Power control techniques for communication systems including repeaters

Abstract

The present disclosure generally relates to systems, devices, apparatus, products, and methods for wireless communications. For example, a communications system may include a repeater that relays communications between communications devices. The repeater determines a downlink gain value to be used for one or more downlink initial access messages received at the repeater. The repeater determines an uplink gain value to be used for one or more downlink initial access messages received at the repeater. The uplink gain value is based on the downlink gain value and a noise level associated with a channel between the communications device and the repeater. The repeater receives a downlink initial access message and applies the downlink gain value to the downlink initial access message. The repeater receives an uplink initial access message and applies the uplink gain value to the uplink initial access message.

Description

[0001] Priority claim

[0002] This patent application claims priority to U.S. non-provisional application No. 17 / 213,648, filed on March 26, 2021, entitled “POWER CONTROL TECHNIQUES FORA COMMUNICATION SYSTEM THAT INCLUDES A REPEATER,” and U.S. provisional patent application No. 63 / 002,844, filed on March 31, 2020, entitled “POWER CONTROL TECHNIQUES FOR A COMMUNICATION SYSTEM THAT INCLUDES A REPEATER,” both of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly to power control in repeater communication systems.

[0004] Related technical description

[0005] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content, such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and other types of content. These systems can support communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiple access systems include fourth generation (4G) systems (such as long term evolution (LTE) systems, advanced LTE (LTE-A) systems, or LTE-A Pro systems), and fifth generation (5G) systems, which may be referred to as new radio (NR) systems. These systems may employ various technologies, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), or discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM). A wireless multiple access communication system may include several base stations or network access nodes that can simultaneously support communication for multiple communication devices (e.g., user equipment (UE)).

[0006] Some wireless signals transmitted in wireless communication systems may be limited by path loss through the air, physical obstructions, or other constraints. To address this issue, wireless communication systems may use wireless repeaters to repeat and extend signals sent between various system nodes. The signals received at the repeater may be signals transmitted by a base station intended for a UE, signals transmitted by a UE intended for a base station, signals transmitted by one UE intended for another UE, or signals transmitted by one base station intended for another base station. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] The system may be better understood with reference to the following drawings and descriptions. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, but emphasis is placed on illustrating the principles of the present disclosure. In addition, in the drawings, like reference numerals denote corresponding parts in different views.

[0009] Figure 1

[0014] An example of a system for supporting wireless communication of one or more repeaters in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0010] Figure 2 An example block diagram of a repeater is illustrated.

[0011] Figure 3 An example block diagram of a base station is illustrated.

[0012] Figure 4 An example of a communication system using one or more repeaters is illustrated.

[0013] Figure 5 An example of a downlink communication path through a repeater is illustrated.

[0014] Figure 6 An example of an uplink communication path through a repeater is illustrated.

[0015] Figure 7 An example of a communication system that does not include a repeater is illustrated.

[0016] Figure 8 An example of a communication system including a repeater is illustrated.

[0017] Figure 9 is a flow chart illustrating one example of a technique for a relay to apply a downlink gain value to a downlink initial access message and an uplink gain value to an uplink initial access message.

[0018] Figure 10 is a flow chart illustrating one example of a technique for a base station to determine downlink gain values and uplink gain values for use at a relay.

[0019] Detailed description

[0020] The detailed description set forth below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings is intended as a description of various configurations and is not intended to represent the only configurations in which the concepts described herein may be practiced. This detailed description includes specific details to provide a thorough understanding of the various concepts. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts may be practiced without these specific details.

[0021] The systems and techniques described in this detailed description provide various mechanisms for controlling gain and / or transmit power at nodes within a repeater communication system. A repeater in a repeater communication system is used to relay communications between a first device (e.g., a base station, user equipment (UE), or another repeater) and a second device (e.g., a base station, a UE, or another repeater). In one example, the repeater receives, amplifies, and forwards downlink signals sent from a base station and intended for the UE. In another example, the repeater receives, amplifies, and forwards uplink signals sent from a UE and intended for the base station.

[0022] One issue that may arise in a repeater communication system is how to control the gain value at a repeater for initial access messages received and forwarded by the repeater. During an initial access procedure, a base station may send one or more downlink initial access messages to a UE, and the UE may send one or more uplink initial access messages to the base station. In an example system in which a base station and a UE communicate via a repeater for the initial access procedure, the system may desire to jointly coordinate the downlink gain value applied at the repeater to the downlink initial access message in conjunction with the uplink gain value applied at the repeater to the corresponding uplink initial access message. In some cases, the system may desire to set the uplink and downlink gain values at the repeater to be equal. In other cases, the system may desire to set the uplink gain value to be different from the downlink gain value.

[0023] A control node (such as a base station or a repeater itself or another entity) may determine when to set the uplink gain value to be equal to the downlink gain value and when to set the uplink gain value to be different from the downlink gain value. In some implementations, the control node's decision as to whether to set the gain values to be equal or different may be based on the noise level associated with the channel between the repeater and another device (such as a UE transmitting to the base station through the repeater). As an example, the control node may set the uplink gain value at the repeater to be equal to the downlink gain value at the repeater in the following circumstances: when the noise level on the communication channel between the UE and the repeater would result in a relatively high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) on the uplink communication from the UE through the repeater to the base station. As another example, the control node may set the uplink gain value at the repeater to be less than the downlink gain value at the repeater in the following circumstances: when the noise level on the communication channel between the UE and the repeater would result in a relatively low SNR on the uplink communication from the UE through the repeater to the base station. As will be discussed in the examples below, the control node for the power control scheme described herein may be a base station, a UE, a relay, a network node / function, a cloud-based management entity, or any other control entity. While the description herein discusses certain implementations in which a base station performs actions related to configuring a gain value at a relay, other example implementations may use other types of control nodes to configure the relay in the same or similar manner.

[0024] By setting the uplink gain value to be less than the downlink gain value in certain situations, the system can reduce certain noise enhancement interference to the system that may occur when the repeater amplifies noise present on the uplink channel between the UE and the repeater. In some implementations, the system dynamically sets the uplink gain value at the repeater based on the corresponding downlink gain value and the noise level between the UE and the repeater. This dynamic gain selection process can allow the system to balance the following potentially competing goals: (1) improving initial access performance for one or more UEs communicating through the repeater; and (2) improving global initial access performance for all UEs (including one or more UEs not communicating through the repeater). Further details of the disclosed power control techniques are discussed below (see, e.g., Figure 5-10 ).

[0025] Figure 1An example of a wireless communication system 100 including one or more relays 140 according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. The wireless communication system 100 includes one or more relays 140, one or more base stations 105, one or more UEs 115, and one or more core networks 130. In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 can be a long term evolution (LTE) network, an advanced LTE (LTE-A) network, an LTE-A Pro network, a fifth generation (5G) new radio (NR) network, or another type of network. In some cases, the wireless communication system 100 can support enhanced broadband communication, ultra-reliable (e.g., mission-critical) communication, low latency communication, or communication with low-cost and low-complexity devices.

[0026] The base station 105 may communicate wirelessly with the UE 115 via one or more base station antennas. The base station 105 described herein may include or may be referred to by those skilled in the art as a base transceiver station, a radio base station, an access point, a radio transceiver, a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNB), a next-generation Node B, or a gigabit Node B (any of which may be referred to as a gNB), a Home Node B, a Home eNode B, or some other suitable terminology. The wireless communication system 100 may include different types of base stations 105 (e.g., macro cell base stations or small cell base stations). The UE 115 described herein may be capable of communicating with various types of base stations 105 and network equipment (including macro eNBs, small cell eNBs, gNBs, relay base stations, etc.).

[0027] Each base station 105 may be associated with a particular geographic coverage area 110 in which it supports communications with various UEs 115. Each base station 105 may provide communication coverage for the corresponding geographic coverage area 110 via a communication link 125, and the communication link 125 between the base station 105 and the UE 115 may utilize one or more carriers. The communication link 125 shown in the wireless communication system 100 may include an uplink transmission from the UE 115 to the base station 105, or a downlink transmission from the base station 105 to the UE 115. Downlink transmissions may also be referred to as forward link transmissions, while uplink transmissions may also be referred to as reverse link transmissions.

[0028] The geographic coverage area 110 of a base station 105 can be divided into sectors that constitute a portion of the geographic coverage area 110, and each sector can be associated with a cell. For example, each base station 105 can provide communication coverage for a macrocell, a small cell, a hotspot, or other types of cells, or various combinations thereof. In some examples, the base stations 105 can be mobile and, therefore, provide communication coverage for mobile geographic coverage areas 110. In some examples, different geographic coverage areas 110 associated with different technologies can overlap, and the overlapping geographic coverage areas 110 associated with different technologies can be supported by the same base station 105 or different base stations 105. The wireless communication system 100 can include, for example, a heterogeneous LTE / LTE-A / LTE-A Pro or NR network, in which different types of base stations 105 provide coverage for various geographic coverage areas 110.

[0029] UE 115 can be dispersed throughout the wireless communication system 100, and each UE 115 can be stationary or mobile. UE 115 can also be referred to as a wireless communication device, a communication device, a mobile device, a wireless device, a remote device, a handheld device, a subscriber device, or some other suitable term, where "device" can also be referred to as a unit, a station, a terminal, or a client. UE 115 can also be a personal electronic device, such as a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, or a personal computer. In some examples, UE 115 can also refer to a wireless local loop (WLL) station, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, an Internet of Everything (IoE) device, or an MTC device, etc., which can be implemented in various items (such as appliances, vehicles, meters, etc.).

