Method for modulating a signal through a reflective surface

Abstract

This invention document generally relates to the use of intelligent reflecting devices in a wireless communication system, which can increase the coverage for a wireless access node or a base station. The intelligent reflecting device can configure its surface according to a reflection scheme with reflectivity, and subsequently, the surface can reflect an incident signal according to the reflection scheme. As a result, the reflected signal can have one or more characteristics indicating that the received signal has been reflected by the intelligent reflecting device and / or one or more characteristics of the intelligent reflecting device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention document generally relates to intelligent reflecting devices in wireless communication. Background Art

[0002] Historically, next-generation wireless communications have utilized higher frequency bands than their predecessors. For example, 4G uses higher frequencies than 3G, and 5G uses higher frequencies than 4G. This trend is likely to continue into future generations. However, signals transmitted at higher frequencies have higher propagation losses. Accordingly, methods for increasing coverage to compensate for propagation losses in wireless communication may be required, especially those that minimize power consumption. Summary of the Invention

[0003] This invention document relates to methods, systems, apparatuses, and devices for using intelligent reflecting devices in wireless communication.

[0004] In some embodiments, a method is disclosed. The method may include: setting associated reflectivities for a plurality of surface elements of a surface of an intelligent reflecting device according to a reflection scheme, wherein the surface is configured to reflect at one or more reflection angles; and using the surface to reflect an incident signal with the associated reflectivities set for the plurality of surface elements according to the reflection scheme.

[0005] In some other embodiments, a system is disclosed that includes at least one intelligent reflecting device. Each of the at least one intelligent reflecting devices includes a controller and a surface comprising a plurality of network elements, wherein the system is configured to implement the method described above.

[0006] In some other embodiments, a computer program product is disclosed. The computer program product includes a computer-readable program medium having computer code stored thereon, which when executed by one or more processors causes the processors to implement the method described above using at least one intelligent reflecting device.

[0007] In some other embodiments, another method is disclosed. The method may include: using a control device to determine a schedule indicating a first time to transmit a first signal and a second time to transmit a second signal, the first signal being determined to be reflected by a first intelligent reflecting device in a first propagation path and the second signal being determined to be reflected by a second intelligent reflecting device in a second propagation path; and using at least one transmitting device to transmit the first signal and the second signal according to the schedule.

[0008] In some other embodiments, another method is disclosed. The method may include: receiving, by a receiving device, a signal from a transmitting device; detecting, by the receiving device, that the signal has been reflected by an intelligent reflecting device; and depending on detecting that the signal has been reflected by the intelligent reflecting device, setting, by a control device, a reflection angle of the intelligent reflecting device.

[0009] In some other embodiments, another method is disclosed. The method may include: transmitting, by a transmitting device, a first signal to a receiving device; receiving, by the transmitting device, a second signal indicating whether the first signal has been reflected by an intelligent reflecting device before being received by the receiving device; and determining, by a control device, whether to control a reflection angle of the intelligent reflecting device, the determination depending on whether the second signal has been reflected by the intelligent reflecting device.

[0010] In some other embodiments, a system is disclosed, the system including one or more network devices. The one or more network devices may include one or more processors and one or more memories, wherein the one or more processors are configured to read computer code from the one or more memories to implement any of the methods described above.

[0011] In still some other embodiments, a computer program product is disclosed. The computer program product may include a non-transitory computer-readable program medium having computer code stored thereon, the computer code, when executed by one or more processors, causing the one or more processors to implement any of the methods described above.

[0012] The above and other aspects and their embodiments are described in more detail in the following drawings, description and claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] Figure 1 A block diagram of an example wireless communication system is shown.

[0014] Figure 2A A block diagram of an example intelligent reflecting device is shown.

[0015] Figure 2B A diagram showing a surface of an intelligent reflecting device reflecting an incident signal is shown.

[0016] Figure 2C A diagram showing the surface reflecting at multiple reflection angles is shown.

[0017] Figure 3A A timing diagram of an example incident signal is shown.

[0018] Figure 3B A timing diagram of an example of a reflected signal is shown, the reflected signal having a frequency greater than Figure 3A the frequency of the incident signal and a duty cycle of approximately 50%.

[0019] Figure 3C A timing diagram showing another example of a reflected signal that has a frequency less than Figure 3A that of the incident signal and a duty cycle of approximately 50%.

[0020] Figure 3D A timing diagram showing another example of a reflected signal that has a duty cycle of less than 50%.

[0021] Figure 3E A timing diagram showing another example of a reflected signal that has a duty cycle of greater than 50%.

[0022] Figure 3F A timing diagram showing another example of a reflected signal that has a varying frequency and / or duty cycle.

[0023] Figure 4A A timing diagram showing multiple intelligent reflecting devices reflecting according to corresponding reflection schemes in non-overlapping time periods.

[0024] Figure 4B A flowchart showing an example method of transmitting a signal via a propagation path including one or more intelligent reflecting devices.

[0025] Figure 5 A flowchart showing an example method of operating an intelligent reflecting device.

[0026] Figure 6 A flowchart showing an example method of operating multiple intelligent reflecting devices.

[0027] Figure 7 A flowchart showing an example method of configuring an intelligent reflecting device.

[0028] Figure 8 A flowchart showing an example method of detecting characteristics of an intelligent reflecting device. Detailed Description

[0029] This description relates to wireless communication involving one or more intelligent reflecting devices. The intelligent reflecting device may configure its surface with a reflectivity according to or depending on a reflection scheme, and in turn the surface may reflect an incident signal according to the reflection scheme. As a result, the reflected signal may have one or more of the following characteristics that indicate to a receiving device that the received signal has been reflected by the intelligent reflecting device and / or one or more characteristics of the intelligent reflecting device. Further, after receiving the received signal, the receiving device may detect whether the received signal has been reflected by the intelligent device and / or one or more characteristics of the intelligent reflecting device. After detection, the receiving device may send a signal to the transmitting device to notify it of the detection result. After detection, one or more devices (such as, the receiving device, the transmitting device communicating with the receiving device, or another device) may control the intelligent reflecting device, such as by controlling the reflection angle of the reflecting device, and / or by configuring the intelligent reflecting device with an optimal reflection angle, while it reflects the signal communicated between the receiving device and the transmitting device.

[0030] Including an intelligent reflecting device in the propagation path between a transmitting device and a receiving device can desirably increase the coverage in a wireless communication system, due to its ability to reflect signals in certain desired or optimal directions. In addition, intelligent reflecting devices may be more preferable than other types of electronic devices that are also capable of increasing the coverage, at least in that these devices are less complex and / or consume less power. For example, other devices capable of increasing the coverage (such as, relays), may include circuitry for receiving, processing, and transmitting signals, such as, receive and transmit circuit paths and demodulation / modulation circuitry, which are more complex and consume more power compared to the surface of an intelligent reflecting device that performs reflection. Thus, as the communication frequency and the resulting propagation loss increase, including an intelligent reflecting device in a wireless communication system as a way to increase the coverage may become increasingly desirable. Further, configuring the intelligent reflecting device with certain reflection schemes described herein can enhance the control and use of the intelligent reflecting device in a wireless communication system.

[0031] Figure 1 A diagram illustrating an example wireless communication system 100 that includes a plurality of communication nodes configured to communicate wirelessly with each other. Generally, the communication nodes include at least one user equipment 102 and at least one wireless access node 104. Figure 1The example wireless communication system 100 shown therein is depicted as including two user devices 102 and two radio access nodes 104. However, various other examples of the wireless communication system 100 include any of the various combinations of user devices 102 and radio access nodes 104, including the following: only one user device 102 and only one radio access node 104, only one user device 102 and two or more radio access nodes 104, two or more user devices 102 without any radio access nodes 104, two or more user devices 102 and one or more radio access nodes 104, or two or more radio access nodes 104 without any user devices 102.

