Method and apparatus for quiescing resource allocation

Abstract

The present application relates to methods and apparatus for silencing resource allocations. In one embodiment, a method performed by a first wireless communication node includes: receiving at least one measurement resource from a second wireless communication node in a communication system; determining at least one overlapping resource between the at least one measurement resource and a first plurality of resource sets; and determining at least one silent resource set in the first plurality of resource sets, wherein the at least one silent resource set includes the at least one overlapping resource.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of the Chinese patent application with application number "201880095844.5", application date "July 24, 2018", and title "Method and device for silencing resource allocation". Technical Field

[0002] The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly, to methods and apparatus for enabling silent resource configuration in a wireless communication system. Background Art

[0003] Over the past few decades, mobile communications have evolved from voice services to high-speed broadband data services. With the further development of new services and applications, such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), massive machine-type communications (mMTC), and ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC), the demand for high-performance data transmission on mobile networks will continue to grow exponentially. Based on the specific requirements of these emerging services, wireless communication systems must meet various requirements, such as throughput, latency, data rate, capacity, reliability, link density, cost, energy consumption, complexity, and coverage. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The exemplary embodiments disclosed herein are intended to solve problems related to one or more problems presented in the prior art, as well as to provide additional features that will become apparent by reference to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. According to some embodiments, exemplary systems, methods, and computer program products are disclosed herein. However, it should be understood that these embodiments are presented by way of example and not limitation, and it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art who have read this disclosure that various modifications may be made to the disclosed embodiments while remaining within the scope of the present invention.

[0005] In the heterogeneous network of the 4G communication system, the macro cell is divided into multiple small cells, and the relay node (RN) in each of the small cells acts as the BS of the corresponding small cell to communicate with the BS of the macro cell and its UE terminal. The RN can also communicate with its upper RN and lower RN to form a multi-hop network. Compared with the traditional network structure, this multi-hop heterogeneous network can provide advantages such as improved gain and system capacity. In the 5G communication system, the integrated access and backhaul (IAB) technology can be used to support a multi-hop heterogeneous network, in which the network side communication node (BS) is an IAB donor, which can communicate directly with the RN in the small cell, which is represented as an "IAB node" in the following of this disclosure. Each IAB node can communicate directly with its UE terminal and / or its directly subordinate and advanced IAB nodes. Specifically, the IAB node can receive uplink data from the subordinate IAB node or UE terminal and send it to its superior IAB node or IAB donor. Similarly, the IAB node can also receive downlink data from its upper-level IAB node or IAB donor and send it to its lower-level IAB node or UE terminal. Therefore, the IAB node cannot directly access the core network, but must go through the IAB donor. The communication channel between the IAB node and its upper-level IAB node can be disconnected at any time. At this time, the data transmission from the UE of the IAB node to the IAB donor may be greatly affected. To solve this problem, the IAB node can communicate with the adjacent IAB node to identify a backup upper-level IAB node, which can be used to establish a new communication channel when the original link is disconnected. This method can greatly reduce the interruption time during data transmission. Therefore, if the IAB node is unaware that the adjacent IAB node is using the IAB node as a backup upper-level IAB node, data transmission interruption may potentially occur. The present disclosure proposes a method and apparatus for allocating silent resources to detect SSBs sent from adjacent IAB nodes. As used herein, "silent resources" refer to resources in the time and frequency domains on which an IAB node terminates its originally scheduled reference signal (e.g., synchronization signal (SS) and physical broadcast channel (PBCH) blocks, channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS)) transmission and receives reference signals (e.g., SS and PBCH blocks, CSI-RS) transmitted from neighboring IAB nodes. In the following description, we use SSB as an example of a reference signal.

[0006] In one embodiment, a method performed by a first wireless communication node includes: receiving at least one measurement resource from a second wireless communication node in a communication system; determining at least one overlapping resource between the at least one measurement resource and a first plurality of resource sets; and determining at least one silent resource set in the first plurality of resource sets, wherein the at least one silent resource set includes at least one overlapping resource.