[0030] In some cases, a UE 115 may also be able to communicate directly with other UEs 115 (e.g., using a peer-to-peer (P2P) or device-to-device (D2D) protocol). One or more UEs in a group of UEs 115 utilizing D2D communication may be within the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 105. Other UEs 115 in the group may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 105 or otherwise unable to receive transmissions from the base station 105. In some cases, each group of UEs 115 communicating via D2D communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, in which each UE 115 transmits to each other UE 115 in the group. In some cases, the base station 105 facilitates the scheduling of resources for D2D communication. In other cases, D2D communication is performed between the UEs 115 without involving the base station 105.

[0031] The base stations 105 can communicate with the core network 130 and with each other. For example, the base stations 105 can interface with the core network 130 via a backhaul link 132 (e.g., via an S1, N2, N3, or other interface). The base stations 105 can communicate with each other over a backhaul link 134 (e.g., via an X2, Xn, or other interface) directly (e.g., directly between the base stations 105) or indirectly (e.g., via the core network 130 or via a relay 140).

[0032] The core network 130 may provide user authentication, access authorization, tracking, Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity, and other access, routing, or mobility functions. The core network 130 may be an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC). The EPC or 5GC may include at least one control plane entity (e.g., a mobility management entity (MME), an access and mobility management function (AMF)) that manages access and mobility, and at least one user plane entity (e.g., a serving gateway (S-GW), a packet data network (PDN) gateway (P-GW), or a user plane function (UPF)) that routes packets or interconnects to external networks. The control plane entities may manage non-access stratum (NAS) functions, such as mobility, authentication, and bearer management for UEs 115 served by base stations 105 associated with the core network 130. User IP packets may be delivered via user plane entities, which may provide IP address allocation and other functions. The user plane entities may connect to network operator IP services. Operator IP services may include access to the Internet, an intranet, an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), or packet-switched streaming services.

[0033] At least some network devices (such as base stations 105) may include subcomponents, such as access network entities, which may be examples of access node controllers (ANCs). Each access network entity may communicate with various UEs 115 through a number of other access network transport entities, which may be referred to as radio heads, smart radio heads, or transmit / receive points (TRPs). In some configurations, the various functions of each access network entity or base station 105 may be distributed across various network devices (e.g., radio heads and access network controllers) or consolidated into a single network device (e.g., base station 105).

[0034] The wireless communication system 100 can operate using one or more frequency bands, typically in the range of 300 megahertz (MHz) to 300 gigahertz (GHz). Generally speaking, the 300 MHz to 3 GHz region is referred to as the ultra-high frequency (UHF) region or decimeter band because the wavelengths range from approximately 1 decimeter to 1 meter long. UHF waves can be blocked or redirected by buildings and environmental features. However, these waves can penetrate various structures sufficiently for macrocells to provide service to UEs 115 located indoors. Transmissions using UHF waves can be associated with smaller antennas and a shorter range (e.g., less than 100 km) compared to transmissions using the lower frequencies and longer wavelengths in the high frequency (HF) or very high frequency (VHF) portions of the spectrum below 300 MHz.

[0035] The wireless communication system 100 may also operate in the Super High Frequency (SHF) region using frequency bands from 3 GHz to 30 GHz (also known as centimeter bands). The SHF region includes frequency bands that may be opportunistically used by devices that may be able to tolerate interference from other users, such as the 5 GHz Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) band.

[0036] The wireless communication system 100 may also operate in the extremely high frequency (EHF) region of the spectrum (e.g., from 30 GHz to 300 GHz), which is also known as the millimeter band. In some systems, millimeter wave (mmW) communications may occur in a frequency range (also known as "FR2") present above 24 GHz (which may include portions of the total frequency range within and near the millimeter band). In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 may support millimeter wave (mmW) communications between the UE 115 and the base station 105, and the EHF antennas of the respective devices may be even smaller and more closely spaced than the UHF antennas. In some cases, this may facilitate the use of antenna arrays within the UE 115. However, the propagation of EHF transmissions may be subject to even greater atmospheric attenuation and a shorter range than SHF or UHF transmissions. The technology disclosed herein may be employed across transmissions using one or more different frequency regions, and the use of frequency bands specified across these frequency regions may differ by country or regulatory agency.

[0037] In some cases, the wireless communication system 100 may utilize both licensed and unlicensed radio frequency spectrum bands. For example, the wireless communication system 100 may employ license assisted access (LAA), LTE unlicensed (LTE-U) radio access technology, or NR technology in an unlicensed frequency band (such as the 5 GHz ISM band). When operating in an unlicensed radio frequency spectrum band, wireless devices (such as base stations 105 and UEs 115) may employ a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure to ensure that the frequency channel is clear before transmitting data. In some cases, operations in the unlicensed band may be based on a carrier aggregation configuration (e.g., LAA) in conjunction with component carriers operating in the licensed band. Operations in the unlicensed spectrum may include downlink transmissions, uplink transmissions, peer-to-peer transmissions, or a combination of these. Duplexing in the unlicensed spectrum may be based on frequency division duplexing (FDD), time division duplexing (TDD), or a combination of the two.

[0038] In some examples, base station 105, UE 115, or relay 140 may be equipped with multiple antennas, which can be used to employ techniques such as transmit diversity, receive diversity, multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) communication, or beamforming. For example, wireless communication system 100 may employ a transmission scheme between a transmitting device (e.g., base station 105) and a receiving device (e.g., relay 140), where the transmitting device is equipped with multiple antennas and the receiving device is equipped with one or more antennas. MIMO communication may utilize multipath signal propagation to increase spectral efficiency by transmitting or receiving multiple signals via different spatial layers, which may be referred to as spatial multiplexing. For example, a transmitting device may transmit multiple signals via different antennas or different antenna combinations. Similarly, a receiving device may receive multiple signals via different antennas or different antenna combinations. Each of these multiple signals may be referred to as a separate spatial stream and may carry bits associated with the same data stream (e.g., the same codeword) or different data streams. Different spatial layers may be associated with different antenna ports for channel measurement and reporting. MIMO technology includes single-user MIMO (SU-MIMO), in which multiple spatial layers are transmitted to the same receiving device, and multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO), in which multiple spatial layers are transmitted to multiple devices.

[0039] Beamforming (which may also be referred to as spatial filtering, directional transmission, or directional reception) is a signal processing technique that can be used at a transmitting device or a receiving device (e.g., a base station 105, a UE 115, or a relay 140) to shape or steer an antenna beam (e.g., a transmit beam or a receive beam) along a spatial path between the transmitting device and the receiving device. Beamforming can be achieved by combining signals communicated via antenna elements of an antenna array so that signals propagating at a particular orientation relative to the antenna array experience constructive interference, while other signals experience destructive interference. Adjustments to the signals communicated via the antenna elements can include the transmitting device or the receiving device applying a specific amplitude and phase shift to the signals carried via each antenna element associated with that device. The adjustments associated with each antenna element can be defined by a set of beamforming weights associated with a particular orientation (e.g., relative to the antenna array of the transmitting device or the receiving device, or relative to some other orientation).

[0040] In one example, the base station 105 can use multiple antennas or antenna arrays to perform beamforming operations for directional communication with a UE 115, another base station 105, or a repeater 140. For example, some signals (e.g., synchronization signals, reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals) can be transmitted multiple times by the base station 105 in different directions, which can include a signal being transmitted according to different sets of beamforming weights associated with different transmission directions. The transmissions in different beam directions can be used (e.g., by the base station 105 or a receiving device, such as a UE 115 or a repeater 140) to identify a beam direction for subsequent transmission and / or reception by the base station 105. Additionally, the UE 115 or the repeater 140 can perform similar beamforming operations (as described herein for the base station 105) for directional communication with other devices (e.g., a base station, a UE, or another repeater).

[0041] Some signals, such as data signals associated with a particular recipient device, may be transmitted by base station 105 in a single beam direction (e.g., a direction associated with a recipient device, such as repeater 140). In some examples, the beam direction associated with transmissions along the single beam direction may be determined based at least in part on signals transmitted in different beam directions. For example, repeater 140 may receive one or more signals transmitted by base station 105 in different directions, and repeater 140 may report to base station 105 an indication of the signal it received with the highest signal quality or other acceptable signal quality. Although these techniques are described with reference to signals transmitted by base station 105 in one or more directions, UE 115 or repeater 140 may use similar techniques for transmitting signals multiple times in different directions (e.g., for identifying a beam direction for subsequent transmission or reception by UE 115) or for transmitting signals in a single direction (e.g., for transmitting data to a recipient device).

[0042] A receiving device (e.g., UE 115 or relay 140, which may be examples of mmW receiving devices) may attempt multiple receive beams when receiving various signals (such as synchronization signals, reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals) from base station 105. For example, the receiving device may attempt multiple receive directions by receiving via different antenna subarrays, processing received signals according to different antenna subarrays, receiving according to different receive beamforming weight sets applied to signals received at multiple antenna elements of an antenna array, or processing received signals according to different receive beamforming weight sets applied to signals received at multiple antenna elements of an antenna array, any of which may be referred to as "listening" according to different receive beams or receive directions. In some examples, the receiving device may use a single receive beam to receive along a single beam direction (e.g., when receiving a data signal). A single receive beam may be aligned on a beam direction determined based at least in part on listening according to different receive beam directions (e.g., a beam direction determined to have the highest signal strength, highest signal-to-noise ratio, or other acceptable signal quality based at least in part on listening according to multiple beam directions).

