Feedback and traffic differentiation in direct link relays

Abstract

A user equipment, UE, for a wireless communication network, acting as a relay UE to provide functionality to support connectivity between a transmitting entity of the wireless communication network and one or more receiving entities. The UE distinguishes between transmissions received from the transmitting entity between a first transmission to be relayed to the receiving entity and a second transmission intended for the UE. The UE distinguishes between the received transmissions in dependence on control information associated with the transmissions and / or resources on which the transmissions and / or associated control information are received.

Description

[0001] This invention relates to the field of wireless communication systems or networks, and more particularly to the field of relay equipment, especially direct link relay equipment, for providing functionality to support connectivity between a transmitting entity of a wireless communication system or network and a remote user equipment (UE). Embodiments of a first aspect of the invention relate to feedback, such as NR Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ), for direct link relays, and embodiments of a second aspect of the invention relate to traffic differentiation via relay equipment, such as NR direct link relays.

[0002] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an example of a terrestrial wireless network 100, as shown in Figure 1(a), including a core network 102 and one or more radio access networks RAN1, RAN2, ... RAN N Figure 1(b) shows the Radio Access Network (RAN). n The schematic diagram of the example may include one or more base stations gNB1 to gNB5, each base station serving a specific area around the base station schematically shown by the corresponding cells 1061 to 1065. The base stations are provided to serve users within the cell. One or more base stations may serve users in licensed and / or unlicensed frequency bands. The term base station (BS) refers to gNB in ​​a 5G network, eNB in ​​UMTS / LTE / LTE-A / LTE-APro, or simply BS in other mobile communication standards. Users may be fixed or mobile devices. The wireless communication system may be accessed by mobile or fixed IoT devices connected to the base station or the user. Mobile devices or IoT devices may include physical devices, ground vehicles such as robots or cars, aircraft such as manned or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), the latter also referred to as drones, buildings, and other items or devices having embedded electronics, software, sensors, actuators, etc., and network connectivity enabling these devices to collect and exchange data over existing network infrastructure. Figure 1(b) shows an exemplary view with only five cells; however, RAN n It can include more or fewer such cells, and RAN nAlternatively, only one base station may be included. Figure 1(b) shows two user UEs, UE1 and UE2, located in cell 1062 and served by base station gNB2, also referred to as user equipment UEs. Another user UE3 is shown in cell 1064 served by base station gNB4. Arrows 1081, 1082, and 1083 schematically represent uplink / downlink connections used for transmitting data from users UE1, UE2, and UE3 to base stations gNB2 and gNB4, or for transmitting data from base stations gNB2 and gNB4 to users UE1, UE2, and UE3. This can be implemented on licensed or unlicensed frequency bands. In addition, Figure 1(b) shows two IoT devices, 1101 and 1102, in cell 1064, which can be fixed or mobile devices. IoT device 1101 accesses the wireless communication system via base station gNB4 to receive and transmit data, as schematically indicated by arrow 1121. IoT device 1102 accesses the wireless communication system via user UE3, as schematically indicated by arrow 1122. Each base station gNB1 to gNB5 can connect to the core network 102, for example via the S1 interface, through corresponding backhaul links 1141 to 1145, which are schematically represented in Figure 1(b) by arrows pointing to the "core". The core network 102 can connect to one or more external networks. External networks can be the Internet or private networks, such as local area networks or any other type of campus network, such as private WiFi or 4G or 5G mobile communication systems. Furthermore, some or all of the base stations gNB1 to gNB5 can be interconnected via corresponding backhaul links 1161 to 1165, for example via the S1 or X2 interface or the XN interface in the NR, schematically represented in Figure 1(b) by arrows pointing to the "gNBs". The direct link channel allows direct communication between UEs, also known as device-to-device (D2D) communication. The direct link interface in 3GPP is named PC5.

[0003] For data transmission, a physical resource grid can be used. A physical resource grid may include a set of resource elements to which various physical channels and physical signals are mapped. For example, physical channels may include physical downlink, uplink, and direct link shared channels PUSCH, PUSCH, and PSSCH carrying user-specific data (also referred to as downlink, uplink, and direct link payload data); physical broadcast channels PBCH carrying, for example, Master Information Block (MIB) and one or more System Information Blocks (SIBs), one or more direct link Information Blocks (SLIBs) (if supported); physical downlink, uplink, and direct link control channels PDCCH, PUCCH, and PSSCH carrying, for example, downlink control information (DCI), uplink control information (UCI), or direct link control information (SCI); and physical direct link feedback channels PSFCH carrying, for example, PC5 feedback responses. Note that the direct link interface can support two-stage SCI. This refers to a first control area containing some portions of the SCI, and optionally, a second control area containing a second portion of the control information.

[0004] For the uplink, the physical channel may further include the physical random access channel (PRACH or RACH) used by the UE to access the network after UE synchronization and acquisition of the MIB and SIB. Physical signals may include reference signals or symbols (RS), synchronization signals, etc. The resource grid may include frames or radio frames that have a certain duration in the time domain and a given bandwidth in the frequency domain. Frames may have a certain number of subframes of predefined length, such as 1 ms. Depending on the length of the cyclic prefix (CP), each subframe may include one or more time slots of 12 or 14 OFDM symbols. Frames may also consist of fewer OFDM symbols, for example, when utilizing a shortened transmission time interval (sTTI) or a small time slot / non-time slot-based frame structure that includes only a few OFDM symbols.

[0005] Wireless communication systems can be any single-tone or multi-carrier system using frequency division multiplexing, such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), or any other IFFT-based signal with or without CP, such as DFT-s-OFDM. Other waveforms can be used, such as non-orthogonal waveforms for multiple access, such as filter bank multicarrier (FBMC), generalized frequency division multiplexing (GFDM), or universal filtered multicarrier (UFMC). Wireless communication systems can operate, for example, according to LTE-Advanced Pro standards, 5G, NR (New Radio) standards, or NR-U (New Radio operating in unlicensed bands) standards.

[0006] The wireless network or communication system depicted in Figure 1 can be a heterogeneous network with different overlapping networks, such as a macrocell network, each macrocell including macro base stations, such as base stations gNB1 to gNB5, and a network of small cell base stations (not shown in Figure 1), such as femtocells or picocells. In addition to the terrestrial wireless networks described above, there are also non-terrestrial wireless communication networks (NTNs), including satellite transceivers and / or airborne transceivers such as those used in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems. Non-terrestrial wireless communication networks or systems can operate in a manner similar to the terrestrial systems described above with reference to Figure 1, for example, according to the LTE-Advanced Pro standard or the 5G or NR (New Radio) standard.

[0007] In mobile communication networks, such as those described above with reference to Figure 1, such as LTE or 5G / NR networks, there may be UEs that communicate directly with each other via one or more direct link (SL) channels, for example using PC5 / PC3 interfaces or WiFi Direct. UEs that communicate directly with each other via SL channels can include vehicles communicating directly with other vehicles (V2V communication), vehicles communicating with other entities in the wireless communication network (V2X communication), and other entities such as roadside units (RSUs), roadside entities such as traffic lights, traffic signs, or pedestrians. An RSU can function as either a BS or a UE, depending on the specific network configuration. Other UEs may not be vehicle-related UEs, but can include any of the aforementioned devices. These devices can also communicate directly with each other using SL channels (D2D communication).

[0008] When considering two UEs communicating directly with each other via a direct link, the same base station can provide services to both UEs, allowing the base station to provide direct link resource allocation configuration or assistance. For example, the two UEs can be within the coverage area of ​​one of the base stations shown in Figure 1. This is referred to as the "within coverage" scenario. Another scenario is referred to as the "outside coverage" scenario. It is important to note that "outside coverage" does not mean that the two UEs are not within one of the cells shown in Figure 1, but rather that these UEs...

[0009] - They may not be connected to a base station, for example, they are not in an RRC connected state, therefore the UE does not receive any direct link resource allocation configuration or assistance from the base station, and / or

[0010] - It may be connected to a base station, but for one or more reasons, the base station may not provide the UE with direct link resource allocation configuration or assistance, and / or

[0011] - May connect to base stations that may not support NR V2X services, such as GSM, UMTS, and LTE base stations.

[0012] When considering two UEs communicating directly with each other via a direct link, such as using a PC5 / PC3 interface, one UE can also connect to a BS and relay information from the BS to another UE via the direct link interface, and vice versa. Relaying can be performed within the same frequency band (in-band relay) or in a different frequency band (out-of-band relay). In the first case, communication between the UE and the direct link can be decoupled using different time slots, as in a Time Division Duplex (TDD) system.

[0013] Figure 2(a) is a schematic representation of a scenario within the coverage area, where two UEs communicating directly with each other are connected to the base station. The coverage area of ​​the base station gNB is schematically represented by circle 150, which basically corresponds to the cell schematically shown in Figure 1. The UEs communicating directly with each other include a first vehicle 152 and a second vehicle 154, both located within the coverage area 150 of the base station gNB. Vehicles 152 and 154 are both connected to the base station gNB, and they are also directly connected to each other via the PC5 interface. V2V traffic scheduling and / or interference management are assisted by the gNB via control signaling on the Uu interface, which is the radio interface between the base station and the UE. In other words, the gNB provides SL resource allocation configuration or assistance to the UE and allocates resources for V2V communication via the direct link. This configuration is also referred to as Mode 1 configuration in NR V2X, or Mode 3 configuration in LTE V2X.

[0014] Figure 2(b) is a schematic diagram of an out-of-coverage scenario, where UEs communicating directly with each other are either not connected to the base station, even though they may be physically located within a cell of the wireless communication network, or some or all of the UEs communicating directly with each other are connected to the base station, but the base station does not provide SL resource allocation configuration or assistance. As shown in the figure, three vehicles 156, 158, and 160 communicate directly with each other via a direct link, for example, using a PC5 interface. V2V traffic scheduling and / or interference management are based on algorithms implemented between vehicles. This configuration is also referred to as Mode 2 configuration in NR V2X, or Mode 4 configuration in LTE V2X. As mentioned above, the scenario in Figure 2(b) is an out-of-coverage scenario and does not necessarily mean that the corresponding Mode 2 UE in NR or Mode 4 UE in LTE is outside the coverage area of ​​the base station 150, but rather that the corresponding Mode 2 UE in NR or Mode 4 UE in LTE is not served by the base station, is not connected to the base station in the coverage area, or is connected to the base station but does not receive SL resource allocation configuration or assistance from the base station. Therefore, it is possible that within the coverage area 150 shown in Figure 2(a), in addition to NR mode 1 or LTE mode 3 UEs 152 and 154, there may also be NR mode 2 or LTE mode 4 UEs 156, 158, and 160. Furthermore, Figure 2(b) schematically illustrates UEs outside the coverage area using relay and network communication. For example, UE 160 can communicate with UE1 via a direct link, and UE1 can in turn connect to the gNB via the Uu interface. Therefore, UE1 can relay information between the gNB and UE 160.

[0015] While Figures 2(a) and 2(b) illustrate vehicle-mounted UEs, it is important to note that the described in-coverage and out-of-coverage scenarios also apply to non-vehicle-mounted UEs. In other words, any UE that communicates directly with another UE using the SL channel, such as a handheld device, can be in-coverage or out-of-coverage.

[0016] In wireless communication systems or networks, such as those described above with reference to Figure 1, relay devices or relay nodes can be used to address performance issues, such as reduced data rates, weakened signals, and increased interference that may be encountered at the radio coverage edge of a base station cell. Relay nodes can extract data from received signals, apply noise correction, and retransmit new signals themselves. Relay nodes can not only repeat signals but also improve signal quality. The 3GPP specification for 4G has already defined UE-to-network relay.

[0017] It should be noted that the information in the foregoing sections is only used to enhance the understanding of the background of the present invention, and therefore may contain information that does not constitute prior art known to those skilled in the art.

[0018] Starting from the above, it may be necessary to improve or enhance relay transmissions in wireless communication systems or networks.

[0019] Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings:

[0020] Figure 1 is a schematic representation of an example of a terrestrial wireless network, wherein Figure 1(a) shows a core network and one or more radio access networks, and Figure 1(b) shows a schematic representation of an example of a radio access network RAN;

[0021] Figure 2 schematically illustrates in-coverage and out-of-coverage scenarios, where Figure 2(a) is a schematic representation of the in-coverage scenario, in which two UEs communicating directly with each other are connected to the base station, and Figure 2(b) is a schematic representation of the out-of-coverage scenario, in which two UEs communicating directly with each other.

[0022] Figure 3 schematically illustrates several relay scenarios, where Figure 3(a) shows a scenario where the relay UE acts as a UE-to-network relay, Figure 3(b) shows a scenario where the relay acts as a UE-to-UE relay, and Figure 3(c) schematically illustrates the operation of an LTE relay system including a transmitting entity, a receiving entity, and a relay entity.

[0023] Figure 4 This is an illustrative representation of a wireless communication system, including transmitters such as base stations, one or more receivers such as user equipment (UE) and one or more relay UEs, for implementing embodiments of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 5 An embodiment of a relay UE according to a first aspect of the present invention is shown;

[0025] Figure 6 An embodiment of a transmitting entity according to a first aspect of the invention is shown;

[0026] Figure 7 An embodiment according to a first aspect of the invention is shown, in which an additional feedback link between a relay node and a TX UE is used to provide overall HARQ feedback for a transmission relayed from the TX UE to the RX UE via the relay node;

[0027] Figure 8 An embodiment according to a first aspect of the invention is shown, in which the existing feedback link between the relay node and the TX UE is reused to provide overall HARQ feedback for the transmission from the TX UE to the RX UE via the relay node;

[0028] Figure 9 illustrates an embodiment of the RLC feedback configuration provided according to a first aspect of the invention, wherein Figure 9(a) depicts an embodiment that introduces overall RLC confirmation, and Figure 9(b) illustrates end-to-end feedback;

[0029] Figure 10 A first embodiment of a wireless communication network including a relay UE and a TX UE according to an embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention is shown, both the relay UE and the TX UE operating in mode 1, wherein resources for transmission from the TX UE to the relay and resources for the relay transmission are scheduled by the gNB.

[0030] Figure 11 A second embodiment of a wireless communication network including a relay UE and a TX UE according to an embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention is shown, wherein both the relay UE and the TX UE operate in mode 1, wherein resources for transmission from the TX UE to the relay are scheduled by the gNB, and the relay UE is pre-configured with resources for relay transmission.

[0031] Figure 12 An embodiment of a wireless communication network comprising a relay UE operating in mode 2 and a TX UE operating in mode 1 is shown according to an embodiment of the first aspect of the invention, wherein resources for transmission from the TX UE to the relay are scheduled by the gNB, and resources for relay transmission are sensed by the relay UE.

[0032] Figure 13 An embodiment of a wireless communication network comprising a relay UE operating in mode 1 and a TX UE operating in mode 2, according to an embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention, is shown, wherein resources for transmission from the TX UE to the relay are sensed by the TX UE, and resources for relay transmission are scheduled by the gNB.

[0033] Figure 14 A second embodiment of a wireless communication network comprising a relay UE operating in mode 1 and a TX UE operating in mode 2, according to an embodiment of the first aspect of the invention, is shown, wherein the TX UE is unaware of resources for transmissions to the relay UE, but instead sends a request for such resources to the relay UE.

[0034] Figure 15 An embodiment of the invention according to a first aspect is shown, comprising a first embodiment of a wireless communication network including a relay UE operating in mode 1 and a TX entity as a gNB, wherein resources for the respective links between the gNB and the relay UE and between the relay UE and the RX UE are provided in separate control messages.

[0035] Figure 16 An embodiment of the invention according to a first aspect is shown, comprising a second embodiment of a wireless communication network including a relay UE operating in mode 1 and a TX entity as a gNB, wherein resources for corresponding links between the gNB and the relay UE and between the relay UE and the RX UE are provided in a common control message.

[0036] Figure 17 An embodiment of a wireless communication network according to an embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention is shown, including a relay UE operating in mode 2 and a TX entity as a gNB;

[0037] Figure 18 An embodiment of the invention according to a first aspect is shown, comprising a relay UE operating in mode 1 and an RX entity as a gNB, wherein resources for the link between the gNB and the relay UE are provided by control messages from the gNB, and resources for transmission from the TX UE to the relay UE are obtained by the TX UE through sensing.

[0038] Figure 19 An embodiment of the invention according to a first aspect is shown, comprising a second embodiment of a wireless communication network including a relay UE operating in mode 1 and an RX entity as a gNB, wherein resources for the link between the gNB and the relay UE are provided by control messages from the gNB, and resources for transmission from the TX UE to the relay UE are obtained from the gNB via the relay UE by the TX UE.

[0039] Figure 20(a) illustrates an embodiment of a relay UE that distinguishes between traffic to be relayed and traffic intended for relaying a UE according to a second aspect of the invention;

[0040] Figure 20(b) illustrates an embodiment of a transmitting entity according to a second aspect of the invention, which provides a distinction between traffic directed to a relay UE and traffic intended for use in relaying a UE;

[0041] Figure 21 An embodiment of the invention, according to a second aspect, using a predefined or new destination ID mapped at a relay node is shown;

[0042] Figure 22 An embodiment of a receiving entity according to a second aspect of the invention is shown, using a specific or new relay ID for use by a sending entity when sending transmissions to a receiving entity via a relay node;

[0043] Figure 23 An embodiment according to a second aspect of the invention is shown, employing a MAC header including an L1 destination ID of the relay UE for traffic differentiation and an L2 destination ID of the receiving entity;

[0044] Figure 24 illustrates an embodiment of implementing a dedicated relay control channel according to a second aspect of the present invention;

[0045] Figure 25 An embodiment of the second aspect of the present invention is shown, defining an SL-BWP-poolconfig information element for an additional relay resource pool;

[0046] Figure 26 An embodiment of the present invention is shown, which uses N relays for communication between the sending entity and the receiving entity;

[0047] Figure 27 An embodiment of the present invention is illustrated, using an N=2 relay layer for end-to-end communication between a sending entity and a receiving entity; and

[0048] Figure 28 An example of a computer system is shown on which the units or modules described in the method according to the invention and the steps of the method can be executed.

[0049] Embodiments of the invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein the same or similar elements have the same designated reference numerals.

[0050] In wireless communication systems or networks, such as those described above with reference to Figure 1, relay devices or relay nodes can be used to extend the coverage of a wireless network or address performance issues, such as reduced data rates, weaker signals, and increased interference that may be encountered at the radio coverage edge of a base station cell. Relay nodes can simply repeat and forward received signals or transmissions. In other examples, relay nodes can extract data from received signals or transmissions, apply noise correction, and send new signals or transmissions themselves. Relay nodes can not only repeat signals but also improve signal quality. Figure 3(a) illustrates a scenario where a relay UE operates as a UE-to-network relay. The relay device or relay node mentioned above can be a User Equipment (UE) and is referred to as a relay UE below. Figure 3(a) shows a UE 200 connected to destination 202, such as an entity connected to access network 202a, like a gNB, or an entity connected to core network 202a. End-to-end communication between UE 200, also known as the remote UE, and the destination uses relay UE 2040, which provides support for the remote UE 200 to connect to the destination in the core network 202. The remote UE 200 and the relay UE can communicate using the PC5 interface, and the relay UE and the access network can communicate using the Uu interface.

[0051] In NR or 5G, in addition to supporting UE-to-network relay, UE-to-UE relay is also supported. In this scenario, destination 202 is another UE. Figure 3(b) illustrates a scenario where the relay is a UE-to-UE relay 204. Remote UE 200 connects to another UE 202, and relay UE 204 provides the remote UE 200 with the ability to connect to destination UE 208. Remote UE 200 and relay UE can communicate using the PC5 interface, and relay UE and another UE 202 can also communicate using the PC5 interface.

[0052] Although Figures 3(a) and 3(b) show the relay as a UE, it is important to note that a relay can be any entity with network connectivity that connects a remote UE 200 to a destination 202 (such as the core network or another UE). For example, a relay entity can be a group leader UE, a roadside unit (RSU), or any mobile or fixed device. Such a relay entity can be a relay node with certain base station functions, such as resource scheduling. Furthermore, a relay can also be a relay node in the traditional sense, such as a base station infrastructure device that provides relay functions, such as amplify-forward (AF) relay or decode-forward (DF) relay, for example, operating at Layer 2 (L2) or even Layer 3 (L3), forwarding data at the Internet Protocol (IP) level.

[0053] In the aforementioned vehicle-mounted user equipment (UE) scenario, multiple such UEs can form a UE group, or simply a group, and communication within or between group members can be conducted via a direct link interface between UEs, such as a PC5 interface. For example, the scenario using vehicle UEs described above can be applied to the transportation industry, where multiple vehicles equipped with vehicle UEs can be grouped together, for example, for remote driving applications. In other use cases, multiple UEs can be grouped together for direct link communication with each other. Examples include, for instance, factory automation and power distribution. In factory automation, multiple mobile or stationary machines within a factory can be equipped with UEs and grouped together for direct link communication, for example, for controlling machine operation, such as robot motion control. In power distribution, entities within a power distribution network can be equipped with corresponding UEs. These devices, located within a certain area of ​​the system, can be grouped together for communication with each other via direct link communication to monitor the system and handle power distribution network faults and interruptions.

[0054] Of course, in the above use cases, direct link communication is not limited to communication within a group. Instead, direct link communication can occur between any UE, such as between any pair of UEs.

[0055] In the 3GPP specifications for 4G, UE-to-network relay is already defined. In LTE, relay is described as a separate concept and extended to device-to-device (D2D) relay. In LTE, a relay node functions like a UE when communicating with a base station (BS) and like a BS when communicating with a UE. Transmissions between the base station and the relay node (RN), the so-called BS-RN transmissions, occur in downlink DL subframes, while RN-to-BS transmissions occur in uplink UL subframes. For Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) systems, BS-to-RN and RN-to-UE transmissions occur in the DL band, while RN-to-BS and UE-to-RN transmissions occur in the UL band. For Time Division Duplex (TDD) systems, DL BS-to-RN transmissions occur in D subframes, and UL RN-to-BS transmissions occur in U subframes, where D and U subframes are defined according to the LTE subframe configuration. Where the system or network supports relay nodes, a specific subframe is used for BS-to-RN communication. For FDD systems, RN-BS communication occurs four subframes later than BS-RN communication, while for TDD systems, RN-BS communication occurs with a predefined offset from BS-RN communication. Control information from BS to RN is transmitted using a separate control channel called R-PDCCH or relay PDCCH. R-PDCCH is used to send control information, such as DCI, from BS to RN, while regular PDCCH is used to send control information from RN to UE.