[0007] However, in another embodiment, the method performed by the first wireless communication node includes: sending at least one measurement resource to the second wireless communication node in a communication system for the second wireless communication node to determine at least one overlapping resource between the at least one measurement resource and the first plurality of resource sets, and determining at least one silent resource set based on the at least one overlapping resource, wherein the at least one silent resource set includes the at least one overlapping resource. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] When read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, various aspects of the present disclosure can be best understood from the following detailed description. Note that the various features are not necessarily drawn to scale. In fact, the size and geometry of the various features may be arbitrarily increased or decreased for clarity of discussion.

[0009] Figure 1A An exemplary wireless communication network is shown illustrating achievable modulation depending on the distance from the BS in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0010] Figure 1B A block diagram of an exemplary wireless communication system for slot structure information indication according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0011] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a radio frame structure with multiple synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0012] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of an SSB structure according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0013] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of an SSB structure according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0014] Figure 5 A schematic diagram illustrating an SSB mapping pattern in a resource block according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0015] Figure 6 A schematic diagram illustrating an SSB mapping pattern in a resource block according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0016] Figure 7 A schematic diagram illustrating an SSB mapping pattern in a resource block according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0017] Figure 8 A schematic diagram illustrating an SSB mapping pattern in a resource block according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0018] Figure 9A schematic diagram illustrating an SSB mapping pattern in a resource block according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0019] Figure 10A A schematic diagram illustrating a half-frame structure with 2 time slots in a 15 kHz subcarrier spacing for SSB transmission in a 5 ms half-frame according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0020] Figure 10B A schematic diagram illustrating a half-frame structure with 4 time slots in a 15 kHz subcarrier spacing for SSB transmission in a 5 ms half-frame according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0021] Figure 10C A schematic diagram illustrating a half-frame structure with 2 time slots in a 30 kHz subcarrier spacing for SSB transmission in a 5 ms half-frame according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0022] Figure 10D A schematic diagram illustrating a half-frame structure with 4 time slots in a 30 kHz subcarrier spacing for SSB transmission in a 5 ms half-frame according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0023] Figure 10E A schematic diagram illustrating a half-frame structure with 32 time slots in a 120 kHz subcarrier spacing for SSB transmission in a 5 ms half-frame according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0024] Figure 10F A schematic diagram illustrating a half-frame structure with 16 time slots in a 120 kHz subcarrier spacing for SSB transmission in a 5 ms half-frame according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0025] Figure 11 A schematic diagram of a half-frame structure according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0026] Figure 12 A schematic diagram of a half-frame structure according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0027] Figure 13 A schematic diagram of a half-frame structure according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0028] Figure 14 A method for performing silent period configuration for an IAB node in a communication system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0029] Figure 15 A radio frame structure of three IAB nodes with a silent period of 160 ms according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0030] Figures 16A-16D An exemplary silence pattern table with exemplary silence patterns is shown according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] Various exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the present invention. It will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that, after reading this disclosure, various changes or modifications may be made to the examples described herein without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments and applications described or illustrated herein. In addition, the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods disclosed herein are merely exemplary methods. Based on design preferences, the specific order or hierarchy of steps of the disclosed methods or processes may be rearranged while remaining within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the methods and techniques disclosed herein present various steps or actions in a sample order, and unless expressly stated otherwise, the present invention is not limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented.

[0032] Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Although the same or similar components are shown in different drawings, they may be designated by the same or similar reference numerals. Detailed descriptions of structures or processes well known in the art may be omitted to avoid obscuring the subject matter of the present invention. In addition, in the embodiments of the present invention, terms are defined taking into account their functions and may be changed according to the intention, usage, etc. of the user or operator. Therefore, definitions should be made based on the overall content of this specification.