[0043] In some cases, the antennas of a base station 105 or a UE 115 may be located within one or more antenna arrays that can support MIMO operations or transmit or receive beamforming. For example, one or more base station antennas or antenna arrays may be co-located at an antenna assembly, such as an antenna tower. In some cases, the antennas or antenna arrays associated with a base station 105 may be located at different geographic locations. The base station 105 may have an antenna array with several rows and columns of antenna ports that the base station 105 may use to support beamforming for communications with the UE 115. Similarly, the UE 115 or the repeater 140 may have one or more antenna arrays that can support various MIMO or beamforming operations.

[0044] A single node within the wireless communication system 100 (e.g., a base station, UE, or relay) can include multiple different communication interfaces, each configured for a different type of communication protocol. As an example, the base station 105, UE 115, or relay 140 can include both a wide area network interface (e.g., 4G or 5G cellular) and a local area network interface (e.g., IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi or Bluetooth). As another example, the base station 105, UE 115, or relay 140 can include both a high-frequency network interface (e.g., mmWave) and a lower-frequency network interface that uses a lower frequency band than the mmWave interface (e.g., LTE, sub-6 GHz NR, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc.).

[0045] The wireless communication system 100 may include one or more wireless repeaters 140 (also referred to as relay or hybrid nodes). The repeater 140 may include functionality for the base station 105 and / or the UE 115 to repeat, forward, relay, extend, and / or redirect wireless signals. In some cases, the repeater 140 may be used in line-of-sight (LOS) or non-line-of-sight (NLOS) scenarios. In LOS scenarios, transmissions such as mmW transmissions may be limited by path loss through the air, which can be overcome using beamforming techniques at the wireless repeater 140. In NLOS scenarios (such as in urban areas or indoors), mmW transmissions may be limited by signal blocking or signal interfering physical objects.

[0046] The relay 140 may provide an uplink path from a UE to a base station, a downlink path from a base station to a UE, a P2P or D2D path from one UE to another UE, and / or a wireless backhaul path between a base station and core network equipment (e.g., via one or more other base stations). In a first example, the mmW beamforming relay 140 may be used to receive a signal from the base station 105 and transmit the signal to the UE 115, such as by receiving the signal on a wireless link 150 and then transmitting the signal on a wireless link 152. In a second example, the mmW beamforming relay 140 may be used to receive a signal from the UE 115 and transmit the signal to the base station 105, such as by receiving the signal on a wireless link 152 and then transmitting the signal on a wireless link 150. In a third example, the mmW beamforming repeater 140 may be used to receive a signal from one base station 105 and transmit the signal to a different base station 105 (e.g., in a wireless backhaul configuration), such as by receiving the signal on wireless link 150 and then transmitting the signal on wireless link 154. In a fourth example, the mmW beamforming repeater 140 may be used to receive a signal from one UE 115 and transmit the signal to a different UE 115 (e.g., in a P2P or D2D protocol configuration), such as by receiving the signal on wireless link 152 and then transmitting the signal on wireless link 156. In each of these examples, the transmitted signal may be a processed version of the received signal (e.g., an amplified version of the received signal with or without further processing such as signal phase shifting, splitting, and / or combining). Beamforming and gain control techniques may be used to improve signal quality between base station 105, repeater 140, and UE 115 by isolating the signals (e.g., via beamforming) and improving or maintaining stability within the repeater's signal processing chain (e.g., via gain control).

[0047] Repeater 140 may include a receive antenna array and a transmit antenna array. In some cases, the receive antenna array and the transmit antenna array include the same set of dipole antennas, where the dipole antennas function as the receive antenna array in a first polarization and the dipole antennas function as the transmit antenna array in a second polarization. In some cases, the antennas include metamaterial antennas or antenna arrays. Repeater 140 may further include a beam control system, which may include a processor or system on a chip (SoC) for controlling the transmit and / or receive beams to reduce signal interference caused by retransmissions.

[0048] In some cases, the repeater 140 is an analog RF repeater and may include a signal processing chain connected (e.g., coupled, linked, attached) between the receive antenna array and the transmit antenna array. The signal processing chain may be implemented as a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) that may include RF / microwave components such as one or more phase shifters, (low noise amplifier) LNAs, (power amplifier) PAs, PA drivers, gain controllers, power detectors, or other circuitry. The phase shifters may be controlled by one or more beam controllers to perform beamforming to reduce signal interference. The signal processing chain may include a feedback path for monitoring the output of one or more PAs and adjusting the gain of one or more PA drivers to the PAs and the gain of one or more LNAs based on the output. Gain adjustment may be used to stabilize signal reception and transmission and improve signal quality between devices (such as the base station 105 and the UE 115). Accordingly, through beamforming and gain control, signal quality (e.g., mmW signals) in LOS and NLOS scenarios may be improved.

[0049] As described, the repeater 140 may include components in the analog / RF domain (e.g., an antenna array and signal processing chain circuitry). Accordingly, in some implementations, the repeater may not include any digital components for the various features described herein. For example, the repeater may not, in some implementations, include any digital signal processing functionality that would allow the repeater to decode and interpret the content of the received mmW signal. As another example, the repeater may not, in some implementations, include any digital signal processing functionality that would allow the repeater to generate new content for the mmWave signal to be sent to another device. However, in other implementations, the repeater may include additional functionality to allow the repeater to decode the signal, interpret the content of the signal, and generate a new signal.

[0050] In some cases, the repeater may include one or more side channel components that allow the repeater to decode and interpret other types of messages (e.g., non-mmW signals). For example, the repeater may include a side channel communication interface for sending or receiving control messages. Incoming control messages may include power control messages from the base station 105 or another device, such as instructions on the gain to be applied at the repeater or the output power to be used by the repeater. Outgoing control messages may include gain configuration information for the repeater to be sent to the base station. The example side channel communication interface may be implemented using one or more of Bluetooth, ultra-wideband, wireless LAN (e.g., IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi), LTE, or sub-6 GHz NR protocols (or other wireless communication protocols). As such, the repeater may include circuitry and / or processors for transmitting, receiving, and / or processing signals via those protocols and controlling the gain level or output power level on the side channel communication interface based on those signals.

[0051] Figure 2 An example block diagram 200 illustrating a repeater 205 is shown. In some examples, Figure 2 The devices may implement aspects of the wireless communication system 100, and the repeater 205 may be as described with reference to Figure 1 An example of a repeater 140 is described. Repeater 205 includes a receive antenna array 220 comprising a set of antennas and a transmit antenna array 225 comprising a set of antennas. In some cases, receive antenna array 220 and transmit antenna array 225 are identical antenna arrays comprising the same set of dipole antennas functioning as receive antenna arrays and transmit antenna arrays in first and second polarizations. In other cases, receive antenna array 220 and transmit antenna array 225 are physically separate arrays. In some cases, receive antenna array 220 and / or transmit antenna array 225 include metamaterial antennas.

[0052] The repeater 205 may further include one or more processors 210, a memory 215, and one or more transceivers 230. The processor 210 is coupled to the memory 215, wherein the processor 210 executes instructions stored on the memory 215 to implement the various functions performed by the repeater 205 described herein. The one or more transceivers 230 may include multiple transceivers to support multiple communication interfaces. In one example, one transceiver may support a first communication technology (e.g., a mmWave interface), while another transceiver may support a second communication technology (e.g., a non-mmWave interface, such as an interface associated with LTE, sub-6GHz NR, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc.). The non-mmWave interface may use a frequency range lower than the frequency range associated with the mmWave interface. In another example, one transceiver may support a first radio access technology (RAT), while another transceiver may support a second RAT that is different from the first RAT.

[0053] In some implementations, the repeater 205 uses the first transceiver to send and / or receive control messages (e.g., to exchange control messages with a base station), and uses the second transceiver to send and / or receive other signals when the repeater 205 acts as an amplifying intermediary or relay between two other devices. As an example of using the second interface for relaying signals, the repeater 205 can receive a signal from the base station 105 via the second transceiver (associated with the second communication interface of the repeater 205) according to a beamforming configuration, and retransmit the signal to the UE 115 via the second transceiver (associated with the second communication interface) according to the beamforming configuration. The repeater 205 can further receive a signal from the UE 115 via the second transceiver (associated with the second communication interface) according to the beamforming configuration, and retransmit the signal to the base station 105 via the second transceiver (associated with the second communication interface) according to the beamforming configuration. In this way, the repeater 205 can be used to implement uplink and downlink communications. The relay 205 may also receive a signal from the base station 105 via the second transceiver (associated with the second communication interface) according to the beamforming configuration, and retransmit the signal to a different base station 105 via the second transceiver (associated with the second communication interface) according to the beamforming configuration (e.g., for wireless backhaul). The relay 205 may also receive a signal from a UE 115 via the second transceiver (associated with the second communication interface) according to the beamforming configuration, and retransmit the signal to a different UE 115 via the second transceiver (associated with the second communication interface) according to the beamforming configuration (e.g., D2D or P2P). Additionally, the relay 205 may also receive a signal from another relay 140 via the second transceiver (associated with the second communication interface) according to the receive and / or transmit beamforming configuration (e.g., in a multi-hop relay path), or send a signal to another relay 140 via the second transceiver (associated with the second communication interface).