[0056] Figure 3(c) schematically illustrates the operation of an LTE relay system including transmitting entity 200, receiving entity 202, and relay entity 204, also referred to as a relay UE or relay node RN. In the example depicted in Figure 3(c), transmitting entity 200 is a base station or eNB acting as a transmitter TX, while receiving entity 202 is a receiving RX UE, also referred to as a remote UE. Relay entity 204 is an infrastructure device providing relay functionality. Figure 3(c) shows the case where eNB 200 transmits data to receiving entity 202 via relay entity 204. eNB 200 transmits① on the downlink channel between eNB 200 and relay entity 204, including control information such as DCI on R-PDCCH, and related data transmitted on PDSCH. DCI and data are received at relay entity 204. To enhance the reliability of downlink transmission, relay entity 204 provides feedback on the status of transmission from eNB 200 to relay entity 204 on uplink control channels, such as PUCCH, ② such as HARQ feedback. In response to successful reception of data from eNB 200, relay entity 204 transmits data to receiving entity 202 on downlink channels between relay entity 204 and receiving entity 202 ③, more specifically, transmitting control information on control channels, such as DCI on PDCCH, and transmitting data on data channels such as PDSCH. Receiving entity 202 provides status feedback on transmission from relay entity 204 to receiving entity 202 on uplink control channels, such as PUCCH, ④ such as HARQ feedback ④. In NR or 5G, in addition to UE-to-network relay, UE-to-UE relay is also supported. In this scenario, destination 202 is another UE.

[0057] In addition to the relays operating between the eNB and the receiving entity mentioned above, 3GPP also specifies D2D relay nodes or relay entities, but only for UE-to-network relays. The base station is responsible for broadcasting the configuration of the transmit resource pool for relay discovery, as well as the reference signal reception quality (RSRQ) threshold for the quality of the Uu link between the base station and the receiving entity. The configuration is broadcast using System Information Blocks (SIBs), 18 / 19, and the RSRQ threshold is used by the receiving entity to determine whether to maintain a direct link with the base station or switch to a connection via a relay node if the RSRQ falls below the predefined threshold. If the receiving entity is within the base station's coverage area, it selects a possible relay entity and notifies the base station of this selection. The base station then schedules or determines resource allocation for relay-based communication between the relay node and the receiving entity; that is, the base station determines the resources used for transmissions between the receiving entity and the relay entity.

[0058] D2D communication also includes vehicle applications, and the original "vehicle-to-everything" (V2X) specification was included in 3GPP Release 14. Resource scheduling and allocation were modified according to V2X requirements, and the original D2D communication standard was used as a design foundation. Release 15 of the LTE V2X standard, also known as Enhanced V2X or eV2X, and Release 16 of the 5G NRV2X standard introduced resource pooling designs, including dedicated feedback channels, as well as control and data channels. Release 17 focuses on enhanced direct links and direct link relay, emphasizing energy efficiency, enhanced reliability, and reduced latency. It not only meets vehicle communication needs but also any type of D2D communication, such as public safety and commercial use cases. It also emphasizes the use of relays to provide UE-to-network and UE-to-UE coverage extension.

[0059] However, as mentioned above, when feedback is involved in relay transmissions, there is only feedback regarding transmissions from the transmitting entity to the relay entity and from the remote entity to the relay entity; there is no overall feedback informing the base station or transmitting entity whether its transmission relative to the receiving entity was successful or unsuccessful. For example, in LTE, physical layer HARQ feedback between the base station and relay entities on the Physical Hybrid ARQ Indication Channel (PHICH) for data transmission from the relay entity to the base station is not supported. Instead, feedback is passed to higher layers for each transport block (TB) transmitted on the corresponding uplink data channel such as PUSCH.

[0060] Although some kind of feedback is provided between the corresponding entities when the data is sent from the base station to the receiving entity via the relay entity, D2D relay does not support any type of feedback, let alone overall feedback from the sending UE to the receiving entity via the relay entity, so the sending UE does not know whether its transmission is successful or unsuccessful at the receiving entity.

[0061] Furthermore, in traditional relay systems, relay nodes, such as D2D nodes, only support UE-to-network relay. Therefore, relay nodes do not need to distinguish between control and data, i.e., whether the data is intended for the relay entity or the receiving entity. For example, LTE relay achieves this by maintaining a separate control channel. However, with the introduction of relay, and since the relay is essentially a UE, it is necessary to distinguish between the traffic received by the UE acting as the relay entity. A relay entity can receive transmissions or packets intended for the UE itself, as well as transmissions or packets to be relayed to a receiving entity, such as a destination UE or the receiving entity itself.

[0062] The present invention solves the aforementioned problems. An embodiment of a first aspect of the invention provides a method for notifying a sending entity of the final state of a transmission relayed to a receiving entity. An embodiment of a second aspect of the invention provides a method for distinguishing, at a relay node RN, transmissions, such as control and data messages, into a first transmission to be relayed and a second transmission intended for use by the relay node. Therefore, the present invention solves the aforementioned problems and provides improvements and enhancements regarding feedback and / or traffic differentiation in relaying via direct links, such as NR direct link relaying. Embodiments of the present invention can be implemented in a wireless communication system including a base station and users such as mobile terminals or IoT devices, as shown in FIG1. Figure 4 This is a schematic representation of a wireless communication system including a transmitter 300, such as a base station or gNB, one or more user equipment (UE) 302, 304, and one or more relay entities 306, 308, and 310, such as relaying UEs, for implementing embodiments of the present invention. The transmitter 300 and receivers 302, 304 can communicate via the respective relay entities 306, 308, 310 using corresponding wireless communication links or channels 310a, 310b, 312a, 312b, and 314a, 314b, such as corresponding radio links. The transmitter 300 may include one or more mutually coupled antennas ANT. T Alternatively, it may include an antenna array with multiple antenna elements, a signal processor 300a, and a transceiver 300b. Receivers 302 and 304 include one or more mutually coupled antennas ANT. UEAlternatively, it may include an antenna array with multiple antennas, signal processors 302a, 304a, and transceivers 302b, 304b. Each relay entity 306, 308, 310 includes one or more mutually coupled antennas ANT or an antenna array with multiple antennas, a signal processor, and a transceiver T. Base station 300 and UE 302 may communicate via relay entity 310 using wireless communication link 314b between base station 300 and relay entity 310, such as a radio link, using a Uu interface or another 3GPP or non-3GPP interface, and wireless communication link 314a between UE 302 and relay entity 310, such as a radio link, using a PC5 / direct link SL interface. Similarly, base station 300 and UE 304 can communicate via relay entity 308, using wireless communication link 312b (e.g., a radio link) with the Uu interface between base station 300 and relay entity 308, and wireless communication link 312a (e.g., a radio link) with the SL interface between UE 304 and relay entity 308. UEs 302 and 304 can communicate via relay entity 306, using wireless communication link 310a (e.g., a radio link) with the SL interface between UE 302 and relay entity 306, and wireless communication link 310b (e.g., a radio link) with the SL interface between UE 304 and relay entity 310. Figure 4 As shown, any of the system or network, one or more UEs 302, 304, one or more relay entities 306-310, and / or base station 300 may operate in accordance with the teachings of the invention described herein. In the following description, a relay entity is referred to as a relay UE.

[0063] First aspect

[0064] The first aspect of the present invention solves the problem that there is no current method in the relay transmission system, which enables the actual sending entity (such as a base station or UE) to know the transmission status at the receiving entity (such as a UE or base station) when transmission is performed through a relay node or relay UE.

[0065] Relay UE

[0066] According to a first aspect, the present invention provides a user equipment (UE) for a wireless communication network.

[0067] In this context, the UE acts as a relay entity to provide connectivity between a transmitting entity and one or more receiving entities in a supporting wireless communication network.

[0068] In response to receiving a transmission from the sending entity and relaying the transmission to the receiving entity, the UE sends feedback to the sending entity, which indicates the success and / or failure of the transmission at the receiving entity.

[0069] According to an embodiment,

[0070] If the UE receives feedback from the receiving entity indicating successful and / or unsuccessful reception at the receiving entity, such as HARQ-ACK or HARQ-NACK, the UE will send the feedback received from the receiving entity to the sending entity, and

[0071] If the UE does not receive feedback from the receiving entity, the UE signals the sending entity to notify the receiving entity that the transmission was not successfully received, such as HARQ-NACK.

[0072] According to an embodiment, if the UE receives feedback from the receiving entity indicating that the transmission was successfully received at the receiving entity, such as HARQ-ACK, then the UE will send the feedback received from the receiving entity to the sending entity within the configured or pre-configured time window after receiving the feedback, for example, at the earliest possible time.

[0073] According to an embodiment, if the UE receives feedback from the receiving entity indicating that the transmission was not successfully received at the receiving entity, such as HARQ-NACK, then the UE...

[0074] • Upon receiving feedback, within a configured or pre-configured time window, such as as early as possible, the feedback received from the receiving entity is sent to the sending entity without retransmission to the receiving entity.

[0075] • Retransmit the transmission to the receiving entity and continue retransmitting the transmission using the same or different transmission parameters, such as MCS or coding rate, until feedback indicating successful reception of the transmission is received from the receiving entity, and the successful feedback received from the receiving entity is sent to the sending entity, or until one or more predefined events occur.

[0076] According to an embodiment, one or more of the following events include:

[0077] • The retransmission configuration or pre-configured timer times out during its period, or

[0078] • Reach the maximum number of relay retransmissions configured or pre-configured by the UE.

[0079] According to an embodiment, in response to one or more events, the UE sends feedback to the sending entity, such as HARQ-NACK, indicating that the transmission was not successfully received at the receiving entity, within a configured or pre-configured time window after receiving the feedback, for example, at the earliest possible time.

[0080] According to an embodiment, the UE receives transmissions from the transmitting entity through a direct connection interface, such as a direct link, or through an access network interface, such as a 3GPP or non-3GPP interface.

[0081] According to an embodiment,

[0082] The sending entity includes a user equipment (UE) or a relay entity, and the receiving entity includes a user equipment (UE) or a relay entity, or

[0083] • The transmitting entity includes user equipment (UE) or relay entity, and the receiving entity includes network entities, such as radio access network (RAN) entities, or

[0084] • The sending entity includes network entities, such as RAN entities, and the receiving entity includes user equipment (UE) or relay entities.

[0085] According to an embodiment, the feedback received from the receiving entity includes, in addition to indicating successful and / or unsuccessful reception of the transmission at the receiving entity, one or more other information, such as:

[0086] • Link quality between UE and receiving entity

[0087] • Distance measurement or area ID, indicating the distance between the UE and the receiving entity.

[0088] • An auxiliary sending entity ensures that the receiving entity successfully receives other transmitted data.

[0089] • The receiving entity intends to send an indication (e.g., a scheduling request SR or a buffer status report BSR) to the sending entity to transmit data.

[0090] • A signal from the receiving entity instructs the HARQ / transmission process to be stopped.

[0091] • The beam index of the best beam or the first m beams received and transmitted from the UE at the receiving UE.

[0092] According to an embodiment, the feedback received from the receiving entity is aggregate feedback indicating that two or more transmissions were successfully and / or unsuccessfully received at the receiving entity.

[0093] According to an embodiment, the aggregated feedback may include one or more of the following:

[0094] • Within a predefined time window, the successful or unsuccessful reception of some or all transmissions, as indicated by data packets.

[0095] • A predefined number of transmissions, such as data packets, indicating whether they were successfully received or not.

[0096] • Which transmissions, such as data packets, were successfully received and / or which transmissions, such as data packets, were not successfully received or failed to be received,

[0097] • Which transmissions were successfully received, such as data packets, even if they were received beyond the delay budget?

[0098] • An indication of link quality degradation between the UE and the receiving entity, for example, link quality approaching or falling below a configured or pre-configured threshold.

[0099] • Indicates the new maximum possible QoS update on the relay link between the UE and the remote UE.

[0100] According to the embodiment, the UE sends feedback received from the receiving entity in the physical PHY layer. For example, if the sending entity is a UE or a relay entity, PSFCH is used, or if the sending entity is a network entity, PUCCH or PUSCH is used.

[0101] According to an embodiment,

[0102] In response to receiving a transmission from the transmitting entity, the UE sends further feedback to the transmitting entity using the first feedback link between the UE and the transmitting entity. This further feedback indicates whether the transmission was successfully and / or unsuccessfully received at the UE, such as HARQ-ACK or HARQ-NACK.

[0103] The UE uses a second feedback link between the sending entity and the receiving entity to send feedback associated with the receiving entity. The first and second feedback links use different resources in the existing PHY channel, such as PSFCH if the sending entity is a UE or a relay entity, or PUCCH or PUSCH if the sending entity is a network entity.

[0104] According to an embodiment, when the sending entity is another UE or a relay entity, the UE uses the PSFCH to transmit feedback received from the receiving entity, and the resources used to transmit the feedback received from the receiving entity are...

[0105] • Implicitly mapped through the relationship between the mappings on the PSFCH resources used for feedback transmissions from the receiving entity to the UE and from the UE to the sending entity, or

[0106] • The sending entity explicitly maps resources on the PSFCH to the UE, indicating which resources will be used to report feedback associated with the receiving entity.

[0107] According to an embodiment, if the sending entity is a network entity, the UE uses PUCCH or PUSCH resources to send the feedback received from the receiving entity.

[0108] According to an embodiment, the UE receives resources from a network entity for reporting feedback and further feedback received from the receiving entity, for example, in DCI.

[0109] According to an embodiment,

[0110] The connection between the transmitting entity and the UE includes a feedback link in the existing PHY channel, such as PSFCH if the transmitting entity is a UE or a relay entity, or PUCCH or PUSCH if the transmitting entity is a network entity, to indicate successful and / or unsuccessful reception of transmissions at the UE, and

[0111] The UE sends feedback received from the receiving entity on the feedback link, rather than feedback indicating successful and / or unsuccessful reception of the transmission at the UE.

[0112] According to an embodiment, if the sending entity is another UE or relay entity, the UE uses the PSFCH resources scheduled by the sending entity to indicate whether the transmission was successfully and / or unsuccessfully received at the UE to send the feedback received from the receiving entity.

[0113] According to an embodiment, if the sending entity is a network entity, the UE uses PUCCH or PUSCH resources, scheduled by the sending entity, to send feedback received from the receiving entity, indicating whether the transmission was successfully and / or unsuccessfully received at the UE.

[0114] According to an embodiment, if the feedback received from the receiving entity indicates an unsuccessful transmission, the feedback also includes information about the specific connection that caused the unsuccessful transmission.

[0115] According to an embodiment, the indication of a faulty connection to the transmitter entity includes a single-bit indicator and / or a two-bit indicator to indicate whether the unsuccessful transmission occurred on the connection between the transmitter entity and the UE, and / or on the connection between the UE and the receiver entity.

[0116] According to an embodiment, the UE sends feedback received from the receiving entity at the Media Access Control (MAC) layer.

[0117] According to an embodiment, the UE uses the MAC control unit MAC CE to send feedback received from the receiving entity.

[0118] According to an embodiment, in response to receiving a transmission from the transmitting entity, the UE sends further feedback to the transmitting entity using a feedback channel in the PHY layer between the transmitting entity and the UE. The further feedback indicates whether the transmission was successfully and / or unsuccessfully received at the UE, such as HARQ-ACK or HARQ-NACK.

[0119] According to an embodiment, the UE transmits feedback received from the receiving entity in the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer.

[0120] According to an embodiment,

[0121] The sending entity operates in Acknowledgment mode (AM), and the feedback received from the receiving entity is an RLC ACK.

[0122] The UE receives the RLC ACK from the receiving entity and forwards the RLC ACK from the receiving entity to the sending entity, thereby providing end-to-end feedback to the sending entity in place of the RLC ACK from the UE.

[0123] According to an embodiment,

[0124] The sending entity operates in Acknowledgment Mode (AM), and

[0125] The UE will send a first RLC ACK in response to successfully receiving a transmission from the transmitting entity, and send a second RLC ACK in response to receiving confirmation that a transmission has been successfully received at the receiving entity as feedback received from the receiving entity.

[0126] According to embodiments, a user equipment includes one or more of the following: a mobile terminal; or a fixed terminal; or a cellular IoT-UE; or a vehicle-mounted UE; or a group leader (GL) UE; or an IoT or narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) device; or a wearable device, such as a smartwatch, or a fitness tracker, or smart glasses; or a ground-based vehicle; or an air vehicle; or a drone; or a mobile base station; or a roadside unit (RSU); or a building; or any other item or device that provides network connectivity to enable the item / device to communicate using a wireless communication network, such as a sensor or actuator; or any other item or device that provides network connectivity to enable the item / device to communicate using a direct link to a wireless communication network, such as a sensor or actuator; or any network entity with direct link capability.

[0127] Send Entity

[0128] According to a first aspect, the present invention provides a transmitting entity for a wireless communication network.

[0129] The transmitting entity can connect to a relay entity to provide connectivity between the transmitting entity and one or more receiving entities in the wireless communication network.

[0130] In response to sending a transmission to a relay entity for relaying to a receiving entity, the sending entity receives feedback from the relay entity indicating whether the transmission was successfully and / or unsuccessfully received at the receiving entity, such as HARQ-ACK or HARQ-NACK.

[0131] According to an embodiment,

[0132] If the relay entity receives feedback from the receiving entity indicating successful and / or unsuccessful reception of the transmission at the receiving entity, such as HARQ-ACK or HARQ-NACK, then the sending entity will receive the feedback received from the receiving entity from the relay entity, and

[0133] If the relay entity does not receive feedback from the receiving entity, the sending entity will receive from the relay entity a signaling message indicating that the transmission was not successfully received at the receiving entity, such as HARQ-NACK.

[0134] According to an embodiment, in response to a feedback from a relay entity indicating that a transmission was not successfully received at the receiving entity, or if there is no feedback from the relay entity within a configured or pre-configured time period, the sending entity initiates a retransmission with corrected transmission parameters, such as MCS or coding rate, or attempts to use another route from another relay UE.

[0135] According to an embodiment, the sending entity transmits to the relay entity via a direct interface, such as a direct link, or via a network interface, such as a 3GPP or non-3GPP interface.

[0136] According to an embodiment,

[0137] The sending entity includes a user equipment (UE) or a relay entity, and the receiving entity includes a user equipment (UE) or a relay entity, or

[0138] • The transmitting entity includes a user equipment (UE) or a relay entity, and the receiving entity includes a network entity, such as a radio access network (RAN) entity, or

[0139] • The sending entity includes network entities, such as RAN entities, and the receiving entity includes user equipment (UE) or relay entities.

[0140] According to an embodiment, the transmitting entity receives feedback received from the receiving entity at one of the physical PHY layer, the media access control (MAC) layer, or the radio link control (RLC) layer.

[0141] According to an embodiment, the sending entity includes a timer indicating a period of time from the start of transmission, and during this period, the sending entity expects to receive feedback from the relay entity received from the receiving entity.

[0142] According to an embodiment, in response to the passage of time, the sending entity assumes that the receiving entity has not successfully received the transmission and triggers a retransmission of the transmission, for example, according to a configured or pre-configured retransmission scheme.

[0143] According to an embodiment, in response to a specific event, the sending entity triggers a relay reselection process.

[0144] According to an embodiment, a specific event includes one or more of the following:

[0145] • Indicates that the number, ratio, or percentage of feedback indicating unsuccessful reception of a transmission at the receiving entity, such as HARQ failure or HARQ-NACK, is close to or exceeds a configured or pre-configured threshold, where the threshold may be less than the configured or pre-configured maximum number of retransmissions for transmission.

[0146] • Degradation of the link quality of the relay link between the relay entity and the receiving entity.

[0147] • Changes in beam index

[0148] • The communication distance between the UE and the receiving entity or between the UE and the sending entity is close to or exceeds the minimum communication distance requirement.

[0149] For example, a change in location can be indicated by a change in the region ID.

[0150] • The battery level of the relay entity is close to or exceeds the configured or pre-configured threshold.

[0151] According to an embodiment, in response to a feedback indication received from the receiving entity that the transmission was not successfully received at the receiving entity, the sending entity maintains the transmission, for example, in the MAC layer, so as to send the transmission via a different relay entity.

[0152] According to an embodiment, if feedback is received from the receiving entity in the MAC layer, the sending entity will use the feedback link in the PHY channel between the sending entity and the relay entity to receive further feedback from the relay entity. The further feedback indicates successful and / or unsuccessful reception of the transmission at the relay entity, such as HARQ-ACK or HARQ-NACK.

[0153] According to embodiments, the transmitting entity includes one or more of the following: a macro cell base station, or a small cell base station, or a central unit of a base station, or an IAB node, or a distributed unit of a base station, or a roadside unit (RSU), or a UE, or a group leader (GL), or a relay or remote radio head, or an AMF, or an SMF, or a core network entity, or a mobile edge computing (MEC) entity, or a network slice such as in an NR or 5G core context, or any transmit / receive point (TRP) that enables an item or device to communicate using a wireless communication network, said item or device being provided with network connectivity to communicate using a wireless communication network.

[0154] network

[0155] According to a first aspect, the present invention provides a wireless communication network, comprising:

[0156] According to the sending entity of the present invention,

[0157] One or more remote user equipment, receiving entity, and

[0158] According to one or more user equipments and relay entities of the present invention, a function is provided to support connectivity between a transmitting entity and one or more receiving entities.

[0159] According to an embodiment, the wireless communication network includes:

[0160] Base station

[0161] The transmitting entity is another UE or a relay entity, and the relay entity and the transmitting entity operate in mode 1 such that the base station indicates the resources that the transmitting entity and the relay entity will use.

[0162] According to an embodiment,

[0163] (1) The sending entity sends a buffer status report (BSR) to the base station, requesting the resources required to transmit data to the relay entity;

[0164] (2) The base station sends control messages to the transmitting entity, such as downlink control information (DCI), including resources for transmission to the relay entity.

[0165] (3) The sending entity uses the resources indicated in the control message received in (2) to send direct link control information, such as a direct link control message (SCI), and data to the relay entity.

[0166] (4) The relay entity sends HARQ feedback to the sending entity.

[0167] (5) The sending entity sends the HARQ feedback report from the relay entity to the base station.

[0168] (6) If the relay entity successfully receives data, it sends a scheduling request (SR) to the base station to request resources for relaying the transmission received from the sending entity.

[0169] (7) The base station sends control messages to the relay entity, such as downlink control information (DCI), including resources for transmission to the receiving entity;

[0170] (8) The relay entity uses the resources indicated in the control message received in (7) to send a direct link control message, such as a direct link control information (SCI), and data, to the receiving entity.

[0171] (9) The receiving entity sends HARQ feedback to the relay entity, and

[0172] (10) The relay entity reports the HARQ feedback of the receiving entity to the sending entity.