[0032] The user device 102 may include a single electronic device or apparatus or multiple (e.g., of one network) electronic devices or apparatuses capable of wireless communication via a network. The user device may be included or otherwise referred to as a user terminal or user equipment (UE). Additionally, the user device may be or include, but is not limited to: a mobile device (as a non-limiting example, such as a mobile phone, smartphone, tablet computer, or laptop computer) or a fixed or stationary device (as a non-limiting example, such as a desktop computer or other computing device that does not move for a long period of time, such as an appliance, other relatively heavy devices including the Internet of Things (IoT), or a computing device used in a commercial or industrial environment). In various embodiments, the user device 102 may include transceiver circuitry 106 coupled to an antenna 108 to enable wireless communication with the radio access node 104. The transceiver circuitry 106 may also be coupled to a processor 110, which may also be coupled to a memory 112 or other storage device. The memory 112 may store instructions or code therein, which when read and executed by the processor 110 cause the processor 110 to implement one of the various methods described herein.

[0033] Similarly, the wireless access node 104 may also include a single electronic device or apparatus or multiple (e.g., of a network) electronic devices or apparatuses, and may include one or more base stations or other wireless network access points capable of wirelessly communicating with one or more user devices and / or one or more other wireless access nodes 104 via a network. For example, in various embodiments, the wireless access node 104 may include: a 4G LTE base station, a 5G NR base station, a 5G central unit base station, a 5G distributed unit base station, a next-generation node B (gNB), an enhanced node B (eNB), or other base stations. The wireless access node 104 may include a transceiver circuit 114 coupled to an antenna 116, and the antenna 116 may include an antenna tower 118 in various ways to enable wireless communication with the user device 102 or another wireless access node 104. The transceiver circuit 114 may also be coupled to one or more processors 120, and the processors 120 may also be coupled to a memory 122 or other storage device. The memory 122 may store instructions or code therein, which when read and executed by the processors 120 cause the processors 120 to implement one of the various methods described herein.

[0034] In various embodiments, two communication nodes in the wireless system 100 - such as a user device 102 and a wireless access node 104, two user devices 102 without a wireless access node 104, or two wireless access nodes 104 without a user device 102 - may be configured to wirelessly communicate with each other according to one or more standards and / or specifications, in a mobile network and / or a wireless access network or via a mobile network and / or a wireless access network. Generally, the standards and / or specifications may define the rules or procedures according to which the communication nodes can wirelessly communicate, which may include those for communicating in the millimeter (mm) waveband and / or using multi-antenna schemes and beamforming functions. Additionally or alternatively, the standards and / or specifications are those that define radio access technologies and / or cellular technologies, as non-limiting examples, such as fourth-generation (4G) long-term evolution (LTE), fifth-generation (5G) new radio (NR), or new radio unlicensed (NR-U).

[0035] In wireless system 100, communication nodes are configured to wirelessly communicate signals with each other. Generally, communication in wireless system 100 between two communication nodes can be or include transmission or reception, and typically both simultaneously, depending on the perspective of the particular nodes in the communication. For example, for a given communication between a first node and a second node, where the first node is transmitting a signal to the second node and the second node is receiving the signal from the first node, the first node can be referred to as a transmitting node or device, the second node can be referred to as a receiving node or device, and the communication can be considered a transmission for the first node and a reception for the second node. Of course, since communication nodes in wireless system 100 can both send and receive signals, a single communication node can be both a transmitting node / device and a receiving node / device simultaneously, or switch between being a transmitting node / device and a receiving node / device.

[0036] Additionally, a particular signal can be characterized or defined as an uplink (UL) signal, a downlink (DL) signal, or a sidelink (SL) signal. An uplink signal is a signal transmitted from user equipment 102 to wireless access node 104. A downlink signal is a signal transmitted from wireless access node 104 to mobile station 102. A sidelink signal is a signal transmitted from a first user equipment 102 to a second user equipment 102 or from a first wireless access node 104 to a second wireless access node 104.

[0037] Furthermore, wireless communication system 100 may also include or communicate with a network of one or more intelligent reflecting devices 124. As used herein, an intelligent reflecting device is a device whose surface can reflect signals and has a variable reflectivity. The intelligent reflecting device and / or the surface of the intelligent reflecting device can also be or otherwise be referred to as: intelligent reflecting surface (IRS), large intelligent surface (LIS), large intelligent metasurface (LIM), intelligent reflecting array, reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS), software defined surface (SDS), software defined metasurface (SDM), passive intelligent surface (PIS), or passive intelligent mirror.

[0038] Generally, the surface of an intelligent reflecting device receives an incident signal and reflects the incident signal. The signal output by the surface in response to or as a result of the reflection is referred to as a reflected signal. In other words, a reflected signal is a reflected version of the incident signal reflected by the surface.

[0039] In addition, the surface of the intelligent reflecting device can be configured to reflect the incident signal using reflectivity. Generally, reflectivity is or indicates the amount of power of the incident signal reflected by the surface. Reflectivity can be a value in watts (such as), or can be expressed as a percentage or fraction of the power of the incident signal. The surface of the intelligent reflecting device can dynamically change its reflectivity such that it can have different reflectivities at different times.

[0040] The surface of the intelligent reflecting device has variable reflectivity by being configured to change between at least two reflectivities. For example, the surface can reflect using a maximum reflectivity and a minimum reflectivity. When the surface is reflecting using the maximum reflectivity, the surface reflects as much of the power of the incident signal as it can. In various embodiments, when the surface is reflecting using the maximum reflectivity, the surface reflects all or most of the power of the incident signal such that the reflected signal is 100% or substantially 100% of the power of the incident signal (e.g., a percentage slightly less than 100% due to unavoidable power losses such as due to the inherent properties of the surface (e.g., as non-limiting examples, dielectric losses, metal losses, or ohmic losses)). In addition, when the surface is reflecting using the minimum reflectivity, the surface absorbs as much of the power of the incident signal as it can. In various embodiments, when the surface is reflecting using the minimum reflectivity, the surface absorbs all or most of the power of the incident signal such that no or substantially no power of the incident signal is reflected.

[0041] In addition, in various embodiments, the surface of the intelligent reflecting device is configured to reflect the incident signal using one or more intermediate reflectivities between the maximum and minimum reflectivities. For example, the surface can be configured to output a reflected signal that is any of various percentages between 0% and 100% of the power of the incident signal, as non-limiting examples, such as 25%, 50%, or 75%. For such embodiments, the surface of the intelligent reflecting device can change with reflection between the maximum reflectivity and the intermediate reflectivity, between the minimum reflectivity and the intermediate reflectivity, and / or between different intermediate reflectivities.

[0042] Additionally, the reflectivity of the surface can be inversely proportional to the absorptivity of the surface, and the absorptivity of the surface can be or indicate the amount of power of the incident signal absorbed by the surface. Generally, the power of the incident signal absorbed by the surface is the power that the surface does not reflect. Thus, the higher the absorptivity of the surface, the lower the reflectivity.

[0043] More specifically, Figure 2A A block diagram showing an example configuration of the intelligent reflecting device 200 is presented, which represents Figure 1Example configuration of the intelligent reflecting device 124 in []. The intelligent reflecting device 200 includes a surface 202 and a controller 204. The surface 202 includes a plurality of surface elements (SEs) (also referred to as surface units (SUs)) 206. The surface element 206 is a part of the surface 202 having an associated variable (or dynamically variable) reflectivity. Thus, the reflectivities of different surface elements 206 of the same surface 202 can be independently controlled and / or changed such that different surface elements 206 can have the same or different reflectivities at any given time point. Further, at a given time point, the surface 202 can have an overall or combined reflectivity that corresponds to and / or is based on the combination of the reflectivities of the surface elements 206 of the surface 202 at that given time point.