[0054] Figure 3 An example of a block diagram 300 of a base station 305 is illustrated in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In some examples, Figure 3 The devices may implement aspects of the wireless communication system 100, and the base station 305 may be Figure 1 1. An example of a base station 105 is shown. The base station 305 includes a receive antenna array 320 comprising a set of antennas and a transmit antenna array 325 comprising a set of antennas. The antenna arrays 320 and 325 can receive signals from various other communication devices and transmit signals to various other communication devices, including UEs 115, relays 140, and / or other base stations 105.

[0055] The base station 305 may further include one or more processors 310, a memory 315, and one or more transceivers 330. The processor 310 is coupled to the memory 315, wherein the processor 310 executes instructions stored on the memory 315 to implement the various functions performed by the base station 305 described herein. The one or more transceivers 330 may include multiple transceivers to support multiple communication interfaces. In one example, one transceiver may support a first communication technology (e.g., a mmWave interface), while another transceiver may support a second communication technology (e.g., a non-mmWave interface, such as an interface associated with LTE, sub-6GHz NR, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc.). The non-mmWave interface may use a frequency range lower than the frequency range associated with the mmWave interface. In another example, one transceiver may support a first radio access technology (RAT), while another transceiver may support a second RAT that is different from the first RAT.

[0056] Figure 4 An example of a communication system 400 using one or more repeaters in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. Figure 4 Repeaters are described in the context of mmWave transmissions, although repeaters can also be used for other types of communications. Because millimeter wave communications have higher frequencies and shorter wavelengths than other types of radio waves used for communications (e.g., sub-6 GHz communications), millimeter wave communications may have shorter propagation distances and may be more easily blocked by obstacles than other types of radio waves. For example, wireless communications using sub-6 GHz radio waves may be able to penetrate the walls of a house or building to provide coverage from a base station 105 that is communicating using sub-6 GHz radio waves to an area on the opposite side of the wall. However, millimeter waves may not be able to penetrate the same wall (e.g., depending on the thickness of the wall, the material from which the wall is constructed, etc.). Some of the techniques and devices described herein use millimeter wave repeaters 140 to increase the coverage area of a base station 105, extend coverage to UEs 115 that do not have a line of sight to the base station 105 (e.g., due to obstacles), extend coverage from one base station 105 to another base station 105 (e.g., due to obstacles or due to other forms of path loss), and the like. Additionally, the millimeter wave repeater 140 described herein may be a layer 1 or analog millimeter wave repeater, which is associated with lower cost, less processing, and lower latency than a layer 2 or layer 3 repeater. In other implementations, the repeater 140 may be a layer 2 or layer 3 repeater with increased communication functionality relative to a layer 1 repeater.

[0057] like Figure 4As shown in , the millimeter wave repeater 140 can perform directional communication by using beamforming to communicate with the base station 105 via a first beam (e.g., a backhaul beam on a backhaul link with the base station 105) and to communicate with the UE 115 via a second beam (e.g., an access beam on an access link with the UE 115). Alternatively, the millimeter wave repeater 140 can communicate between two base stations 105 (e.g., in a wireless backhaul link) or between two UEs 115 (e.g., in a D2D or P2P link). To achieve a long propagation distance and / or meet a required link budget, the millimeter wave repeater can use a narrow beam (e.g., having a beamwidth less than a threshold) for such communication.

[0058] However, compared to wider beams, using narrower beams requires using more resources of the mmWave repeater 140 (e.g., processing resources, memory resources, power, battery power, and / or the like) and more network resources (e.g., time resources, frequency resources, space resources, and / or the like) to perform beam training (e.g., determining a suitable beam), beam maintenance (e.g., finding a suitable beam when conditions change due to mobility and / or the like), beam management, etc. This may use more resources of the mmWave repeater 140 and / or network resources than using wider beams and may result in increased production costs for the mmWave repeater 140, which may be widely deployed throughout the radio access network.

[0059] For example, the mmWave repeater 140 may be deployed in a fixed location with limited or no mobility, similar to the base station 105. Figure 4 As shown, the millimeter wave repeater 140 can use narrower beams to communicate with the base station 105 without consuming network resources and / or resources of the millimeter wave repeater 140 because the need for beam training, beam maintenance and / or beam management may be limited due to limited or no mobility of the base station 105 and the millimeter wave repeater 140 (and / or due to the line-of-sight communication path between the base station 105 and the millimeter wave repeater 140).

[0060] like Figure 4As further shown in FIG, the millimeter wave repeater 140 can use a wider beam (e.g., a pseudo-omnidirectional beam, etc.) to communicate with one or more UEs 115. The wider beam can provide wider coverage for the access link, thereby providing coverage to the mobile UE 115 without the need for frequent beam training, beam maintenance, and / or beam management. In this way, network resources and / or resources of the millimeter wave repeater 140 can be saved. In addition, if the millimeter wave repeater 140 does not include digital signal processing capabilities on the mmWave communication interface, resources of the base station 105 (e.g., processing resources, memory resources, etc.) that would otherwise be used to perform such signal processing for the millimeter wave repeater 140 can be saved, and network resources that would otherwise be used to communicate inputs or outputs of such processing between the base station 105 and the millimeter wave repeater 140 can be saved. In this way, the millimeter wave repeater 140 can increase the coverage area, provide access around obstacles (as shown in the figure), etc., while saving resources of the base station 105, resources of the millimeter wave repeater 140, network resources, etc.

[0061] Figure 5 An example of a downlink communication path from base station 502 to UE 504 through relay 506 is illustrated. Figure 5 In the downlink communication path example, the base station 502 uses a power level P TX,B The power level represents the transmit (TX) power (P) at the base station (B). When transmitting from the base station 502 to the repeater 506, the transmitted signal experiences a certain amount of path loss (PL1). The path loss causes the signal to be transmitted at the repeater 506 with a received power P. RX，R(DL) Receive the transmitted signal, the received power P RX，R(DL) represents the received (RX) power (P) for downlink (DL) transmission at the relay (R). The relay 506 converts the gain (G DL ) is applied to the signal received from the base station 502. The gain applied to the received signal at the repeater 506 causes the repeater 506 to transmit the received signal at a power level P TX，R(DL) The signal is transmitted to the UE 504. When transmitting from the relay 506 to the UE 504, the transmitted signal experiences a certain amount of path loss (PL2). The path loss causes the signal to be transmitted at the relay 504 with a received power P RX，U Receive the transmitted signal, the received power P RX，U Represents the receive (RX) power (P) used for downlink (DL) transmissions at the UE (U). The path loss values (PL1 and PL2) represent any air loss experienced in the communication channel, which is applied to any transmit array gain or receive array gain (such as beamforming gain) offset of the signal.

[0062] The power level P used at the base station 502 TX，BThe power level P used at the repeater 506 TX，R(DL) The difference between Figure 5 In the figure, it is expressed as an increment (Δ DL,dB ). Incremental value Δ DL,dB The increment may be customized by the base station 502 to zero (e.g., the same transmit power level at both devices), or to another value that meets the performance objectives of the system. The base station 502 may customize, adjust, or dynamically set the increment by selecting the transmit power used by the base station 502, selecting the gain value to be applied at the repeater 506, selecting the transmit power used by the repeater 506 (which may be used by the repeater 506 to derive the gain value to be applied to the received downlink signal), or any combination thereof. Although Figure 5 A single relay between the base station 502 and the UE 504 is illustrated, but other implementations may include additional relays creating a multi-hop relay network between the base station 502 and the UE 504 .

[0063] The gain value (G DL ) can be adjusted by the base station 502 or the repeater itself. The available gain value may be subject to one or more constraints, such as a maximum gain or maximum output power at the repeater 506. The maximum gain may be established as a function of loop gain, input power, or other factors. In some implementations, the base station 502 jointly sets (or adjusts) its own transmit power and the relay power gain (or transmit power). Having multiple power or gain adjustment points may allow the base station 502 to achieve a desired target receive power at the UE 504, achieve interference management goals, achieve power savings at the base station or repeater, or any combination thereof.

[0064] As one example, the base station 502 can conserve power at the repeater 506 by setting the gain value at the repeater 506 to a relatively low value within the range of available gain values, thereby resulting in a relatively low transmit power level at the repeater 506 that uses less power than if a higher repeater transmit power were used. As another example, the base station 502 can reduce interference in a signal received by the UE 504 by transmitting from the base station 502 at a relatively high value within the range of available transmit power levels, thereby avoiding the need for a relatively high gain value at the repeater 506 that might otherwise boost any interference received with the signal entering the repeater 506. As yet another example, the base station 502 can achieve a target received power for the signal at the UE 504 by setting the gain value at the repeater 506 to a relatively high value within the range of available gain values, thereby resulting in a higher received power at the UE 504 than if a lower gain value were applied at the repeater 506.

[0065] exist Figure 5 In the downlink path, the power transmitted by the repeater can be calculated as PTX,R(DL) =P TX,B –PL1+G DL =P TX,B –Δ DL,dB , where Δ DL,dB =PL1-G DL In some cases, the system parameters can be set so that Δ DL,dB = 0 (eg, the repeater PA gain may compensate for the path loss between the base station and the repeater and thus the output power of the repeater is equal to the output power of the base station). In some cases, Δ DL,dB It may be different from zero, such as when the maximum output transmit power of the relay may be less than the transmit power of the base station, or when the maximum PA gain of the relay is less than PL1. The received power of the transmission at the UE may be calculated as P RX,U =P TX,R(DL) –PL2=P TX,B –(PL2+Δ DL,dB ). In addition, the UE can estimate the path loss based on a downlink transmission from the base station, such as a synchronization signal block (SSB) message. The UE is provided with the transmit power (e.g., P) used by the base station for the SSB. TX,B ) and thus the actual end-to-end path loss can be estimated as PL e2e =PL1+PL2–G DL (For example, P TX,B –P RX,U =PL2+Δ DL,dB ).