[0173] According to an embodiment,

[0174] (1) The sending entity sends a Buffer Status Report (BSR) to the base station, requesting resources for data transmission to the relay entity, and instructing the base station that the transmission will be relayed to the receiving entity.

[0175] (2) The base station sends control messages to the transmitting entity, such as downlink control information (DCI), including resources for transmission to the relay entity.

[0176] (3) The sending entity uses the resources indicated in the control message received in (2) to send a direct link control message, such as a direct link control information (SCI), and data, to the relay entity.

[0177] (4) The relay entity sends HARQ feedback to the sending entity.

[0178] (5) The sending entity sends the HARQ feedback report from the relay entity to the base station.

[0179] (6) The relay entity uses the resources configured or pre-configured to send link control messages, such as Link Control Information (SCI), and data, to the receiving entity.

[0180] (7) The receiving entity sends HARQ feedback to the relay entity, and

[0181] (8) The relay entity reports the HARQ feedback of the receiving entity to the sending entity.

[0182] According to an embodiment,

[0183] The relay entity is configured or pre-configured with resources via configuration authorization for transmitting data to the receiving entity, and

[0184] If the base station determines that the resources in the configuration grant are insufficient to transmit data from the relay entity to the receiving entity, the base station will provide the relay entity with a control message, such as a downlink control information (DCI), indicating additional resources for transmission to the relay entity.

[0185] According to an embodiment, the wireless communication network includes:

[0186] Base station

[0187] In this context, the transmitting entity is another UE or relay entity operating in Mode 1, so that the base station indicates the resources that the transmitting entity will use.

[0188] In Mode 2, the relay entity operates so that the base station does not assist in resource allocation at the relay entity, but the relay entity autonomously performs resource selection and allocation.

[0189] According to an embodiment,

[0190] (1) The sending entity sends a Buffer Status Report (BSR) to the base station, requesting resources for transmitting data to the relay entity.

[0191] (2) The base station sends control messages to the transmitting entity, such as downlink control information (DCI), including resources for transmission to the relay entity.

[0192] (3) The sending entity uses the resources indicated in the control message received in (2) to send a direct link control message, such as a direct link control information (SCI), and data, to the relay entity.

[0193] (4) The relay entity sends HARQ feedback to the sending entity.

[0194] (5) The sending entity reports the HARQ feedback of the relay entity to the base station.

[0195] (6) The relay entity identifies and selects the resources determined by the sensors, and uses the identified and selected resources to send direct link control messages, such as Direct Link Control Information (SCI), and data to the receiving entity.

[0196] (7) The receiving entity sends HARQ feedback to the relay entity, and

[0197] (8) The relay entity reports the HARQ feedback of the receiving entity to the sending entity.

[0198] According to the embodiments, operations (5) and (6) are performed at least partially or completely in parallel.

[0199] According to an embodiment, the wireless communication network includes:

[0200] Base station

[0201] In this context, the transmitting entity is another UE or relay entity operating in Mode 2, where the base station does not assist in resource allocation at the transmitting entity's location; instead, the transmitting entity autonomously selects and allocates resources.

[0202] In this mode, the relay entity operates in mode 1 so that the base station can indicate the resources that the relay entity should use.

[0203] According to an embodiment,

[0204] (1) Send entity identification and select resources determined by sensing for transmitting data to relay entities via sensing;

[0205] (2) The sending entity uses the identified and selected resources to send direct link control messages, such as direct link control information (SCI), and data to the relay entity;

[0206] (3) The relay entity sends HARQ feedback to the sending entity.

[0207] (4) The relay entity sends a scheduling request (SR) to the base station, requesting resources to relay the transmissions received from the sending entity.

[0208] (5) The base station sends control messages to the relay entity, such as downlink control information (DCI), including resources for transmission to the receiving entity.

[0209] (6) The relay entity uses the resources indicated in the control message received in (5) to send a direct link control message, such as a direct link control information (SCI), and data, to the receiving entity.

[0210] (7) The receiving entity sends HARQ feedback to the relay entity, and

[0211] (8) The relay entity reports the HARQ feedback of the receiving entity to the sending entity.

[0212] According to an embodiment,

[0213] (1) The sending entity requests resources allocated by the base station from the relay entity.

[0214] (2) The relay entity sends a scheduling request (SR) to the base station, requesting resources for the sending entity to transmit data to the relay entity, and resources for the relay entity to relay the transmission received from the sending entity to the receiving entity.

[0215] (3) The base station sends one or more control messages to the relay entity, such as downlink control information (DCI), including resources for the transmission of the sending entity and resources for the relay entity to relay the transmission to the receiving entity.

[0216] (4) The relay entity sends messages to the sending entity, such as auxiliary information messages (AIM), including the resources that the sending entity will use.

[0217] (5) The sending entity uses resources received via messages or a combination of messages and sensing results to send direct link control messages, such as Direct Link Control Information (SCI), and data to the relay entity.

[0218] (6) The relay entity sends HARQ feedback to the sending entity.

[0219] (7) The relay entity uses the resources indicated in the control message received in (3) to send a direct link control message, such as a direct link control information (SCI), and data, to the receiving entity.

[0220] (8) The receiving entity sends HARQ feedback to the relay entity, and

[0221] (9) The relay entity reports the HARQ feedback of the receiving entity to the sending entity.

[0222] According to an embodiment,

[0223] The transmitting entity is the base station of the wireless communication network, and

[0224] The relay entity operates in mode 1, causing the base station to indicate the resources the relay entity wants to use.

[0225] According to an embodiment,

[0226] (1) The base station sends control messages to the relay entity, including downlink control information (DCI) and data.

[0227] (2) The relay entity sends HARQ feedback to the base station, for example on the PUCCH.

[0228] (3) The relay entity sends a scheduling request (SR) to the base station, requesting resources for relaying to the receiving entity;

[0229] (4) The base station sends control messages to the relay entity, such as downlink control information (DCI), including resources for transmission to the receiving entity;

[0230] (5) The relay entity uses the resources indicated in the control message received in (4) to send a direct link control message, such as a direct link control information (SCI) and data, to the receiving entity.

[0231] (6) The receiving entity sends HARQ feedback to the relay entity, and

[0232] (7) The relay entity reports the HARQ feedback of the receiving entity to the base station.

[0233] According to an embodiment,

[0234] (1) The base station sends one or more control messages to the relay entity, including downlink control information (DCI) and data. The one or more control messages include resources used by the relay entity to send data to the receiving entity.

[0235] (2) The relay entity sends HARQ feedback to the base station, for example on the PUCCH.

[0236] (3) The relay entity uses the resources indicated in the control message received in (1) to send a direct link control message, such as a direct link control information (SCI), and data, to the receiving entity.

[0237] (4) The receiving entity sends HARQ feedback to the relay entity, and

[0238] (5) The relay entity sends the HARQ feedback report from the receiving entity to the base station.

[0239] According to an embodiment,

[0240] The transmitting entity is the base station of the wireless communication network, and

[0241] The relay entity operates in mode 2, which means that the base station does not provide assistance for resource allocation at the relay entity, but the relay entity independently selects and allocates resources.

[0242] According to an embodiment,

[0243] (1) The base station sends control messages to the relay entity, including downlink control information (DCI) and data.

[0244] (2) The relay entity sends HARQ feedback to the base station, for example on the PUCCH.

[0245] (3) The relay entity identifies and selects resources determined by sensing to send data to the receiving entity.

[0246] (4) The relay entity uses identified and selected resources to send direct link control messages, such as Direct Link Control Information (SCI), and data, to the receiving entity.

[0247] (5) The receiving entity sends HARQ feedback to the relay entity, and

[0248] (6) The relay entity reports the HARQ feedback of the receiving entity to the base station.

[0249] According to an embodiment,

[0250] The receiving entity is the base station.

[0251] The transmitting entity is either a relay entity operating in Mode 2 or another UE, so that the base station does not assist in resource allocation at the transmitting entity, but the transmitting entity autonomously selects and allocates resources.

[0252] The relay entity operates in mode 1, causing the base station to indicate the resources the relay entity wants to use.

[0253] According to an embodiment,

[0254] (1) Send entity identification and select resources determined by sensing for transmitting data to relay entities.

[0255] (2) The sending entity uses the identified and selected resources to send direct link control messages, such as direct link control information (SCI), and data to the relay entity;

[0256] (3) The relay entity sends HARQ feedback to the sending entity.

[0257] (4) The relay node sends a scheduling request (SR) to the base station, for example, using uplink control information (UCI), to request resources for data transmission from the relay entity to the base station.

[0258] (5) The base station sends control messages to the relay entity, such as downlink control information (DCI), including resources used for transmission.

[0259] (6) The relay entity uses the resources indicated in the control message received in (5) to send data to the base station.

[0260] (7) The base station sends feedback to the relay entity, and

[0261] (8) The relay entity reports the HARQ feedback of the base station to the sending entity.

[0262] According to an embodiment,

[0263] (1) The sending entity requests resources allocated by the base station from the relay entity.

[0264] (2) The relay entity sends a scheduling request (SR) to the base station, for example using uplink control information (UCI), requesting the resources used by the sending entity and the relay entity for transmitting data from the sending entity to the base station.

[0265] (3) The base station sends one or more control messages, such as downlink control information (DCI), to the relay entity. The one or more control messages include information about resources used for transmission by the sending entity and the relay entity.

[0266] (4) The relay entity sends messages to the sending entity, such as auxiliary information messages (AIM), including the resources that the sending entity will use.

[0267] (5) The sending entity uses the resources received via messages or via a combination of messages and sensing results to send direct link control messages, such as direct link control information (SCI), and data to the relay entity;

[0268] (6) The relay entity sends HARQ feedback to the sending entity.

[0269] (7) The relay entity uses the resources indicated in the control message received in (3) to send data to the base station.

[0270] (8) The base station sends feedback to the relay entity, and

[0271] (9) The relay entity reports the HARQ feedback of the base station to the sending entity.

[0272] According to an embodiment, the feedback provided by the base station includes:

[0273] • Implicit feedback to relay entities, for example, by using a combination of HARQ process ID and NDI to indicate whether a retransmission is needed, or

[0274] Downlink Feedback Indicator (DFI).

[0275] According to embodiments, a base station includes one or more of the following: a macro cell base station, or a small cell base station, or a central unit of a base station, or an IAB node, or a distributed unit of a base station, or a roadside unit (RSU), or a remote radio head, or an AMF, or an MME, or an SMF, or a core network entity, or a mobile edge computing (MEC) entity, or a network slice such as in an NR or 5G core context, or any transmit / receive point (TRP) that enables an item or device to communicate using a wireless communication network, said item or device being provided with network connectivity to communicate using a wireless communication network.

[0276] method

[0277] According to a first aspect, the present invention provides a method for operating a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication network, wherein the UE acts as a relay entity to provide functionality supporting connectivity between a transmitting entity and one or more receiving entities in the wireless communication network, the method comprising:

[0278] In response to receiving a transmission from the sending entity and relaying the transmission to the receiving entity, a feedback is sent to the sending entity indicating whether the receiving entity successfully and / or unsuccessfully received the transmission.

[0279] According to a first aspect, the present invention provides a method for operating a transmitting entity of a wireless communication network, the transmitting entity being connected to a relay entity to provide functionality supporting connectivity between the transmitting entity and one or more receiving entities of the wireless communication network, the method comprising:

[0280] In response to sending a transmission to the relay entity for relaying to the receiving entity, feedback is received from the relay entity indicating whether the transmission was successfully and / or unsuccessfully received at the receiving entity, such as HARQ-ACK or HARQ-NACK.

[0281] Computer program products

[0282] An embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention provides a computer program product including instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform one or more methods according to the present invention.

[0283] Embodiments of the first aspect of the invention provide a method for notifying a sending entity of the final state of a transmission relayed to a receiving entity, while further embodiments address the functionality of the relay UE when operating in Mode 1 or Mode 2, and how the relay UE supports the sending entity in resource allocation. When operating in Mode 1, the base station instructs entities, such as the sending entity and the relay UE, on the resources to be used or assists in scheduling resources at the entity. In other words, in Mode 1, the base station schedules resources for the entity. The base station can provide resources through dynamic granting, or the base station can provide resources for the entity to choose from using configured granting. When operating in Mode 2, the base station does not assist in resource allocation at the entity, such as the sending entity and the relay UE; instead, the entity autonomously selects and allocates resources. Therefore, embodiments of the first aspect of the invention provide a method for sending and receiving feedback of transmissions or packets sent from the sending entity to the receiving entity via the relay UE, also known as the relay node RN. A transmission from a sending entity to a receiving entity via a relay UE may mean that the transmission is sent from the relay UE to another relay UE, such as in a multi-hop relay system, where the relay chain or path may be as follows: sending entity → relay UE A → relay UE B → receiving entity, or the transmission may be directly from the relay UE to the receiving entity, such as in a single-hop relay system, where the relay chain or path may be as follows: sending entity → relay UE → receiving entity.

[0284] Figure 5 An embodiment of a UE 400 acting as a relay UE is illustrated to provide functionality to support connectivity between a transmitting entity 402 and one or more receiving entities 404, such as a UE or network entity of a wireless communication system or network as described above with reference to FIG1. Figure 5In this configuration, relay UE 400 is connected to sending entity 402 via a first link or connection 406, and relay UE 400 is connected to receiving entity 404 via a second link or connection 408. When acting as a relay, relay UE 400 receives transmission ①, such as data or one or more data packets and associated control data (if any), from sending entity or TX UE 402 via the first connection 406. Relay UE 400 may or may not send feedback to sending entity 402 indicating successful and / or unsuccessful reception of the transmission at relay UE 400. If it does send this feedback, the same feedback channel (PSFCH) indicated by ③ is used, but with different resources. Relay UE 400 relays transmission ② to receiving entity or RX UE 404 via a second direct link connection. If RX UE 404 receives the relayed transmission ②, it sends feedback ④ to the receiving relay UE via the second connection 408. As indicated in 412, relay UE 400 sends feedback ③ from RX UE 404 to TX UE 402 via first connection 406. This feedback is or includes feedback ④. Feedback ④ indicates the status of transmission at RX UE 404, for example, it may indicate that the transmission of data was successfully and / or unsuccessfully received at RX UE 404. Feedback may include positive HARQ acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) or negative HARQ denial acknowledgment (HARQ-NACK). If relay UE 400 does not receive any feedback from RX UE 404 within the configured or pre-configured time window, or if there is no feedback, for example because the relayed transmission ② was not received or recognized at RX UE 404, relay UE 400 will signal feedback ③ to sending entity 402, indicating that the transmission was not successfully received at RX UE 404, such as HARQ-NACK.

[0285] A further embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention provides a transmitting entity for a wireless communication system. Figure 6 An embodiment of a transmitting entity 402, such as a TX UE, or a network entity, such as a gNB, is shown. The transmitting entity 402 can be connected to a relay UE 400 via a first link 406, so that the relay UE 400 can relay a transmission ① destined for a receiving entity 404 as a relay transmission ② via a second link 408 connecting the relay UE 400 and the receiving entity 404 to each other. According to an embodiment of the first aspect, in response to transmitting a transmission ①, such as data and associated control information, to the relay UE 400 destined for the RX UE 404, the transmitting entity 402 receives feedback ③ from the relay UE 400, as shown in 418. (Refer to the above...) Figure 5As described, feedback ③ is or includes feedback from RXUE 404 that indicates the status of the transmission at RXUE 404 if the relayed transmission ② is received at RXUE 404, such as successful and / or unsuccessful reception of the transmission or data at RXUE 404, as indicated by HARQ-ACK or HARK-NACK. If the relay UE 400 does not receive any feedback from RXUE 404, feedback ③ indicates unsuccessful reception of the transmission at RXUE 404, as indicated by HARQ-NACK. Furthermore, the sending entity 402 may or may not receive feedback from the relay UE 400 indicating successful and / or unsuccessful reception of the transmission at the relay UE 400. If the sending entity 402 receives this feedback, the relay UE 400 uses the same feedback channel (PSFCH) shown in ③, but on a different resource.

[0286] According to the embodiment, feedback regarding the transmission to the receiving entity 404 can be processed in the following manner:

[0287] If relay UE 400 receives an ACK from receiving UE 404, it reports this to TX entity 402 within the configured or pre-configured time window after receiving the feedback, for example, at the earliest possible time or as soon as possible.

[0288] If relay UE 400 receives a NACK from receiving UE 404, relay UE 400 may report the NACK to TX entity 402 within the configured or pre-configured time window after receiving the feedback, for example, at the earliest possible time or immediately, and wait for retransmission from TX entity 402, for example, with a revised MCS or coding rate.

[0289] If relay UE 400 receives a NACK from receiving UE 404, relay UE 400 can continue to attempt retransmission to remote UE 404 within a configured or pre-configured time window using the same or different transmission parameters (e.g., MCS or coding rate) without immediately reporting to TX entity 402, while keeping the transmission in its buffer. Once relay UE 400 receives an ACK, it will report back to TX entity 402. If relay UE 400 does not receive an ACK, it can continue to attempt retransmission until one of the following events occurs:

[0290] • Until the timer runs out, or

[0291] • Until the maximum number of predefined or preconfigured relay retransmission attempts have been performed.

[0292] If any of these events is triggered before the relay UE 400 receives an ACK, the relay UE 400 will send a NACK back to the TX entity 402, declaring a transmission failure. In this case, the TX entity 402 can retransmit the data packet using different transmission parameters, such as MCS or coding rate, or try a different route using another relay UE.

[0293] According to an embodiment, the transmitting entity 402 is a user equipment (UE) or another relay UE, and the receiving entity 404 is a UE or another relay UE. In this case, the first and second connections 406 and 408 are direct interfaces, such as direct links or PC5 connections or interfaces.

[0294] According to other embodiments, the sending entity 402 is a UE or another relay UE, and the receiving entity 404 is a network entity, such as a radio access network (RAN) entity, like a gNB. In this case, the first connection 406 is a direct connection interface, such as a direct link or PC5 connection, and the second connection 408 is an access network interface, such as a 3GPP interface, a non-3GPP interface, or a downlink (DL) interface, such as a Uu interface or a WiFi interface.

[0295] According to other embodiments, the sending entity 402 is a network entity, such as a radio access network (RAN) entity like a gNB, and the receiving entity 404 is a UE or another relay UE. In this case, the first connection 406 is an access network interface, such as a 3GPP interface, a non-3GPP interface, a downlink (DL) interface, such as a Uu interface, or a WiFi interface, and the second connection 408 is a direct connection interface, such as a direct link or a PC5 connection.

[0296] A first aspect of the invention provides an embodiment for providing feedback ③, also known as overall HARQ feedback, to a sending entity or TX entity 402, hereinafter also referred to as TX UE, for transmission from TX UE 402 to RX UE 404. Figure 7 An embodiment is shown for providing overall HARQ feedback for a transmission relayed from TX UE 402 to RX UE 404 via relay node 400 using an additional feedback link between relay node 400 and TX UE 402. Figure 7In this embodiment, relay UE 400, TX UE 402, and RX UE 404 are connected via direct links, such that first and second connections 406 and 408 are direct link connections. Initially, TX UE 402 sends control and data transmission ① via the first direct link connection 406, for example, an SCI followed by transmitted data. Relay UE 400 then provides feedback ⑤, such as HARQ feedback, to TX UE via the first direct link connection 406, indicating successful and / or unsuccessful reception of the initial transmission ① at relay node 400. Relay node 400 relays the data along with the SCI indicated in ② to RX UE 404 via the second direct link connection 408. RX UE 404 returns HARQ feedback ④ to relay node 400 via the second direct link connection 408, indicating successful and / or unsuccessful data reception at RX UE 404. Relay node 400 provides TX UE 402 with overall feedback ③, also known as overall HARQ feedback ③, via the first direct link connection 406, including feedback ④ from RX UE 404. Technically, feedback ⑤ can be the first feedback, and... Figure 7 In this process, the order of events in time can be transmission ①, feedback ⑤, transmission ②, feedback ④, and overall feedback ③. If the relay UE successfully receives transmission ①, transmission ② and feedback ⑤ can occur simultaneously; otherwise, only feedback ⑤ will occur.

[0297] Figure 8 Another embodiment of the first aspect of the invention is shown, for providing overall HARQ feedback for a transmission from TX UE402 to RX UE404 via relay node 400. Figure 7 Compared to the previous embodiment, according to Figure 8 In this embodiment, instead of providing a new feedback link between relay node 400 and TX UE 402, the existing feedback link between relay node 400 and TX UE 402 is used to transmit the overall HARQ feedback, including HARQ feedback from RX UE 404, instead of transmitting feedback ⑤ (see Figure 7 ).

[0298] exist Figure 7 and Figure 8 In one embodiment, feedback can be sent via the PSFCH through the first direct link connection 406. According to other embodiments, the TX UE 402 can be a transmitting entity, which includes a base station. In this case, the transmitting entity and the relay UE can be connected via an access network interface, such as a Uu interface, and the feedback can be sent in the PUCCH or PUSCH via the first connection 406.

[0299] According to embodiments, the feedback may include additional information besides indicating successful and / or unsuccessful data reception at RX UE 404. For example, it may signal the link quality between the relay UE and the receiving entity, for instance, to inform the sending entity of the receiving entity's ability to receive transmissions using current or existing connections 406, 408. If packet transmission fails, i.e., no data is successfully received at receiving entity 404, the link quality included in the overall feedback message received at TX UE 40 between the relay UE and RX UE can be used by the TX UE to initiate a relay reselection process if the link quality identified at the TX UE is below a predefined threshold, resulting in unsuccessful data or transmission reception at the receiving entity. For example, in LTE V2X, if the link quality between the TX entity and the UE is below a predefined RSRP threshold, the UE may decide to switch to the relay UE. Layer 3 protocols are used for the actual selection of the relay.

[0300] In addition, a distance metric can be signaled, which indicates the distance between the relay UE and the receiving entity or their area ID (both or only the receiving entity), so that the transmitting entity knows the receiving entity's ability to provide HARQ feedback based on its distance from the relay UE.

[0301] The feedback can also include additional information to assist the sending entity in ensuring the receiving entity can successfully receive the transmitted data. This information helps the TX entity determine whether the existing link via the current relay is sufficient to ensure successful transmission, and if not, what needs to be changed. For example, the relay UE may have low battery power or may experience a planned shutdown. This means the TX entity must find an alternative way to establish a link to the receiving entity. The additional information can also inform the TX entity that the receiving entity may no longer be able to receive transmissions due to factors such as greater distance, low battery power, or planned shutdown.