[0044] As described herein, the surface element 206 can have any one of various configurations and / or can be made of any one of various materials, which enables it to have a variable and controllable reflectivity. In addition, the controller 204 can be configured to control and / or change the reflectivity of the surface element 206 in any one of various ways, as non-limiting examples, such as by outputting one or more control signals and / or by changing the electrical bias (such as voltage or current) applied to the surface element 206. Through its control, the controller 204 can further change the characteristics (such as material properties and / or electrical characteristics) of the surface element 206 on which the reflectivity of the surface element depends. As a non-limiting example, the surface element 206 can be configured with a variable resistance, and a change in the value of the variable resistance will change the amount of power absorbed by the surface element 206, thereby changing the reflectivity of the surface element 206. Thus, the controller 204 can accordingly set the resistance value of the variable resistance to configure the surface element with a desired reflectivity. In addition, when the controller 204 wants to change the reflectivity, it accordingly changes the resistance value, resulting in a new desired reflectivity. Ways different from or in combination with the variable resistance can be used to provide the variable reflectivity of the surface element 206.

[0045] The controller 204 can configure the surface 202 with the maximum reflectivity, the minimum reflectivity, or a medium reflectivity or configure the surface 202 to have the maximum reflectivity, the minimum reflectivity, or a medium reflectivity at any given time point during operation. To configure the surface 202 with the maximum reflectivity, the controller 204 can control the surface elements 206 such that all the surface elements 206 are configured to reflect with their respective maximum reflectivities. Similarly, to configure the surface 202 with the minimum reflectivity, the controller 204 can control the surface elements 206 such that all the surface elements 206 are configured to reflect with their respective minimum reflectivities.

[0046] In addition, to configure the surface 202 with a medium reflectivity, the controller 204 can control the surface elements 206 so that at least one of the surface elements 206 is configured with an associated minimum reflectivity or medium reflectivity, and less than all of the surface elements 206 are configured with their associated minimum reflectivity. Various ways of configuring the surface 202 with a medium reflectivity are possible and can depend on the percentage of medium reflectivity and the granularity with which the reflectivity of individual surface elements 206 can be configured. Generally, when considered in combination, the surface elements 206 can have an average reflectivity, which is an average of the individual reflectivities and can determine the reflectivity of the surface 202. Therefore, the controller 204 can configure a certain number of surface elements 206 with a maximum reflectivity, a minimum reflectivity, or a specific medium reflectivity, which in turn produces an average reflectivity corresponding to a desired medium reflectivity for the surface 202. As a brief non-limiting example, to configure the surface 202 with a 50% medium reflectivity, the controller 204 may configure half of the surface elements 206 with a maximum reflectivity and the other half of the surface elements 206 with a minimum reflectivity, or may configure all of the surface elements 206 with a corresponding 50% medium reflectivity, or may configure half of the surface elements 206 with a corresponding 75% medium reflectivity and the other half with a 25% medium reflectivity. Various ways of configuring the surface 202 with some combination of maximum reflectivity, minimum reflectivity, and one or more medium reflectivities are possible in order to achieve a desired average or overall medium reflectivity for the surface 202.

[0047] Return to reference Figure 2A as well as Figure 2B , the surface 202 of the smart reflective device 200 may also have a variable reflection angle (or reflection angle). In order to have a variable reflection angle, each surface element 206 may have an associated variable phase shift with which it reflects the incident signal s i (t) to output reflected signal s r (t). In turn, the combination of the phase shifts of the individual surface elements 206 determines the reflection angle θ r , the surface 202 is at the reflection angle θ r Output reflection signal s r (t). Therefore, changing one or more phase shifts changes the reflection angle θ r In this way, by setting and changing the phase shift, the surface 202 changes the reflection angle θ r Beamforming is performed to dynamically steer the reflected signal in a certain direction.

[0048] Furthermore, generally, at any given point in time, the surface 202 of the smart reflective device 200 is configured to reflect incident signals at one or more reflection angles.Figure 2B As shown, the surface 202 is configured to reflect at a single reflection angle, i.e., having the same or uniform reflection angle over the entire surface 202. In other example embodiments, the surface 202 of the intelligent reflection device 200 is configured to reflect at multiple reflection angles at a given point in time. For example, the surface 202 can be partitioned or divided into multiple parts, each part including one or more surface elements. The controller 204 can control the different parts independently of each other such that each part is configured to operate independently of each other and reflect at its own respective reflection angle.

[0049] Figure 2C An example embodiment is shown where the surface 202 is partitioned or divided into two parts, including a first surface part 202(1) and a second surface part 202(2). The first part 202(1) is configured to reflect a first incident signal s i1 (t), thereby outputting a first reflected signal s r1 (t) at a first reflection angle θ r1 , and the second part 202(2) is configured to reflect a second incident signal s i2 (t), thereby outputting a second reflected signal s r2 (t) at a second reflection angle θ r2 . The controller 204 can control the phase shifts of the surface elements 206 of the parts 202(1), 202(2) such that their corresponding reflection angles θ r1 、θ r2 are the same or different from each other at any given point in time. Other example embodiments of the surface of the intelligent reflection device can include more than two parts such that the surface is configured to reflect at more than two reflection angles.

[0050] Specifically referring to Figure 2A , the controller 204 is configured to control the surface 202 and the surface elements 206. The controller 204 can control the surface 202 and the surface elements 206 by setting and / or changing the reflectivity of the surface 202 (including the reflectivity of the surface elements 206) and / or by setting and / or changing the reflection angle of the surface 202 (including the phase shift of the surface elements 206). Similar to the communication node in Figure 1 , the controller 204 can include a processor 208 and a memory (or other storage device) 210. In various embodiments, the memory 210 can store instructions or code therein, which when read and executed by the processor 208, cause the processor 208 to implement one of the various methods described herein. Additionally or alternatively, the memory 210 can store one or more reflection schemes for controlling the surface 202 and the surface elements 206. Details of the reflection schemes will be described in more detail below.

[0051] In addition, for at least some example configurations, the controller 204 includes transceiver circuitry 212 coupled to the antenna 214. The transceiver circuitry 212 may also be coupled to the processor 208 and / or the memory 210. For at least some of these example configurations, and / or for other example configurations, the controller 204 includes one or more connectors configured to connect to a wire or cable, which are also connected to other devices or communication nodes. Thus, in various embodiments, the intelligent reflecting device may communicate externally with one or more communication nodes by transmitting and receiving signals, such as wirelessly, wired, or a combination thereof.

[0052] In a particular example configuration, the controller 204 may control the surface 202 and the surface elements 206 according to a predetermined reflection scheme that indicates how the controller is to configure the reflectivity of the surface 202 and / or the reflectivity of the surface elements 206. The predetermined reflection scheme may do so by indicating to the controller 204 to configure the reflectivity of each surface element 206 therewith. For some example configurations, the reflection scheme may explicitly or directly provide an indication, such as by explicitly identifying the reflectivity of each surface element 206. In other example configurations, the predetermined reflection scheme may implicitly or indirectly provide an indication. For example, the reflection scheme may indicate a particular reflectivity for the surface 202, and the controller 204 may be configured to convert that particular degree to a corresponding reflectivity for each surface element 206 by using an algorithm or mapping, such as the algorithm or mapping that provides a correspondence between the various degrees of the surface 202 and the various degrees of reflection for the individual surface elements 206. As another example, the reflection scheme may indicate the number of surface elements 206 having the maximum reflectivity, the number of surface elements 206 having the minimum reflectivity, and / or the number of surface elements 206 having a particular intermediate reflectivity, and based on this information, the controller 204 determines the reflectivity for each surface element 206.