[0066] Figure 6 An example of an uplink communication path from UE 604 to base station 602 through relay 606 is illustrated. Figure 6 In the uplink communication path example, UE 604 transmits data at a power level P TX，U The power level represents the transmit (TX) power (P) at the UE (U). When transmitting from the UE 604 to the relay 606, the transmitted signal experiences a certain amount of path loss (PL2). The path loss causes the relay 606 to receive power P at a certain level. RX，R(UL) Receive the transmitted signal, the received power P RX，R(UL) represents the received (RX) power (P) for uplink (UL) transmission at the relay (R). The relay 606 converts the gain (G UL ) is applied to the signal received from UE 604. The gain applied to the received signal at repeater 606 causes repeater 606 to transmit the received signal at power level P TX，R(UL)The signal is transmitted to the base station 602. When being transmitted from the repeater 606 to the base station 602, the transmitted signal experiences a certain amount of path loss (PL1). The path loss causes the signal to be transmitted at the base station 602 with a received power P RX，B Receive the transmitted signal, the received power P RX，B represents the received (RX) power (P) at the base station (B). The path loss values (PL1 and PL2) represent any air loss experienced in the communication channel, which is applied to any transmit array gain or receive array gain (such as beamforming gain) offset of the signal.

[0067] The base station 602 may control the transmit power level at the UE 604, the relay 606, or both. For example, the base station 602 may control the power level P used at the UE 604. TX，U The power level P used at the repeater 606 TX，R(UL) The delta value between the two transmission levels may be customized by the base station 602 to be zero (e.g., the same transmit power level at both devices), or to another value that meets the performance objectives of the system. The base station 602 may customize, adjust, or dynamically set the delta by selecting the transmit power used by the UE 604, selecting the gain value to be applied at the repeater 606, selecting the transmit power used by the repeater 606 (which may be used by the repeater 606 to derive the gain value to be applied to the received uplink signal), or any combination thereof. Although Figure 6 A single relay between the base station 602 and the UE 604 is illustrated, but other implementations may include additional relays creating a multi-hop relay network between the base station 602 and the UE 604.

[0068] The gain value (G UL ) can be adjusted by the base station 602 or the repeater itself. The available gain value may be subject to one or more constraints, such as a maximum gain or maximum output power at the repeater 606. The maximum gain may be established as a function of loop gain, input power, or other factors. In some implementations, the base station 602 jointly sets (or adjusts) the transmit power of the UE and the power gain (or transmit power) of the repeater. Having multiple power or gain adjustment points may allow the base station 602 to achieve a desired target received power at the base station 602, achieve interference management goals, achieve power savings at the UE or repeater, or any combination thereof.

[0069] As one example, base station 602 can conserve power at repeater 606 by setting the gain value at repeater 606 to a relatively low value within a range of available gain values, thereby resulting in a relatively low transmit power level at repeater 606 that uses less power than would be the case if a higher repeater transmit power were used. As another example, base station 602 can conserve power at UE 604 by setting the transmit power level at UE 604 to a relatively low value within a range of available gain values, thereby using less power than would be the case if a higher UE transmit power were used. As yet another example, base station 602 can reduce interference in signals received at base station 602 by instructing UE 604 to transmit at a relatively high value within a range of available transmit power levels, thereby avoiding the need for a relatively high gain value at repeater 606 that might otherwise boost any interference received with signals entering repeater 606. As yet another example, the base station 602 may achieve a target received power for a signal at the base station 602 by setting a gain value at the repeater 606 to a relatively high value within a range of available gain values, thereby resulting in a higher received power at the base station 602 than if a lower gain value were applied at the repeater 606.

[0070] exist Figure 6 In the uplink path of the UE 604, a system goal may be for the base station 602 to receive the uplink initial access message at a target receive power selected for the uplink initial access message transmission. The uplink initial access message may be a random access channel (RACH) preamble message, which may also be referred to as a RACH message 1 (Msg1) transmission. The transmit power of the transmission from the UE 604 may be denoted as P TX,U =P targetRACH +estPL=P targetRACH +PL2+(PL1–G DL ), where P targetRACH is the target base station received power selected for the uplink initial access message transmission (e.g., the target received power at the base station for RACH Msg1 transmission) and estPL is the estimated end-to-end path loss (e.g., the end-to-end path loss estimated at the UE based on downlink transmissions from the base station to the UE). The received power of the transmission at relay 606 may be denoted as P RX,R(UL) =P targetRACH +(PL1–G DL ).

[0071] After the repeater 606 amplifies and forwards the uplink initial access message, the received power at the base station 602 can be expressed as P RX,B =P RX,R(UL) +G UL –PL1=PtargetRACH +(G UL –G DL ), where G DL is the gain at repeater 606 for downlink initial access messages (such as SSB messages), and G UL is the gain at repeater 606 for a corresponding uplink initial access message (such as a RACH Msg1 transmission in response to the SSB message). The received power at a given base station may be represented as P RX,B =P targetRACH +(G UL –G DL ), in some cases G UL Equal to G DL So that P RX,B =P targetRACH (e.g., the received power experienced by the uplink initial access message is equal to the target power preselected for the uplink initial access message transmission) can be beneficial. This allows the same uplink gain value and downlink gain value to be used for the RACH opportunity (RO) and the SSB associated with the RO. In many cases, the received power of the RACH message at the repeater 606 is relatively small (e.g., the operating point may be a negative SNR) and may be less than the received power of the SSB message at the repeater 606. Therefore, the same downlink repeater gain can be safely used for uplink RACH amplification and forwarding from the repeater 606 to the base station 602.

[0072] However, in other cases, G UL Set to be different from G DL This may be more beneficial, such as when the noise level on the path between UE 604 and relay 606 is relatively high. For example, the RACH operating SNR may be relatively low in some situations. Therefore, the uplink gain value applied at relay 606 may result in a noise enhancement situation, where relay 606 amplifies the noise present on the first hop of the transmission (UE 604 to relay 606). This amplified noise will then be received by base station 602 when relay 606 forwards the amplified RACH to base station 602. The amplified noise may potentially interfere with other UEs attempting to send RACH messages to base station 602.

[0073] Figure 7 An example of a communication system 700 that does not include a relay is illustrated. During an initial access procedure for an example system including one base station (BS) and two UEs (UE1 and UE2), the signal received by the base station in a RACH opportunity may be represented as y BS (RACH) = h UE1 x UE1 +h UE2 xUE2 +ω, where h UE1 represents the channel between UE1 and the base station, x UE1 represents a signal transmitted from UE1 (eg, RACH), h UE2 represents the channel between UE2 and the base station, x UE2 represents the signal transmitted from UE2 (e.g., RACH), and ω represents the additive noise in the system. The target received power for RACH transmission at the base station can be expressed as |h UE1 | 2 |x UE1 | 2 =|h UE2 | 2 |x UE2 | 2 =P targetRACH In addition, the power of the additive noise in the system can be expressed as P ω =σ 2 , where σ represents a measure of thermal noise.

[0074] Figure 8 An example of a communication system 800 including a relay is illustrated. During an initial access procedure for an example system including one base station (BS), a first UE (UE1) connected to the base station without a relay, and a second UE (UE2) connected to the base station through a relay (R), a signal received by the base station in a RACH opportunity may be represented as y BS (RACH) = h UE1 x UE1 +h R-BS g UL (h R-UE2 x UE2 +ω R )+ω, where h R-BS represents the channel between the repeater and the base station, g UL represents the gain of the repeater applied to the uplink RACH message, h R-UE2 represents the channel between UE2 and the relay, ω R represents the noise received at the relay that will be amplified by the relay, and ω represents other system noise. The target received power at the base station for RACH transmission of UE1 can be expressed as |h UE1 | 2 |x UE1 | 2 =P targetRACH A relationship between the target received power, the transmitted signal, the channel, and the repeater gain can be expressed as The received power of RACH transmission for UE2 at the base station is The total effective noise can be expressed as A relationship between the channel, repeater gain, and noise can be expressed as And the noise The power can be expressed as The increment Δ in dB can be expressed as Δ dB :=10log 10 Δ=PL1-|g UL | 2 =Δ DL，dB +(|g DL | 2 -|g UL | 2 ), where PL1: = -10log 10 |h R-BS | 2 is the path loss between the repeater and the base station, and Δ DL，dB :=P TX，B -P TX，R(DL) =PL1-|g DL | 2 In one example, the noise enhancement caused by amplification at the receiver, i.e. Can be 3dB (for Δ dB =0dB), 1.7dB (for Δ dB =3dB), and 1dB (for Δ dB =6dB).

[0075] As shown in the relationship expressed above, a larger Δ (or Δ dB ) value will reduce the effect of noise enhancement caused by amplification of uplink messages including noise components at the repeater. In one example, the DL and UL gains at the repeater can be chosen to be the same, i.e., |g DL | 2 =|g UL | 2 In this example, Δ dB =Δ DL，dB =PL1-|g DL | 2 , and the larger Δ dB Equivalent to a larger Δ DL，dB and smaller |g DL | 2 Therefore, a larger Δ (or A dB ) value can reduce the coverage of the downlink initial access message (e.g., SSB). In another example, a larger Δ (or Δ dB ) value may correspond to using an uplink gain value at the repeater that is less than the downlink gain applied at the repeater to the corresponding initial access message pair (ie, |g UL |2 <|g DL | 2 ). In this example, a larger Δ value may reduce the probability of reaching the target base station received power for an uplink response (eg, a RACH preamble message) to an SSB message for a UE that transmits a RACH message through a relay.