[0302] Feedback may also include indications that some data of the TX UE is available at the receiving entity. In other words, feedback may include indications that the receiving entity intends to send data to the TX UE. For example, the indication may be a buffer status report (BSR), in which the RX UE tells the base station, acting as the TX entity, that it needs resources for transmission, or the indication may include a scheduling request (SR) for resources to be sent from the RX UE to the TX entity.

[0303] Feedback may also include signals from the receiving entity instructing the cessation of the HARQ / transmission process. For example, it may include some form of abort signal, such as when the UE needs to enter power saving mode or needs to conserve resources for higher priority traffic.

[0304] Feedback may also include the beam index of the best beam or the first m beams received at the receiving UE and transmitted by the relay UE.

[0305] According to a further embodiment, the overall or first feedback forwarded from the relay node to the TX entity and including an indication of successful / unsuccessful reception of a transmission at the receiving entity can be aggregate feedback or can include an aggregate report. The aggregate feedback or report can include feedback on multiple transmissions, packets, or retransmissions, and the report can indicate, for example, within a predefined time window, the successful or unsuccessful reception of some or all transmissions, such as data packets or retransmissions, at the receiving entity, or the successful or unsuccessful reception of a predefined number of transmissions, such as data packets or retransmissions. According to other embodiments, the aggregate feedback can indicate which data transmissions, packets, or retransmissions were successfully received and / or which data transmissions, packets, or retransmissions were unsuccessfully or unsuccessfully received. Furthermore, the aggregate feedback can indicate successfully received data transmissions, packets, or retransmissions exceeding a latency budget or jitter threshold, and based on the exceeded latency budget or jitter threshold, the TX entity can take action to prevent this from being used for future transmissions or retransmissions of the data stream being used. For example, the TX entity can reconfigure the radio bearer, the TX entity can abandon other services / data streams, or the TX entity can switch to a different cell.

[0306] Other embodiments may include an indication of link quality degradation between the relay UE and the receiving entity, for example, the link quality approaching or falling below a configured or pre-configured threshold, which may cause the TX UE to initiate a relay reselection process. Other embodiments may include an update indicating a possible new maximum QoS on the relay link between the relay UE and the receiving entity. For example, this makes the sending entity aware that it may now be possible to send a transmission requiring a higher QoS than currently being sent.

[0307] According to an embodiment of the first aspect of the invention, the feedback transmission can be performed at the physical layer, the media access control (MAC) layer, or the radio link control (RLC) layer.

[0308] Feedback transmission of the physical PHY layer

[0309] According to the first embodiment of feedback transmission in the PHY layer, a new feedback link is provided between the relay UE and the TX UE to transmit the overall HARQ feedback, such as... Figure 7 or Figure 8As shown. According to other embodiments, the resources for overall feedback ③ on the first connection 406 between TX UE 402 and relay UE 400 can be implicitly indicated by TX UE 402 to relay UE 400, so that relay UE 400 knows the resources on the channel such as PSFCH to be used to report overall feedback ③ from RX UE 404. For example, relay UE 400 sends feedback on the first connection 406 associated with the transmission relayed to RX UE in the physical PHY layer, and resource pool RP can be configured to have or not have feedback channel PSFCH. If PSFCH exists, it may not be available in every time slot. It may be in every first, second, or fourth time slot. Using known formulas, both relay UE and RX UE know that once data is sent in time slot t0, after a certain processing time by RX UE, feedback is sent back to the relay node by RX UE in the next available PSFCH time slot. According to an embodiment, once the relay UE receives feedback from the RX UE, the relay node sends the feedback to the TX UE in the next available PSFCH time slot after a certain time interval / processing time. The interval or PSSCH-to-Relay-PSFCH-time can be configured or predefined at the TX UE so that it knows when to expect feedback.

[0310] When the transmitting entity is a RAN entity, such as a base station, the relay UE reports the overall feedback ③ to the base station via PUCCH or PUSCH, and the resources used by the relay UE when reporting the overall feedback ③ can be implicitly indicated to the relay UE 400 by the TX UE 402 using the configured or predefined PSSCH-to-Relay-PUCCH-time.

[0311] According to other embodiments, the resources used for overall feedback ③ on the first connection 406 between TX UE 402 and relay UE 400 can be explicitly indicated by TX UE 402 to relay UE 400, so that relay UE 400 knows the resources on a channel such as PSFCH used to report overall feedback ③ from RX UE 404. In other words, TX UE explicitly indicates in SCI that it expects relay UE to forward feedback from RX UE within a given PSFCH slot, or for a given duration, or within a given PSFCH resource.

[0312] according to Figure 7In the embodiment shown, the sending entity 402 is a user equipment (UE) connected to a receiving entity, which is also a UE, via a direct link relay node 400. The TX UE 402 and relay node 400 are connected via a first direct link 406, and the relay node 400 and RX UE 404 are connected via a second direct link 408. Feedback ⑤ for the transmission from TX UE 402 to relay UE 400 can be sent on a first resource of the PSFCH, and feedback ③ for the transmission from relay UE 400 to RX UE 404 can be sent on a second resource of the PSFCH, which is different from the first resource. It is possible that TX UE 402 provides PSFCH resources for the overall feedback ③ and the feedback ⑤ regarding the first part of the transmission received at the relay UE using the following means:

[0313] • Within the same SCI, different parameters are used to indicate the resources used for ③ and ⑤, or

[0314] • Send different SCIs using the same format simultaneously or one after another, or

[0315] • Use different SCIs in different formats, and send them simultaneously or one after another.

[0316] When the transmitting entity is a RAN entity, the relay UE reports the overall feedback ③ to the base station via PUCCH or PUSCH, and the resources used by the relay UE when reporting the overall feedback ③ can be provided by the base station in the DCI of the transmission ① provided in the PDCCH. The gNB provides two sets of PUCCH resources, one set for the relay UE to send the overall feedback ③ from the RX UE to the TX UE, and the other set for sending feedback ⑤ about the first part of the transmission received at the relay UE. The gNB can provide PUCCH resources for the overall feedback ③ and the feedback ⑤ about the first part of the transmission received at the relay UE by the following means:

[0317] • In the same DCI, different parameters are used to indicate the resources used for ③ and ⑤, or

[0318] • Using different DCIs of the same format, sending simultaneously or one after another, or

[0319] • Use different DCIs in different formats, sending them simultaneously or one after another.

[0320] According to other embodiments that perform feedback transmission at the physical layer, existing links between relay nodes and sending entities can be reused, as referenced above. Figure 8In other words, unlike sending feedback about transmissions from the TX entity to the relay node, according to this embodiment, the resources of this feedback link are used to deliver overall HARQ feedback ③, which indicates the success / failure of reception of a transmission from the sending entity on the RX UE. If the sending entity is the TX UE, it is assumed that the TX UE has allocated or assigned a set of PSFCH resources for the relay UE to provide feedback to the UE about the status of transmissions from the TX UE to the relay node, such as packet transmissions. However, according to the embodiment, these resources are not used to send the status of transmissions from the TX UE to the relay node, but rather to report the status of transmissions from the relay node to the RX UE, i.e., overall feedback or feedback from the RX UE to the relay node. Therefore, even though no feedback about a transmission to the relay node is received at the TX UE, the TX UE still receives overall feedback ③ for transmission, such that, for example, in the event of a failure at a remote UE, the TX UE can decide to retransmit in response to the corresponding status indicated in the feedback from the RX UE. In other words, on the resource in the PSFCH where the relay UE should send feedback on the status of the transmission between the TX entity and the relay UE, the relay UE now reports the feedback status of the transmission between the relay UE and the receiving entity.

[0321] According to other embodiments, the transmitting entity may be a RAN entity, such as a gNB, and in such embodiments, resources on the PUCCH or PUSCH, which were initially allocated to the relay UE to provide feedback on the status of the transmission from the gNB to the relay UE, are used to report feedback from the RX UE, i.e., overall feedback.

[0322] Assume that the sending entity can instruct the relay UE to use the resources for reporting feedback ③, and also consider that the relay UE and RX UE have sufficient processing time.

[0323] The relay UE can also use resources on the PSFCH, PUCCH, or PUSCH for UE-to-UE relay and UE-to-network relay, respectively, to report HARQ faults to the TX UE. The TX UE can then trigger a retransmission or relay reselection in response to this fault. For example, in the event of a transmission failure, the TX UE can retain transmissions, such as data packets, at the MAC layer so that when the TX UE needs to perform a retransmission or connect to the RX UE via a different relay UE, the transmission can proceed without further processing delays. For example, the sending entity can trigger a relay reselection procedure in response to an event such as one or more of the following:

[0324] • Indicates that the number, ratio, or percentage of feedback indicating unsuccessful transmission reception at the receiving entity, such as HARQ failures or HARQ-NACKs, is close to or exceeds a configured or pre-configured threshold, where the threshold may be less than the maximum number of retransmissions configured or pre-configured.

[0325] • Link quality degradation of the relay link between the relay UE and the receiving entity, such as exceeding the configured or pre-configured link quality threshold.

[0326] • Changes in beam index

[0327] • The communication distance between the UE and the receiving entity, or between the UE and the sending entity, is close to or exceeds the minimum communication range requirement.

[0328] For example, a change in location can be indicated by a change in the region ID.

[0329] • The battery level of the relay UE is close to or exceeds a configured or pre-configured threshold; for example, the battery level of the relay UE can be sent to the TX entity, and when the TX entity sees that the battery level is close to or below the threshold, it can trigger a relay reselection.

[0330] According to an embodiment, TX UE 402 may include a timer to specify a specific time period during which the TX UE expects to receive overall feedback ③ from the relay UE. If the TX UE does not receive feedback for a given transmission within the time specified by the timer, the TX UE may retransmit the transmission or data packet. For example, in response to the elapsed time, the sending entity may assume that the receiving entity has not successfully received the transmission and trigger a retransmission, for example, according to a configured or pre-configured retransmission scheme.

[0331] In the above embodiments, in the event of a transmission failure, the overall HARQ feedback can indicate which link, link 406 or link 408, has failed. For example, it can indicate whether link 406 between the TX entity and the RN UE is the failed link by including an additional 1-bit or 2-bit indicator in the feedback, and / or whether the failed link is link 408 between the RN UE and the RX UE.

[0332] Feedback transmission in the MAC layer

[0333] According to a further embodiment, the relay UE 400 (see...) Figure 5 Instead of using physical layer feedback from the relay UE to the TX entity as described above, the MAC control unit MAC CE can be used to notify the TX entity 402 of the status of the transmission from the relay UE to the TX entity.

[0334] According to the MAC layer implementation, the MAC layer of a TX entity (whether it's a TX entity connected to a relay node via a direct link or a TX entity connected to a relay node via a Uu interface) can distinguish between the feedback from the physical layer relay UE regarding the status of the transmission from the transmitting entity to the relay node and the MAC layer feedback reported by the relay UE to the transmitting entity. Therefore, according to the implementation, when the transmitting entity receives feedback (L2 feedback) in the MAC layer reporting overall feedback at the RX UE, the transmission or packet sent via one or more relays is considered fully acknowledged, while the physical layer or L1 feedback received at the transmitting entity only indicates the status of the transmission from the TX entity to the relay node, and does not indicate the overall feedback reported by the L2 feedback as described.

[0335] In the event that the L2 feedback received by the MAC layer is negative or indicates a failed transmission at the RX UE, according to an embodiment, a maximum number of faults or NACKs that the TX entity can receive from the relay UE can be defined. Since the link conditions between the TX entity and the relay UE, or between the relay UE and the RX UE, may have deteriorated, the TX UE can trigger a relay reselection procedure after reaching the predefined or maximum number of faults. Similarly, in the event that the PHY layer feedback received by the relay UE from the RX UE is negative or indicates a transmission failure, according to an embodiment, a maximum number of faults or NACKs that the relay UE can receive from the RX UE can be defined. After reaching the predefined or maximum number of faults, the relay UE can trigger a relay reselection procedure by providing appropriate signaling to the TX UE, as the relay UE recognizes that the link conditions between the relay UE and the RX UE may have deteriorated. The maximum number of failures can be less than the maximum number of retransmissions configured by the TX UE for a certain data packet, so that the relay UE can trigger the relay reselection process at the sending entity earlier, that is, after reaching the predefined number of failures that indicate the deterioration of the link quality between the relay node and the RX UE, instead of waiting until this maximum number of retransmissions is reached.

[0336] Feedback transmission on the RLC layer

[0337] According to a further embodiment, overall feedback can be sent at the RLC layer. When the corresponding entity operates in Acknowledgment Mode (AM), the RLC layer can generate an L2 RLC acknowledgment to confirm receipt of a transmission, data packet, or PDU.

[0338] Figure 9 illustrates an embodiment of the RLC feedback configuration. Figure 9(a) depicts an embodiment that introduces overall RLC acknowledgment, and Figure 9(b) depicts end-to-end feedback.

[0339] In the case of overall RLC acknowledgment ③, as shown in Figure 9(a), TX entity 402 operates in acknowledgment mode AM. TX entity 402 sends a transmission to relay node 400. When relay node 400 receives the transmission from the TX entity, it sends a first RLC ACK ④ to acknowledge successful reception of the transmission at the relay node. Relay node 400 forwards the transmission to RX entity 404. In response to the successful reception of the transmission, RX entity 404 sends a second RLC ACK for the transmission or data packet, thus providing overall feedback ③, similar to the above reference. Figure 7 The way it is described.

[0340] In the case of end-to-end feedback ③, as shown in Figure 9(b), the first RLC ACK ④ from relay UE 400 to TX402 is replaced by RLC ACK ③ from RX entity 404 in RLC AM, similar to the reference above. Figure 8 As described.

[0341] Operation of the wireless communication system or network according to the embodiment of the first aspect

[0342] The following describes embodiments illustrating the operation of an entire wireless communication system or network including the aforementioned relay UE and / or transmitting entity according to an embodiment of the first aspect of this application, wherein the relay UE and / or transmitting entity can operate in mode 1 or mode 2. First, UE-to-UE relay operation is described, and then UE-to-network relay operation is described.

[0343] In the embodiments described below where the base station provides resources to the relay UE, the DCI can be used to define dynamic grants, such as explicit resources for the relay UE to transmit specific data packets, or to define a configured grant type 2 at the relay UE, such as resources configured using RRC signaling, and can be used from the time the relay UE receives the DCI for activating the grant. When operating in mode 1, the relay UE can always use any configured grant type 1 if provided by the base station. The DCI can also define dynamic or configured grants for the transmitting entity if the base station also schedules resources for the transmitting entity.

[0344] 1. UE to UE relay

[0345] The following describes embodiments of a wireless communication system and its operation, including a TX UE that is connected to a relay UE via a direct link as a transmitting entity, operating in mode 1 or mode 2. For both remote and RX UEs, the RX UE may be in mode 1 or mode 2 for all embodiments described below.

[0346] (a) Both the TX UE and the relay UE are in mode 1.

[0347] Figure 10 An embodiment of a wireless communication network including a relay node or relay UE 400 and a TX UE 402 is illustrated, both operating in Mode 1, i.e., resources for transmissions from TX UE 402 to RX UE 404 are scheduled by the RAN entity 452 of the wireless communication network, such as a base station or gNB. TX UE 402 is connected to relay UE 400 via a first direct link connection 406, and relay UE 400 is connected to RX UE via a second direct link connection 408, RX UE being in either Mode 1 or Mode 2. Since TX UE 402 and relay UE 400 operate in Mode 1, they are also connected to gNB 452 via corresponding Uu connections 454 and 456 for uplink / downlink transmissions between gNB and TX UE 402 and relay UE 404, respectively.

[0348] The following functions provide overall feedback for the transmission from TX UE 402 to RX UE 404:

[0349] 1. TX UE 402 sends a Status Report (SR) or Buffer Status Report (BSR) to gNB 452 in the uplink channel, requesting resources for transmission to relay UE 400.

[0350] 2. gNB 452 sends DCI to TX UE 402 in the downlink channel. DCI includes resources used by TX UE 402 for transmission from TX UE 402 to relay UE 400, as indicated in the DCI received in (2).

[0351] 3.TX UE 402 transmits the SCI and data to relay node 400 via the first direct link connection 406.

[0352] 4. Relay node 400 sends HARQ feedback FB1 to TX UE 402 through the first direct link connection 406, indicating the status of the transmission from TX UE 402 to relay UE 400.

[0353] 5a. TX UE 402 will report the feedback FB1 to the gNB 452 node in the uplink channel so that gNB 452 knows the status of the transmission using the resources granted by gNB 452. If the report indicates that the transmission was unsuccessful, gNB 452 can provide additional resources for retransmission without forcing TX UE 402 to send another BSR or SR. If the report indicates that the transmission was successful, gNB 452 can assign the same HARQ ID and enable New Data Indication (NDI) to send another TB.

[0354] 5b. Relay UE 400 sends a scheduling request SR or BSR to gNB 452 in the uplink channel, requesting resources for relaying the transmissions received by relay UE 400 from TX UE 402.

[0355] 6.gNB 452 sends a DCI to relay UE 400 in the downlink channel. The DCI includes the activation of a Type 2 configuration authorization for resources that the relay UE will use or for the transmission from TX UE to RX UE 404 via a direct link connection between relay 408 and relay 408.

[0356] 7. Relay UE 400 uses the resources specified in the DCI received in (6) to send the transmitted data and SCI to RX UE 404 via direct link connection 408.

[0357] 8. RX UE 404 sends HARQ feedback about the status of transmission at RX UE to relay UE 400 via direct link connection 408.

[0358] 9. As described in the above embodiments, the relay UE 400 transmits the feedback report received from the RX UE 404 to the TX UE 402 via the direct link connection 406.

[0359] Figure 11 Another embodiment of a wireless communication system using a TX UE and a relay UE, both operating in Mode 1, is shown. Figure 10 In the embodiment described above, relay UE 400 requests resources from gNB 452 to relay the transmissions it received from TX UE to RX UE. (Refer to...) Figure 11 In the described embodiments, it is assumed that the relay UE 402 has been configured with resources for transmission, for example, through configuration authorization.

[0360] The following functions provide overall feedback for the transmission from TX UE 402 to RX UE 404:

[0361] 1. TX UE 402 sends an SR or BSR to gNB 452 in the uplink channel, requesting resources for transmission to relay UE 400.

[0362] The request also includes an indication that the transmission will be relayed to RX UE 404, so that when TX UE 402 sends a BSR or SR to the gNB requesting resources, the requested resources are also indicated for the transmission to be relayed from RX UE 400 to RX UE 402. Relay UE 400 operates in Mode 1, and it is assumed that relay UE 400 has been configured by the gNB with resources for the transmission, for example, through configuration authorization such that, in response to receiving an indication from the TX UE that the resources are for the transmission to be relayed, gNB 452 already knows that relay UE 402 has resources available to send the transmission to RX UE 404.

[0363] 2.gNB 452 transmits DCI to TX UE 402 in the downlink channel, including resources used by TX UE 402 for transmission from TX UE 402 to relay UE 400.

[0364] 3.TX UE 402 uses the resources specified in the DCI received in (2) to send the transmitted data and SCI to relay node 400 via the first direct link connection 406.

[0365] 4. Relay node 400 sends HARQ feedback FB1 to TX UE 402 through the first direct link connection 406, indicating the status of the transmission from TX UE 402 to relay UE 400.

[0366] 5a. TX UE 402 will report the feedback FB1 to the gNB 452 node in the uplink channel so that gNB 452 knows the status of the transmission using the resources granted by gNB 452. If the report indicates that the transmission was unsuccessful, gNB 452 can provide additional resources for retransmission without forcing TX UE 402 to send another BSR or SR. If the report indicates that the transmission was successful, gNB 452 can assign the same HARQ ID and enable New Data Indication (NDI) to send another TB.

[0367] 5b. Since gNB 452 knows that relay UE 400 requires resources for the transmission to RX UE 404, and since relay UE 400 has been configured with such resources, such as configuration grants, gNB 452 knows whether the relay UE has sufficient resources from the provided configuration grants so that, optionally, if it is determined that the configuration grants do not have sufficient resources to provide a reliable transmission from relay UE 400 to RX UE, gNB 452 may send additional DCIs in the downlink channel to provide additional resources for the relay UE to use for the relay transmission from TX UE to RX UE 404.

[0368] 6. The relay UE 400 uses the resources configured or pre-configured by the relay UE, and if received in (5b), sends the SCI and transmitted data to the RX UE 404 via the direct link connection 408 as indicated in the DCI.

[0369] 7. RX UE 404 sends HARQ feedback about the status of transmission at RX UE to relay UE 400 via direct link connection 408.

[0370] 8. As described in the above embodiments, the relay UE 400 transmits the feedback report received from the RX UE 404 to the TX UE 402 via the direct link connection 406.

[0371] (b) TX UE operating in mode 1 and relay UE operating in mode 2

[0372] Figure 12 An embodiment of a wireless communication system is illustrated, including a relay UE 400 operating in mode 2, a TX UE 402 operating in mode 1, and an RX UE 404 operating in either mode 1 or mode 2. Therefore, in addition to... Figure 10 and Figure 11 external Figure 12 In this diagram, there is only one Uu interface between gNB 452 and TX UE 402, namely connection 454. Since relay UE 400 is not supported by gNB 452 in terms of resource allocation, the Uu interface is not depicted.

[0373] The following functions provide overall feedback for the transfer from TX UE 402 to RX UE 404:

[0374] 1. TX UE 402 sends a buffer status report (BSR) or SR to gNB 452 in the uplink channel, requesting resources for transmission to relay UE 400.

[0375] 2.gNB 452 transmits DCI to TX UE402 in the downlink channel, including resources used by TX UE402 for transmission from TX UE402 to relay UE 400.

[0376] 3.TX UE 402 uses the resources specified in the DCI received in (2) to send the SCI and transmitted data to relay node 400 via the first direct link connection 406.

[0377] 4. Relay node 400 sends HARQ feedback FB1 to TX UE 402 through the first direct link connection 406, indicating the status of the transmission from TX UE 402 to relay UE 400.

[0378] 5. TX UE 402 will report the feedback FB1 to the gNB 452 node in the uplink channel so that gNB 452 knows the status of the transmission using resources authorized by gNB 452. If the report indicates that the transmission was unsuccessful, gNB 452 can provide additional resources for retransmission without forcing TX UE 402 to send another BSR or SR. If the report indicates that the transmission was successful, gNB 452 can assign the same HARQ ID and enable New Data Indication (NDI) to send another TB.

[0379] 6. The relay UE 400 identifies and selects resources for transmission to the RX UE 404 through sensing, and uses these resources to send the SCI and transmitted data to the RX UE 404 via the direct link connection 408.

