part on detecting the relay to use layer 1 relay functionality associated with the first frequency band provided by the relay (block 830). For example, the UE (e.g., using receive processor 258, transmit processor 264, controller / processor 280, memory 282, etc.) may associate with the relay based at least in part on detecting the relay to use layer 1 relay functionality associated with the first frequency band provided by the relay as described above.

[0105] like Figure 8 As shown, in some aspects, process 800 may include communicating with a base station using layer 1 relay functionality of a relay (block 840). For example, a UE (e.g., using receive processor 258, transmit processor 264, controller / processor 280, memory 282, etc.) may communicate with a base station using layer 1 relay functionality of a relay as described above.

[0106] Process 800 may include additional aspects, such as any single aspect and / or any combination of aspects described below and / or in conjunction with one or more other processes described elsewhere herein.

[0107] In the first aspect, the first frequency band includes a frequency band below 7 GHz, and the second frequency band includes a millimeter wave frequency band. In the second aspect, alone or in combination with the first aspect, communicating with the base station using a layer 1 repeater function of the repeater includes at least one of: using the physical layer processing of the repeater to send traffic to the base station and on the first frequency band, or using the physical layer processing of the repeater to receive traffic from the base station and on the first frequency band.

[0108] In a third aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first or second aspects, the repeater function associated with the first frequency band includes performing at least a portion of physical layer processing of services sent between the user equipment and the base station using the first frequency band. In a fourth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to third aspects, associating with a repeater includes sending a request to the repeater for information associated with the first frequency band and information indicating that the repeater can provide the repeater function associated with the first frequency band to the user equipment.

[0109] In a fifth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to fourth aspects, the instruction to monitor the second frequency band includes at least one of the following: information identifying the second frequency band, information identifying a repeater identifier associated with the repeater, etc. In a sixth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to fifth aspects, detecting the repeater includes detecting the repeater based at least in part on detecting signaling communications sent by the repeater using the second frequency band. In a seventh aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to sixth aspects, the repeater includes at least one of the following: a small cell; a macro cell; another user equipment, etc.

[0110] although Figure 8 An exemplary block diagram of process 800 is shown, but in some aspects, Figure 8 Process 800 may include additional blocks, fewer blocks, different blocks, or differently arranged blocks than those depicted in . Additionally or alternatively, two or more blocks of process 800 may be performed in parallel.

[0111] The foregoing disclosure provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the aspects to the precise forms disclosed. Modifications and variations may be made in light of the above disclosure or may be acquired from practice of the aspects.

[0112] As used herein, the term "component" is intended to be broadly interpreted as hardware, firmware, and / or a combination of hardware and software. As used herein, a processor is implemented in hardware, firmware, and / or a combination of hardware and software.

[0113] It will be apparent that the systems and / or methods described herein may be implemented in various forms of hardware, firmware, and / or a combination of hardware and software. The actual dedicated control hardware or software code used to implement these systems and / or methods does not limit the aspects. Therefore, the operation and behavior of the systems and / or methods are not described herein with reference to specific software code - it should be understood that software and hardware can be designed to implement the systems and / or methods based at least in part on the description herein.

[0114] Even if a specific combination of features is described in the claims and / or disclosed in the specification, these combinations are still not intended to limit the disclosure of various aspects. In fact, many of these features can be combined in a manner that is not specifically described in the claims and / or not specifically disclosed in the specification. Although each dependent claim listed below can only be directly subordinate to a claim, the disclosure of various aspects includes each dependent claim combined with each other claim in the claim set. The phrase "at least one" referring to the list of items refers to any combination of those items, including a single member. For example, "at least one of a, b or c" is intended to cover a, b, c, ab, ac, bc and abc and any combination of multiples with the same elements (for example, aa, aaa, aab, aac, abb, acc, bb, bbb, bbc, cc and ccc or any ordering of a, b and c).

