Multi-hop communication method and system, base station, smart surface and storage medium

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a multi-hop communication method and system, a base station, an intelligent surface and a storage medium. The multi-hop communication method includes: the base station configures time-frequency physical resources for multiple intelligent surfaces, wherein the time-frequency physical resources are used to transmit intelligent surface control information, the multiple intelligent surfaces are deployed according to the surrounding environment of the base station, and the multiple intelligent surfaces form an orderly multi-hop transmission relationship. The present disclosure can improve the wireless signal coverage and transmission performance in complex environments with the help of multiple intelligent surfaces.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of wireless communication technology, and in particular to a multi-hop communication method and system, a base station, a smart surface and a storage medium. Background Art

[0002] IRS (Intelligent Reflecting Surface) or RIS (Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface) (hereinafter referred to as intelligent surface for the convenience of description) is composed of a large number of low-cost electromagnetic units. The reflection direction of the signal incident on the intelligent surface can be controlled by adjusting the parameters of each unit (such as phase), and the signal can be reflected in the desired direction. Since intelligent surfaces have the characteristics of low cost, low power consumption, and easy deployment, they are expected to become a candidate technology for 6G wireless communications. Summary of the invention

[0003] For dense urban areas, it may be necessary to use multiple smart surfaces for multi-hop reflection to assist in the coverage of wireless signals. However, there is currently no effective solution for multi-hop transmission on smart surfaces.

[0004] In view of at least one of the above technical problems, the present disclosure provides a multi-hop communication method and system, a base station, a smart surface and a storage medium, which can improve the wireless signal coverage and transmission performance in complex environments with the help of multiple smart surfaces.

[0005] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a multi-hop communication method is provided, including:

[0006] The base station configures time-frequency physical resources for multiple smart surfaces, wherein the time-frequency physical resources are used to transmit smart surface control information, the multiple smart surfaces are deployed according to the surrounding environment of the base station, and the multiple smart surfaces form an orderly multi-hop transmission relationship.

[0007] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the multi-hop communication method further includes:

[0008] When the smart surface assists in transmission, the base station transmits control information to the first-hop smart surface through a predetermined frequency band range, and sends a control signal using a beam indicating the first-hop smart surface.

[0009] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, transmitting control information to the first-hop smart surface and sending a control signal using a beam indicating the first-hop smart surface includes:

[0010] Control information is transmitted to the first-hop smart surface, indicating a beam pattern index of the first-hop smart surface, so as to form a beam pattern required for subsequent transmission.

[0011] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the transmitting control information to the first-hop smart surface to indicate the beam pattern index of the first-hop smart surface to form a beam pattern required for subsequent transmission includes:

[0012] The base station controls the beam pattern of one or more smart surfaces by transmitting control information at different time-frequency resource locations.

[0013] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, except for the smart surface of the last hop, the beam pattern of each smart surface includes a beam pattern pointing to the next hop.

[0014] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, except for the first-hop smart surface, the beam pattern of each smart surface includes a beam pattern pointing to the previous hop.

[0015] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the beam pattern of the first-hop smart surface includes a beam pattern pointing to the base station.

[0016] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, for an uplink beam pattern, the smart surface of the last hop generates a reverse beam according to the beam direction of the last downlink transmission.

[0017] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the multiple smart surfaces all operate in the same frequency band.

[0018] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the multiple smart surfaces operate in different frequency bands.

[0019] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the multi-hop communication method further includes:

[0020] When the multiple smart surfaces all operate in the same frequency band, the base station indicates the smart surface to which the current control information is directed through additional bit information.

[0021] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the multi-hop communication method further includes:

[0022] The base station determines the number of bits of the additional bit information according to the number of smart surfaces.

[0023] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the multi-hop communication method further includes:

[0024] After the smart surface detects the control information sent by the base station, the smart surface adjusts the parameters of the electromagnetic unit of the smart surface according to the control information to form a corresponding beam pattern.

[0025] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the multi-hop communication method further includes:

[0026] The smart surface is synchronized with the base station through a timer or synchronization device.

[0027] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a base station is provided, including:

[0028] A resource configuration module is used to configure time-frequency physical resources for multiple smart surfaces, wherein the time-frequency physical resources are used to transmit smart surface control information, the multiple smart surfaces are deployed according to the surrounding environment of the base station, and the multiple smart surfaces form an orderly multi-hop transmission relationship.

[0029] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the base station is used to perform operations to implement the multi-hop communication method as described in any of the above embodiments.