[0076] Thus, there is a tradeoff to consider when choosing between a larger Δ value (e.g., a relatively large difference between the downlink gain value and the uplink gain value, such as a greater than 3 dB difference from the downlink gain value to the uplink gain value) and a smaller Δ value (e.g., a relatively small difference between the downlink gain value and the uplink gain value, such as a 0 dB difference or less than a 3 dB difference from the downlink gain value to the uplink gain value). Figure 8 In the example, a larger Δ value used at the relay reduces the impact of noise boosting at the base station, which improves RACH performance for UE1 (and other UEs not communicating through the relay) due to less noise interference at the base station. However, a larger Δ value used at the relay reduces the gain amplification of uplink messages, which can degrade RACH performance for UEs communicating through the relay (such as UE2). Therefore, it can be beneficial for a control node in the system (such as a base station, relay, or another system node) to monitor conditions (e.g., noise conditions on a particular link) and select between a relatively large Δ value for the relay in some conditions and a relatively low Δ value for the relay in other conditions. The control node can select a relatively large Δ value when the noise on the link between UE2 and the relay is relatively high (thus causing some concern about global RACH performance in the network due to interference from the relay's noise boosting), and can select a relatively small Δ value when the noise on the link between UE2 and the relay is relatively low (thus not causing as much concern about large noise boosting issues). The control node may also address these tradeoffs and performance goals in other ways. In one example, the control node may compensate for the relatively low uplink gain at the relay for a UE connected via the relay by instructing or configuring the UE to send its uplink messages (such as one or more non-initial RACH messages) at a higher transmit power (e.g., by a certain number of dB) than a typical UE not connected to the base station via the relay.

[0077] Figure 9 1 is a flow chart illustrating one example of a process 900 for a repeater to amplify and relay communications between a first communication device (e.g., a UE, a base station, or another repeater) and a second communication device (e.g., a UE, a base station, or another repeater). The operations of process 900 may be implemented by a repeater, such as repeater 140 ( Figure 1 and 4)、Repeater 205( Figure 2 ), repeater 506 ( Figure 5 ), Repeater 606 ( Figure 6 ) or one or more subcomponents of a repeater. For example, refer to Figure 2 and 9 , the operations of process 900 may be performed by one or more transceivers 230 (e.g., the transmitting and / or receiving actions of process 900), one or more processors 210, and / or instructions stored in memory 215, which are executed by processor 210 to enable the repeater to perform the actions (e.g., the processing actions of process 900).

[0078] In block 902, a repeater determines a downlink gain value to be used for one or more downlink initial access messages received at the repeater. In some implementations, the repeater locally determines the required downlink gain value based on preconfigured static settings or dynamically changing information collected at the repeater (e.g., noise level or channel conditions or other performance data). In other implementations, the repeater may receive gain configuration information from a control node. In some systems, the control node that sends the gain configuration information to the repeater may be the same base station with which the repeater exchanges data traffic. In other systems, the control node may be a different entity, such as a UE, a second repeater, a second base station different from the base station that sends the downlink traffic to be amplified at the repeater, a cloud-based management entity, another network entity or function, or another type of control node.

[0079] Gain configuration information received at a relay may include an indication of a downlink gain value to be applied at the relay. The relay may identify which downlink gain value to use from a plurality of possible gain values based on the gain configuration information received from a control node, such as a base station or other entity. The gain configuration information may explicitly list the downlink gain values, may provide information that allows the relay to derive the required downlink gain value, or may provide some other indication of the downlink gain value.

[0080] At block 904, the repeater determines an uplink gain value to be used for one or more downlink initial access messages received at the repeater. The downlink gain value and the uplink gain value may be related in some manner. As an example, in some cases, the uplink gain value may be determined to be equal to the downlink gain value. As another example, in other cases, the uplink gain value may be determined to be different from the downlink value, such as by selecting the uplink gain value to be less than the downlink gain value.

[0081] In some implementations, a repeater locally determines a required uplink gain value based on preconfigured static settings or dynamically changing information collected at the repeater (e.g., noise levels or channel conditions or other performance data). In other implementations, the repeater may receive gain configuration information from a control node, such as a base station or other entity. The gain configuration information may include an indication of an uplink gain value to be applied at the repeater, either alone or in conjunction with an indication of a downlink gain value to be applied at the repeater. The repeater may identify which uplink gain value to use from a plurality of possible gain values based on the gain configuration information received from a control node, such as a base station or other entity. The gain configuration information may explicitly list uplink gain values (e.g., via an explicit instruction or explicit indication of an uplink gain value for use at the repeater), may provide information that allows the repeater to derive a required uplink gain value, or may provide some other indication of an uplink gain value. In one specific implementation, the gain configuration information may include an offset value that the repeater may use to derive the uplink gain value to be applied. For example, the relay may calculate an uplink gain value based on a reduction relative to the downlink gain value by an offset value signaled by a control node, such as a base station or other entity. The offset value may instruct the relay to use an uplink gain value that is 0 dB, 3 dB, 6 dB (or any other desired offset value) less than the downlink gain value used for the downlink initial access message associated with the planned uplink initial access message.

[0082] The uplink gain value may be based on the downlink gain value and the noise level associated with the channel between the repeater and the UE sending the uplink communication to be amplified at the repeater. The repeater may determine the relationship between the downlink gain value and the uplink gain value locally or based on gain configuration information received from another device (such as a base station). In some noise level scenarios, the uplink gain value is selected to be equal to the downlink gain value used for the corresponding downlink initial access message. In other noise level scenarios, the uplink gain value is selected to be different from the downlink gain value used for the corresponding downlink initial access message.

[0083] When a control node (such as a base station or other entity) coordinates the selection of gain values at a repeater, the base station (or other control node) detects the possibility of a noise enhancement condition at the repeater. For example, the base station may determine the noise level between the repeater and the UE that is sending uplink communications to be amplified at the repeater. The base station may determine this information based on a noise level report sent from the repeater, the UE, or another device. The base station then uses this noise level information to select an appropriate uplink gain level for the repeater to achieve the desired performance target. For example, the base station may select an uplink gain value for the repeater that is less than the downlink gain value when the base station detects that noise enhancement at the repeater may adversely affect its communications with other UEs. As another example, the base station may select an uplink gain value for the repeater that is equal to the downlink gain value when the base station detects that noise enhancement at the repeater is unlikely to adversely affect its communications with other UEs.

[0084] Based on the noise level information acquired by the base station, the base station may transmit gain configuration information to the repeater, the gain configuration information including an instruction for the repeater to set the uplink gain value equal to the downlink gain value in response to determining at the base station that the noise level is below a threshold. Alternatively, the gain configuration information may include an instruction for the repeater to set the uplink gain value less than the downlink gain value in response to determining at the base station that the noise level is above a threshold.

[0085] In some implementations, the repeater can determine the noise level itself and set the uplink gain value accordingly. For example, the repeater can determine the noise level associated with the channel between the communication device and the repeater, compare the noise level with a threshold, and set the uplink gain value to be equal to the downlink gain value in response to determining that the noise level is below the threshold. As another example, the repeater can determine the noise level associated with the channel between the communication device and the repeater, compare the noise level with a threshold, and set the uplink gain value to be less than the downlink gain value in response to determining that the noise level is above the threshold. The noise level determined by the control node, base station, or repeater for use in the uplink gain level selection process can be a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) (including other ratios or metrics that quantify the amount of desired signal present in a communication relative to the amount of noise and / or interference present in the communication), and the threshold for comparison can be an SNR threshold.

[0086] At block 906, the repeater receives a downlink initial access message. The downlink initial access message may be a synchronization signal block (SIB) message or another type of downlink message. At block 908, the repeater applies the downlink gain value determined at block 902 to the downlink initial access message. The repeater then transmits a gain-adjusted version of the downlink initial access message to the communication device via one or more transmit antennas of the repeater.

[0087] At block 910, the repeater receives an uplink initial access message. The uplink initial access message can be a random access channel (RACH) preamble message (e.g., RACH Msg1) or another type of uplink message. At block 912, the repeater applies the uplink gain value determined at block 904 to the uplink initial access message. The repeater then transmits a gain-adjusted version of the uplink initial access message to the base station via one or more transmit antennas of the repeater.

[0088] In some implementations, the repeater may be a millimeter wave repeater, such as a layer 1 millimeter wave repeater. In this configuration, the repeater may receive an analog millimeter wave signal via one or more receive antennas and based on receive beamforming (at block 910), amplify the analog millimeter wave signal without performing analog-to-digital conversion of the analog millimeter wave signal (at block 912), and transmit a gain-adjusted version of the analog millimeter wave signal via one or more transmit antennas and based on transmit beamforming.