[0033] Figure 1AAn exemplary wireless communication heterogeneous network 100 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. In a wireless communication system, a network-side communication node may be a Node B, an E-UTRAN Node B (also known as an evolved Node B, eNodeB, or eNB), a gNodeB in a new radio (NR) technology, a pico station, a femto station, or the like, and is hereinafter referred to as "IAB donor 102-0" in all embodiments of the present disclosure. A sub-cell-side communication node may be a Node B, an E-UTRAN Node B (also known as an evolved Node B, eNodeB, or eNB), a gNodeB in a new radio (NR) technology, a pico station, a femto station, or the like, and is hereinafter referred to as "IAB nodes 102-1, 102-2, . . . " A terminal-side communication node may be a long-range communication system such as a mobile phone, a smartphone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet, a laptop, or a short-range communication system such as a wearable device, a vehicle with a vehicle communication system, and the like, and is hereinafter referred to as "UE 104" in all embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0034] According to some embodiments of the present invention, such communication nodes may be capable of wireless and / or wired communication. Note that all embodiments are merely preferred examples and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. Therefore, it should be understood that the system may include any desired combination of UE 104, IAB nodes 102-1 / 102-2, and IAB donor 102-0 while remaining within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0035] Reference Figure 1A , the wireless communication heterogeneous network 100 includes an IAB donor 102-0A, two first-level IAB nodes 102-1A / 102-1B, a second-level IAB node 102-2A, and two UEs 104a / 104b (collectively referred to herein as UE 104). BS 102 and UE 104 are contained within the geographical boundaries of cell 101. Although Figure 1A 1A, but first-level IAB node 102-1A communicates directly with second-level IAB node 102-2A, and second-level IAB node 102-1B communicates directly with UE 104b. Both first-level IAB nodes 102-1A and 102-1B communicate directly with IAB donor 102-0A. It should be noted that any other network configurations are within the scope of the present invention. For example, IAB donor 102-0A, first-level IAB node 102-1A, second-level IAB node 102-1B, and second-level IAB node 102-2A may support direct communication with UEs in corresponding small cells.

[0036] Wireless transmissions from the transmit antenna of IAB node 102-1A to the receive antenna of IAB node 102-0A are referred to as backhaul link transmissions 105a, and wireless transmissions from the transmit antenna of IAB node 102-0A to the receive antenna of IAB node 102-1A are referred to as access link transmissions 103A. Similarly, wireless transmissions from the transmit antenna of IAB node 102-1B to the receive antenna of IAB node 102-0A are referred to as backhaul link transmissions 105b, and wireless transmissions from the transmit antenna of IAB node 102-0A to the receive antenna of IAB node 102-1B are referred to as access link transmissions 103b. Wireless transmissions from the transmit antenna of IAB node 102-2A to the receive antenna of IAB node 102-1A are referred to as backhaul link transmissions 105c, and wireless transmissions from the transmit antenna of IAB node 102-1A to the receive antenna of IAB node 102-1B are referred to as access link transmissions 103A. Wireless transmissions from the transmit antennas of UE 104A to the receive antennas of IAB node 102-2A are referred to as uplink transmissions 105D, and wireless transmissions from the transmit antennas of IAB node 102-2A to the receive antennas of UE 104A are referred to as downlink transmissions 103D. Wireless transmissions from the transmit antennas of UE 104B to the receive antennas of IAB node 102-1B are referred to as uplink transmissions 105E, and wireless transmissions from the transmit antennas of IAB node 102-1B to the receive antennas of UE 104B are referred to as downlink transmissions 103E. In the illustrated embodiment, wireless transmissions between the antennas of UE 104A and UE 104B are referred to as sidelink transmissions 106.