[0053] Additionally or alternatively, in various embodiments, the reflection scheme may indicate a pattern for the surface elements 206. As a non-limiting example, the reflection scheme may indicate that all surface elements 206 in the same predetermined portion (e.g., the same row or the same column) are to be configured with the same reflectivity. Additionally or alternatively, the pattern may indicate that adjacent rows or adjacent columns of surface elements 206 are to have different reflectivities - that is, the rows or columns of surface elements are to alternate between the maximum and minimum reflectivities. Other example patterns may indicate that adjacent surface elements 206 in the same row or the same column are to have different reflectivities. In a particular example configuration, the pattern indicates that at least a portion of the surface elements 206 are to have the maximum and minimum reflectivities in a checkerboard arrangement. Various other example patterns are also possible.

[0054] Additionally or alternatively, in various embodiments, the reflection scheme may have a time component that indicates one or more reflectivities for the surface 202 over one or more time periods. Based on the time component, the controller 204 may determine a start time and a duration during which it will configure the surface elements 206 with the reflectivity indicated by the surface scheme. In a particular example configuration, the surface scheme indicates multiple reflectivities and multiple time periods, and associates each reflectivity with a time period. For illustrative purposes, the surface scheme may indicate two reflectivities, including a high reflectivity and a low reflectivity, and may also indicate two time periods, including a first time period followed by a second time period. Generally, the high reflectivity has a higher degree or percentage than the low reflectivity. For example, the high reflectivity may be a maximum reflectivity or a medium reflectivity, and the low reflectivity may be a minimum reflectivity or a medium reflectivity. If both the high reflectivity and the low reflectivity are medium reflectivities, the high reflectivity corresponds to a higher percentage than the low reflectivity. The surface scheme may indicate that the controller 204 configures the surface elements 206 according to the high reflectivity during the first time period and according to the low reflectivity during the second time period.

[0055] Additionally or alternatively, in various embodiments, the time component of the reflection scheme may indicate a first set of time periods and a second set of time periods. The reflection scheme may indicate that the surface elements 206 are configured according to the high reflectivity during the first set of time periods and according to the low reflectivity during the second set of time periods. In a particular example configuration, the first set and the second set of time periods are interleaved such that the controller 204 alternately configures the surface elements 206 with the high reflectivity during the first time period and with the low reflectivity during the second time period. In various configurations, the first time period may be equal to the second time period, may be longer than the second time period, or may be shorter than the second time period.

[0056] Additionally, it is also possible to identify a reflection scheme with more than two reflectivities and / or more than two time periods or more than two sets of time periods. For example, the surface scheme may indicate that the controller 204 will configure the surface elements 206 according to three reflectivities and three or more time periods.

[0057] Figures 3A - 3F Shows the incident signal s i (t) timing diagram ( Figure 3A ) and various non-limiting examples of the types of reflected signals s r (t) that the surface 202 can output based on the time component of different reflection schemes ( Figures 3B - 3F ). For simplicity, Figure 4BThe reflection scheme shown in -4F indicates two reflectivities, including a high reflectivity and a low reflectivity, according to which the controller 204 configures the surface element 206 to reflect the incident signal s i (t). In the figure, when the surface element 206 is configured with a high reflectivity, the power of the reflected signal s r (t) is represented by the associated amplitude Y1, and when the surface element 206 is configured with a low reflectivity, the power of the reflected signal s r (t) is represented by the associated amplitude Y2.

[0058] In addition, Figures 3B - 3E each shows two associated sets of time periods T1 and T2 during which the reflected signal s r (t) propagates. The surface element 206 reflects the incident signal s i (t) with a high reflectivity during the first set of time periods T1, and reflects the incident signal s i (t) with a low reflectivity during the second set of time periods T2. Relative to Figure 3B and Figure 3C , the time periods T1 and T2 are approximately equal to each other, resulting in an overall constant frequency and a duty cycle of approximately 50%. Figure 3B and Figure 3C also show that the time periods T1 and T2 can be extended or shortened, resulting in different lower or higher frequencies for the reflected signal s r (t). Figure 3D shows the time component of the reflection scheme, which indicates that the first time period T1 is shorter than the second time period T2, resulting in the reflected signal s r (t) having an overall constant frequency and a duty cycle less than 50%. Figure 3E shows the time component of the reflection scheme, which indicates that the first time period T1 is longer than the second time period T2, resulting in the reflected signal s r (t) having an overall constant frequency and a duty cycle greater than 50%. Figure 3F shows the time component of the reflection scheme, which indicates different durations for different time periods associated with the high reflectivity and the low reflectivity, resulting in the reflected signal s r (t) having a frequency and / or a duty cycle that varies with time.

[0059] Generally, the surface 202 of the intelligent reflecting device 200 is configured to output a reflected signal having at least one corresponding characteristic different from the incident signal. In this context, the reflected signal can also be referred to as a modulated signal in that it has at least one characteristic different from the incident signal due to the reflection performed by the surface 202. Example characteristics include energy, power, frequency, and duty cycle. For example, when the surface 202 reflects the incident signal using one or more surface elements 206 configured with medium or minimum reflectivity, the reflected signal can have an energy and / or power different (i.e., lower) from that of the incident signal. As another example, depending on how the controller 204 controls the surface elements 206 according to a given reflection scheme, the surface 202 can output a reflected signal having a frequency different from that of the incident signal, such as Figure 3A the higher frequency shown, or Figure 3B the lower frequency shown. Similarly, in various embodiments where the incident signal has a duty cycle, depending on the reflection scheme used by the controller 204, the surface 202 can output a reflected signal having a duty cycle different (higher or lower) from that of the incident signal.

[0060] Furthermore, for at least some example embodiments, the surface 202 of the intelligent reflecting device 200 can be separated or divided into multiple independently controllable segments, as previously referenced Figure 2C and described. For such embodiments, each segment can be associated with a corresponding reflection scheme. For example, with respect to Figure 2C , the controller 204 can configure the first surface portion 202(1) to reflect according to a first reflection scheme and can configure the second surface portion 202(2) to reflect according to a second reflection scheme. Different reflection schemes can cause different portions to output corresponding reflected signals having the same characteristic or having at least one characteristic different from each other (e.g., frequency, power, or duty cycle). Different characteristics can indicate or identify different portions of the intelligent reflecting device 200.

[0061] Returning to Figure 1 , a communication node in the wireless system 100 can send a signal to another communication node in the form of, for example, a downlink signal, an uplink signal, or a sidelink signal, as previously described. The path taken by the signal from the transmitting device to the receiving device is called the propagation path. In the case where the intelligent reflecting device 124 is in the propagation path of the signal, the surface of the intelligent reflecting device 124 can reflect the signal before it reaches the receiving device.

[0062] A receiving device (such as user equipment 102 or wireless access node 104) may be configured to detect whether a received signal has been reflected by the intelligent reflecting device 124 before being received. To this end, the receiving device may analyze or determine one or more characteristics of the received signal and then determine whether the received signal has been reflected by the intelligent reflecting device 124. In various embodiments, the processors 110, 120 of the receiving device are configured to sample the received signal at a specific time according to clocking, for example, to obtain the sampled values of the received signal. In addition, for at least some example embodiments, to detect whether the signal has been reflected, the receiving device may be configured to know or identify one or more predetermined characteristics of the original signal transmitted by the transmitting device and / or one or more characteristics of the signal reflected by the intelligent reflecting device 124. After determining one or more actual characteristics of the received signal, the receiving device (such as using its processor) may compare the one or more actual characteristics with the one or more predetermined characteristics. The receiving device may determine whether the signal has been reflected by the intelligent reflecting device based on whether the one or more actual characteristics match the one or more predetermined characteristics (either by exact match or by being within an acceptable range of the one or more predetermined characteristics).