[0030] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a base station is provided, including:

[0031] A memory for storing instructions;

[0032] The processor is used to execute the instruction so that the base station performs the operation of implementing the multi-hop communication method as described in any of the above embodiments.

[0033] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a smart surface is provided, wherein a plurality of smart surfaces are deployed according to the surrounding environment of a base station; the plurality of smart surfaces form an ordered multi-hop transmission relationship;

[0034] The multiple smart surfaces are used to receive time-frequency physical resources configured by a base station, wherein the time-frequency physical resources are used to transmit smart surface control information.

[0035] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the smart surface includes a wireless signal receiver, a general control unit, a plurality of electromagnetic units, and a control unit of each electromagnetic unit, wherein:

[0036] A wireless signal receiver, used to receive control information from a base station;

[0037] The wireless receiving device is connected to the general control unit, the general control unit is connected to the control unit of each electromagnetic unit; each electromagnetic unit is connected to the control unit of the electromagnetic unit.

[0038] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the smart surface is used to adjust the parameters of the electromagnetic unit according to the control information after detecting the control information sent by the base station to form a corresponding beam pattern.

[0039] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the wireless signal receiver of each smart surface is used to detect control information of the corresponding frequency band;

[0040] A general control unit, used for transmitting the adjustment parameters of each electromagnetic unit to the control units of each electromagnetic unit according to the control information;

[0041] Each electromagnetic unit is used to adjust the electromagnetic unit parameters according to the instruction of the control unit of the electromagnetic unit to form a corresponding beamforming pattern.

[0042] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the smart surface comprises:

[0043] A timer or synchronization device is used to synchronize the smart surface and the base station.

[0044] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the smart surface is a smart reflective surface or a reconfigurable smart surface.

[0045] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a multi-hop communication system is provided, comprising a base station and a plurality of smart surfaces, wherein:

[0046] A smart surface, which is a smart surface as described in any of the above embodiments;

[0047] The base station is a base station as described in any of the above embodiments.

[0048] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium is provided, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions, and when the instructions are executed by a processor, the multi-hop communication method as described in any of the above embodiments is implemented.

[0049] The present disclosure can improve wireless signal coverage and transmission performance in complex environments with the help of multiple smart surfaces. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0050] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present disclosure or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present disclosure. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying any creative work.

[0051] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of some embodiments of the multi-hop communication method disclosed in the present invention.

[0052] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of other embodiments of the multi-hop communication method disclosed in the present invention.

[0053] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of some embodiments of the multi-hop communication system disclosed in the present invention.

[0054] Figure 4Schematic diagrams of some embodiments of the smart surface disclosed herein.

[0055] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of allocating time-frequency physical resources in a time-division manner in some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0056] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of allocating time-frequency physical resources using time division and frequency division in some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0057] Figure 7 Schematic diagram of some embodiments of the base station disclosed herein.

[0058] Figure 8 The present invention is a schematic structural diagram of a base station according to another embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0059] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present disclosure, rather than all of the embodiments. The following description of at least one exemplary embodiment is actually only illustrative and is by no means intended to limit the present disclosure and its application or use. Based on the embodiments in the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

[0060] The relative arrangement of components and steps, the numerical expressions and numerical values ​​set forth in these embodiments do not limit the scope of the present disclosure unless specifically stated otherwise.

[0061] At the same time, it should be understood that for the convenience of description, the sizes of the various parts shown in the drawings are not drawn according to the actual proportional relationship.

[0062] Technologies, methods, and apparatus known to ordinary technicians in the relevant field may not be discussed in detail, but where appropriate, such technologies, methods, and apparatus should be considered part of the authorization specification.

[0063] In all examples shown and discussed herein, any specific values ​​should be interpreted as merely exemplary and not as limiting. Therefore, other examples of the exemplary embodiments may have different values.

[0064] It should be noted that like reference numerals and letters refer to similar items in the following figures, and therefore, once an item is defined in one figure, it need not be further discussed in subsequent figures.

[0065] Figure 1 The diagram is a schematic diagram of some embodiments of the multi-hop communication method of the present disclosure. Preferably, the present embodiment can be executed by the multi-hop communication system of the present disclosure or the base station of the present disclosure. Figure 1 The method of an embodiment may include step 11, wherein:

[0066] Step 11: The base station configures time-frequency physical resources for multiple smart surfaces, wherein the time-frequency physical resources are used to transmit smart surface control information, the multiple smart surfaces are deployed according to the surrounding environment of the base station, and the multiple smart surfaces form an orderly multi-hop transmission relationship.