[0380] 7. RX UE 404 sends HARQ feedback about the status of the transmission at the RX UE to relay UE 400 via direct link connection 408.

[0381] 8. As described in the above embodiments, the relay UE 400 transmits the feedback report received from the RX UE 404 to the TX UE 402 via the direct link connection 406.

[0382] (c) TX UE operating in mode 2 and relay UE operating in mode 1

[0383] Figure 13 An embodiment of a wireless communication system is illustrated, including a relay UE 400 operating in mode 1 and a TX UE 402 operating in mode 2, and an RX UE 404 operating in either mode 1 or mode 2. Therefore, in terms of resource scheduling, the gNB 452 does not support the TX UE 402. The gNB 452 supports the relay UE 400 in terms of resource scheduling, therefore... Figure 13 Only the Uu connection 456 is shown in the image.

[0384] The following functions provide overall feedback for the transmission from TX UE 402 to RX UE 404:

[0385] 1.TX UE 402 identifies and selects resources for transmission to relay UE 400 through sensing.

[0386] 2.TX UE 402 uses the identified and selected resources to send the SCI and transmitted data to relay node 400 via the first direct link connection 406.

[0387] 3. Relay node 400 sends HARQ feedback FB1 to TX UE 402 through the first direct link connection 406, indicating the status of the transmission from TX UE 402 to relay UE 400.

[0388] 4. Relay UE 400 sends a scheduling request SR or BSR to gNB 452 in the uplink channel, requesting resources for relaying the transmissions received by relay UE 400 from TX UE 402.

[0389] 5.gNB 452 sends DCI to relay UE 400 in the downlink channel. The DCI includes resources that the relay UE will use to relay from TX UE to RX UE 404 via direct link connection 408.

[0390] 6. Relay UE 400 uses the resources specified in the DCI received in (5) to send SCI and transmitted data to RXUE 404 via direct link connection 408.

[0391] 7. RX UE 404 sends HARQ feedback about the status of the transmission at the RX UE to relay UE 400 via direct link connection 408.

[0392] 8. As described in the above embodiments, the relay UE 400 transmits the feedback report received from the RX UE 404 to the TX UE 402 via the direct link connection 406.

[0393] Figure 14 A further embodiment of a wireless communication system is shown, which includes a TX UE operating in mode 2 and a relay UE operating in mode 1. According to the system, the TX UE 402 does not sense resources for transmissions to the relay UE, but instead sends a request for such resources to the relay UE.

[0394] The following functions provide overall feedback for the transmission from TX UE 402 to RX UE 404:

[0395] 1. TX UE 402 sends a request to relay UE 400 via direct link connection 406, causing the relay UE to provide resources allocated by gNB 452 or assisted by relay UE 400.

[0396] For example, this method can be applied when a TX UE requires resources for high-reliability transmission so that resources can be allocated by the gNB. Therefore, the TX UE no longer relies solely on resources determined through sensing, but instead requests resources from the relay UE. This is similar to a TX UE requesting an AIM (Assistance Information Message).

[0397] 2. Relay UE 400 sends a scheduling request (SR) or a BSR to gNB 452 in the uplink channel, requesting resources for relaying transmissions received by relay UE 400 from TX UE 402, and resources for transmissions from TX UE to the relay UE. Therefore, relay UE 400 requests resources from gNB for transmissions from TX UE to the relay UE, and resources for transmissions from the relay UE to RX UE.

[0398] 3.gNB 452 sends DCI to relay UE 400 in the downlink channel, which includes resources for TX UE to transmit transmission from TX UE 402 to relay UE 400 via direct link connection 406, and resources for relay UE to relay transmission from TX UE to RX UE 404 via direct link connection 408.

[0399] A DCI can be a single DCI that carries two pieces of information simultaneously, or it can be two separate DCIs that transmit resources for the TX UE and the relay UE together in time or after a short predefined interval.

[0400] 4. The relay UE 400 sends an Auxiliary Information Message (AIM) to the TX UE via the direct link connection 406, which includes the resources that the TX UE 402 will use for the transmission to the relay UE.

[0401] 5.TX UE 402 transmits SCI and transmitted data to relay node 400 using resources received in AIM via the first direct link connection 406, or, according to other embodiments, by combining resources indicated in AIM with resources obtained through sensing.

[0402] 6. Relay node 400 sends HARQ feedback FB1 to TX UE 402 via the first direct link connection 406, indicating the status of the transmission from TX UE 402 to relay UE 400 using the resources indicated in the DCI received in (3).

[0403] 7. Relay UE 400 sends SCI and transmitted data to RX UE 404 via direct link connection 408.

[0404] 8. RX UE 404 sends HARQ feedback about the status of the transmission at the RX UE to relay UE 400 via direct link connection 408.

[0405] 9. As described in the above embodiments, the relay UE 400 transmits the feedback report received from RX UE 404 to TX UE 402 via the direct link connection 406.

[0406] Relay UE 400 can send a feedback report to gNB 452 via Uu connection 456 so that gNB knows the status of the transmission using resources granted by gNB 452. If the report indicates that the transmission was unsuccessful, gNB 452 can provide additional resources for retransmission based on the initial request (SR or BSR) without forcing relay UE 400 to send another BSR or SR. If the report indicates that the transmission was successful, gNB 452 can assign the same HARQ ID and enable New Data Indication (NDI) to send another TB.

[0407] 2. UE to network relay

[0408] Hereinafter, embodiments of the first aspect of the invention relating to UE-to-network relay are described. Therefore, according to the following embodiments, the transmitting entity is no longer a TX UE connected to the relay UE via a direct link, but rather a RAN entity, such as a gNB, connected to the relay UE via a Uu interface.

[0409] (a) The gNB operates as a transmitter, and the relay UE operates in mode 1.

[0410] Figure 15 An embodiment of a wireless communication system or network is illustrated, including RAN entity 402 as a transmitting entity, such as a base station or gNB connected to relay UE 400 via Uu interface 414, while relay UE 400 is connected to RXUE 400 via direct link connection 408. The relay UE operates in mode 1, while RX UE 404 can operate in either mode 1 or mode 2.

[0411] The following functions provide overall feedback for the transfer from gNB 402 to RX UE 404:

[0412] 1.gNB 402 sends control commands, such as DCI, and transmitted data to the relay UE via Uu interface 414.

[0413] 2. The relay node 400 sends a HARQ feedback FB1 to the gNB 402 through the Uu interface 414, indicating the status of the transmission from the gNB 402 to the relay UE 400.

[0414] 3. Relay UE 400 sends a scheduling request SR to gNB 402 in the uplink channel of Uu interface 414, requesting resources for relaying the transmissions received by relay UE 400 from TX UE 402.

[0415] 4. gNB 452 sends a DCI to relay UE 400 in the downlink channel of Uu interface 414, which includes the resources that the relay UE will use for the transmission from gNB to RX UE 404 via direct link connection 408.

[0416] 5. Relay UE 400 uses the resources indicated in the DCI received in (4) to send the SCI and transmitted data to RX UE 404 via direct link connection 408.

[0417] 6. RX UE 404 sends HARQ feedback about the status of the transmission at the RX UE to relay UE 400 via direct link connection 408.

[0418] 7. As described in the above embodiments, the relay UE 400 transmits the feedback report received from the RX UE 404 to the gNB 402 via the Uu interface 414.

[0419] According to other embodiments, when providing DCI (1) and data from the gNB to the relay UE, resources for relaying the transmission to the RX UE may also be included, thereby avoiding additional scheduling requests (3) from the relay UE to the gNB. Figure 15 The additional DCI (4) is shown. This is because the gNB knows that the transmission is relayed rather than sent directly to the RX UE. Another optimization is that the relay UE uses the HARQ feedback FB1 (2) from the relay UE to the gNB to send a request for resources to the gNB, thereby avoiding the relay UE sending an additional scheduling request (3) to the gNB separately. Figure 16 An embodiment of a wireless communication system is illustrated, wherein the initial message from the gNB to the relay UE also includes resources for relaying.

[0420] The following functions provide overall feedback for the transfer from gNB 402 to RX UE 404:

[0421] 1.gNB 402 sends control functions, such as DCI, and transmitted data to the relay UE via Uu interface 414. The DCI also includes resources for the relay UE 400 to relay the transmission to RX UE 404.

[0422] A DCI can be a single DCI containing both types of information, or it can be two separate DCIs that send resources to the TXUE and the relay UE respectively. They can be sent simultaneously or after a short, predefined interval.

[0423] 2. The relay node 400 sends a HARQ feedback FB1 to the gNB 402 through the Uu interface 414, indicating the status of the transmission from the gNB 402 to the relay UE 400.

[0424] 3. Relay UE 400 uses the resources indicated in the DCI received in (1) to send SCI and transmitted data to RXUE 404 via direct link connection 408.

[0425] 4. RX UE 404 sends HARQ feedback about the status of the transmission at the RX UE to relay UE 400 via direct link connection 408.

[0426] 5. As described in the above embodiments, the relay UE 400 transmits the feedback report received from the RX UE 404 to the gNB 402 via the Uu interface 414.

[0427] In (1), since gNB 402 knows that the transmission or packet will be relayed from the relay UE to the RX UE, gNB not only sends the resources for gNB to transmit data to the relay UE, but also actively sends the resources for the relay UE to use for the transmission to the RX UE in the DCI, instead of expecting a scheduling request from the relay UE.

[0428] (b) The gNB operates as a transmitter, and the relay UE operates in mode 2.

[0429] Figure 17 An embodiment of a wireless communication system is shown, wherein the transmitting entity is a gNB and the relay UE 400 operates in mode 2, while the RX UE operates in either mode 1 or mode 2.

[0430] The following functions provide overall feedback for the transfer from gNB 402 to RX UE 404:

[0431] 1.gNB 402 sends control commands, such as DCI, and transmitted data to the relay UE via Uu interface 414.

[0432] 2. The relay node 400 sends a HARQ feedback FB1 to the gNB 402 through the Uu interface 414, indicating the status of the transmission from the gNB 402 to the relay UE 400.

[0433] 3. The relay UE identifies and selects the resources to be used for relaying to RX UE 404 through sensing.

[0434] 4. Relay UE 400 uses the identified and selected resources to send the SCI and transmitted data to RX UE 404 via direct link connection 408.

[0435] 5. RX UE 404 sends HARQ feedback on the status of transmission at the RX UE to relay UE 400 via direct link connection 408.

[0436] 6. As described in the above embodiments, the relay UE 400 transmits the feedback report received from RX UE 404 to gNB 402 via Uu interface 414.

[0437] (c) The TX UE operates in mode 2, the relay UE operates in mode 1, and the RX entity is gNB.

[0438] Figure 18 An embodiment of a wireless communication system is illustrated, wherein a transmitting entity 402 is connected to a user equipment of a relay UE 400 via a direct link connection 406, and a receiving entity is a gNB 404 connected to a relay node via a Uu interface 458.

[0439] The following functions provide overall feedback for the transfer from gNB 404 to TX UE 402:

[0440] 1.TX UE 402 identifies and selects resources for transmission to relay UE 400 through sensing.

[0441] 2.TX UE 402 uses the identified and selected resources to send the SCI and transmitted data to relay node 400 via the first direct link connection 406.

[0442] 3. Relay node 400 sends HARQ feedback FB1 to TX UE 402 through the first direct link connection 406, indicating the status of the transmission from TX UE 402 to relay UE 400.

[0443] 4. Relay UE 400 sends a scheduling request SR to gNB 404 via Uu interface 458 in the uplink channel, requesting resources for relaying the transmissions received by relay UE 400 from TX UE 402.

[0444] 5. gNB 452 transmits DCI to relay UE 400 via Uu interface 458 in the downlink channel, including resources that the relay UE will use to relay from TX UE to gNB 404 via Uu connection 458.

[0445] 6. Relay UE 400 uses the resources indicated in the DCI received in (5) to send the transmitted data to gNB UE 404 via Uu connection 458.

[0446] 7. gNB UE 404 sends feedback on the status of transmission at gNB to relay UE 400 via Uu connection 458.

[0447] According to an embodiment, the feedback can be HARQ feedback.

[0448] According to other embodiments, the concept of a downlink frame indicator (DFI), such as that used in NR Unlicensed (NR-U), is reused by the gNB. The gNB sends the DFI to the relay UE, and the DFI contains feedback for more than one transmission. If the DFI is bundled with feedback for multiple transmissions, each transmission has an attached timer to ensure that the relay node receives the DFI before the timer expires. If the relay UE does not receive the DFI for a transmission within the timer, the transmission is considered unsuccessful.

[0449] 8. As described in the above embodiments, the relay UE 400 transmits the feedback report received from gNB 404 to TX UE 402 via direct link connection 406.

[0450] Figure 19 A further embodiment of the wireless communication system is illustrated, wherein the transmitting entity 402 is connected to the user equipment of the relay UE 400 via a direct link connection 406, and the receiving entity is a gNB 404 connected to the relay node via a Uu interface 458. Instead of sensing resources for transmissions to the relay UE, the TX UE 402 sends a request for such resources to the relay UE.

[0451] The following functions provide overall feedback for the transfer from gNB 404 to TX UE 402:

[0452] 1. TX UE 402 sends a request to relay UE 400 via direct link connection 406, causing the relay UE to provide resources allocated by gNB 404 or assisted by relay UE 400.

[0453] For example, this method can be used when a TX UE requires resources for high-reliability transmission, so that resources can be allocated by the gNB. Therefore, the TX UE no longer relies solely on resources determined through sensing, but instead requests resources from the relay UE. This is similar to the TX UE requesting an AIM (Assistance Information Message).

[0454] 2. In the uplink channel, the relay UE 400 sends a scheduling request SR or BSR to the gNB 404 through the Uu interface 458, requesting resources for the relay UE 400 to receive transmissions from the TX UE 402, and resources for the TX UE to transmit to the relay UE.

[0455] 3. gNB 404 transmits DCI to relay UE 400 in the downlink channel of Uu connection 458. The DCI includes resources for TX UE to transmit transmission from TX UE 402 to relay UE 400 via direct link connection 406, and resources for relay UE to relay transmission from TX UE to gNB 404 via Uu connection 458.

[0456] A DCI can be a single DCI containing both types of information, or two separate DCIs that send resources to the TX UE and the relay UE respectively. They can be sent simultaneously or after a short, predefined interval.

[0457] 4. The relay UE 400 sends an Auxiliary Information Message (AIM) to the TX UE via the direct link connection 406, which includes the resources that the TX UE 402 will use for transmission to the relay UE.

[0458] 5.TX UE 402 uses the resources received in AIM to send SCI and transmitted data to relay node 400 via the first direct link connection 406, or, according to other embodiments, by combining the resources indicated in AIM with resources obtained by sensing.

[0459] 6. Relay node 400 sends HARQ feedback FB1 to TX UE 402 through the first direct link connection 406, indicating the status of the transmission from TX UE 402 to relay UE 400.

[0460] 7. The relay UE 402 uses the resources indicated in the DCI received in (3) to send the transmitted data to the gNB 404 via the Uu connection 458.

[0461] 8.gNB 404 sends feedback on the status of the transmission at the RX UE to the relay UE 400 via Uu connection 458.

[0462] According to an embodiment, the feedback can be HARQ feedback.

[0463] According to other embodiments, the DFI concept used in NR-U is reused by the gNB, which sends the DFI to the relay UE, and the DFI contains feedback for more than one transmission. If the DFI is bundled with feedback for multiple transmissions, each transmission has an attached timer to ensure that the relay node receives the DFI before the timer expires. If the relay UE does not receive the DFI for the transmission within the timer, the transmission is considered unsuccessful.

[0464] 9. As described in the above embodiments, the relay UE 400 transmits the feedback report received from the RX UE 404 to the TX UE 402 via the direct link connection 406.

[0465] Based on reference Figures 10 to 19In the described embodiments, note that sending HARQ feedback from the relay UE 400 to the TX entity (which could be the TX UE or gNB) is optional, because according to the embodiments of the first aspect described above, instead of sending two feedbacks FB1 and FB2 to the TX UE, only the feedback from the RX UE is sent from the relay UE 400 to the TX UE or gNB. The relay UE 400 may also not receive feedback from the RX entity, and even in the absence of an RX entity, according to the embodiments of the first aspect described above, the relay UE 400 can provide feedback to the TX entity. This is when the relay UE has attempted to retransmit the configured or predefined number of retransmissions to the RX entity, or the retransmission configuration or predefined duration, but has failed to receive a successful acknowledgment. In this case, the relay UE reports the unsuccessful feedback to the TX entity.

[0466] Second aspect

[0467] An embodiment of the second aspect of the invention processes the transmission, such as control and data messages, at the relay node RN into a transmission to be relayed, also referred to as a first transmission, and a transmission for the relay node, also referred to as a second transmission.

[0468] Relay UE

[0469] According to a second aspect, the present invention provides a user equipment (UE) for a wireless communication network.

[0470] In this configuration, the UE acts as a relay UE to provide connectivity between a transmitting entity and one or more receiving entities in a supporting wireless communication network.

[0471] The UE is used to distinguish between a first transmission to be relayed to a receiving entity and a second transmission intended for use by the UE, and a transmission received from a sending entity.

[0472] The UE distinguishes the received transmissions by one or more of the following:

[0473] • Control information associated with transmission,

[0474] • Resources for receiving and / or associated control information.

[0475] According to an embodiment, the control information associated with the transmission includes one or more of the following:

[0476] • Direct interface control messages associated with transmission, such as Direct Link Control Information (SCI), which indicate whether the transmission is the first or second transmission.

[0477] • Network interface control messages associated with a transmission, such as downlink control information (DCI), which indicates whether the transmission is a first transmission or a second transmission.

[0478] • The Media Access Control (MAC) header associated with the transmission indicates whether the transmission is the first or second transmission.

[0479] According to an embodiment, the resource for receiving transmitted and / or associated control information includes one or more of the following:

[0480] • Relay direct link control channel, wherein control information associated with a transmission and received on the resources of the relay direct link control channel indicates that the associated transmission is a first transmission.

[0481] • Relay bandwidth portion R-BWP, wherein transmissions and / or control information associated with transmissions are received on the resources of the R-BWP to indicate that the transmission is a first transmission.

[0482] • A relay direct link resource pool, wherein a transmission and / or control information associated with the transmission is received on resources of the relay direct link resource pool to indicate that the transmission is a first transmission.

[0483] According to an embodiment, the UE receives transmissions from the transmitting entity through a direct interface such as a direct link or through an access network interface such as a 3GPP or non-3GPP interface.

[0484] According to an embodiment,

[0485] The sending entity includes a User Equipment (UE) or a Relay UE, and the receiving entity includes a User Equipment (UE) or a Relay UE.

[0486] or

[0487] • The transmitting entity includes a user equipment (UE) or a relay UE, and the receiving entity includes a network entity, such as a radio access network (RAN) entity, or

[0488] • The sending entity includes network entities, such as RAN entities, and the receiving entity includes user equipment (UE) or relay UE.

[0489] ——SCI——

[0490] According to an embodiment,

[0491] The UE uses control information associated with the transmission to distinguish received transmissions. This control information includes Phase 1 and / or Phase 2 Direct Link Control Information (SCI) associated with the transmission, and...

[0492] Direct link control information (SCI) associated with transmission includes:

[0493] • The first-stage SCI is provided as including one or more additional parameters indicating whether the transmission is a first transmission or a second transmission. In response to receiving the first-stage SCI, the UE uses one or more additional parameters to determine whether the transmission is a first transmission or a second transmission, and, in the case of a first transmission, relays the transmission to the receiving entity, and / or

[0494] • The second-stage SCI is provided as including one or more modified parameters to indicate whether the transmission is a first transmission or a second transmission. In response to receiving the second-stage SCI, the UE uses one or more parameters to determine whether the transmission is a first transmission or a second transmission, and in the case of a first transmission, relays the transmission to the receiving entity, or...

[0495] • A predefined second-stage SCI is provided to satisfy the transmission to be relayed. In response to receiving the predefined second-stage SCI, the UE determines the transmission as the first transmission and relays the transmission to the receiving entity.

[0496] According to an embodiment, SCI includes:

[0497] • Only indicates the UE's destination information, such as the UE's destination or Layer 1 ID, or

[0498] • Only indicate the destination information of the receiving entity, such as the destination or L1 ID of the receiving entity, or

[0499] • Indicates the UE's first destination information, such as the UE's destination or L1 ID, and indicates the receiving entity's second destination information, such as the receiving entity's destination or L1 ID, or

[0500] • Indicates the combined destination information of both the UE and the receiving entity.

[0501] In response to only indicating the destination information to be received by the UE, the UE will determine that the transmission is a second transmission, and

[0502] Specifically, in response to receiving destination information that only indicates the receiving entity, or in response to receiving first destination information indicating the UE and second destination information indicating the receiving entity, or in response to receiving combined destination information, the UE determines the transmission as the first transmission.

[0503] According to an embodiment, the SCI includes an indication of when the receiving entity will receive the transmission, such as a time indication.

[0504] According to the embodiment, if the timer exceeds a threshold or the time between the UE determining the transmission to the receiving entity and receiving the ACK from the receiving entity exceeds a threshold, the UE:

[0505] • Discard transmissions or data packets, or

[0506] • Discard the transmission or data packet and send a negative acknowledgment (NACK) to the sending entity.

[0507] According to an embodiment, in response to determining the transmission as the first transmission from the SCI, the UE stops decoding the transmission and / or forwards the transmission to a higher layer, and loads the transmission along with the destination or L1 ID of the receiving entity into a buffer for transmission to the receiving entity.

[0508] According to an embodiment, the SCI includes information indicating the transmitting entity, such as the Layer 1L1 ID of the transmitting entity UE.

[0509] Specifically, the UE uses information indicating the sending entity to determine whether the sending entity is in the list of configured or pre-configured sending entities.

[0510] In cases where the sending entity originates from this list, the UE determines the transmission as the first transmission, and

[0511] In cases where the sending entity is not from the list, the UE determines the transmission as the second transmission.

[0512] According to an embodiment,

[0513] SCI includes predefined destination information, such as a predefined destination or Layer 1 / L1 ID. This predefined destination information indicates that the transmission associated with the SCI will be relayed.

[0514] In response to receiving predefined destination information, the UE maps the predefined destination information to the actual destination information of the receiving entity, such as the destination or Layer 1 ID of the receiving entity, and relays the transmission to the receiving entity.

[0515] According to the embodiment, the predefined destination information is one or more of the following:

[0516] Virtual Destination ID

[0517] • Destination IDs from a list or pool of configured or pre-configured destination IDs.