[0063] As an example, the receiving device may know the frequency of the original signal transmitted by the transmitting device. When receiving the received signal, the receiving device may measure the frequency of the received signal. If the receiving device determines that the frequency of the received signal matches the frequency of the original signal, the receiving device may determine that the received signal has not been reflected by the intelligent reflecting device 124 along the propagation path between that transmitted by the transmitting device and that received by the receiving device. As another example, the receiving device may know the frequency of the reflected signal reflected by the intelligent reflecting device 124. When receiving the received signal, the receiving device may measure the frequency of the received signal. If the receiving device determines that the frequency of the received signal matches the frequency of the reflected signal, the receiving device may determine that the signal has been reflected by the intelligent reflecting device 124 along the propagation path between that transmitted by the transmitting device and that received by the receiving device.

[0064] Additionally or alternatively, for at least some example configurations, the receiving device may determine one or more characteristics of the intelligent reflecting device 124 that has reflected the signal received by the receiving device. To this end, one or more characteristics of the reflected signal may indicate one or more characteristics of the intelligent reflecting device 124 that has reflected the signal. That is, one or more predetermined characteristics of the reflected signal may be associated with one or more characteristics of the intelligent reflecting device 124. Further, after receiving the signal, the receiving device may determine one or more characteristics of the received signal, determine whether the one or more characteristics match one or more predetermined characteristics of the reflected signal, and if they match, determine one or more relevant characteristics of the intelligent reflecting device 124 that has reflected the signal before the signal was received by the receiving device.

[0065] An example characteristic of the intelligent reflecting device 124 is the identification (ID) of the intelligent reflecting device. Knowing the ID of the intelligent reflecting device may be particularly useful for an environment that includes multiple intelligent reflecting devices 124, which are likely to be in the propagation path of the signal between communication nodes. Determining the ID may enable the receiving device (or the transmitting device, or other communication nodes in the system 100) to identify which one of the multiple intelligent reflecting devices 124 has reflected the signal. Thus, for at least some example configurations in which the wireless system 100 includes or communicates with multiple intelligent reflecting devices 124, the intelligent reflecting devices 124 may be configured to output reflected signals with corresponding characteristics that are different from each other, and each reflected signal uniquely corresponds to its own ID. By way of illustration, the first intelligent reflecting device 124 may output a reflected signal having a first frequency indicating the first ID of the first intelligent reflecting device 124, and the second intelligent reflecting device 124 may output a reflected signal having a second frequency indicating the second ID of the second intelligent reflecting device 124. After receiving the received signal, the receiving device may determine whether the frequency of the received signal matches the first frequency or the second frequency, and further determine whether the received signal has been reflected by the first intelligent reflecting device having the first ID or the second intelligent reflecting device having the second ID.

[0066] Another example characteristic of the intelligent reflecting device 124 is battery life. Returning to Figure 2A, for at least some example configurations, the intelligent reflecting device 200 may include a battery 216 configured to power the controller 204. (For other example configurations, the intelligent reflecting device 200 may be powered by an external power source such as a power grid.) The controller 204 may be configured to monitor the battery life (e.g., remaining charge) of the battery 216. If the controller 204 determines that the battery life has dropped below a threshold level, the controller 204 may control the surface 202 and its surface elements 206 according to a reflection scheme associated with the low battery life. Thus, in the case where the battery life has dropped below the threshold level, upon receiving an incident signal, the surface 202 will output a reflected signal according to the reflection scheme associated with the low battery life - that is, the surface 202 will output a reflected signal having one or more characteristics indicating the low battery life. After receiving the reflected signal, the receiving device may recognize that one or more characteristics of the received signal match one or more predetermined characteristics associated with the low battery life. Further, the receiving device may generate an output notifying the user of the receiving device of the low battery life.

[0067] A reflected signal having one or more characteristics indicating the battery life of the intelligent reflecting device can increase the flexibility in terms of where the intelligent reflecting device can be located or positioned and still allow for effective operation, including in relatively inaccessible locations such as remote locations, locations with hazardous or difficult terrain, locations subject to adverse weather conditions, or locations that are difficult to reach, non-limiting examples of which may include mountains, islands, deserts, hills, jungles, underground passages or tunnels, or difficult-to-reach building areas (e.g., rooftops or walls). Further, maintaining the intelligent reflecting device in these locations can desirably be limited to only when maintenance personnel exactly know the time when the intelligent reflecting device needs maintenance based on the actual state output from the intelligent reflecting device. Additionally, positioning the intelligent reflecting device in an inaccessible location can also increase the ability of the intelligent reflecting device to increase the coverage of several wireless access nodes and / or dynamically and / or randomly change the number of communication nodes within the appropriate range of the intelligent reflecting device. In this way, the intelligent reflecting device can be positioned as a stand-alone device that can flexibly or dynamically increase the coverage of any of a variety of numbers or types of wireless communication nodes, rather than a device specifically positioned within a specific distance of a specific static number of communication nodes (such as only one fixed wireless access node 104) whose sole purpose is to only increase the coverage of those specific static numbers of communication nodes.

[0068] Other characteristics of the intelligent reflecting device that can be indicated by the reflected signal are also possible, including those that can indicate the state or condition of the intelligent reflecting device and / or provide an indication that some components of the intelligent reflecting device other than the battery need maintenance.

[0069] Additionally, in at least some example configurations, the receiving device may be configured to explicitly determine that it has not recognized any characteristics of the intelligent reflecting device. The receiving device may make such a determination in the case where the received signal is not reflected by any intelligent reflecting device, or in the case where the signal is reflected by the intelligent reflecting device during a time period when the surface of the intelligent reflecting device is configured with maximum reflectivity.

[0070] Furthermore, for at least some example configurations, the receiving device may be configured to take action in response to detecting whether the received signal has been reflected by an intelligent reflecting device and / or detecting one or more characteristics of the intelligent reflecting device. For at least some example configurations, the receiving device may generate and output a feedback signal indicating the detection result. The feedback signal may be received by the transmitting device and / or one or more other communication nodes.

[0071] Additionally or alternatively, for at least some example configurations, the receiving device and / or the transmitting device may be configured to perform actions associated with beam management. Generally, in various embodiments, the antennas of a communication node (e.g., the antenna 108 of the user equipment 102 and / or the antenna 116 of the wireless access node 104) may include a plurality of antenna elements, each of which may have an associated phase and / or amplitude, which may be controlled and / or adjusted, for example, by the associated processors 110, 120. Through such control, the communication node may be configured to have transmit-sided directivity and / or receive-side directivity, in that its processors 110, 120 may perform beamforming by selecting a beam from a plurality of possible beams and transmit or receive signals using the antenna radiating the selected beam. The processors 110, 120 may be configured to use different beams or the same beam for different communications.

[0072] To determine which beams to select, the transmitting device and the receiving device may perform a beam scanning process, in which the transmitting device transmits a signal (such as a reference signal) while iteratively traversing a plurality of transmission beams, and in which the receiving device receives the signal from the transmitting device while iteratively traversing a plurality of reception beams. During the beam scanning process, the receiving device may measure the energy, power, and / or signal quality (e.g., signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) or other indicator of signal quality) of each of the plurality of received signals. In doing so, the receiving device may determine which signal is received with the maximum energy or power and / or the best signal quality, and then select a beam based on that determination. For at least some example configurations, the receiving device notifies the transmitting device of the energy / power / signal quality measurements and / or the selected reception beam.