[0037] UE 104B has a direct communication channel with the first-level IAB node 102-1B to operate at a first frequency resource f1 (e.g., a carrier or bandwidth portion) for downlink communication 103E and a second frequency resource f2 for uplink communication 105E. Similarly, UE 104A also has a direct communication channel with the second-level IAB node 102-2A to operate at a third frequency resource f3 for downlink communication 103D and a fourth frequency resource f4 for uplink communication 105D. In some embodiments, the second frequency resource f2 and the fourth frequency resource f4 are different from the first frequency resource f1 and the third frequency resource f3. In some embodiments, the second frequency resource f2 and the fourth frequency resource f4 are different from each other. Therefore, the second frequency resource f2 and the fourth frequency resource f4 have different transmission characteristics, such as, for example, path loss, coverage, maximum transmission power, etc. In some embodiments, the bandwidth of the first frequency resource f1, the second frequency resource f2, the third frequency resource f3, and the fourth frequency resource f4 may also be different. Although in Figure 1AOnly two UEs 104A / 104B are shown in FIG, but it should be noted that any number of UEs 104 may be included in the cell 101 and be within the scope of the present invention.

[0038] In some embodiments, the coverage area of ​​uplink communication 105E is greater than the coverage area of ​​uplink communication 105D, as indicated by dotted circles 112 and 110, respectively. IAB nodes 102-1B and 102-2A are located within coverage areas 110 and 112, such that the IAB nodes perform uplink communications with UE 104a and UE 104b in cell 101.

[0039] Direct communication channels 105D / 105E (uplink transmission) and 103D / 103E (downlink transmission) between UE 104B / 104A and corresponding IAB nodes 102-1B / 102-2A can be implemented over an interface such as the Uu interface, also known as the UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS)) air interface. Direct communication channels 105A / 105B / 105C (backhaul transmission) and 103A / 103B / 103C (access link transmission) between IAB nodes (i.e., 102-2A and 102-1A) and between IAB nodes 102-1A / 102-1B and IAB donor 102-0A can be implemented over an interface such as the Un interface. Direct communication channels (i.e., sidelink transmission) 106 between UEs can be implemented over the PC5 interface, which was introduced to address high-mobility and high-density applications such as vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication. The BS 102 is connected to a core network (CN) 108 through an external interface 107 (eg, an Iu interface).

[0040] UEs 104a and 104b obtain their synchronization timing from corresponding IAB nodes 102-2A and 102-1B, which obtain their own synchronization timing from the core network 108 via an Internet time service such as a public time NTP (Network Time Protocol) server or an RNC (Radio Frequency Network Controller) server. This is called network-based synchronization. Alternatively, the IAB donor 102-0A can also obtain synchronization timing from a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) (not shown) via satellite signals 106, especially for large IAB donors in large cells with direct line of sight to the sky, which is called satellite-based synchronization.

[0041] Figure 1BA block diagram of an exemplary wireless communication system 150 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. The system 150 may include components and elements configured to support known or conventional operating features that do not need to be described in detail herein. In an exemplary embodiment, as described above, the system 150 may be used in applications such as Figure 1A The wireless communication network 100 may be used to send and receive data symbols.

[0042] The system 150 generally includes an IAB donor 102-0A, a first-level IAB node 102-1A, and a second-level IAB node 102-2A. The IAB donor 102-0A includes an IAB donor transceiver module 152, an IAB donor antenna array 154, an IAB donor memory module 156, an IAB donor processor module 158, and a network interface 160, each of which is coupled to and interconnected with each other via a data communication bus 157 as needed. The first-level IAB node 102-1A includes an IAB node 1 transceiver module 162, an IAB node 1 antenna 164, an IAB node 1 memory module 166, an IAB node 1 processor module 168, and an input / output (I / O) interface 169, each of which is coupled to and interconnected with each other via a data communication bus 167 as needed. The second-level IAB node 102-2A includes an IAB node 2 transceiver module 172, an IAB node 2 antenna 174, an IAB node 2 memory module 176, an IAB node 2 processor module 178, and an input / output (I / O) interface 179, each of which is coupled to and interconnected with each other via a data communication bus 177 as needed. The IAB donor 102-0A communicates with the IAB node 102-1A via a communication channel 192, which can be any wireless channel or other medium known in the art suitable for data transmission as described herein. The first-level IAB node 102-1A communicates with the second-level IAB node 102-2A via a communication channel 194, which can be any wireless channel or other medium known in the art suitable for data transmission as described herein.