[0067] Figure 2 The following is a schematic diagram of some other embodiments of the multi-hop communication method of the present disclosure. Preferably, the present embodiment can be executed by the multi-hop communication system of the present disclosure or the base station of the present disclosure. Figure 2 The method of the embodiment may include steps 10 to 13, wherein:

[0068] Step 10: deploy multiple smart surfaces according to the surrounding environment of the base station, wherein the multiple smart surfaces form an ordered multi-hop transmission relationship, and the multiple smart surfaces can be respectively named as a first hop IRS, a second hop IRS, ..., an Nth hop IRS (N is greater than or equal to 2).

[0069] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the smart surface may be an intelligent reflective surface IRS.

[0070] In some other embodiments of the present disclosure, the smart surface may be a reconfigurable smart surface RIS.

[0071] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of some embodiments of the multi-hop communication system disclosed in the present invention. Figure 3 The IRS deployment scenario when N=2 is shown. Figure 3 As shown, the multi-hop communication system is deployed with two IRSs.

[0072] In some other embodiments of the present disclosure, step 10 may include: the base station calculates and obtains a beamforming weight pointing to the first hop IRS. Since the positions of the IRS and the base station are relatively fixed, and the relative positions of the IRS and the IRS are fixed, the base station only needs to know the angle information between it and the IRS and an appropriate beamforming algorithm to complete the design of the beamforming weight.

[0073] The above embodiments of the present disclosure do not specifically limit how the base station obtains the angle information between it and the IRS, nor do they specifically limit the beamforming algorithm.

[0074] Figure 4 Schematic diagrams of some embodiments of the smart surface disclosed in the present invention. Figure 4 As shown, the smart surface (eg Figure 3 The first hop IRS and the second hop IRS of the embodiment may include a wireless signal receiver 41, a general control unit 42, a plurality of electromagnetic units 43, and a control unit 44 of each electromagnetic unit 43, wherein:

[0075] The wireless signal receiver 42 is used to receive control information from the base station.

[0076] The wireless receiving device is connected to the overall control unit 42 , and the overall control unit 42 is connected to the control unit 44 of each electromagnetic unit 43 ; each electromagnetic unit 43 is connected to the control unit 44 of the electromagnetic unit 43 .

[0077] Step 11: The base station configures time-frequency physical resources for the deployed multiple smart surfaces, where the time-frequency physical resources are used to transmit control information to the smart surfaces.

[0078] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the specific number of bits of the control information is related to the modulation and demodulation orders supported by the wireless signal receiving device on the IRS side and the total number of beam patterns.

[0079] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, wireless signal receivers of multiple IRSs may operate in the same or different frequency bands.

[0080] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the time-frequency physical resources of multiple IRSs are arranged in a time division or time division + frequency division manner.

[0081] Let's take N=2 as an example. Figure 5 and Figure 6 Two arrangements are described.

[0082] Figure 5 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of allocating time-frequency physical resources in a time-division manner in some embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 5 As shown, the wireless signal receivers of multiple IRSs work in the same frequency band range, and the time-frequency physical resources are allocated in a time-division manner. Among them, the time interval between the control information of the first-hop IRS and the control information of the second-hop IRS is greater than the time required for the IRS to adjust the beam direction; the time interval between the control information of the second-hop IRS and the actual transmission data is greater than the time required for the IRS to adjust the beam direction.

[0083] Figure 6 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of allocating time-frequency physical resources in a time division and frequency division manner in some embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 6 As shown, the wireless signal receivers of multiple IRSs operate in different frequency bands, and the time-frequency physical resources are allocated in a time division + frequency division manner. Among them, the time interval between the control information of the first-hop IRS and the control information of the second-hop IRS is greater than the time required for the IRS to adjust the beam direction; the time interval between the control information of the second-hop IRS and the actual transmission data is greater than the time required for the IRS to adjust the beam direction.

[0084] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, step 11 may include step 111 and step 112, wherein:

[0085] Step 111: The physical time-frequency resources configured by the base station may be some predefined frequency bands, which may be directly used as initial configuration parameters of each IRS wireless signal receiving device.

[0086] Step 112: When the multiple smart surfaces all operate in the same frequency band, the base station indicates the smart surface to which the current control information is directed through additional bit information.

[0087] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, step 112 may include: if each smart surface operates in the same frequency band range, it is necessary to introduce an additional bit to indicate which smart surface the current control information is for.

[0088] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the multi-hop communication method may further include: the base station determines the number of bits of the additional bit information according to the number of smart surfaces.