[0518] According to an embodiment,

[0519] The UE provides predefined destination information to the sending entity for use by the sending entity in transmissions that will be relayed to the receiving entity, or

[0520] The UE receives predefined destination information from the receiving entity and forwards the received predefined destination information to the sending entity, which then uses it for transmissions that will be relayed to the receiving entity.

[0521] According to an embodiment,

[0522] SCI includes a specific HARQ process ID or HARQ process number mapped to a specific destination ID of the receiving entity, and destination information that only indicates the UE, such as the UE's destination or L1 ID, and

[0523] In response to a specific HARQ process ID or HARQ process number, the UE determines the transmission as the first transmission and relays the transmission to the receiving entity mapped to the specific HARQ process ID.

[0524] ——MAC header——

[0525] According to an embodiment, when the UE uses a Media Access Control (MAC) header associated with the transmission to distinguish received transmissions, the MAC header includes an indication that the transmission is the first transmission and the UE is not the intended receiver.

[0526] According to an embodiment, the user equipment includes a MAC layer, which includes logical channels, such as a logical relay channel (LRCH), and

[0527] In response to receiving a MAC header indicating that the transmission is the first transmission and is not intended for use by the UE, the UE places the transmission in the buffer or queue of the LRCH for transmission to the receiving entity.

[0528] According to an embodiment,

[0529] The MAC header includes destination information for the receiving entity, such as the destination or Layer 2 ID of the receiving entity, and

[0530] In response to the destination information of the receiving entity in the MAC header, the UE determines the transmission as the first transmission.

[0531] According to an embodiment, the SCI further includes destination information indicating the UE, such as the UE's destination or L1 ID.

[0532] According to an embodiment,

[0533] The MAC header includes predefined destination information, such as a predefined destination or Layer 2 (L2) ID. This predefined destination information indicates that the transmission associated with the MAC header will be relayed.

[0534] In response to predefined destination information, the UE maps the predefined destination information to the actual destination information of the receiving entity, such as the destination or Layer 2 ID of the receiving entity, and relays the transmission to the receiving entity.

[0535] According to the embodiment, the predefined destination information is one or more of the following:

[0536] Virtual Destination ID

[0537] • Destination IDs from a list or pool of configured or pre-configured destination IDs.

[0538] According to an embodiment,

[0539] The UE provides predefined destination information to the sending entity for use by the sending entity in transmissions that will be relayed to the receiving entity, or

[0540] The UE receives predefined destination information from the receiving entity and forwards the received predefined destination information to the sending entity, so that the sending entity can use it for transmissions that will be relayed to the receiving entity.

[0541] According to an embodiment, the control information includes parameters that are decremented or incremented when the UE sends a message, and the UE does not relay messages once the parameters reach a configured or pre-configured value.

[0542] According to an embodiment, a fault indication is sent to one or more of the following:

[0543] • Send entities, and / or

[0544] • Network, and / or

[0545] • The previous relay UE from which it receives data packets.

[0546] —Dedicated trunk direct link control channel—

[0547] According to an embodiment,

[0548] Wireless communication networks include relay direct link control channels, and

[0549] In response to receiving Direct Link Control Information (SCI) associated with a transmission in the Relay Direct Link Control Channel, the UE determines the transmission as the first transmission.

[0550] According to the embodiment, the relay direct link control channel is a sub-channel in the direct link resource pool, such as the NR V2X resource pool.

[0551] According to an embodiment, a trunk direct link control channel is defined in a direct link control channel such as PSCCH by defining one or more of the following:

[0552] • Multiple resource blocks (RBs) within the PSCCH used solely for relaying control messages.

[0553] • All RBs in the PSCCH are dedicated at specified time intervals to the periodicity of control messages used solely for relaying, or

[0554] • In the PSCCH, multiple RBs selected across frequencies are dedicated at specified time intervals to the periodicity of control messages used only for relaying.

[0555] According to an embodiment, in response to receiving Direct Link Control Information (SCI) associated with a transmission in the Relay Direct Link Control Channel, the UE stops decoding the transmission and forwards the transmission to a higher layer, and loads the transmission along with the destination ID of the receiving entity into a buffer for transmission to the receiving entity.

[0556] ——Dedicated bandwidth section——

[0557] According to an embodiment,

[0558] Wireless communication networks include a relay bandwidth portion (R-BWP) specifically for relay-related transmission and reception of control and / or data, and

[0559] Upon receiving a transmission and / or control information associated with the transmission in the R-BWP, the UE determines the transmission as the first transmission.

[0560] According to an embodiment, the R-BWP is used to send feedback on the relayed transmission.

[0561] ——Dedicated Relay Direct Link Resource Pool——

[0562] According to an embodiment,

[0563] The wireless communication network includes a relay direct link resource pool (R-RP) specifically for relay-related transmission and reception of control and / or data, and

[0564] In response to receiving a transmission and / or control information associated with the transmission in the R-RP, the UE determines the transmission as the first transmission.

[0565] According to an embodiment, the R-RP is used to send feedback on the relayed transmission.

[0566] According to an embodiment, a relay resource pool R-RP is defined within the BWP and includes one or more resource pools, such as one or more transmit or receive pools, one or more transmit relay resource pools TX R-RP, one or more receive relay resource pools, RXR-RP, or one or more R-RPs that generate both TX and RX.

[0567] According to an embodiment, the R-RP includes a first R-RP configured for operation of a UE in mode 1 and a second R-RP configured for operation of a UE in mode 2.

[0568] According to an embodiment, the R-RP is configured for UEs operating in mode 1 and UEs operating in mode 2, wherein the UE is expected to provide periodic congestion reports to the transmitting entity so that the transmitting entity knows the available resources within the R-RP.

[0569] According to an embodiment, when the link quality between the sending entity and the receiving entity and / or between the relay entity and the receiving entity is lower than a predefined link quality threshold, a relay resource pool (R-RP) is used to control and / or transmit and / or receive data related to relaying.

[0570] According to an embodiment, the UE receives one or more resource pool configurations, for example, in one or more System Information Blocks (SIBs) or other control signaling within a control channel, where the control channel is, for example, PDCCH or PDSCH. The one or more resource pool configurations include R-RP configurations, which include:

[0571] • Indication that the base station supports relay.

[0572] • Link quality threshold; if the link quality falls below this threshold, the sending entity will switch to relay-based transmission.

[0573] ·R-RP resources.

[0574] According to an embodiment, the R-RP configuration further includes the periodicity of feedback channel resources, such as Physical Direct Link Feedback Channel (PSFCH) resources, with respect to multiple time slots, wherein when the periodicity is set to zero, no feedback channel resources are defined in the R-RP.

[0575] According to an embodiment, the UE uses the feedback channel to send feedback on the transmission received from the sending entity as follows:

[0576] In the event of a transmission failure from the sending entity to the UE, the UE sends a NACK request to the sending entity for retransmission.

[0577] and / or

[0578] • If the transmission from the sending entity to the UE is successful, the UE

[0579] o Sends an ACK only after the UE receives a successful response from the receiving entity, so that the UE can provide the sending entity with overall HARQ feedback on the transmission from the sending entity to the receiving entity, or,

[0580] o After the UE receives a transmission from the transmitting entity, it sends a first ACK, and after the UE receives a successful feedback from the receiving entity, it sends a second ACK, so that the UE can provide the transmitting entity with overall HARQ feedback on the transmission from the transmitting entity to the receiving entity.

[0581] According to an embodiment, when the transmission is sent as a broadcast, or when the transmission is not directed to the UE, or when the transmission is sent as a unicast or multicast and feedback is disabled, the UE disables feedback transmission.

[0582] According to an embodiment, the relay direct link control channel and / or R-BWP and / or R-RP include a spectrum or frequency range different from the spectrum or frequency range for transmitting and / or receiving the second transmission.

[0583] According to an embodiment, in response to determining that the transmission is the first transmission, the UE

[0584] • Avoid decoding the transmission and forwarding it to a higher layer, and load the transmission along with the destination ID of the receiving entity into a buffer for use in the transmission to the receiving entity, or

[0585] • Decode the transmission for higher-level optimization, and send this packet to the intended RXUE using the normal send pool, and load the optimized transmission along with the destination ID of the receiving entity into the buffer for transmission to the receiving entity.

[0586] According to an embodiment, in response to receiving control information associated with transmission,

[0587] If the destination ID parameter indicating the UE is empty, set to an empty value, or set to a default value, and the destination ID parameter indicating the receiving entity is specified, or...

[0588] In the case where the destination information is a combination of information from both the UE and the receiving entity, and the destination ID parameter of the UE is empty, set to an empty value, or set to a default value, and the destination ID parameter of the receiving entity is specified,

[0589] The UE receives transmissions in a broadcast manner and sends the transmissions to one or more intended receiving entities in a unicast, multicast, or broadcast manner.

[0590] According to an embodiment, in response to receiving control information associated with transmission,

[0591] When the destination ID parameter indicating the UE is specified, and the destination ID parameter indicating the receiving entity is specified, or

[0592] In the case where the destination information is a combination of information indicating both the UE and the receiving entity, wherein the destination ID parameter indicating the UE is specified, and the destination ID parameter indicating the receiving entity is specified,

[0593] The UE receives transmissions in multicast or unicast mode, and sends the transmissions to one or more intended receiving entities in unicast, multicast, or broadcast mode.

[0594] According to embodiments, the user equipment includes one or more of the following: a mobile terminal; or a fixed terminal; or a cellular IoT-UE; or an in-vehicle UE; or a group leader GL UE; or an IoT or narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) device; or a wearable device, such as a smartwatch, or a fitness tracker, or smart glasses; or a ground-based vehicle; or an air vehicle; or a drone; or a mobile base station; or a roadside unit (RSU); or a building; or any other item or device that provides network connectivity to enable the item / device to communicate using a wireless communication network, such as a sensor or actuator; or any other item or device that provides network connectivity to enable the item / device to communicate using a direct link of a wireless communication network, such as a sensor or actuator; or any network entity with direct link capability.

[0595] Send Entity

[0596] According to a second aspect, the present invention provides a transmitting entity for a wireless communication network.

[0597] The transmitting entity can be connected to a relay UE to provide connectivity between the transmitting entity and one or more receiving entities in a supporting wireless communication network.

[0598] The sending entity indicates a first transmission to the relay UE via one or more of the following, which will be relayed to the receiving entity:

[0599] • Associate the transmission with specific control information,

[0600] • Send transmission and / or associated control information on specific resources.

[0601] According to embodiments, associating transmission with specific control information includes one or more of the following:

[0602] • Associate the transmission with a direct interface control message, such as a direct link control information (SCI). The SCI indicates whether the transmission is a first transmission or a second transmission intended for relaying a UE.

[0603] • Associate the transmission with a network interface control message, such as downlink control information (DCI), which indicates whether the transmission is a first transmission or a second transmission intended for relaying a UE.

[0604] • Associate the transmission with a Media Access Control (MAC) header, which indicates whether the transmission is the first or second transmission.

[0605] According to an embodiment, sending transmission and / or associated control information on a specific resource includes one or more of the following:

[0606] • Transmit direct interface control messages associated with the transmission, such as Direct Link Control Information (SCI), in the relay direct link control channel.

[0607] • The relay bandwidth portion of the R-BWP's resources is used to transmit transmissions and / or control information associated with those transmissions.

[0608] • Use the resources of the relay direct link resource pool to send transmissions and / or control information associated with the transmissions.

[0609] According to an embodiment, the transmitting entity sends the transmission to the relay UE via a direct connection interface, such as a direct link, or via an access network interface, such as a 3GPP or non-3GPP interface.

[0610] According to an embodiment,

[0611] The sending entity includes a User Equipment (UE) or a Relay UE, and the receiving entity includes a User Equipment (UE) or a Relay UE, or

[0612] • The transmitting entity includes a User Equipment (UE) or a Relay UE, and the receiving entity includes a network entity, such as a Radio Access Network (RAN) entity, or

[0613] • The sending entity includes network entities, such as RAN entities, and the receiving entity includes user equipment (UE) or relay UE.

[0614] ——SCI——

[0615] According to the embodiment, the sending entity will provide

[0616] The first-stage SCI includes one or more additional parameters indicating whether the transmission is the first or second transmission, or

[0617] The second-stage SCI includes one or more modified parameters to indicate whether the transmission is the first or second transmission, or a predefined second-stage SCI to satisfy the transmission to be relayed.

[0618] ——MAC header——

[0619] According to an embodiment, the sending entity associates a Media Access Control (MAC) header with the transmission, the MAC header including an indication notifying the relay UE that the transmission is a first transmission and that the UE is not the intended receiver.

[0620] —Dedicated trunk direct link control channel—

[0621] According to an embodiment,

[0622] Wireless communication networks include relay direct link control channels, and

[0623] The sending entity transmits the Direct Link Control Information (SCI) associated with the transmission in the relay direct link control channel.

[0624] ——Dedicated bandwidth section——

[0625] According to an embodiment,

[0626] The wireless communication network includes a relay bandwidth portion (R-BWP) specifically for control and / or data and / or feedback transmission and reception, and

[0627] The sending entity will send the transmission and / or control and / or feedback information associated with the transmission in the R-BWP.

[0628] ——Dedicated Relay Direct Link Resource Pool——

[0629] According to an embodiment,

[0630] The wireless communication network includes a relay direct link resource pool (R-RP) specifically for control and / or data and / or feedback transmission and reception, and

[0631] The sending entity sends transmissions and / or control information and / or feedback associated with the transmissions in the R-RP.

[0632] According to an embodiment, the sending entity uses R-RP based on one or more of the following:

[0633] • Link quality between the transmitting entity and the relay UE

[0634] • Normal congestion status of the direct link resource pool

[0635] • The distance between the sending entity and the receiving entity.

[0636] According to an embodiment,

[0637] • In cases where a transmission is to be broadcast and the intent of the transmission is to extend coverage, the sending entity will send the transmission to any relay UE, or

[0638] • In the case of multicast or unicast transmission, the sending entity sends the transmission on the R-RP to any relay UE, which further intends to send it to the intended remote UE, or

[0639] • In the case of a multicast or unicast transmission, the sending entity sends the transmission to a specific relay UE on the R-RP, which is then intended to send it to a intended remote UE.

[0640] According to an embodiment, the relay UE is selected based on whether one or more of the following criteria are supported:

[0641] • Transmitting power higher than a configured or pre-configured power threshold, such as high power, or

[0642] • The battery state is higher than the configured or pre-configured threshold, or

[0643] • Provide specific services, such as Public Protection and Disaster Relief (PPDR) services or vehicle security services.

[0644] According to an embodiment, the sending entity indicates the destination ID parameter of the relay UE in the direct link control information (SCI) associated with the transmission, wherein...

[0645] • If the destination ID parameter is empty, set to a null value, or set to the default value, no specific relay UE is selected, so that any relay UE receiving the transmission expects the transmission to be relayed to the receiving entity defined by the final destination ID parameter in the SCI, or

[0646] • When the destination ID parameter is specified, only relay UEs whose ID is specified in the destination ID are expected to transmit to the receiving entity defined by the final destination ID parameter in the SCI.

[0647] According to embodiments, the transmitting entity includes one or more of the following: a macro cell base station, or a small cell base station, or a central unit of a base station, or an IAB node, or a distributed unit of a base station, or a roadside unit (RSU), or a UE, or a group leader (GL), or a relay or remote radio head, or an AMF, or an MME, or an SMF, or a core network entity, or a mobile edge computing (MEC) entity, or a network slice such as in an NR or 5G core context, or any transmit / receive point TRP that enables an item or device to communicate using a wireless communication network, said item or device being provided with network connectivity to communicate using a wireless communication network.

[0648] network

[0649] According to a second aspect, the present invention provides a wireless communication network, comprising:

[0650] One or more sending entities,

[0651] One or more receiving entities, and

[0652] One or more relay user equipments, relay UEs, the relay UEs providing functionality to support connectivity between transmitting and receiving entities.

[0653] According to the present invention, the transmitting entity includes one or more transmitting entities according to the present invention, and / or the relay UE includes one or more user equipment UEs according to the present invention.

[0654] method

[0655] According to a second aspect, the present invention provides a method for operating a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication network, wherein the UE acts as a relay UE to provide functionality supporting connectivity between a transmitting entity and one or more receiving entities in the wireless communication network, the method comprising:

[0656] The UE distinguishes between the transmissions received from the sending entity and the second transmissions intended for use by the UE, based on the first transmission to be relayed to the receiving entity.

[0657] The received transmission is distinguished by one or more of the following:

[0658] • Control information associated with transmission,

[0659] • Resources for receiving and / or associated control information.

[0660] According to a second aspect, the present invention provides a method for operating a transmitting entity of a wireless communication network, the transmitting entity being connected to a relay UE to provide functionality supporting connectivity between the transmitting entity of the wireless communication network and one or more receiving entities, the method comprising:

[0661] The first transmission to be relayed to the receiving entity is a transmission sent by the sending entity to the relay UE via one or more of the following indications:

[0662] • Associate the transmission with specific control information,

[0663] • Send transmission and / or associated control information on specific resources.

[0664] Computer program products

[0665] A second aspect of the invention provides a computer program product including instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to implement one or more methods according to the invention.

[0666] Figure 20(a) illustrates an embodiment of a relay UE according to a second aspect of the invention, which distinguishes between traffic to be relayed and traffic intended for use by the relay UE. UE 400 can act as a relay UE to provide functionality supporting connectivity between a sending entity 402 and one or more receiving entities 404, wherein the sending entity and receiving entity are similar to UE or network entities of a wireless communication system or network similar to the system or network described above with reference to FIG1. ​​A remote UE may also be referred to as a receiving entity. Relay UE 400 and sending entity 402 are connected via a first link or connection 406, and the relay UE can receive transmission ① from sending entity 402 via the first link 406. Relay UE 400, as indicated at 460, distinguishes between a first transmission to be relayed to receiving entity 404 and a second transmission intended for use by the relay UE 400. According to an embodiment, the relay UE 400 can relay a first transmission to the receiving entity 404 via a second link or connection 408 connected to the receiving entity 404, as indicated by 462 in FIG20(a). The second transmission can be processed within the relay UE 400, as indicated by 464 in FIG20(a). The relay UE 400 distinguishes the transmission received from the sending entity 402 by one or more of the following:

[0667] • Control information associated with transmission ①

[0668] • A resource on which transmission ① and / or associated control information is received. For example, the resource may be defined in one or more of time, frequency, code, and space.

[0669] According to an embodiment, the relay UE 400 distinguishes the transmission received from the transmitting entity 402 by one or more of the following:

[0670] • Direct interface control messages associated with the transmission ① received from the sending entity 402 via the first link 406, such as direct link control information (SCI), and SCI indicating whether the transmission is the first transmission or the second transmission.

[0671] • Network interface control messages associated with transmission ① received from sending entity 402 via first link 406, such as downlink control information (DCI) and DCI indicating whether the transmission is a first transmission or a second transmission.

[0672] • A Media Access Control (MAC) header associated with the transmission ① received from the sending entity 402 via the first link 406, and a MAC header indicating whether the transmission is the first transmission 462 or the second transmission 464.

[0673] According to an embodiment, the resource on which transmission and / or associated control information is received includes one or more of the following:

[0674] • Relay Direct Link Control Channel. Control information received on the resources of the Relay Direct Link Control Channel of the first link 406 between the sending entity 402 and the relay UE 400, associated with transmission ① from the sending entity 402, indicates that the associated transmission (such as transmission ①) that can be transmitted via the Physical Direct Link Shared Channel (PSSCH) is the first transmission 462 to be relayed to the receiving entity. In other words, the SCI does not require additional information or fields indicating the nature of the transmission; instead, by transmitting the SCI in the Relay Direct Link Control Channel, the relay UE 400 identifies the associated transmission as the first transmission 462.

[0675] • A relay bandwidth portion R-BWP, configured or pre-configured by the wireless communication system, implements relay transmission from transmitting entity 402 to receiving entity 404. Transmitted data and / or control information can be received at relay UE 400 on the resources of the R-BWP. Relay UE 400 identifies a transmission sent using the R-BWP as the first transmission 462 to be relayed. Furthermore, if control information is received on the R-BWP, and the actual transmission is also received on the resources of the R-BWP or on the resources of another pool defined in another BWP, the relay UE identifies transmission ① as the first transmission 462.

[0676] A relay direct link resource pool, configured or pre-configured by the wireless communication system, enables relay transmissions from transmitting entity 402 to receiving entity 404. Transmitted data and / or control information can be received at the relay UE 400 on resources within the relay direct link resource pool. The relay UE 400 identifies a transmission sent using the relay direct link resource pool as the first transmission 462 to be relayed. Furthermore, if control information is received on the relay direct link resource pool, and the actual transmission is also received on resources within the relay direct link resource pool or on resources in another pool, the relay UE identifies transmission ① as the first transmission 462.

[0677] The first transmission 462 can be relayed between the relay UE 400 and the receiving entity 404 via the second link 408, as indicated by transmission ② in FIG20(a).

[0678] A further embodiment of the second aspect of the invention provides specific information for a transmitting entity associated with a transmission relayed to a receiving entity via a relay UE, or for transmitting a transmission or associated control data on a specific resource, so as to allow the relay UE to identify the transmission as a transmission to be relayed to the receiving entity. FIG20(b) illustrates an embodiment of a transmitting entity 402 of a wireless communication system or network, similar to the wireless communication system or network described above with reference to FIG1. ​​The transmitting entity 402 can be connected to the relay UE 400 via a first link 406 so that the relay UE 400 can relay a transmission ① to the receiving entity 404 as a relay transmission ② via a second link 408, through which the relay UE 400 and the receiving entity 404 are interconnected. The transmitting entity 402 indicates that the transmission ① to the relay UE 400 is a first transmission to be relayed to the receiving entity by associating the first transmission ① with specific control data, as indicated by 466, or by transmitting the data and / or associated control data of transmission ① on a specific resource, as indicated by 468.

[0679] According to other embodiments, the transmitting UE may associate transmission ① with direct link control information (SCI) to be transmitted together with transmission ① on the first link 406, indicating whether the transmission is a first transmission to be relayed or a second transmission intended for relaying UE 400. According to a further embodiment, the transmitting UE may associate transmission ① with downlink control information (DCI) to be transmitted together with transmission ① via the first link 406, indicating whether the transmission is a first transmission to be relayed or a second transmission intended for relaying UE 400. According to other embodiments, the transmitting entity may associate the transmission with a Media Access Control (MAC) header indicating whether the transmission is a first or second transmission.