[0073] To perform a beam scanning process, a receiving device may need to know the number of signals to be received and / or the number of energy / power measurements to be made by the receiving device. In various embodiments, this number may depend on whether the signals received by the receiving device have been reflected by an intelligent reflecting device and / or that intelligent reflecting device among a plurality of intelligent reflecting devices, at least because the reflecting device itself can change or adjust its reflection angle, which in turn can affect the number of transmissions performed by the transmitting device and / or the number of energy / power / signal quality measurements performed by the receiving device in order to optimally select a transmit beam and / or a receive beam. In this way, the selection of a transmit beam by the transmitting device from among a plurality of transmit beams and / or the selection of a receive beam by the receiving device from among a plurality of receive beams may ultimately depend on the determination by the receiving device as to whether the received signal has been reflected by an intelligent reflecting device and / or the determined characteristics (such as, ID) of the intelligent reflecting device.

[0074] Additionally or alternatively, in response to and / or depending on detecting whether the received signal has been reflected by the intelligent reflecting device and / or detecting one or more characteristics of the intelligent reflecting device, the transmitting device and / or the receiving device may control one or more intelligent reflecting devices 124. For example, if the receiving device detects that the received signal has been reflected by the intelligent reflecting device 124, the transmitting device and / or the receiving device may send one or more control signals that control, adjust, and / or set the reflection angle of the intelligent reflecting device 124 that reflected the signal. In a particular example configuration, in response to the receiving device detecting that the received signal has been reflected by the intelligent reflecting device, the receiving device and / or the transmitting device may control the reflection angle of the intelligent reflecting device during and / or as part of a beam scanning process. For example, the receiving device may measure the power / signal quality of a first received signal reflected by the intelligent reflecting device at a first reflection angle, and then may measure the power / signal quality of a second received signal reflected by the intelligent reflecting device at a second reflection angle. In this way, the transmitting device and the receiving device may perform the beam scanning process via multiple iterations, where for each iteration, the intelligent reflecting device reflects the incident signal at a particular reflection angle among a plurality of reflection angles, and the receiving device measures the power / signal quality of the received signal reflected by the intelligent reflecting device at the particular reflection angle. Additionally, at the end of the beam scanning process, the transmitting device and / or the receiving device may determine the optimal reflection angle of the intelligent reflecting device 124, and may control the intelligent reflecting device 124 to have the optimal reflection angle among the plurality of reflection angles for subsequent communication between the transmitting device and the receiving device. On the other hand, if the receiving device does not detect that the received signal has been reflected by the intelligent reflecting device, the transmitting device and / or the receiving device may perform the beam scanning process without controlling the reflection angle of any intelligent reflecting device. For at least some of these embodiments, the receiving device may inform or notify the transmitting device of the detection of whether the signal has been reflected by the intelligent reflecting device, such that the transmitting device may determine how and / or whether to control the intelligent reflecting device during the beam scanning process.

[0075] Furthermore, for at least some example configurations, the intelligent reflecting device 124 may be controlled by one or more communication nodes (referred to as control devices) in the wireless system 100, such as by the radio access node 104 or the user equipment 102. For example, for a given intelligent reflecting device 124, the control device may control the reflectivity of the surface 202 or the associated reflectivities of the plurality of surface elements 206. Additionally or alternatively, the control device may control one or more reflection schemes used by the intelligent reflecting device 124, and / or the time at which the intelligent reflecting device 124 uses one or more particular reflection schemes. Additionally or alternatively, the control device may control (such as by setting or adjusting) the reflection angle of the intelligent reflecting device 124, such as as part of a beam scanning process, as described above.

[0076] In addition, for at least some example systems 100, the control device can be configured to control multiple intelligent reflecting devices 124. For some examples, the control device controls the multiple reflecting devices 124 by scheduling the transmission of signals to be reflected by different intelligent reflecting devices 124 during different non-overlapping time periods. Conversely, if different intelligent reflecting devices 124 reflect corresponding signals during a common time period, it is possible that the reflected signals may combine before being received by the corresponding receiving device. The characteristics (frequency, duty cycle, power, etc.) of the combined signal can be different from the characteristics of the individual reflected signals, such that after being received, the receiving device may not be able to detect whether the received signal has been reflected by an intelligent reflecting device and / or one or more characteristics (e.g., ID) of the intelligent reflecting device that reflected the received signal. Therefore, scheduling the transmission of signals reflected by different intelligent reflecting devices 124 during different time slots can avoid undesirably combining these signals. Thus, in response to this scheduling, one or more transmitting devices can transmit a first set of one or more signals to be reflected by a first intelligent reflecting device 124 during a first time period, and can transmit a second set of one or more signals to be reflected by a second intelligent reflecting device 124 during a second time period. The second time period does not overlap with the first time period, and for at least some embodiments, the second time period can be sufficiently delayed after the end of the first time period such that one or more reflected signals reflected by the first intelligent reflecting device 124 do not combine with or are otherwise not interfered with by any reflected signals reflected by the second intelligent reflecting device 124. In this way, one or more receiving devices that receive the reflected signals reflected by the first intelligent reflecting device can determine that the signal has been reflected and / or one or more characteristics of the first intelligent reflecting device.

[0077] Figure 4A An example is shown where two intelligent reflecting devices reflect according to corresponding reflection schemes during different non-overlapping time periods, such as in response to control by a control device. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, during a first time period extending from a first time t0 to a second time t1, a first intelligent reflecting device reflects one or more signals according to a first reflection scheme. In addition, during a second time period extending from a third time t2 to a fourth time t3, a second intelligent reflecting device reflects signals according to a second reflection scheme.

[0078] As shown in FIG. 4, the first time period and the second time period are non-overlapping. Additionally, for at least some example configurations, such as the example configuration shown in FIG. 4, a predetermined amount of time can extend between the time periods. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, a certain predetermined amount of time can extend between the second time t1 and the third time t2 to prevent unwanted combinations. For other example configurations, one time period can start at the same time as another time period ends (e.g., t1 and t2 in FIG. 4 would be the same).

[0079] Other ways in which the communication node can control the intelligent reflecting device 124 are also possible. Additionally, in general, to control the intelligent reflecting device 124, the control device can send one or more control signals to the intelligent reflecting device 124, and the controller 204 of the intelligent reflecting device 200 can receive these signals. In various embodiments, the controller 204 of the intelligent reflecting device 200 can be configured to receive the control signals via a wired connection with the control device, a wireless connection (such as via the antenna 214), or a combination thereof.

[0080] Additionally, for other example configurations, the intelligent reflecting device 124 is self - controlled in that the controller 204 determines the reflection scheme or otherwise controls its surface 202, surface elements 206, and / or reflection angle without external device control. For example, the memory 210 of the intelligent reflecting device 200 can be pre - configured with one or more reflection schemes, and the controller 204 is otherwise pre - configured with the ability to control the surface 202 and surface elements 206 after manufacturing the intelligent reflecting device or at least before operation, and the controller 204 can specifically rely on the pre - configuration during its lifetime or operating period. In various configurations, the self - controlled (or stand - alone) intelligent reflecting device can be configured in hard - to - reach locations, such as the previously described locations. Additionally or alternatively, the self - controlled intelligent reflecting device can be configured such that it is not designated to operate with any one particular communication node (e.g., any particular base station), but rather improves the coverage of any various communication nodes moving within or near a predetermined distance of the intelligent reflecting device at various points in time. An intelligent reflecting device configured to output a reflection signal with characteristics indicating battery life can be particularly useful for such self - controlled intelligent reflecting devices.