[0089] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the step of determining the number of bits of the additional bit information according to the number of smart surfaces may include: according to the formula Determine the number of extra bits of information, where the symbol Indicates rounding up.

[0090] For example: Taking N=2 as an example, if there are 2 IRSs in total, an additional 1-bit information is required to indicate which IRS the current control information is for, where the highest bit of the control information is 0, indicating that the control information is used to indicate the beam index of the first-hop IRS; the highest bit of the control information is 1, indicating that the control information is used to indicate the beam index of the second-hop IRS.

[0091] Step 12: When the smart surface assists in transmission, the base station transmits control information to the first-hop smart surface through a predetermined frequency band range, and sends a control signal using a beam indicating the first-hop smart surface.

[0092] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, step 12 may include: when the base station needs IRS-assisted transmission, the base station transmits a control bit to the first-hop IRS in the aforementioned defined frequency band range to indicate the beam pattern index of the first-hop IRS to form the beam pattern required for subsequent transmission.

[0093] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, step 12 may include: the base station may control the beam pattern of one or more IRSs by transmitting control information bits at different time-frequency resource locations. That is, not every transmission needs to be assisted by all IRSs.

[0094] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, step 12 may include steps 121 to 124, wherein:

[0095] Step 121, except for the IRS of the last hop, the beam pattern of each IRS includes a beam pattern pointing to the next hop, and its corresponding index is recorded as index 0. Except for the bit used to indicate the IRS, it is represented by all 0 bits.

[0096] Step 122: Except for the first-hop IRS, the beam pattern of each IRS includes a beam pattern pointing to the previous hop, and its corresponding index is denoted as index X. Except for the bit used to indicate the IRS, the remaining bits are represented by all 1s.

[0097] Step 123: The beam pattern of the first-hop IRS includes a beam pattern pointing to the base station. Its corresponding index is denoted as index X. Except for the bit used to indicate the IRS, the remaining bits are represented by all 1s.

[0098] In step 124, the beam pattern of each IRS can be designed offline in combination with the specific deployment scenario and the base station location. Except for beam 0 and beam X, each downlink beam pattern covers different directions to assist the downlink transmission performance of the base station. The uplink beam pattern is used to reflect uplink signals from different areas to the base station direction to improve the uplink transmission performance.

[0099] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, step 124 may include: for the uplink beam pattern, only the IRS of the last hop needs to generate a reverse beam according to the beam direction of the previous downlink transmission, and other IRSs do not need to perform special design for the uplink beam.

[0100] An example is as follows: In a downlink transmission, there are three IRS hops. The third IRS hop infers the direction of the uplink beam (opposite to the downlink beam direction) based on the direction of the downlink beam, and generates a beam pointing to the second IRS hop based on the direction of the wave. Here, the IRS does not need to have the ability to dynamically generate beam directions. The electromagnetic unit parameters of the IRS in each beam direction can be obtained through offline design, and the electromagnetic unit parameters of the required beam pattern can be obtained through a similar table lookup method. The second and first hops are relatively simple, and the beam indexed by X can be used directly.

[0101] Step 13: After the smart surface detects the control information sent by the base station, the smart surface adjusts the parameters of the electromagnetic unit of the smart surface according to the control information to form a corresponding beam pattern.

[0102] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, step 13 may include steps 131 to 135, wherein:

[0103] Step 131, the wireless signal receiver of each smart surface is used to detect control information of the corresponding frequency band.

[0104] In step 132 , the overall control unit 42 transmits the adjustment parameters of each electromagnetic unit 43 to the control unit 44 of each electromagnetic unit 43 according to the control information.

[0105] In step 133 , each electromagnetic unit 43 adjusts the parameters of the electromagnetic unit 43 according to the instruction of the control unit 44 of the electromagnetic unit 43 to form a corresponding beamforming pattern.

[0106] Step 134 , the smart surface is synchronized with the base station through a timer or a synchronization device.

[0107] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, step 134 may include step 1341 and step 1342, wherein:

[0108] Step 1341, a timer, a synchronization device, etc. can be introduced into the IRS to synchronize with the base station, so that the IRS control can be realized more efficiently and with low latency. When the IRS receives the downlink transmission control information, the timer starts. When the timer times out, the IRS adjusts the electromagnetic unit parameters to the pattern of beam No. X to assist in the transmission of uplink data from the user. In this way, the above-mentioned embodiment of the present disclosure does not need to control the uplink beam pattern of the IRS, and the control delay can be reduced.