[0680] According to other embodiments, when transmitting data and / or associated control data of transmission ① on a specific resource, the transmitting entity 402 may transmit Direct Link Control Information (SCI) associated with transmission ① in the Relay Direct Link Control Channel, thereby allowing the relay UE 400 to identify transmission ① as the first transmission to be relayed. In such embodiments, additional information explicitly indicating whether the transmission is a first or second transmission may not be necessary. The SCI format used, such as a new second-stage SCI format for relaying, can indicate to the relay UE 400 whether transmission ① is a first or second transmission. According to a further embodiment, the transmitting UE 402 may use the resources of the Relay Bandwidth Port (R-BWP) portion for transmitting the transmission and / or control information associated with the transmission, thereby allowing the relay UE 400 to identify transmission ① as the first transmission to be relayed, due to the fact that the transmission itself and / or its associated control information are transmitted using the R-BWP. According to a further embodiment, the transmitting UE 402 can use the resources of the relay direct link resource pool to transmit a transmission and / or control information associated with the transmission, thereby allowing the relay UE 400 to identify the transmission ① as the first transmission to be relayed, because of the fact that the transmission itself and / or the control information associated with it are transmitted using the relay direct link resource pool.

[0681] According to an embodiment, the transmitting entity 402 is a user equipment (UE) or another relay UE, and the receiving entity 404 is a UE or another relay UE. In this case, the first and second connections 406 and 408 are direct interfaces, such as direct links or PC5 connections or interfaces.

[0682] According to other embodiments, the sending entity 402 is a UE or another relay UE, and the receiving entity 404 is a network entity, such as a radio access network (RAN) entity, like a gNB. In this case, the first connection 406 is a direct connection interface, such as a direct link connection, and the second connection 408 is an access network interface, such as a 3GPP interface, a non-3GPP interface, a downlink (DL) interface, such as a Uu interface, or a WiFi interface.

[0683] According to other embodiments, the sending entity 402 is a network entity, such as a radio access network (RAN) entity like a gNB, and the receiving entity 404 is a UE or another relay UE. In this case, the first connection 406 is an access network interface, such as a 3GPP interface, a non-3GPP interface, a downlink (DL) interface, such as a Uu interface or a WiFi interface, and the second connection 408 is a direct interface, such as a direct link connection.

[0684] The above-described embodiments of the second aspect of the invention for distinguishing traffic received at a relay UE will now be described in more detail.

[0685] Distinction based on SCI

[0686] According to an embodiment, the relay UE 400 distinguishes transmissions based on the SCI associated with the transmission. One or more additional parameters can be added to an existing SCI format, such as a first-stage SCI, or one or more additional parameters to an existing SCI format, such as a second-stage SCI, can be modified to indicate whether the transmission is a first transmission or a second transmission. In response to receiving an SCI, the UE uses one or more additional or modified parameters to determine whether the transmission is a first transmission or a second transmission, and in the case of a first transmission, relays the transmission to a receiving entity. According to a further embodiment, a new or predefined SCI format, such as a new or predefined second-stage SCI, can be implemented to satisfy relay transmissions. When the relay UE 200 receives a new or predefined SCI, it identifies that the associated transmission or data packet is not intended for use by the relay UE 400, but is to be relayed, for example, to a receiving entity 404.

[0687] According to embodiments, the SCI may include destination information indicating only the relay UE 400, such as the relay UE's destination or Layer 1 (L1) ID. Upon receiving an SCI that includes only the relay UE's destination information, the relay UE 400 identifies the associated transmission as a second transmission, i.e., a transmission 464 intended for relay UE 400. According to other embodiments, an additional parameter or predefined second-stage SCI may include destination information indicating only the receiving entity, such as the receiving entity 404's destination or L1 ID, and in response to receiving such information, the relay UE 400 determines the transmission associated with the SCI as a first transmission to be relayed to the receiving entity 404, 462. According to other embodiments, it may include first destination information for the relay UE 400 and second destination information for the receiving entity 404, such as a corresponding L1 ID, and in response to receiving both IDs, the relay UE 400 identifies the associated transmission as a first transmission to be forwarded to the receiving entity, 462. For example, the SCI may include two or more destination ID fields—intermediate destination IDs indicating one or more relay UEs, and a final destination ID indicating the receiving entity. According to a further embodiment, combined destination information indicating both the UE and the receiving entity may be included, and in response to receiving the combined ID, the relay UE 400 identifies the associated transmission as a first transmission 462 to be forwarded to the receiving entity. For example, if the sending entity knows the destination ID of the relay UE and the expected receiving entity, it can combine them using the least significant bits of the two destination IDs and send the combined ID in a new or predefined SCI used only for relaying. The combined ID, such as the combined destination ID, can be generated by the sending entity using the destination ID of the relay UE and the destination ID of the receiving entity in one of the following ways:

[0688] • Using the destination IDs of the relay UE and the receiving entity, a combined destination UE ID is generated using a formula.

[0689] • Use a configured or pre-configured lookup table containing the destination UE ID, which is a combination of the destination ID mapped to the relay UE and the target ID of the receiving entity.

[0690] Combine the least significant bit (LSB) of the destination ID of the relay UE and the destination ID of the receiving entity.

[0691] The combined destination ID can be deduced by the relay UE using one or more of the following decoding methods to infer the destination ID of the relay UE and the destination ID of the receiving entity:

[0692] ·formula,

[0693] • Reverse lookup table

[0694] • The LSB of the destination ID of the relay UE and the destination ID of the receiving entity.

[0695] According to an embodiment, the SCI includes an indication of when the receiving entity will receive the transmission, such as a time indication. If the timer exceeds a threshold, or if the time for the UE to determine the transmission to the receiving entity and receive an ACK from the receiving entity exceeds a threshold, the UE may discard the transmission or data packet, or discard the transmission or data packet and send a negative ACK to the sending entity.

[0696] The advantage of the above embodiments is that the higher layers are unaware of the packet or transmission distinction. For example, the physical PHY layer receives the transmission or packet, and the relay UE can only decode the control information to determine whether the relay UE is the intended receiver of the corresponding transmission or data, thereby avoiding the relay UE decoding the transmission or packet and forwarding it to the higher layer if it determines that it is not the intended receiver of the transmission. In this case, the relay UE can load the transmission or data together with the final destination ID indicated in the received control information into a buffer as a new destination ID for the transmission to the receiving entity. While the above embodiments may resemble amplify-forward solutions to achieve the desired coverage extension, the advantage over simple amplify-forward solutions is that they take into account the piracy problem because the relay UE does not decode the relayed transmission or packet. According to other embodiments, the relay UE 400 can decode and forward transmissions, rather than simply providing amplification and forwarding methods, preferably without the transmission or message content being processed by the higher layers.

[0697] In the embodiments described above that only include the destination ID of the receiving entity, i.e., in embodiments where the destination ID of the relay UE is not included in the SCI, a further advantage is that the relay UE can pick up any transmission or data packet addressed to a UE known at the relay UE, and the relay UE can forward the transmission to that UE via a direct link connection. According to such an embodiment, the sending entity 402 can simply use the ID of the receiving entity 404 included in the SCI, and the relay 400 forwards the transmission or message accordingly. This can be used, for example, in cases where a separate relay resource pool or relay BWP or relay control channel is provided, or in other ways, to mark or label the transmission or message to be relayed, indicating to the relay UE that the transmission or message is the first transmission to be relayed to the designated receiving entity 404. The relay 400 can then simply retrieve the transmission or message from the pool and relay it to the receiving entity.

[0698] According to a further embodiment, the SCI may include information indicating the sending entity 402, such as the L1ID of the sending entity. According to such an embodiment, a list of sending entities may exist within the wireless communication network, for example, a certain number of sending entities, and the relay UE is aware of this list and can use the information indicating the sending entity in the control information to determine whether the sending entity is listed. If the relay UE 400 determines that the sending entity 402 is in the list, the relay UE identifies the transmission as a first transmission 462 to be relayed to the receiving entity. On the other hand, if the sending entity 402 is not in the list, the relay UE 400 treats the transmission associated with the SCI as a second transmission intended for use by the relay UE and which can be processed at the relay UE 400. For example, the configured list may contain a list of trusted devices that are authenticated, for example, via the core network, 5GC, or via a configured or pre-configured list stored on the relay UE 400. According to other embodiments, the list may indicate sending entities belonging to a group of UEs, device types, UE categories, or UEs that transmit data using a specific propagation type, such as UEs.

[0699] According to a further embodiment of the second aspect of the invention, the additional information may include predefined destination information, such as a predefined destination or Layer 1 (L1) ID indicating that a transmission associated with the SCI will be relayed. The predefined destination information may be provided by the relay UE or the receiving entity, and the sending entity may receive such predefined destination information if a transmission is not intended for the relay UE but is to be forwarded to the receiving entity. In other words, the relay UE knows the receiving entities within its coverage area and provides the sending entity with a list or pool of L1 UE IDs of such receiving entities. This list of UE IDs may include explicit receiving entity IDs, as well as virtual UE IDs, which are UE IDs mapped to actual receiving entity IDs. The sending entity then includes one of these UE IDs in the SCI, and the relay UE determines that the transmission is relayed to the indicated receiving entity. Depending on the receiving entity to which the transmission is intended, the sending entity may select one or more destination information to include in the SCI, and when received at the relay UE, the relay UE 400 maps the destination information received in the SCI to the actual destination information of the receiving entity in order to relay the transmission associated with the SCI to the receiving entity. In other words, according to this embodiment, a new destination ID is introduced for reaching the receiving entity via a relay. The sending entity uses this ID to address the receiving entity via the relay, and as previously described, the relay maps the received new ID to the actual receiving entity ID in order to forward the transmission or message. According to the embodiment, the predefined destination information is one or more of the following:

[0700] Virtual Destination ID

[0701] • Destination IDs from a configured or predefined list or pool of destination IDs.

[0702] When a relay UE receives a virtual destination ID, the relay node can include a mapping from the virtual destination ID to one or more receiving entity destination IDs, for example, if the destination ID changes. This might happen if the V2X UE wants to send data to all RSUs. In this case, the V2X UE can send data to the virtual destination ID configured for the RSU, and the relay UE can forward the data to the "real" RSU ID, or even to multiple RSUs. Based on the virtual destination ID, the relay node can also change the propagation type of the data to be sent, mapping traffic received unicast on a specific virtual destination ID to multicast or broadcast messages.

[0703] When a relay UE receives destination IDs belonging to a pool of destination IDs, the relay UE may have a subset or pool of receiving entity destination IDs allocated from the network, corresponding to the receiving entities managed by the relay UE. For example, n LSBs for the destination IDs of receiving entities can be allocated by the relay UE. Additionally, the predefined values ​​for the LSBs can be the relay IDs themselves. This can be seen in a sample pool of destination IDs, where the relay UE's LSB is set to 000, receiving entity A's LSB is set to 001, and receiving entity B's LSB is set to 010.

[0704] Relay UE: XXXXXXXX 000

[0705] Used to receive entity A: XXXXXXXX 001

[0706] Used to receive entity B: XXXXXXXX 010

[0707] Figure 21 An embodiment employing a predefined or new destination ID mapped at the relay node is illustrated. Sending entity 402 sends an SCI to relay UE 400 via first connection 406, and the SCI includes signaling to relay UE 400 that the transmission associated with the SCI on first connection 406 will be relayed to receiving entity 404 with the aforementioned new identifier or destination information 470. As shown by 472, relay UE 400 performs a mapping function to map the new ID 470 received in the SCI on first connection 406 to an actual RX ID 474, so as to allow the transmission associated with the SCI on first connection 406 to be relayed to receiving entity 404 via second connection 408 using the actual RX ID 474. Figure 21 As shown, the relay UE 400 can include various mappings from new IDs to actual RX IDs.

[0708] According to other embodiments, the receiving entity 404 may not perform the mapping as described above, but instead provide a specific or new destination ID for the sending entity to use in cases where direct sending is not possible or necessary, so as to relay the transmission using a relay node. Figure 22An embodiment of a receiving entity is illustrated, which uses a specific or new relay ID used by the sending entity in a transmission sent to the receiving entity via a relay node. When considering a direct transmission from sending entity 402 to receiving entity 404, the actual or real RX ID 474 is included in the SCI on the direct direct link connection 476 between sending entity 402 and receiving entity 404. As further indicated, the actual RX ID 474 is not forwarded to relay UE 400; instead, receiving entity 404 includes a new or predefined relay ID 470 for one or more receiving entities. As indicated at 480, relay ID 470 may be stored on the relay UE. If the transmission from sending entity 402 is an indirect or relay transmission, instead of using the actual RX ID 474, sending entity 402 adopts the new relay ID 470, and when ID 470 is received, relay node 400 identifies it as the relay ID stored at 480 and instructs receiving entity 404. The relay UE 400 forwards the transmission associated with ID 470 to the receiving entity via the second connection 408. The advantage of this embodiment is that the receiving entity introduces the new ID 470 and the relay UE becomes aware of the new ID, thus eliminating the need for reference to... Figure 21 Instead of changing the ID at the relay node as described in the embodiment, the transmission from the sending entity 402 is forwarded using the ID received at the relay node and identified as associated with the receiving entity 404.

[0709] According to a further embodiment, the SCI may include a specific HARQ process ID, also known as a HARQ process number. For example, the sending entity and the relay UE may negotiate a set of HARQ process IDs to map to a destination ID associated with a receiving entity. If the relay UE receives a transmission using one of the negotiated HARQ process IDs or HARQ process numbers, for example, by setting a field to the HARQ process ID in the SCI and by sending the destination ID in the relay UE's SCI, the relay UE identifies the transmission associated with the SCI as the first transmission to relay. The relay UE forwards the transmission to the receiving entity's associated destination ID, which is mapped to the HARQ process ID or HARQ process number.

[0710] Traffic is differentiated based on MAC header.

[0711] According to an embodiment, no new physical layer signaling is introduced to distinguish between a first and a second transmission at the relay UE. The transmission can be indicated as a first or second transmission in a MAC header that informs the relay UE that the transmission or data packet will be relayed; that is, the relay UE is not the intended receiver, or the transmission is intended for the relay UE. According to an embodiment, a dedicated logical relay channel (LRCH) can be provided for relay transmissions by the relay UE. For example, when a MAC header indicating that the transmission is a first transmission, i.e., the transmission is not intended for the relay UE, is received, the UE can place the transmission in a buffer or queue of the LRCH for transmission to the receiving entity. According to such an embodiment, the transmission or data packet is viewed from a physical layer perspective as a new transmission from the relay UE to the receiving entity.

[0712] According to other embodiments that use MAC headers for traffic differentiation, a Layer 2 (L2) identifier of the destination or receiving entity can be used. If the MAC header includes a Layer 2 destination ID of the receiving entity, the relay UE knows that the transmission associated with the MAC header will be relayed to a given address or destination. According to a further embodiment, the SCI received by the relay UE includes destination information that only indicates the relay UE 400, such as the relay UE's destination or Layer 1 (L1) ID. Figure 23 An embodiment using an SCI including the L1 destination ID of the relay UE and a MAC header including the L2 destination ID of the receiving entity is illustrated. The sending entity 402 sends data packets using the SCI including the L1 destination of the relay UE 400, so that the relay UE 400 knows at the physical layer that the transmission received from the sending UE is directed to the relay UE. Simultaneously, MAC header 1 includes the L2 destination so that the relay UE 400 knows that the transmission will be forwarded to the receiving entity 404. The relay UE 400 sends data packets to the RX UE 404 using the SCI including the L1 destination ID of the RX UE and the MAC header 2 including the L2 destination ID of the RX UE.

[0713] According to a further embodiment, if the transmission from the sending entity 402 to the receiving entity will be via a relay node, a new or predefined L2 ID can be used for the receiving entity. In such an embodiment, the relay node 400 can be referenced above. Figure 21 The method described performs the mapping from L2 ID to the actual L2 ID of the receiving entity.

[0714] According to a further embodiment, when the physical layer or MAC layer signals are used to notify the relay UE of the distinction between the first and second transmissions, the control information includes parameters that are decremented or incremented when the UE sends a message, and that the UE does not relay the message once a configured or pre-configured value, such as time-to-live (decrement) or maximum number of relay hops (increment), is reached. When the UE does not relay the message, a fault indication may be sent to one or more transmitting entities, and / or the network, and / or the previous relay UE from which it received data packets.

[0715] Traffic differentiation based on dedicated relay control channels

[0716] According to an embodiment of the second aspect of the invention, a further physical layer solution for the relay UE to distinguish traffic between the first and second transmissions is the use of a separate control channel, referred to as a dedicated relay control channel. According to an embodiment, when the sending or receiving entity is a UE or a relay UE, the control channel may be referred to as a relay PSCCH or R-PSCCH, a relay physical direct link control channel. At the relay UE, any transmission that receives or sends its associated control information in the R-PSCCH is identified by the relay UE as a first transmission to be relayed to the receiving entity. According to an embodiment, when the sending or receiving entity is a network entity, the control channel may be referred to as a relay physical downlink control channel R-PDCCH. In the relay control channel R-PSCCH or R-PDCCH, control information is transmitted in the relay control resource R-CORESET or the relay search space R-SearchSpace.

[0717] According to an embodiment, a dedicated relay control channel can be implemented as an additional channel in a direct link resource pool, such as an NR V2X resource pool.

[0718] According to other embodiments, when the sending or receiving entity is a UE or a relay UE, the existing PSCCH can be reused to define a dedicated relay control channel. For example, multiple resource blocks (RBs) within the PSCCH can be defined for control messages used only for relaying, while the remaining resource blocks within the PSCCH are used for normal transmission. For instance, the independent search space configuration R-SearchSpace in the CORESET or R-CORESET defined in the resources of the PSCCH can be configured or pre-configured for relaying only. According to other embodiments, specific periods across frequencies can be defined in the PSCCH, and in each period, all RBs of the PSCCH are used only for relay control messages. In other words, at those time intervals specified by the periodicity, all RBs in the control channel are used only for control messages associated with relay transmission. At all other times or slots, all RBs of the PSCCH are used only for normal transmission. According to a further embodiment, periodicity may not be applied to all RBs in the PSSCH, but a selected number of RBs may be provided only for control messages associated only with relaying at time intervals or slots defined by the periodicity, while all remaining RBs are used for normal transmission.

[0719] Therefore, according to embodiments using a dedicated relay control channel, data transmitted within a defined data channel such as PSSCH and associated with control data transmitted on R-PSCCH is identified by the relay UE as a transmission or data to be relayed to a receiving entity. According to embodiments, in response to acquiring control data on the dedicated control channel, the relay UE can avoid decoding the transmission or data packets. The relay UE can load the transmission or data into its buffer and send it to the desired receiving entity. According to embodiments, the control message transmitted in the dedicated relay control channel can be an SCI regarding SCI-based traffic differentiation as described in the above embodiments. The advantage of using a dedicated relay control channel is that the relay UE does not have to decode the transmission or data packets and carry them to higher layers, thereby ensuring privacy and avoiding any potential privacy issues.

[0720] Figure 24 illustrates an embodiment for implementing the dedicated relay control channel as described above. Figure 24(a) shows an embodiment that implements the relay control channel as an additional sub-channel in a direct link resource pool, such as an NR V2X resource pool. Figure 24(a) shows multiple direct link time slots or subframes f1 to f4. Each frame includes resources 482 selected from the direct link resource pool for direct link transmission. Each subframe may include a Physical Direct Link Control Channel (PSCCH) and a Physical Direct Link Shared Channel (PSSCH) for transmitting actual data associated with control information in the PSCCH. According to the embodiment, the relay control channel may be defined as an additional sub-channel in one or more frames f1 to f4, as indicated by the additional channel R-PSCCH in Figure 24(a).

[0721] Figure 24(b) illustrates an embodiment in which the PSCCH is used as the R-PSCCH with a certain periodicity. In the embodiment of Figure 24(b), it is assumed that the periodicity is two frames, so that in the first and third frames, all resource blocks of the PSCCH are used for normal control transmissions, while in the second and fourth frames, all resource blocks of the PSCCH are used only for transmissions related to relays.

[0722] Figure 24(c) illustrates an embodiment in which only a portion of the PSCCH resource blocks are used exclusively for relay-related control information at a certain periodicity. Similar to Figure 24(b), a periodicity of two frames is assumed, such that in frames f1 and f3, all PSCCH resource blocks are used for normal control transmission, while in frames f2 and f4, a portion of the PSCCH resource blocks are used exclusively for relay-related control information.

[0723] It should be noted that the periodicity of 2 mentioned above is just an example, and any other periodicity can be selected. In addition, the embodiments of Figures 24(b) and 24(c) can be combined. For example, in Figure 24(b), only a portion of the resource blocks are used for relay-related control information in frame f4, while in frame f2, all resource blocks of the PSCCH are used for relay-related control information.

[0724] Traffic is differentiated by dedicated bandwidth.

[0725] According to an embodiment of the second aspect of the invention, a further physical layer solution for the relay UE to distinguish traffic between a first transmission and a second transmission is the use of a separate bandwidth portion, called a dedicated relay bandwidth portion (R-BWP), which is dedicated to the transmission and reception of control and / or data relay-related data. In response to receiving a transmission and / or control information associated with the transmission in the R-BWP, the UE determines the transmission as the first transmission. According to an embodiment, the R-BWP can also be used to transmit feedback on the relayed transmission.

[0726] An R-BWP can contain a resource pool RP, and the RP can contain control channels and data channels. Typically, there is only one active BWP, in which all configured RPs are defined, and all Uu and direct link communication takes place. According to a second aspect of the invention, a separate BWP for relaying only is described.

[0727] Traffic is differentiated using a dedicated relay resource pool.

[0728] According to a further embodiment, a separate resource pool is employed for relay-related transmission and / or reception of control information and / or associated data. Therefore, whenever the relay UE receives a transmission, i.e., control information and / or associated data, on a resource in the dedicated resource pool, the relay UE identifies the transmission as the first transmission requiring relay to the receiving entity. According to an embodiment, the R-RP can also be used to send feedback on the relayed transmission.

[0729] According to the embodiment, the relay resource pool R-RP can be defined within the bandwidth portion BWP, for example, as a transmission pool, and other resource pools defined for version 16, such as an RX pool, a TX pool for mode 1 transmission, a TX pool for mode 2 transmission, and a TX exception pool for switching scenarios. For example, an additional relay resource pool sl-TxPoolRelays-r17 can be defined using the SL-BWP-pool config information element, such as... Figure 25 As shown in Figure 484. According to an embodiment, the R-RP includes a first R-RP configured for a UE operating in Mode 1 and a second R-RP configured for a UE operating in Mode 2. This allows a network entity, such as a gNB, to act as a transmitting entity to control the resource allocation aspects of the Mode 1 R-RP. According to other embodiments, the R-RP is configured for both UEs operating in Mode 1 and UEs operating in Mode 2, and when operating in Mode 1, the relay UE is expected to periodically provide congestion reports to a network entity, such as a gNB, so that the gNB knows the available resources within the R-RP. For example, when a generic R-RP might be used, the gNB provides the same resource allocation support to the relay UE as a normal RP, but needs to provide congestion reports to notify the UE of the resources being used by the Mode 2 UE. According to a further embodiment, the R-RP is defined within the BWP and includes one or more resource pools, such as one or more transmit or receive pools, one or more transmit relay resource pools (TXR-RP), one or more receive relay resource pools (RXR-RP), or one or more R-RPs that handle both TX and RX.