[0089] In process 900, a repeater may send and receive various communications, including receiving downlink messages (block 906), receiving uplink messages (block 910), transmitting amplified versions of received messages, transmitting control information (e.g., power configuration parameters sent to a base station or noise level measurements sent to a base station), and receiving control information (e.g., gain configuration information received from a base station that can be used to determine gain levels in blocks 902 and 904). These communications may all be over a single radio access technology (RAT) or may be split across multiple RATs. In some implementations, the repeater may use a sidelink or out-of-band (OOB) communication path for control information. In this option, the repeater receives gain configuration information using a first RAT, and the repeater receives an initial access message (blocks 906 and 910) and transmits gain-adjusted versions of these communications using a second RAT different from the first RAT. The first RAT may be a non-millimeter wave interface (such as an interface associated with LTE, sub-6 GHz NR, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc.), and the second RAT may be a millimeter wave NR interface. In other implementations, the repeater receives gain configuration information using a first frequency range within a single RAT, and the repeater receives initial access messages using a second frequency range within the single RAT, different from the first frequency range (blocks 906 and 910), and transmits gain-adjusted versions of these communications. In still other implementations, the repeater may use different bandwidth parts (BWPs) for different types of communications. In this option, the repeater receives gain configuration information using a first BWP within a single frequency range of a single RAT, and the repeater receives initial access messages using a second BWP within the single frequency range of the single RAT, different from the first BWP (blocks 906 and 910), and transmits gain-adjusted versions of these communications.

[0090] Figure 10 is a flow chart illustrating one example of a process 1000 for a control node (such as a base station) to determine one or more gain values for a repeater as part of a wireless communication system, wherein the repeater amplifies and relays communications between a first communication device (e.g., a UE, a base station, or another repeater) and a second communication device (e.g., a UE, a base station, or another repeater). In some systems, the operations of process 1000 may be implemented by a base station, such as base station 105 ( Figure 1 and 4 )、Base Station 305( Figure 3 ), base station 502 ( Figure 5 ), base station 602 ( Figure 6 ) or one or more subcomponents of a base station. For example, referring to Figure 3 and 10The operations of process 1000 may be performed by one or more transceivers 330 (e.g., the transmitting and / or receiving actions of process 1000), one or more processors 210, and / or instructions stored in memory 215, which are executed by processor 210 to enable the relay to perform the actions (e.g., the processing actions of process 1000). Although discussed below in conjunction with a system in which a base station is a control node for a relay, Figure 10 , but other types of control nodes (e.g., a UE, a second relay, a second base station different from the base station that sends the downlink traffic to be amplified at the relay, a cloud-based management entity, another network entity or function, etc.) may perform the operations of process 1000 in an alternative system.

[0091] At block 1002, the base station determines a downlink gain value to be used at a repeater for one or more downlink initial access messages received at the repeater. At block 1004, the base station determines an uplink gain value to be used at the repeater for one or more uplink initial access messages received at the repeater. At block 1006, the base station selects an uplink gain value based on the downlink gain value and a noise level associated with a channel between the communication device and the repeater. In some implementations, the processing of block 1006 may be considered a sub-portion of the processing of block 1004.

[0092] In some noise conditions, the base station may select an uplink gain value from a plurality of possible gain values by determining a noise level associated with a channel between a UE and a repeater, comparing the noise level to a threshold, and selecting the uplink gain value to be equal to the downlink gain value in response to determining that the noise level is below the threshold. In other noise conditions, the base station may select an uplink gain value by determining a noise level associated with a channel between a communication device and a repeater, comparing the noise level to a threshold, and selecting the uplink gain value to be less than the downlink gain value in response to determining that the noise level is above the threshold. The noise level determined by the base station or the repeater for use in the uplink gain level selection process may be a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) (including other ratios or metrics that quantify the amount of a desired signal present in a communication relative to the amount of noise and / or interference present in the communication), and the threshold used for comparison may be an SNR threshold.

[0093] At block 1008, the base station sends gain configuration information to the relay including an indication of a downlink gain value, an indication of an uplink gain value, or both. Figure 9 The various options and possible configurations discussed in conjunction with blocks 902 and 904 also apply to the corresponding base station processing of the gain configuration information at block 1008.

[0094] At block 1010, the base station sends a downlink initial access message to the repeater to be amplified based on the downlink gain value. The downlink initial access message may be a synchronization signal block (SSB) message or another type of downlink message. Additional details of transmission and amplification of the downlink initial access message are provided above in conjunction with Figure 9 906 and 908 of . In block 1012, the base station receives an uplink initial access message from the repeater that is amplified based on the uplink gain value. The uplink initial access message may be a random access channel (RACH) preamble message (e.g., RACH Msg1) or another type of uplink message. Additional details of the transmission and amplification of the uplink initial access message are provided above in conjunction with Figure 9 910 and 912 of FIG. The actions in blocks 1010 and 1012 may not be performed by a control node in some implementations. In some systems, the control node that configures the one or more gain values at the repeater may be the same base station that exchanges data traffic with the repeater. In this example, the base station may perform blocks 1010 and 1012. In other systems, the control node may be a different entity than the base station that exchanges data traffic with the repeater, and thus the control node may not perform the actions of blocks 1010 and 1012.

[0095] As discussed above, in some noise conditions, a repeater may apply a lower uplink gain value to uplink communications than the downlink gain value applied to downlink communications. Although this lower uplink gain may help reduce the impact of potential repeater noise enhancement situations that may increase the noise received at the base station, this lower uplink gain value may also be detrimental to UEs communicating via a repeater using this lower uplink gain value. A control node (such as a base station) may attempt to reduce the negative impact of the lower uplink gain value at the repeater by configuring the UE communicating via the repeater to transmit at a higher power level than the power level originally used for a given uplink communication. Even if the repeater uses a lower uplink gain value, enabling the UE to transmit at a higher level may allow the base station to receive uplink transmissions at a target receive power. A control node (e.g., a base station or other entity) may configure a UE operating via a repeater to have a different power configuration (having a higher transmit power level) than a UE not operating via the repeater. In some implementations, the base station may configure the transmit power of the UE to be used for an initial access procedure. In other implementations, the base station may not configure the UE transmit power for an initial access procedure, but may configure the UE's power for non-initial RACH messages or other uplink messages.

[0096] In one implementation, a control node (e.g., a base station or other entity) may configure different UEs with different transmit power configurations based on whether the individual UEs communicate with the base station via a repeater (or whether the repeater uses an uplink gain that is lower than the downlink gain). For example, the base station may send a first power configuration message to a first UE communicating with the base station via a repeater. The first power configuration message includes a first transmit power level to be used at the first UE for transmitting uplink messages. The base station also sends a second power configuration message to a second UE communicating with the base station without a repeater. The second power configuration message includes a second transmit power level to be used at the second communication device for transmitting uplink messages. To account for a relatively low gain value at the repeater (e.g., when the uplink gain value is less than the downlink gain value at the repeater), the base station may set the first transmit power level for the first UE to be higher than the second transmit power level for the second UE based on selecting the uplink gain value at the repeater for an uplink initial access message from the communication device to be less than the downlink gain value.

[0097] The various illustrative components, logic, logic blocks, modules, circuits, operations, and algorithmic processes described in conjunction with the implementations disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, firmware, software, or a combination of hardware, firmware, or software, including the structures disclosed in this specification and their structural equivalents. This interchangeability of hardware, firmware, and software has been generally described in terms of their functionality and illustrated in the various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and processes described above. Whether such functionality is implemented in hardware, firmware, or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0098] The hardware and data processing apparatus for implementing the various illustrative components, logic, logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed using a general-purpose single-chip or multi-chip processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device (PLD), discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. The processor may be a microprocessor, or any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration. In some implementations, specific processes, operations, and methods may be performed by circuitry dedicated to a given function.

[0099] As described above, in some respects, the realization of the subject matter described in this specification can be implemented as software.For example, each function of each component disclosed herein or each frame or step of the method disclosed herein, operation, process or algorithm can be implemented as one or more modules of one or more computer programs.Such computer programs may include non-transient processors or computer-executable instructions encoded on one or more tangible processors or computer-readable storage media, which are used to perform or control the operation of the data processing device by the data processing device of the component including the device described herein.As an example and not a limitation, this storage medium may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, disk storage or other magnetic storage device or any other medium that can be used to store instruction or data structure form of program code.The above combination should also be included in the scope of storage medium.

[0100] Various modifications to the implementations described in this disclosure may be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other implementations without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the implementations shown herein, but should be accorded the widest scope consistent with this disclosure, the principles, and the novel features disclosed herein.

[0101] In addition, various features described in this specification in the context of separate implementations may also be implemented in combination in a single implementation. Conversely, various features described in the context of a single implementation may also be implemented in multiple implementations separately or in any suitable subcombination. Thus, although features may be described above as functioning in a particular combination and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination may in some cases be removed from that combination, and a claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination, or variations of a subcombination.

[0102] Similarly, although the operations are depicted in a particular order in the accompanying drawings, this should not be understood as requiring such operations to be performed in the particular order shown or in a sequential order, or to perform all of the illustrated operations in order to achieve the desired result. In addition, the accompanying drawings may schematically depict one or more example processes in the form of a flow chart or flow diagram. However, other operations not depicted may be incorporated into the schematically illustrated example processes. For example, one or more additional operations may be performed before, after, simultaneously with, or between any of the illustrated operations. In some environments, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. In addition, the separation of the various system components in the implementations described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all implementations, and it should be understood that the described program components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products.