[0109] Step 1342: If the method of step 1341 is adopted, the base station needs to configure the duration of the timer for each IRS.

[0110] The multi-hop communication method provided by the above embodiment of the present disclosure is a multi-hop communication method assisted by an intelligent surface. Through the method of the above embodiment of the present disclosure, the multi-hop transmission control problem of multiple intelligent surfaces (such as IRS) can be solved, so that the wireless signal coverage and transmission performance in complex environments can be improved with the help of multiple intelligent surfaces.

[0111] The multi-hop communication method disclosed in the present invention is described below through specific embodiments.

[0112] Step 1: Deploy two IRSs based on the surrounding environment of the base station, named first-hop IRS and second-hop IRS. Figure 3 shown.

[0113] Step 2: The base station configures time-frequency physical resources for multiple deployed IRSs to transmit IRS control information, such as Figure 5 and Figure 6 As shown, the base station calculates and obtains the beamforming weight directed to the first hop IRS.

[0114] Step 3: When IRS-assisted transmission is required, the base station transmits a control bit to the first-hop IRS in the frequency band range defined above to indicate the beam pattern index of the first-hop IRS, so as to form the beam pattern required for subsequent transmission.

[0115] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, step 3 may include step 3-1, wherein:

[0116] Step 3-1: Furthermore, when the base station needs the first-hop IRS to assist in transmission, the control information is transmitted at the time-frequency resource position of the control information of the first-hop IRS. When the two-hop IRSs use the same monitoring frequency band, the bits "010" are transmitted, where the highest bit "0" indicates that the control information is the control information of the first-hop IRS, and the subsequent bits "10" indicate that the beam pattern with sequence number 3 is used; when the two-hop IRSs use different monitoring frequency bands, the bit "10" is transmitted, directly indicating that the beam pattern with sequence number 3 is used. When the base station needs the second-hop IRS to assist in transmission, the control information is transmitted at the time-frequency resource position of the control information of the second-hop IRS. The control method is similar to that of the first-hop IRS and will not be repeated here.

[0117] Step 4: After the IRS detects the control bit sent by the base station, it adjusts the parameters of the electromagnetic unit 43 according to the control bit to form a corresponding beam pattern.

[0118] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, step 3 may include step 4-1 and step 4-2, wherein:

[0119] Step 4-1: A timer, synchronization device, etc. may be introduced into the IRS to synchronize with the base station. When the IRS receives downlink transmission control information, the timer starts. When the timer times out, the IRS adjusts the electromagnetic unit 43 parameters to the pattern of beam No. X to assist in transmitting uplink data from the user. In this way, the base station does not need to control the uplink beam pattern of the IRS.

[0120] Step 4-2: For the timer mentioned in step 4-1, the base station needs to pre-configure the timeout duration of the timer and transmit it to the IRS.

[0121] The multi-hop communication method provided in the above-mentioned embodiment of the present disclosure is a multi-hop control method for a smart surface.

[0122] In the above embodiments of the present disclosure, when multiple smart surfaces monitor the same or different frequency bands, a method for a base station to configure time-frequency resources and control information for transmission.

[0123] The above-mentioned embodiments of the present disclosure can implement the adjustment of the uplink beam pattern on the smart surface based on the assistance of a timer.

[0124] The above embodiments of the present disclosure may be applicable to 6G systems.

[0125] Figure 7 Schematic diagram of some embodiments of the base station disclosed in the present invention. Figure 7 As shown, the base station of the present disclosure may include a resource configuration module 71, wherein:

[0126] The resource configuration module 71 is used to configure time-frequency physical resources for multiple smart surfaces, wherein the time-frequency physical resources are used to transmit smart surface control information, the multiple smart surfaces are deployed according to the surrounding environment of the base station, and the multiple smart surfaces form an orderly multi-hop transmission relationship.

[0127] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, Figure 7 As shown, the disclosed base station may include a control information sending module 72, wherein:

[0128] The control information sending module 72 is used to transmit control information to the first-hop smart surface through a predetermined frequency band range when the smart surface needs to assist in transmission, and to send a control signal using a beam indicating the first-hop smart surface.

[0129] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the control information sending module 72 may be configured to transmit control information to a first-hop smart surface through a predetermined frequency band range when smart surface-assisted transmission is required, indicating a beam pattern index of the first-hop smart surface to form a beam pattern required for subsequent transmission.

[0130] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the control information sending module 72 may be configured to control the beam patterns of one or more smart surfaces by transmitting control information at different time-frequency resource locations.