[0730] If a sending entity intends to perform a transmission or send data packets that need to be relayed to a receiving entity via a relay UE, the sending entity can use the resources of the R-RP to perform the transmission; for example, control and / or data packets can be sent in the R-RP. The relay UE receives the transmission on the R-RP and can further send it to the receiving entity using the normal resource pool. In the case of multi-hop relay, the relay UE transmits to another relay UE on the R-RP.

[0731] According to a further embodiment, the definition of R-RP may include a link quality threshold. The link quality threshold indicates the link quality between the sending entity and the receiving entity, and relaying is only used when the link quality between the sending entity and the receiving entity is below this threshold. Only in this case can the sending entity use R-RP for transmission, and when a relay UE receives these transmissions, it relays them to the receiving entity. In the case of multi-hop relaying, the link quality threshold may indicate the link quality between the relay UE and the receiving entity, and the relay UE will only transmit in R-RP when the link quality between the relay UE and the receiving entity is below the threshold. Only in this case can the relay UE use R-RP for transmission, and when another relay UE receives these transmissions, it relays them to the receiving entity. In other words, when the link quality deteriorates, direct communication switches to relay-based communication. For example, in Mode 1, when a normal sending entity has a direct Uu link with the gNB, when the link quality drops below a predefined threshold, the sending entity decides to use a relay UE, also known as a UE-to-network relay system. When the sending entity decides to do so, it uses the resources in the R-RP to transmit, and the relay UE receives and forwards the transmission to the gNB via the normal Uu. In the case of Mode 2, when the UE has a direct PC5 link with another UE, and when the link quality drops below a predefined threshold, the UE decides to use a relay UE, also known as a UE-to-UE relay system. When it decides to do so, the UE transmits on the resources of the R-RP, the relay UE receives on the R-RP, and then forwards the transmission to the other UE using the normal RP, as in normal SL communication. Apart from the additional relay resource pool defined according to the embodiment that can be used once the link quality between the sending and receiving entities falls below the threshold, the remaining characteristics of the resource pool defining the resource pool, such as the number of sub-channels, bitmap indication, and numeric numeric, remain unchanged while preserving control, data, and feedback channels.

[0732] According to embodiments, resource pool configuration can be provided using a System Information Block (SIB) or via an RRC configuration sent by a RAN entity (such as a base station), and all UEs near the base station can be aware of at least three main aspects: the base station supports relay; the transmitting entity can use the relay resource pool if the data is below a threshold, i.e., a switch to relay-based transmission is possible; and the resources constituting the R-RP. According to other embodiments, resource pool configuration can be provided using control signaling within one or more control channels, such as the PBCH, PDCCH, or PDSCH.

[0733] According to an embodiment, the sending entity may depend on one or more of the following using relay or direct communication with the receiving entity:

[0734] • Link quality between the sending and receiving entities

[0735] • The congestion status of the normal direct link resource pool; for example, when the congestion status of the normal direct link resource pool exceeds a certain threshold, the sending entity can choose to send on the R-RP, or

[0736] • The distance between the sending entity and the receiving entity, measured in actual distance or via area ID. For example, when the distance exceeds the minimum communication range, the sending entity may choose to send on the R-RP.

[0737] According to embodiments, when a sending entity transmits on the R-RP, it may or may not specifically select a destination relay UE. For example, if the data packet is to be broadcast and the intent of the transmission is coverage extension, any relay node or relay UE in the network that receives the transmission on the R-RP can relay the transmission. According to other embodiments, if the transmission is a multicast or unicast transmission, the sending entity can send the transmission on the R-RP to any relay UE that is intended to be sent to the intended receiving entity. In this case, the sending entity has no burden of selecting relay UEs, and any relay UE that receives this transmission arriving at the receiving entity can relay the transmission to the sending entity. This means that the current operation of SL remains unchanged except that the sending entity must send on the R-RP. According to other embodiments, if the transmission is a multicast or unicast transmission, the sending entity can send the transmission on the R-RP to one or more specific relay UEs intended to be sent to the intended receiving entity. The transmitting entity may select one or more specific relay UEs based on one or more of the following: the ability of one or more specific relay UEs to transmit at a power higher than a configured or pre-configured power threshold (e.g., to cover a larger area at high power), or their battery status being higher than a configured or pre-configured threshold, or whether they support a certain service, such as Public Protection and Disaster Relief (PPDR) service or vehicle safety service.

[0738] The embodiment just described is advantageous because the sending entity does not always need to select a specific relay UE. If the sending entity does need to select a specific relay UE, it may do so based on known criteria such as the relay UE's location, its speed, the services it supports, its configuration (e.g., supported bandwidth, transmit power, antenna configuration), and its security level (the sending entity only uses a relay UE if it is authenticated for a trusted service or service flow). According to the embodiment, information regarding whether a specific relay UE is selected is implicitly passed by the destination ID parameter in the SCI. For example, if the destination ID parameter in the SCI is not specified—for instance, if it is empty, set to a null value, or set to a default value—this indicates to the relay UE that the sending entity has not selected any specific relay UE. Therefore, the relay UE receiving the transmission is expected to decode the transmission and relay it to the intended receiving entity defined by the final destination ID in the SCI. On the other hand, if the destination ID is explicitly specified in the SCI, only the relay UE with the specified ID is expected to decode the data packet and forward it to the receiving entity specified by the final destination ID parameter in the SCI.

[0739] According to the embodiments described above using a relay resource pool, the relay UE knows that all transmissions it receives in the relay resource pool will be forwarded or relayed to another UE, and details of which UE the transmission will be forwarded to can be provided in the SCI, for example, using the SCI described in the above embodiments, referring to traffic differentiation based on the received SCI.

[0740] According to a further embodiment, a feedback channel can also be defined when using R-RP. For example, the R-RP configuration may further include the periodicity of feedback channel resources, such as Physical Direct Link Feedback Channel (PSFCH) resources, with respect to multiple time slots. If no feedback channel is provided, the periodicity can be set to zero. Transmitting entities intending to send unicast or multicast transmissions with feedback enabled can use an R-RP with PSFCH enabled, while transmitting entities intending to send unicast or multicast transmissions or broadcast transmissions with feedback disabled can use an R-RP with PSFCH disabled. Resources in the PSFCH can be used for a given transmission in the PSFCH, and to maintain this association, according to an embodiment, a relay UE can use the PSFCH as follows:

[0741] • If the transmission from the sending entity to the relay UE fails, the relay UE can send a NACK to the sending entity to request a retransmission.

[0742] • If the transmission from the sending entity to the relay UE is successful,

[0743] o sends an ACK only after the UE receives successful feedback from the receiving entity, so that the relay UE can provide the sending entity with overall HARQ feedback for the transmission from the sending entity to the receiving entity, for example, in the manner described above with reference to the first aspect of the invention. In other words, any of the above embodiments describing the overall feedback provided according to the first aspect of the invention can also be applied in embodiments using a dedicated relay resource pool, or

[0744] o After the UE receives the transmission from the transmitting entity, it sends a first ACK, and after the UE receives the successful feedback from the receiving entity, it sends a second ACK, so that the UE can provide the transmitting entity with overall HARQ feedback on the transmission from the transmitting entity to the receiving entity, for example, in the manner described above with reference to the first aspect of the invention.

[0745] According to a further embodiment, for example, in the case where the transmission is a transmission or data packet to be broadcast, the feedback option can be disabled. In this case, the sending entity does not select a relay UE and disables the feedback option; otherwise, the sending entity might receive multiple feedbacks from different relay UEs for the same data packet. Since multiple relay UEs may be broadcasting the transmission, the sending entity may receive multiple feedbacks for the same transmission, which is unnecessary because the goal of broadcast transmission is to reach as many UEs as possible to expand coverage. Each relay entity sending feedback may unnecessarily consume feedback resources, such as frequency resources or processing resources, at both the relay UE and the sending entity.

[0746] According to a further embodiment of the application-dedicated relay resource pool, in addition to the above, the relay UE can decode transmissions or data packets, for example, to perform higher-layer optimization. If the destination ID of the receiving entity is included in the MAC header, the relay UE can choose to decode the data packet. It can also change the propagation type of the transmission, for example, when the transmission from the sending entity to the relay UE is a broadcast transmission, and the transmission from the relay UE to the receiving entity must be a unicast or multicast transmission. The relay UE then sends the data packet to the intended receiving entity, not on the relay resource pool, but on the normal sending pool, thus enabling the receiving entity to recognize that the transmission is intended for the receiving entity, not for relaying. However, in the case of a multi-hop relay system, the first relay uses R-RP to send the transmission to other relay UEs so that they know the transmission will be further relayed.

[0747] In the embodiments described above that employ dedicated trunk direct link control channels R-BWP or R-RP, the dedicated trunk direct link control channels R-BWP and / or R-RP can be located in a spectrum or frequency range different from the spectrum or frequency range used for transmitting and / or receiving the second transmission. Defining only the trunk control channel, R-RP, or R-BWP decouples the resources used for macro cells traversed by the gNB from the resources used for trunking, thereby reducing interference between the two types of cells. This allows the trunk UE to search for and receive trunk-related transmissions only within the defined frequency range. It does not need to search the entire frequency set in the SL control, R-RP, or R-BWP to obtain a mixture of trunk and non-trunk-related control information. If the trunk UE wants to save power, it can decide not to receive on this frequency, effectively shutting down as a trunk UE. Furthermore, since trunk nodes or trunk UEs are typically closer to remote UEs, i.e., with lower path loss, higher carrier frequencies can be selected for trunk links. This may increase the possibility of frequency reuse, which may also free up resources in other cells, such as those in macro cells.

[0748] According to a further embodiment of the second aspect of the present invention, when the relay UE receives control information associated with the transmission,

[0749] If the destination ID parameter of the UE is empty, set to a null value, or set to a default value, and the destination ID parameter of the receiving entity is specified, or...

[0750] If the destination information is a combination of the UE and the receiving entity, where the destination ID parameter indicating the UE is empty, set to a null value, or set to a default value, and the destination ID parameter indicating the receiving entity is set,

[0751] The UE receives transmissions in a broadcast manner and sends the transmissions to one or more intended receiving entities in a unicast or multicast manner.

[0752] In other words, when the relay UE only receives the destination ID of the RX UE in the control information, but does not receive the specific destination ID of the relay, the UE receives it in broadcast mode but sends it in unicast or multicast mode because of the specific RX UE ID or specific group ID.

[0753] According to a further embodiment of the second aspect of the present invention, when the relay UE receives control information associated with the transmission,

[0754] If the destination ID parameter indicating the UE is specified, and the destination ID parameter indicating the receiving entity is specified, or,

[0755] If the destination information is a combination of the UE and the receiving entity, where the destination ID parameter indicating the UE is specified, and the destination ID parameter indicating the receiving entity is specified,

[0756] The UE receives transmissions in multicast or unicast mode and sends the transmissions to one or more intended receiving entities in unicast or multicast mode.

[0757] In other words, when a relay UE receives the destination ID and relay-specific destination ID of the RX UE in the control information, the UE receives it in unicast or multicast mode (depending on whether the relay destination ID is a specific relay UE ID or a specific relay group ID), but because of the specific RX UE ID or the specific group ID, the UE sends it in unicast or multicast mode.

[0758] generally

[0759] Although relevant aspects and embodiments of the method of the present invention have been described separately, it should be noted that each aspect / embodiment may be implemented independently of each other, or some or all of the aspects / embodiments may be combined. Furthermore, the embodiments described subsequently can be used in conjunction with the various aspects / embodiments described so far.

[0760] Multi-hop relay

[0761] In the above embodiments, end-to-end communication between the sending entity and the receiving entity is via a single relay that forwards feedback from the receiving entity and / or differentiates traffic as described above. However, the invention is not limited to such embodiments, but, according to further embodiments, end-to-end communication between the sending entity and the receiving entity may be via multiple relays, also referred to as a set of relay UEs or a chain of relay UEs.

[0762] Figure 26 An embodiment is shown, in which communication between sending entity 402 and receiving entity 404 uses N relays 400, where N ≥ 2. Each relay layer includes multiple relay devices 1 to m, such as relay UEs. The corresponding relay layers 4861 to 486... N It may include the same number of relay UEs, or some or all of relay layers 4861 to 486. N It may include a different number of relay UEs. The receiving entity 404 may be connected to the relay of the first relay layer 4861, and the transmitting entity 402 may be connected to the relay layer 486. N The relay. Figure 27An embodiment employing an N=2 relay layer is illustrated for end-to-end communication between a transmitting entity 402 and a receiving entity 404. A first relay layer 4861 may include n UE relays 400. The transmitting entity 402 may be connected to a second relay layer 4862, and the second relay layer 4862 may include m UE relays 400. According to an embodiment, the respective relay layers 4861 and 4862 may have the same number of relays, n=m. According to other embodiments, the number of relays in the respective relay layers 4861 and 4862 may be different, i.e., n≠m. The respective relays in different relay layers 4861 and 4862 may be interconnected, as schematically shown at 566. Some or all of the relays in the first relay layer 4861 may be connected to some or all of the relays in the second relay layer 4862. The respective relays in the layer forward feedback and / or differentiated traffic from the receiving entity 404, as described in detail above with reference to the first and second aspects of the invention.

[0763] The embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, and the corresponding embodiments and aspects can be implemented individually, or two or more embodiments or aspects can be combined. In other words, any of the above embodiments concerning the first aspect of providing overall feedback from the receiving entity to the sending entity via one or more relays can be combined with any of the above embodiments concerning the second aspect of distinguishing traffic at one or more relays.

[0764] generally

[0765] According to embodiments, a wireless communication system may include a terrestrial network, or a non-terrestrial network, or a network or network segment that uses an airborne or spaceborne aircraft as a receiver, or a combination thereof.

[0766] According to embodiments of the present invention, the user equipment includes one or more of the following: a power-limited UE; or a handheld UE, such as a UE used by pedestrians, and referred to as a vulnerable road user (VRU); or a pedestrian UE, P-UE; or a body-worn or handheld UE used by public safety personnel and first responders, and referred to as a public safety UE, PS-UE; or an IoT UE, such as a sensor, actuator, or UE provided in a campus network to perform repetitive tasks and require periodic input from a gateway node; or a mobile terminal; or a fixed terminal; or a cellular IoT-UE; or a vehicle-mounted UE; or a vehicle-mounted group leader (GL) UE; or an IoT or narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) device; or a WiFi non-access point (non-AP) station. STA), such as 802.11ax or 802.11be; or ground-based vehicles; or air vehicles; or drones; or mobile base stations; or roadside units (RSUs); or buildings; or any other item or device that provides network connectivity to enable the item / device to communicate using a wireless communication network, such as sensors or actuators; or any other item or device that provides network connectivity to enable the item / device to communicate using a direct link to a wireless communication network, such as sensors or actuators; or any network entity with direct link capability.

[0767] According to embodiments of the present invention, a network entity includes one or more of the following: a macro cell base station, or a small cell base station, or a central unit of a base station, or a distributed unit of a base station, or a roadside unit (RSU), or a relay or remote radio head, or an AMF, or an MME, or an SMF, or a core network entity, or a mobile edge computing (MEC) entity, or a network slice such as in an NR or 5G core context, or any transmit / receive point (TRP) that enables an item or device to communicate using a wireless communication network, wherein the item or device is provided with network connectivity to communicate using a wireless communication network.

[0768] While some aspects of the concepts have already been described in the context of the apparatus, it is clear that these aspects also represent a description of the corresponding method, where a block or device corresponds to a method step or feature of a method step. Similarly, aspects described in the context of method steps also represent a description of a corresponding block or item or feature of the corresponding apparatus.

[0769] Various elements and features of the present invention can be implemented in hardware using analog and / or digital circuits, in software by executing instructions through one or more general-purpose or special-purpose processors, or as a combination of hardware and software. For example, embodiments of the present invention can be implemented in a computer system or another processing system environment. Figure 28An example of a computer system 500 is shown. Units or modules, and the steps of methods performed by these units, can be executed on one or more computer systems 500. The computer system 500 includes one or more processors 502, such as dedicated or general-purpose digital signal processors. The processors 502 are connected to a communication infrastructure 504, such as a bus or network. The computer system 500 includes main memory 506, such as random access memory (RAM), and auxiliary memory 508, such as a hard disk drive and / or removable storage device. The auxiliary memory 508 may allow computer programs or other instructions to be loaded into the computer system 500. The computer system 500 may further include a communication interface 510 to allow software and data to be transferred between the computer system 500 and external devices. Communication can be in the form of electronic, electromagnetic, optical, or other signals that can be processed by the communication interface. Communication can use wires or cables, optical fibers, telephone lines, cellular telephone links, RF links, and other communication channels 512.

[0770] The terms "computer program medium" and "computer-readable medium" generally refer to tangible storage media, such as removable storage units or hard disks installed in hard disk drives. These computer program products are means of providing software to computer system 500. The computer program, also known as computer control logic, is stored in main memory 506 and / or auxiliary memory 508. The computer program may also be received via communication interface 510. When executed, the computer program causes computer system 500 to implement the invention. In particular, when executed, the computer program enables processor 502 to implement the processes of the invention, such as any of the methods described herein. Thus, such a computer program can represent the controller of computer system 500. In the case of a software implementation of the disclosure, the software may be stored in the computer program product and loaded into computer system 500 using a removable storage drive or an interface such as communication interface 510.

[0771] The implementation in hardware or software can be executed using digital storage media, such as cloud storage, floppy disks, DVDs, Blu-rays, CDs, ROMs, PROMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, or FLASH memories, which store electronically readable control signals that cooperate with or are capable of cooperating with a programmable computer system to execute corresponding methods. Therefore, digital storage media can be computer-readable.

[0772] Some embodiments of the invention include a data carrier having electronically readable control signals that are capable of cooperating with a programmable computer system to perform one of the methods described herein.

[0773] Typically, embodiments of the present invention can be implemented as a computer program product having program code that is operable as one of the execution methods when the computer program product is run on a computer. For example, the program code can be stored on a machine-readable medium.

[0774] Other embodiments include a computer program for performing one of the methods described herein, the computer program being stored on a machine-readable medium. In other words, therefore, embodiments of the methods of the present invention are computer programs having program code for performing one of the methods described herein when the computer program is run on a computer.

[0775] Therefore, a further embodiment of the method of the present invention is a data carrier or digital storage medium, or a computer-readable medium including a computer program recorded thereon for performing one of the methods described herein. Therefore, a further embodiment of the method of the present invention is a data stream or signal sequence representing a computer program for performing one of the methods described herein. For example, the data stream or signal sequence may be configured to be transmitted via a data communication connection, such as via the Internet. Further embodiments include processing means, such as a computer or programmable logic device, configured or adapted to perform one of the methods described herein. Further embodiments include a computer on which a computer program for performing one of the methods described herein is mounted.

[0776] In some embodiments, a programmable logic device, such as a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), may be used to perform some or all of the functions of the methods described herein. In some embodiments, the FPGA may cooperate with a microprocessor to perform one of the methods described herein. Generally, the methods are preferably performed by any hardware device.

[0777] The embodiments described above are merely illustrative of the principles of the invention. It will be understood that modifications and variations to the arrangements and details described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the intent is limited only by the scope of the forthcoming patent claims, and not by the specific details presented through the description and explanation of the embodiments herein.

Claims

1. A user equipment (UE) for a wireless communication network, in, The UE acts as a relay UE to provide connectivity between a transmitting entity and one or more receiving entities in a supporting wireless communication network. Specifically, the UE distinguishes between a first transmission to be relayed to a receiving entity and a second transmission intended for use by the UE, the transmission received from the sending entity. The UE uses Layer 2 (L2) control information associated with the transmission to distinguish the received transmissions. The L2 control information includes the Layer 2 L2 destination ID of the receiving entity included in the MAC header. This Layer 2 L2 destination ID informs the UE that the transmission is the first transmission and that the UE is not the intended receiver. The UE uses the Layer 2 L2 destination ID of the receiving entity to relay the transmission to the receiving entity.

2. A transmitting entity for a wireless communication network, in, The transmitting entity can be connected to a relay UE to provide functionality supporting connectivity between the transmitting entity and one or more receiving entities in the wireless communication network. The sending entity uses Layer 2 (L2) control information associated with the transmission to indicate the transmission to the relay UE as a first transmission, which will be relayed to the receiving entity. The L2 control information includes the Layer 2 L2 destination ID of the receiving entity included in the MAC header. This Layer 2 L2 destination ID informs the UE that the transmission is the first transmission and that the UE is not the intended receiver. The UE uses the Layer 2 L2 destination ID of the receiving entity to relay the transmission to the receiving entity.

3. The transmitting entity as claimed in claim 2, wherein the transmitting entity transmits the transmission to the relay UE via a direct interface or via an access network interface.

4. The sending entity as claimed in claim 3, wherein the direct interface includes a direct link.

5. The transmitting entity as described in claim 3, wherein the access network interface includes a 3GPP or non-3GPP interface.

6. The sending entity as described in claim 2, wherein The transmitting entity includes a user equipment (UE) or a relay UE, and the receiving entity includes a user equipment (UE) or a relay UE, or The sending entity includes a user equipment (UE) or a relay UE, and the receiving entity includes a network entity, or The sending entity includes a network entity, and the receiving entity includes a user equipment (UE) or a relay UE.

7. The transmitting entity as claimed in claim 6, wherein the network entity includes a radio access network (RAN) entity.

8. A method for operating a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication network, wherein the UE acts as a relay UE to provide functionality supporting connectivity between a transmitting entity and one or more receiving entities in the wireless communication network, the method comprising: The UE distinguishes between a first transmission to be relayed to a receiving entity and a second transmission intended for use by the UE, the transmission received from the sending entity. The received transmissions are distinguished using Layer 2 (L2) control information associated with the transmission. The L2 control information includes the Layer 2 L2 destination ID of the receiving entity included in the MAC header. This Layer 2 L2 destination ID informs the UE that the transmission is the first transmission and that the UE is not the intended receiver. The UE uses the Layer 2 L2 destination ID of the receiving entity to relay the transmission to the receiving entity.

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