[0115] The elements, actions or instructions used herein should not be interpreted as being essential or necessary unless so explicitly described. In addition, as used herein, the articles "a" and "an" are intended to include one or more items and can be used interchangeably with "one or more". In addition, as used herein, the terms "set" and "group" are intended to include one or more items (e.g., related items, unrelated items, a combination of related items and unrelated items, etc.), and can be used interchangeably with "one or more". When it is desired to have only one item, the phrase "only one" or similar language is used. In addition, as used herein, the terms "has", "have", "having", etc. are intended to be open terms. In addition, unless otherwise explicitly stated, the wording "based on" is intended to mean "based at least in part on".

Claims

1. A wireless communication method performed by a repeater, comprising: identifying an operator of a wireless network providing service on a first frequency band; Detecting a user equipment UE that is using the first frequency band; as well as sending communications to the user equipment using a second frequency band associated with the relay based at least in part on detecting that the UE uses the first frequency band, The communication includes: information associated with the operator of the wireless network, and information indicating that the repeater is capable of providing a layer 1 repeater function associated with the first frequency band to the user equipment, wherein the first frequency band and the second frequency band are at different frequencies, The second frequency band has a shorter wavelength than the first frequency band.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The first frequency band includes: Frequency bands below 7 GHz; and Wherein, the second frequency band includes: Millimeter wave frequency band.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The layer 1 repeater functionality associated with the first frequency band includes: Physical layer processing of traffic transmitted between the user equipment and a base station included in the wireless network using the first frequency band is performed.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The layer 1 repeater functionality associated with the first frequency band includes: A portion of physical layer processing of traffic transmitted between the user equipment and a base station included in the wireless network using the first frequency band is performed.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein: the first frequency band being associated with a plurality of operators of a plurality of wireless networks including the wireless network; and The information indicating that the repeater can provide the layer 1 repeater function associated with the first frequency band to the user equipment includes: Information indicating that the repeater is capable of providing the layer 1 repeater functionality for the plurality of operators of the plurality of wireless networks.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The information associated with the operator of the wireless network includes at least one of: information identifying the operator of the wireless network, system information associated with the wireless network, the system information including an associated cell identity to which the relay is connected, or Information identifying a frame structure associated with the operator of the wireless network for the first frequency band.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein: The information identifying the operator of the wireless network includes at least one of: a public land mobile network identifier associated with said operator of said wireless network, or A mobile network code associated with the operator of the wireless network.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The repeater includes at least one of the following: Small community, Macrocell, or Another user device.

9. A wireless communication method performed by a user equipment, comprising: receiving an instruction from a base station on a first frequency band to monitor a second frequency band associated with a repeater, wherein the repeater is capable of providing a layer 1 repeater function associated with the first frequency band, and wherein the first frequency band and the second frequency band are at different frequencies; detecting the repeater based at least in part on monitoring the second frequency band; sending a request for information indicating that the repeater is capable of providing the layer 1 repeater functionality associated with the first frequency band based at least in part on detecting the repeater and upon receiving an instruction to monitor the second frequency band associated with the repeater; and communicating with the base station using the layer 1 repeater functionality of the repeater, The second frequency band has a shorter wavelength than the first frequency band.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein: The first frequency band includes: Frequency bands below 7 GHz; and Wherein, the second frequency band includes: Millimeter wave frequency band.

11. The method according to claim 9, wherein: Communicating with the base station using the layer 1 repeater function of the repeater comprises at least one of: using the physical layer processing of the repeater to send a service to the base station on the first frequency band, or Traffic is received from the base station on the first frequency band using physical layer processing of the repeater.

12. The method according to claim 9, wherein: The layer 1 repeater functionality associated with the first frequency band includes: At least a part of physical layer processing of traffic transmitted between the user equipment and the base station using the first frequency band is performed.

13. The method according to claim 9, further comprising: Send a request to the repeater for: Information associated with the first frequency band.

14. The method according to claim 9, wherein: The instructions to monitor the second frequency band include at least one of: information identifying the second frequency band, or Information identifying a repeater identifier associated with the repeater.

15. The method according to claim 9, wherein: Detecting the repeater includes: The repeater is detected based at least in part on detecting signaling communications sent by the repeater using the second frequency band.

16. The method according to claim 9, wherein: The repeater includes at least one of the following: Small community, Macrocell, or Another user device.