[0131] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, except for the smart surface of the last hop, the beam pattern of each smart surface includes a beam pattern pointing to the next hop.

[0132] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, except for the first-hop smart surface, the beam pattern of each smart surface includes a beam pattern pointing to the previous hop.

[0133] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the beam pattern of the first-hop smart surface includes a beam pattern pointing to the base station.

[0134] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, for an uplink beam pattern, the smart surface of the last hop generates a reverse beam according to the beam direction of the last downlink transmission.

[0135] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the multiple smart surfaces all operate in the same frequency band.

[0136] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the multiple smart surfaces operate in different frequency bands.

[0137] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the control information sending module 72 may be configured to indicate the smart surface to which the current control information is directed through additional bit information when the multiple smart surfaces all operate in the same frequency band range.

[0138] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the control information sending module 72 may be configured to determine the number of bits of the additional bit information according to the number of smart surfaces.

[0139] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the base station is used to implement any of the above embodiments (for example Figure 1 or Figure 2 Operation of the multi-hop communication method described in embodiment).

[0140] Figure 8 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a base station according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 8 As shown, the base station includes a memory 81 and a processor 82 .

[0141] The memory 81 is used to store instructions. The processor 82 is coupled to the memory 81. The processor 82 is configured to execute and implement any of the above embodiments (for example, Figure 1 or Figure 2 Embodiment) described in the multi-hop communication method.

[0142] like Figure 8 As shown, the base station also includes a communication interface 83 for information exchange with other devices. At the same time, the base station also includes a bus 84, through which the processor 82, the communication interface 83, and the memory 81 communicate with each other.

[0143] The memory 81 may include a high-speed RAM memory, and may also include a non-volatile memory, such as at least one disk memory. The memory 81 may also be a memory array. The memory 81 may also be divided into blocks, and the blocks may be combined into virtual volumes according to certain rules.

[0144] In addition, the processor 82 may be a central processing unit (CPU), or may be an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or may be configured to implement one or more integrated circuits of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0145] Based on the base station provided in the above embodiment of the present disclosure, with the assistance of smart surfaces, the multi-hop transmission control problem of multiple smart surfaces can be solved, so that the wireless signal coverage and transmission performance in complex environments can be improved with the help of multiple smart surfaces.

[0146] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a smart surface is provided, wherein a plurality of smart surfaces are deployed according to the surrounding environment of a base station; the plurality of smart surfaces form an ordered multi-hop transmission relationship; the plurality of smart surfaces are used to receive time-frequency physical resources configured by the base station, wherein the time-frequency physical resources are used to transmit smart surface control information.

[0147] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the smart surface may be a reconfigurable smart surface.

[0148] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, Figure 4 As shown, the smart surface may include a wireless signal receiver 41, a general control unit 42, a plurality of electromagnetic units 43, and a control unit 44 of each electromagnetic unit 43, wherein:

[0149] The wireless signal receiver 41 is used to receive control information from the base station.

[0150] The wireless receiving device is connected to the overall control unit 42 , and the overall control unit 42 is connected to the control unit 44 of each electromagnetic unit 43 ; each electromagnetic unit 43 is connected to the control unit 44 of the electromagnetic unit 43 .

[0151] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the smart surface may be used to adjust the parameters of the electromagnetic unit 43 according to the control information after detecting the control information sent by the base station to form a corresponding beam pattern.

[0152] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the wireless signal receiver 41 of each smart surface is used to detect control information of the corresponding frequency band.

[0153] The overall control unit 42 is used to transmit the adjustment parameters of each electromagnetic unit 43 to the control unit 44 of each electromagnetic unit 43 according to the control information.

[0154] Each electromagnetic unit 43 is used to adjust the parameters of the electromagnetic unit 43 according to the instruction of the control unit 44 of the electromagnetic unit 43 to form a corresponding beamforming pattern.

[0155] Based on the smart surface provided by the above embodiments of the present disclosure, the multi-hop transmission control problem of multiple smart surfaces can be solved, so that the wireless signal coverage and transmission performance in complex environments can be improved with the help of multiple smart surfaces.

[0156] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the smart surface may further include a timer or a synchronization device, wherein:

[0157] A timer or synchronization device is used to synchronize the smart surface and the base station.

[0158] The above embodiments of the present disclosure can introduce a timer, a synchronization device, etc. in the smart reflective surface (such as IRS) to synchronize with the base station, so as to realize smart surface control more effectively and with low latency. When the smart surface receives downlink transmission control information, the timer starts. When the timer times out, the smart surface adjusts the electromagnetic unit parameters to the pattern of beam X to assist in transmitting uplink data from the user.