[0043] As will be understood by those skilled in the art, in addition to Figure 1BIn addition to those shown in , system 150 can also include any number of blocks, modules, circuits, etc. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the various illustrative blocks, modules, circuits, and processing logic described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in hardware, computer-readable software, firmware, or any actual combination thereof. In order to clearly illustrate this interchangeability and compatibility of hardware, firmware, and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps are generally described in terms of their functions. Whether such functions are implemented as hardware, firmware, or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the entire system. Personnel familiar with the concepts described herein can implement such functions in an appropriate manner for each specific application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the present invention.

[0044] Wireless transmission from the transmit antenna of IAB donor 102-0A to the receive antenna of first-level IAB 102-1A is referred to as an access link transmission, and wireless transmission from the transmit antenna of first-level IAB node 102-1A to the receive antenna of IAB donor 102-0A is referred to as a backhaul link transmission. According to some embodiments, IAB donor transceiver 162 may be referred to herein as a "backhaul link" transceiver 162, which includes an RF transmitter and receiver circuitry each coupled to IAB node 1 antenna 164. A duplex switch (not shown) may alternatively couple an uplink transmitter or receiver to the uplink antenna in a time-division duplex manner. Similarly, according to some embodiments, IAB donor transceiver 152 may be referred to herein as a "downlink" transceiver 152, which includes an RF transmitter and receiver circuitry each coupled to an IAB donor antenna array 154. A downlink duplex switch may alternatively couple a downlink transmitter or receiver to the downlink antenna array 154 in a time-division duplex manner. The operation of the two transceivers 152 and 162 is coordinated in time so that the uplink receiver coupled to the uplink IAB Node 1 antenna 164 receives transmissions over the wireless communication channel 192 at the same time as the downlink transmitter coupled to the downlink antenna array 154. Preferably, there is tightly synchronized timing with only a minimum guard time between changes in duplex direction. The IAB Node 1 transceiver 162 communicates with the IAB donor 102-0A via the IAB Node 1 antenna 164 via the wireless communication channel 192, or communicates with the second-level IAB node 102-2A via the wireless communication channel 194. The wireless communication channel 194 can be any wireless channel or other medium known in the art suitable for wireless transmission of data as described herein.

[0045] The IAB Node 1 transceiver 162 and the IAB donor transceiver 152 are configured to communicate via a wireless data communication channel 192 and to cooperate with appropriately configured RF antenna arrangements 154 / 164 that can support a specific wireless communication protocol and modulation scheme. In some embodiments, the IAB donor transceiver 152 is configured to transmit silent resource configuration parameters to the IAB Node 1 transceiver 162. In some embodiments, the IAB Node 1 transceiver 162 is configured to receive silent resource configuration parameters from the IAB donor transceiver 152 and / or receive SSBs from neighboring IAB nodes to detect neighboring IAB nodes. In some exemplary embodiments, the IAB Node 1 transceiver 162 and the IAB donor transceiver 152 are configured to support industry standards such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) and emerging 5G standards, and the like. However, it should be understood that the present invention is not necessarily limited in application to specific standards and associated protocols. Rather, the IAB Node 1 transceiver 162 and the IAB donor transceiver 152 may be configured to support alternative or additional wireless data communication protocols, including future standards or variations thereof.

[0046] The IAB donor processor module 158 and the IAB node processor modules 168 / 178 may be implemented or realized using a general purpose processor, a content addressable memory, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, any suitable programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. In this manner, the processor may be implemented as a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a state machine, or the like. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors combined with a digital signal processor core, or any other such configuration.