17. A repeater for wireless communication, comprising: Memory; as well as one or more processors operably coupled to the memory, the memory and the one or more processors being configured to: identifying an operator of a wireless network providing service on a first frequency band; Detecting a user equipment UE that is using the first frequency band; as well as sending communications to the user equipment using a second frequency band associated with the relay based at least in part on detecting that the UE uses the first frequency band, The communication includes: information associated with the operator of the wireless network, and information indicating that the repeater is capable of providing a layer 1 repeater function associated with the first frequency band to the user equipment, wherein the first frequency band and the second frequency band are at different frequencies, The second frequency band has a shorter wavelength than the first frequency band.

18. The repeater according to claim 17, wherein: The first frequency band includes: Frequency bands below 7 GHz; and Wherein, the second frequency band includes: Millimeter wave frequency band.

19. The repeater according to claim 17, wherein: The layer 1 repeater functionality associated with the first frequency band includes: Physical layer processing of traffic transmitted between the user equipment and a base station included in the wireless network using the first frequency band is performed.

20. The repeater according to claim 17, wherein: The layer 1 repeater functionality associated with the first frequency band includes: A portion of physical layer processing of traffic transmitted between the user equipment and a base station included in the wireless network using the first frequency band is performed.

21. The repeater according to claim 17, wherein: The first frequency band is associated with one or more operators of a plurality of wireless networks; as well as The information indicating that the repeater can provide the layer 1 repeater function associated with the first frequency band to the user equipment includes: Information indicating that the repeater is capable of providing the layer 1 repeater functionality for the plurality of operators of the plurality of wireless networks.

22. The repeater according to claim 17, wherein: The information associated with the operator of the wireless network includes at least one of: information identifying the operator of the wireless network, system information associated with the wireless network, the system information including an associated cell identity to which the relay is connected, or Information identifying a frame structure associated with the operator of the wireless network for the first frequency band.

23. The repeater according to claim 22, wherein: The information identifying the operator of the wireless network includes at least one of: a public land mobile network identifier associated with said operator of said wireless network, or A mobile network code associated with the operator of the wireless network.

24. The repeater according to claim 17, wherein: The repeater includes at least one of the following: Small community, Macrocell, or Another user device.

25. The repeater according to claim 17, wherein: The communication also includes information indicative of a maximum data rate capacity of the repeater based at least in part on a signal quality of a communication link between a base station and the repeater.

26. A user equipment for wireless communication, comprising: Memory; as well as one or more processors operably coupled to the memory, the memory and the one or more processors being configured to: receiving an instruction from a base station on a first frequency band to monitor a second frequency band associated with a repeater, wherein the repeater is capable of providing a layer 1 repeater function associated with the first frequency band, and wherein the first frequency band and the second frequency band are at different frequencies; detecting the repeater based at least in part on monitoring the second frequency band; sending a request for information indicating that the repeater is capable of providing the layer 1 repeater functionality associated with the first frequency band based at least in part on detecting the repeater and upon receiving an instruction to monitor the second frequency band associated with the repeater; and communicating with the base station using the layer 1 repeater functionality of the repeater, The second frequency band has a shorter wavelength than the first frequency band.

27. The user equipment according to claim 26, wherein: The first frequency band includes: Frequency bands below 7 GHz; and Wherein, the second frequency band includes: Millimeter wave frequency band.

28. The user equipment according to claim 26, wherein: The one or more processors, when communicating with the base station using the layer 1 repeater function of the repeater, at least one of: using the physical layer processing of the repeater to send a service to the base station on the first frequency band, or Traffic is received from the base station on the first frequency band using physical layer processing of the repeater.

29. The user equipment according to claim 26, wherein: The layer 1 repeater functionality associated with the first frequency band includes: At least a part of physical layer processing of traffic transmitted between the user equipment and the base station using the first frequency band is performed.

30. The user equipment according to claim 26, wherein: The one or more processors also: Send a request to the repeater for: Information associated with the first frequency band.

31. The user equipment according to claim 26, wherein: The instructions to monitor the second frequency band include at least one of: information identifying the second frequency band, or Information identifying a repeater identifier associated with the repeater.

32. A computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon, which when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

33. A computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon, which when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform the method according to any one of claims 9 to 16.

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