[0159] In this way, the above embodiments of the present disclosure do not need to control the uplink beam pattern of the smart surface, so the control delay can be reduced.

[0160] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of some embodiments of the multi-hop communication system disclosed in the present invention. Figure 3 As shown, the multi-hop communication system of the present disclosure may include a base station 31 and a plurality of smart surfaces 32, wherein:

[0161] The smart surface 32 is any of the above embodiments (e.g. Figure 4 The smart surface described in the embodiment).

[0162] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, Figure 3 As shown, the smart surface 32 may include a first-hop IRS and a second-hop IRS.

[0163] The base station 31 is any one of the above embodiments (for example Figure 7 or Figure 8 The base station described in embodiment).

[0164] The multi-hop communication system provided based on the above embodiment of the present disclosure is a multi-hop communication system assisted by a smart surface. The multi-hop communication system of the above embodiment of the present disclosure can solve the multi-hop transmission control problem of multiple smart surfaces, so that the wireless signal coverage and transmission performance in complex environments can be improved with the help of multiple smart surfaces.

[0165] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium is provided, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions, and when the instructions are executed by a processor, any of the above embodiments (for example Figure 1 or Figure 2 Embodiment) described in the multi-hop communication method.

[0166] Based on the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium provided by the above-mentioned embodiments of the present disclosure, the multi-hop transmission control problem of multiple smart surfaces can be solved based on the multi-hop communication method assisted by smart surfaces, so that the wireless signal coverage and transmission performance in complex environments can be improved with the help of multiple smart surfaces.

[0167] The base station and smart surface described above can be implemented as a general-purpose processor, a programmable logic controller (PLC), a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components or any appropriate combination thereof for performing the functions described in the present application.

[0168] So far, the present disclosure has been described in detail. In order to avoid obscuring the concept of the present disclosure, some details known in the art are not described. Based on the above description, those skilled in the art can fully understand how to implement the technical solution disclosed here.

[0169] A person skilled in the art will understand that all or part of the steps to implement the above embodiments may be accomplished by hardware, or may be accomplished by instructing the relevant hardware through a program, and the program may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, and the above-mentioned storage medium may be a read-only memory, a disk or an optical disk, etc.

[0170] The description of the present disclosure is given for the purpose of illustration and description, and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present disclosure to the disclosed form. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. The embodiments are selected and described in order to better illustrate the principles and practical applications of the present disclosure, and to enable those of ordinary skill in the art to understand the present disclosure and thereby design various embodiments with various modifications suitable for specific uses.

Claims

1. A multi-hop communication method, characterized in that: include: The base station configures time-frequency physical resources for multiple smart surfaces, wherein the time-frequency physical resources are used to transmit smart surface control information, the multiple smart surfaces are deployed according to the surrounding environment of the base station, and the multiple smart surfaces form an orderly multi-hop transmission relationship; When the smart surface assists the transmission, the base station transmits control information to the first-hop smart surface through a predetermined frequency band range, indicating the beam pattern index of the first-hop smart surface, so as to form a beam pattern required for subsequent transmission; The transmitting control information to the first-hop smart surface to indicate the beam pattern index of the first-hop smart surface to form a beam pattern required for subsequent transmission includes: The base station controls the beam patterns of multiple smart surfaces by transmitting control information at different time-frequency resource locations, wherein, except for the smart surface of the last hop, the beam pattern of each smart surface includes a beam pattern pointing to the next hop; except for the smart surface of the first hop, the beam pattern of each smart surface includes a beam pattern pointing to the previous hop; the beam pattern of the first hop smart surface includes a beam pattern pointing to the base station; for the uplink beam pattern, the smart surface of the last hop generates a reverse beam according to the beam direction of the previous downlink transmission.

2. The multi-hop communication method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The multiple smart surfaces all operate in the same frequency band; or, The multiple smart surfaces operate in different frequency bands.

3. The multi-hop communication method according to claim 2, characterized in that: Also includes: When the multiple smart surfaces all operate in the same frequency band, the base station indicates the smart surface to which the current control information is directed through additional bit information.

4. The multi-hop communication method according to claim 3, characterized in that: Also includes: The base station determines the number of bits of the additional bit information according to the number of smart surfaces.

5. The multi-hop communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: Also includes: After the smart surface detects the control information sent by the base station, the smart surface adjusts the parameters of the electromagnetic unit of the smart surface according to the control information to form a corresponding beam pattern.