[0103] It should be understood that any reference to an element herein using designations such as "first," "second," etc. generally does not limit the number or order of these elements. Specifically, these designations can be used herein as a convenient method to distinguish between two or more elements or instances of elements. Therefore, the reference to a first element and a second element does not mean that only two elements can be used here or that the first element must be located before the second element in some way. Moreover, unless otherwise stated, a group of elements may include one or more elements. In addition, terms of the form "at least one of A, B, or C" or "one or more of A, B, or C" or "at least one of a group comprising A, B, and C" used in the specification or claims mean "A or B or C or any combination of these elements." For example, this term can include A, or B, or C, or A and B, or A and C, or A and B and C, or 2A, or 2B, or 2C, etc. In addition, although some aspects may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is also contemplated unless explicitly stated to be limited to the singular.

Claims

1. A repeater for relaying communication, comprising: processor; as well as a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory includes instructions executable by the processor to cause the repeater to: determining a downlink gain value to be used for one or more downlink initial access messages received at the relay; determining an uplink gain value to be used for one or more uplink initial access messages received at the repeater, wherein the uplink gain value is based on the downlink gain value and a noise level associated with a channel between a communication device and the repeater; receiving a downlink initial access message; applying the downlink gain value to the downlink initial access message; receiving an uplink initial access message; as well as The uplink gain value is applied to the uplink initial access message.

2. The repeater of claim 1, wherein the downlink initial access message is a synchronization signal block (SSB) message and the uplink initial access message is a random access channel (RACH) preamble message.

3. The repeater of claim 1 , wherein the memory includes instructions executable by the processor to cause the repeater to: transmitting a gain-adjusted version of the downlink initial access message to the communication device via one or more transmit antennas of the repeater; and A gain-adjusted version of the uplink initial access message is transmitted to a control node via one or more transmit antennas of the relay.

4. The repeater of claim 1 , wherein the memory includes instructions executable by the processor to cause the repeater to: Gain configuration information is received at the relay from a control node, wherein the gain configuration information includes an indication of the downlink gain value, an indication of the uplink gain value, or both.

5. The repeater of claim 4, wherein the instructions executable by the processor to cause the repeater to determine the downlink gain value include instructions executable by the processor to cause the repeater to identify the downlink gain value from the gain configuration information received from the control node.

6. The repeater of claim 4, wherein the instructions executable by the processor to cause the repeater to determine the uplink gain value include instructions executable by the processor to cause the repeater to identify the uplink gain value from the gain configuration information received from the control node.

7. The repeater of claim 6, wherein the gain configuration information includes an explicit indication of the uplink gain value for use at the repeater.

8. The repeater of claim 6 , wherein the gain configuration information includes an offset value, and the memory includes instructions executable by the processor to cause the repeater to calculate the uplink gain value based on a decrease by the offset value relative to the downlink gain value.

9. The repeater of claim 4, wherein the gain configuration information includes instructions for the repeater to set the uplink gain value equal to the downlink gain value in response to the noise level being below a threshold.

10. The repeater of claim 4, wherein the gain configuration information includes instructions for the repeater to set the uplink gain value to be less than the downlink gain value in response to the noise level being above a threshold.

11. The repeater of claim 1 , wherein the instructions executable by the processor to cause the repeater to determine the uplink gain value include instructions executable by the processor to cause the repeater to: determining a noise level associated with a channel between the communication device and the repeater; comparing the noise level to a threshold; and The uplink gain value is selected to be equal to the downlink gain value in response to the noise level being below the threshold.

12. The repeater of claim 1 , wherein the instructions executable by the processor to cause the repeater to determine the uplink gain value include instructions executable by the processor to cause the repeater to: determining a noise level associated with a channel between the communication device and the repeater; comparing the noise level to a threshold; and The uplink gain value is selected to be less than the downlink gain value in response to the noise level being above the threshold.

13. The repeater of claim 1, further comprising: one or more receiving antennas; as well as one or more transmitting antennas; wherein the one or more receive antennas are configured to receive the uplink initial access message as an analog millimeter wave signal based on receive beamforming; wherein the instructions executable by the processor to cause the repeater to apply the uplink gain value include instructions executable by the processor to cause the repeater to: amplify the analog millimeter wave signal without performing analog-to-digital conversion on the analog millimeter wave signal; and The one or more transmit antennas are configured to transmit the gain-adjusted version of the analog millimeter wave signal via the one or more transmit antennas and based on transmit beamforming.

14. A control node communicating with a repeater, comprising: processor; as well as a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory includes instructions executable by the processor to cause the control node to: determining a downlink gain value for use at the repeater for one or more downlink initial access messages received at the repeater; determining an uplink gain value for use at the repeater for one or more uplink initial access messages received at the repeater based on the downlink gain value and a noise level associated with a channel between a communication device and the repeater; as well as Gain configuration information including an indication of the downlink gain value, an indication of the uplink gain value, or both is sent to the relay.

15. The control node of claim 14, wherein the control node is a base station, and wherein the memory includes instructions executable by the processor to cause the base station to: sending a downlink initial access message to the relay to be amplified based on the downlink gain value; and An uplink initial access message amplified based on the uplink gain value is received from the relay.

16. The control node of claim 14 , wherein the gain configuration information comprises at least an indication of the uplink gain value, and wherein the indication of the uplink gain value comprises an offset value representing an instruction for the relay to set the uplink gain value based on a decrease by the offset value relative to the downlink gain value.

17. The control node of claim 14, wherein the instructions executable by the processor to cause the control node to select the uplink gain value include instructions executable by the processor to cause the control node to: determining a noise level associated with a channel between the communication device and the repeater; comparing the noise level to a threshold; and The uplink gain value is selected to be equal to the downlink gain value in response to the noise level being below the threshold.

18. The control node of claim 14, wherein the instructions executable by the processor to cause the control node to select the uplink gain value include instructions executable by the processor to cause the control node to: determining a noise level associated with a channel between the communication device and the repeater; comparing the noise level to a threshold; and The uplink gain value is selected to be less than the downlink gain value in response to the noise level being above the threshold.

19. The control node of claim 18, wherein the memory includes instructions executable by the processor to cause the control node to: sending a first power configuration message to the communication device communicating with a base station through the relay, wherein the first power configuration message includes a first transmit power level to be used at the communication device for transmission of uplink messages; sending a second power configuration message to a second communications device communicating with the base station without the repeater, wherein the second power configuration message includes a second transmit power level to be used at the second communications device for transmission of a second uplink message; and The first transmit power level is set higher than the second transmit power level based on selecting the uplink gain value at the repeater to be less than the downlink gain value.

20. A method of wireless communication performed by a repeater for relaying communication, comprising: determining a downlink gain value to be used for one or more downlink initial access messages received at the relay; determining an uplink gain value to be used for one or more uplink initial access messages received at the repeater, wherein the uplink gain value is based on the downlink gain value and a noise level associated with a channel between a communication device and the repeater; receiving a downlink initial access message; applying the downlink gain value to the downlink initial access message; receiving an uplink initial access message; as well as The uplink gain value is applied to the uplink initial access message.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising: Gain configuration information is received at the relay from a control node, wherein the gain configuration information includes an indication of the downlink gain value, an indication of the uplink gain value, or both.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the gain configuration information includes an offset value, and the method further comprises calculating the uplink gain value based on a decrease by the offset value relative to the downlink gain value.

23. The method of claim 20, wherein determining the uplink gain value comprises: determining a noise level associated with a channel between the communication device and the repeater; comparing the noise level to a threshold; as well as The uplink gain value is selected to be equal to the downlink gain value in response to the noise level being below the threshold.

24. The method of claim 20, wherein determining the uplink gain value comprises: determining a noise level associated with a channel between the communication device and the repeater; comparing the noise level to a threshold; as well as The uplink gain value is selected to be less than the downlink gain value in response to the noise level being above the threshold.

25. A method of wireless communication performed by a control node in communication with a relay, comprising: determining a downlink gain value for use at the repeater for one or more downlink initial access messages received at the repeater; determining an uplink gain value for use at the repeater for one or more uplink initial access messages received at the repeater, wherein determining the uplink gain value comprises selecting the uplink gain value based on the downlink gain value and a noise level associated with a channel between a communication device and the repeater; as well as Gain configuration information including an indication of the downlink gain value, an indication of the uplink gain value, or both is sent to the relay.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the control node is a base station, the method further comprising: sending, from the base station to the relay, a downlink initial access message to be amplified based on the downlink gain value; as well as An uplink initial access message amplified based on the uplink gain value is received at the base station from the relay.

27. The method of claim 25 , wherein the gain configuration information comprises at least an indication of the uplink gain value, and wherein the indication of the uplink gain value comprises an offset value representing an instruction to the repeater to set the uplink gain value based on a decrease by the offset value relative to the downlink gain value.

28. The method of claim 25, wherein selecting the uplink gain value comprises: determining a noise level associated with a channel between the communication device and the repeater; comparing the noise level to a threshold; as well as The uplink gain value is selected to be equal to the downlink gain value in response to the noise level being below the threshold.

29. The method of claim 25, wherein selecting the uplink gain value comprises: determining a noise level associated with a channel between the communication device and the repeater; comparing the noise level to a threshold; as well as The uplink gain value is selected to be less than the downlink gain value in response to the noise level being above the threshold.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising: sending a first power configuration message to the communication device communicating with a base station through the relay, wherein the first power configuration message includes a first transmit power level to be used at the communication device for transmission of uplink messages; sending a second power configuration message to a second communication device communicating with the base station without the repeater, wherein the second power configuration message includes a second transmit power level to be used at the second communication device for transmission of a second uplink message; as well as The first transmit power level is set higher than the second transmit power level based on selecting the uplink gain value at the repeater to be less than the downlink gain value.

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