[0081] Additionally, for some embodiments, the propagation path between the transmitting device and the receiving device can include only a single intelligent reflecting device 124, such that the signal conveyed via the propagation path is reflected by the single intelligent reflecting device 124 before being received by the receiving device. For other embodiments, the propagation path includes multiple intelligent reflecting devices 124, such that the signal conveyed via the propagation path can be reflected by each of the multiple intelligent reflecting devices 124 before being received by the receiving device. For example, in the case where the propagation path includes N intelligent reflecting devices 124 (where N is two or more), the signal can be reflected N times by the surfaces of the N intelligent reflecting devices 124 before being received by the receiving device. For a particular example configuration, each of the multiple intelligent reflecting devices can have a surface that reflects the corresponding incident signal according to the associated reflection scheme, such that the characteristics of the received signal can be based on or correspond to a combination of multiple reflection schemes.

[0082] As in the configuration where only a single intelligent reflecting device is included in the propagation path, a receiving device that receives a signal that has been reflected multiple times by multiple intelligent reflecting devices may have one or more characteristics detected by the receiving device. The receiving device may then determine whether one or more of the detected characteristics match one or more predetermined characteristics. If so, the receiving device may determine that the received signal layer has been reflected by at least one intelligent reflecting device and / or one or more characteristics (e.g., ID or battery life) of at least one of the multiple intelligent reflecting devices that reflected the signal.

[0083] Figure 4B FIG. 400 is a flowchart illustrating an example method 400 of transmitting a signal via a propagation path including one or more intelligent reflecting devices. At block 402, a transmitting device transmits a signal toward a receiving device. At block 404, one or more intelligent reflecting devices reflect the signal one or more times according to one or more reflection schemes. At block 406, the receiving device receives the reflected signal from the one or more intelligent reflecting devices. If the one or more intelligent reflecting devices include multiple intelligent reflecting devices, the receiving device may receive the reflected signal from the last intelligent reflecting device that last reflected the signal. At block 406, the receiving device may detect whether the received signal has been reflected by an intelligent reflecting device and / or one or more characteristics of one or more intelligent reflecting devices that reflected the signal, such as by detecting one or more characteristics of the received signal, as described above. Based on this detection, the receiving device may take one or more actions, as described above.

[0084] Figure 5 FIG. 500 is a flowchart illustrating an example method 500 of operating an intelligent reflecting device (e.g., intelligent reflecting device 124 or 200) for wireless communication. At block 502, a controller (e.g., controller 204) may set the associated reflectivity of a plurality of surface elements of a surface of the intelligent reflecting device according to a reflection scheme. As described above, each associated reflectivity may be an associated maximum reflectivity, an associated minimum reflectivity, or an associated medium reflectivity. The reflection scheme may indicate to the controller the associated reflectivity for each surface element.

[0085] At block 504, the surface of the intelligent reflecting device may receive an incident signal and reflect the incident signal with the associated reflectivity of the plurality of surface elements set according to the reflection scheme. As described above, the reflected signal may have at least one characteristic different from the corresponding characteristic of the incident signal, such as a different frequency, power, energy, and / or duty cycle. Additionally, for at least some embodiments, the characteristic may indicate one or more characteristics of the intelligent reflecting device, such as the identification or battery life of the intelligent reflecting device.

[0086] In various example embodiments, the incident signal reflected by the intelligent reflecting device is or includes a downlink signal, such as a signal generated by the wireless access node 104 and transmitted to the user equipment 102. In other example embodiments, the incident signal is or includes an uplink signal, such as a signal generated by the user equipment 102 and transmitted to the wireless access node 104. In other example embodiments, the incident signal is or includes a sidelink signal, such as a signal generated by the first user equipment 102 and transmitted to the second user equipment 102, or a signal generated by the first wireless access node 104 and transmitted to the second wireless access node 104.

[0087] Figure 6 A flowchart of an example method 600 for operating multiple intelligent reflecting devices for wireless communication is shown. At block 602, the control device may determine a schedule indicating a first time to transmit a first signal and a second time to transmit a second signal. In various embodiments, the first signal and the second signal may be downlink signals, uplink signals, or sidelink signals. Additionally, the control device may determine that the first signal and the second signal will be reflected by different intelligent reflecting devices, such as in different propagation paths, before being received by one or more receiving devices. Further, in various embodiments, the control device may determine the second time before the first signal is transmitted and include the second time in the schedule. In other embodiments, the control device may determine the second time after the first signal is transmitted and include the second time in the schedule.

[0088] At block 604, one or more transmitting devices transmit the first signal and the second signal according to the schedule (e.g., at the first time and the second time, respectively). In various embodiments, the transmitting device and the control device may be the same device or may be different devices. In the case where they are different devices, the control device may send the schedule to the transmitting device. After transmission, the first intelligent reflecting device may reflect the first signal according to a first reflection scheme to output a first reflected signal, and the second intelligent reflecting device may reflect the second signal according to a second reflection scheme to output a second reflected signal. Subsequently, one or more receiving devices may receive the first reflected signal and the second reflected signal.

[0089] Furthermore, at block 602, the control device may determine a second time sufficient to transmit the second signal after the first time such that one or more receiving devices receive the first reflected signal and the second reflected signal without the two combining or interfering with each other. In this way, one or more receivers may successfully detect the characteristics of the first reflected signal indicating that the first reflected signal has been reflected by the first intelligent reflecting device and / or the associated characteristics of the first intelligent reflecting device, and detect that the second reflected signal has been reflected by the second intelligent reflecting device and / or the associated characteristics of the second intelligent reflecting device.

[0090] Figure 7 FIG. 700 is a flow chart showing an example method 700 of configuring an intelligent reflecting device for wireless communication. At block 702, a receiving device may receive a signal from a transmitting device. In various embodiments, the receiving device may be a user equipment and the transmitting device may be a wireless access node. In other embodiments, the receiving device may be a wireless access node and the transmitting device may be a user equipment. In other embodiments, both the transmitting device and the receiving device may be user equipment. In other embodiments, both the transmitting device and the receiving device may be wireless access nodes.

[0091] At block 704, the receiving device may detect whether the signal has been reflected by the intelligent reflecting device. For at least some embodiments, the receiving device may do so by detecting at least one characteristic of the received signal (such as the frequency, duty cycle, power, or energy of the signal) and comparing the detected characteristic with a predetermined characteristic associated with a signal reflected by the intelligent reflecting device. If the detected characteristic matches the predetermined characteristic, the receiving device may determine that the received signal has been reflected by the intelligent reflecting device. Alternatively, if the detected characteristic does not match the predetermined characteristic, the receiving device may determine that the received signal has not been reflected by the intelligent reflecting device.

[0092] At block 706, if the receiving device detects that the signal has been reflected by the intelligent reflecting device, then at block 708, a control device may set one or more reflection angles of the intelligent reflecting device. In various embodiments, the control device may be the receiving device, the transmitting device, or another communication node. Further, for at least some embodiments, the control device may control the intelligent reflecting device to set one or more reflection angles as part of a beam scanning process as described above. During the beam scanning process, the transmitting device and the receiving device may perform the scanning through multiple iterations, where for each iteration, the control device sets the reflection angle and the receiving device measures the power of the signal reflected by the intelligent reflecting device at the set reflection angle. Further, for at least some example embodiments, based on the measurement, the transmitting device and / or the receiving device may determine an optimal reflection angle of the intelligent reflecting device, and the control device may set the reflection angle of the intelligent reflecting device to the optimal reflection angle for subsequent communication between the transmitting device and the receiving device.

[0093] Returning to reference block 706, if the receiving device detects that the signal has not been reflected by the intelligent reflecting device, then at block 710, the transmitting device and the receiving device may communicate further without setting any reflection angles of the intelligent reflecting device. For example, the transmitting device and the receiving device may perform a beam scanning process, or communicate other signals between each other without setting any reflection angles, or otherwise control the intelligent reflecting device.