6. The multi-hop communication method according to claim 5, characterized in that: Also includes: The smart surface is synchronized with the base station through a timer or synchronization device.

7. A base station, characterized in that: include: A resource configuration module, configured to configure time-frequency physical resources for multiple smart surfaces, wherein the time-frequency physical resources are used to transmit smart surface control information, the multiple smart surfaces are deployed according to the surrounding environment of the base station, and the multiple smart surfaces form an orderly multi-hop transmission relationship; A control information sending module, used to transmit control information to a first-hop smart surface through a predetermined frequency band range when smart surface-assisted transmission is required, indicating a beam pattern index of the first-hop smart surface to form a beam pattern required for subsequent transmission; Among them, the control information sending module is used to control the beam patterns of multiple smart surfaces by transmitting control information at different time-frequency resource locations, wherein, except for the smart surface of the last hop, the beam pattern of each smart surface includes a beam pattern pointing to the next hop; except for the first hop smart surface, the beam pattern of each smart surface includes a beam pattern pointing to the previous hop; the beam pattern of the first hop smart surface includes a beam pattern pointing to the base station; for the uplink beam pattern, the smart surface of the last hop generates a reverse beam according to the beam direction of the previous downlink transmission.

8. The base station according to claim 7, characterized in that: The control information sending module is used to indicate the smart surface to which the current control information is directed through additional bit information when the multiple smart surfaces all operate in the same frequency band range.

9. The base station according to claim 8, characterized in that The control information sending module is used to determine the number of bits of the additional bit information according to the number of smart surfaces.

10. A base station, characterized in that: include: A memory for storing instructions; The processor is used to execute the instruction so that the base station performs the operation of implementing the multi-hop communication method according to any one of claims 1, 3-4.

11. A smart surface system, characterized in that: It includes multiple smart surfaces, which are deployed according to the surrounding environment of the base station; the multiple smart surfaces form an orderly multi-hop transmission relationship; the multiple smart surfaces include a first-hop smart surface and a last-hop smart surface; The multiple smart surfaces are used to receive time-frequency physical resources configured by the base station, wherein the time-frequency physical resources are used to transmit smart surface control information, the first-hop smart surface transmission surface detects the control information transmitted by the base station, the control information indicates the beam pattern index of the first-hop smart surface to form the beam pattern required for subsequent transmission, the base station controls the beam patterns of the multiple smart surfaces through the control information transmitted at different time-frequency resource positions, except for the smart surface of the last hop, the beam pattern of each smart surface includes a beam pattern pointing to the next hop; except for the first-hop smart surface, the beam pattern of each smart surface includes a beam pattern pointing to the previous hop; the beam pattern of the first-hop smart surface includes a beam pattern pointing to the base station; for the uplink beam pattern, the smart surface of the last hop generates a reverse beam according to the beam direction of the previous downlink transmission.

12. The smart surface system according to claim 11, characterized in that: The smart surface includes a wireless signal receiver, a general control unit, a plurality of electromagnetic units, and a control unit of each electromagnetic unit, wherein: A wireless signal receiver, used to receive control information from a base station; The wireless receiving device is connected to the general control unit, the general control unit is connected to the control unit of each electromagnetic unit; each electromagnetic unit is connected to the control unit of the electromagnetic unit.

13. The smart surface system according to claim 12, characterized in that: The intelligent surface is used to adjust the parameters of the electromagnetic unit according to the control information after detecting the control information sent by the base station to form a corresponding beam pattern.

14. The smart surface system according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that: A wireless signal receiver for each smart surface, used to detect control information of the corresponding frequency band; A general control unit, used for transmitting the adjustment parameters of each electromagnetic unit to the control units of each electromagnetic unit according to the control information; Each electromagnetic unit is used to adjust the electromagnetic unit parameters according to the instruction of the control unit of the electromagnetic unit to form a corresponding beamforming pattern.

15. The smart surface system according to any one of claims 11 to 13, characterized in that: Smart surfaces include: A timer or synchronization device is used to synchronize the smart surface and the base station.

16. The smart surface system according to any one of claims 11 to 13, characterized in that: The smart surface is a smart reflective surface or a reconfigurable smart surface.

17. A multi-hop communication system, characterized in that: It includes a base station and a smart surface system, wherein: The smart surface system is a smart surface system as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 16; The base station is a base station as described in any one of claims 7 to 10.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions, and when the instructions are executed by a processor, the multi-hop communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 4 is implemented.

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