[0094] In addition, for at least some example embodiments, after detecting at block 704 whether a signal has been reflected by the intelligent reflecting device, the receiving device may output a feedback signal indicating whether it has detected that the intelligent reflecting device has reflected the signal. For at least some of these embodiments, the receiving device is not configured as a controlling device, and thus the receiving device outputs the feedback signal to another device (such as a controlling device, a transmitting device, or another communication node). In at least some embodiments, the controlling device and the second device are the same device. In this way, the feedback signal indicates to the controlling device receiving the feedback signal whether and / or how to control the intelligent reflecting device. Therefore, if the feedback signal indicates that a reflection by the intelligent reflecting device has occurred, the feedback signal indicates that a control of the intelligent reflecting device is to occur. On the other hand, if the feedback signal indicates that no reflection by the intelligent reflecting device has occurred, the feedback indicates that no control of the intelligent reflecting device will occur. Thus, in response to the receipt of the feedback signal, the controlling device may determine whether to set any reflection angles of the intelligent reflecting device based on the indication of the feedback signal. For example, if the feedback signal indicates that the receiving device has detected that the received signal has been reflected by the intelligent reflecting device, based on this feedback signal, the controlling device may control the intelligent reflecting device by setting one or more reflection angles of the intelligent reflecting device, such as during a beam scanning process. On the other hand, if the feedback signal indicates that the receiving device has not detected that the received signal has been reflected by the intelligent reflecting device, based on this feedback signal, the controlling device may determine not to set the reflection angles for any intelligent reflecting device. For at least some of these embodiments, the receiving device is a user equipment, and the controlling device is a transmitting device, which is a wireless access node in at least some embodiments.

[0095] Additionally or alternatively, for at least some example embodiments, the receiving device may select a beam from a plurality of beams to communicate with the transmitting device based on detecting that the signal has been reflected by the intelligent reflecting device. For example, in response to this detection, the receiving device may select a beam based on identifying which intelligent reflecting device has reflected the received signal (such as by identifying the ID of the intelligent reflecting device) and / or by selecting a beam corresponding to the reflection angle (such as the optimal reflection angle that the intelligent reflecting device is controlled to have).

[0096] Figure 8 is a flowchart of an example method 800 for detecting characteristics of an intelligent reflecting device. At block 802, the receiving device may receive a signal. At block 804, the receiving device may detect the characteristics of the intelligent reflecting device that has reflected the signal. For example, the receiving device may detect the characteristics of the received signal and then determine that the characteristics match or otherwise correspond to the characteristics of the intelligent reflecting device that has reflected the signal, such as the ID or battery life of the intelligent reflecting device.

[0097] Other methods are possible, including those that combine any of the various blocks according to Example Methods 400, 500, 600, 700, 800.

[0098] The foregoing description and drawings provide specific example embodiments and implementations. However, the described subject matter may be embodied in a variety of different forms, and thus, the subject matter covered or claimed is intended to be construed as not limited to any example embodiment set forth herein. It is intended to cover a reasonably broad scope of the claimed or covered subject matter. Among other things, for example, the subject matter may be embodied as a method, apparatus, component, system, or non-transitory computer-readable medium for storing computer code. Thus, embodiments may take, for example, the form of hardware, software, firmware, storage media, or any combination thereof. For example, the method embodiments described above may be implemented by a component, device, or system including a memory and a processor by executing computer code stored in the memory.

[0099] Throughout the specification and claims, terms may have nuanced meanings that are suggested or implied in the context in addition to the explicitly stated meanings. Similarly, as used herein, the phrase "in one embodiment / implementation" does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, and the phrase "in another embodiment / implementation" as used herein does not necessarily refer to a different embodiment. For example, it is intended that the claimed subject matter include all or part combinations of example embodiments.

[0100] Generally speaking, terms may be understood, at least in part, from their use in context. For example, as used herein, terms such as "and", "or", "and / or" may include a variety of meanings that may depend, at least in part, on the context in which they are used. Typically, if "or" is used to relate a list such as A, B, or C, it is intended to mean A, B, and C as used herein in an inclusive sense, and A, B, or C as used herein in an exclusive sense. Additionally, as used herein, the term "one or more" may, at least in part, depend on the context, be used to describe any feature, structure, or characteristic in a singular sense, or may be used to describe a combination of features, structures, or characteristics in a plural sense. Similarly, terms such as "a", "an", or "the" may be understood to convey a singular usage or a plural usage, at least in part, depending on the context. Additionally, the term "based on" may be understood to not necessarily convey an exclusive set of factors, but may equally, at least in part, depend on the context and allow for the presence of additional factors that are not necessarily explicitly described.

[0101] Throughout the specification, references to features, advantages, or similar language do not imply that all features and advantages that can be realized by the solution should be or are included in any single embodiment. On the contrary, language referring to features and advantages is understood to mean that a specific feature, advantage, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the solution. Thus, throughout the specification, the discussion of features and advantages and similar language may, but need not, refer to the same embodiment.

[0102] In addition, the described features, advantages, and characteristics of the solution may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. Those of ordinary skill in the relevant art will recognize that, based on the description herein, the solution may be practiced without one or more specific features or advantages of a particular embodiment. In other instances, additional features and advantages may be recognized in certain embodiments that may not be present in all embodiments of the solution.

Claims

1. A method, comprising: setting associated reflectivities of a plurality of surface elements of a surface for an intelligent reflecting device according to a reflection scheme, wherein the surface is configured to reflect at one or more reflection angles; using the surface to reflect an incident signal with the associated reflectivities set for the plurality of surface elements according to the reflection scheme; and using the surface to output a reflected signal in response to reflecting the incident signal, wherein the incident signal and the reflected signal include corresponding characteristics different from each other; wherein the corresponding characteristics include frequency, power or duty cycle.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, the incident signal includes a downlink signal.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein, the incident signal includes an uplink signal.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein, the incident signal includes a sidelink signal.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein, the intelligent reflecting device includes a first intelligent reflecting device, the surface includes a first surface, the plurality of surface elements includes a first plurality of surface elements, the reflection scheme includes a first reflection scheme, and the incident signal includes a first incident signal, wherein the method further includes: using a second surface of a second intelligent reflecting device to reflect a second incident signal with the associated reflectivities set for a second plurality of surface elements of the second surface according to a second reflection scheme.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein, reflecting the first incident signal includes using the first surface to reflect the first incident signal during a first time period, and wherein reflecting the second incident signal includes using the second surface to reflect the second incident signal during a second time period.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein, the corresponding characteristics of the reflected signal indicate at least one characteristic of the intelligent reflecting device.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein, at least one characteristic of the intelligent reflecting device indicates at least one of the identity of the intelligent reflecting device or the battery life of the intelligent reflecting device.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein, the intelligent reflecting device includes a first intelligent reflecting device, the surface includes a first surface, the plurality of surface elements includes a first plurality of surface elements, the reflection scheme includes a first reflection scheme, and the incident signal includes a first incident signal, wherein the method further includes: using a second surface of a second intelligent reflecting device to reflect a reflected signal with the associated reflectivities set for a second plurality of surface elements of the second surface according to a second reflection scheme, the reflected signal being reflected by the first surface of the first intelligent reflecting device.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein, the surface includes a first part and a second part, the plurality of surface elements includes a first plurality of surface elements that are part of the first part, the reflection scheme includes a first reflection scheme, the incident signal includes a first incident signal, and wherein the method further includes: Utilize the second portion including the second plurality of surface elements to reflect a second incident signal with an associated reflectivity set according to a second reflection scheme for the second plurality of surface elements.

11. A system includes at least one intelligent reflecting device, each of the at least one intelligent reflecting device includes a controller and a surface containing a plurality of network elements, and the system is configured to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable medium includes instructions stored thereon, which when executed by a processor, cause the processor to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 by using at least one intelligent reflecting device.

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