[0047] IAB node 1 processor module 168 then detects the PHR trigger message on IAB node 1 transceiver module 162. IAB node processor module 168 is further configured to determine at least one quiet resource and at least one quiet resource configuration received from IAB donor 102-0A based on at least one predefined criterion, wherein at least one predefined algorithm is selected based on other calculated parameters or received messages, as will be discussed in further detail below. IAB node 1 processor module 168 is further configured to instruct IAB node 1 transceiver module 162 to receive SSBs from neighboring IAB nodes and transmit its scheduled SSBs to the neighboring IAB nodes based on the determined quiet configuration.

[0048] In addition, the steps of the methods or algorithms described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein may be directly embodied in hardware, firmware, or software modules executed by the corresponding processor modules 158 / 168 / 178, respectively, or any practical combination thereof. The memory modules 156 / 166 / 176 may be implemented as RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. In this regard, the memory modules 156 and 166 may be coupled to the processor modules 158 and 168, respectively, such that the processor modules 158 and 168 can read information from the memory modules 156 / 166 / 176 and write information to the memory modules 156 / 166 / 176, respectively. The memory modules 156 / 166 / 176 may also be integrated into their respective processor modules 158 / 168 / 178. In some embodiments, the memory modules 156 / 166 / 176 may each include a cache memory for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions executed by the processor modules 158 / 168 / 178, respectively. The memory modules 156 / 166 / 176 may also each include non-volatile memory for storing instructions executed by the processor modules 158 / 168 / 178, respectively.

[0049] Network interface 160 generally represents the hardware, software, firmware, processing logic, and / or other components of IAB donor 102-0A that enable bidirectional communication between IAB donor transceiver 152 and communication nodes and other network components configured to communicate with IAB donor 102-0A. For example, network interface 160 may be configured to support Internet or WiMAX traffic. In a typical deployment, without limitation, network interface 160 provides an 802.3 Ethernet interface, enabling IAB donor transceiver 152 to communicate with a conventional Ethernet-based computer network. In this manner, network interface 160 may comprise a physical interface for connecting to a computer network (e.g., a mobile switching center (MSC)). As used herein with respect to a particular operation or function, the term "configured for" or "configured to" refers to a device, component, circuit, structure, machine, signal, etc. that is physically constructed, programmed, formatted, and / or arranged to perform the specified operation or function. The network interface 160 may allow the IAB donor 102-0A to communicate with other IAB donors, IAB nodes, or a core network through a wired or wireless connection.

[0050] Reference again Figure 1AAs mentioned above, IAB donor 102-0A repeatedly broadcasts system information associated with IAB donor 102-0A directly to one or more UEs 104 and / or one or more first-level IAB nodes, allowing UEs 104 to access the network through the IAB node / donor within cell 101 where IAB donor 102-0A is located and generally operate normally within cell 101. Various information, such as downlink and uplink cell bandwidths, downlink and uplink configurations, and configurations for random access, can be included in the system information, which will be discussed in further detail below. Typically, IAB donor 102-0A broadcasts a first signal carrying some primary system information (e.g., the configuration of cell 101) via the PBCH (Physical Broadcast Channel). For clarity of explanation, this broadcasted first signal is referred to herein as the "first broadcast signal." Note that BS 102 may subsequently broadcast one or more signals carrying some other system information via corresponding channels (e.g., the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH)), which are referred to herein as the "second broadcast signal," the "third broadcast signal," and so on.

[0051] Reference again Figure 1B In some embodiments, the primary system information carried by the first broadcast signal may be sent by the IAB donor 102-0A to the first-level IAB node 102-1A via the communication channel 192 in a symbolic format. In some embodiments, the primary system information may include a silent resource configuration parameter. In some embodiments, the silent resource configuration parameter may also be sent by the first-level IAB node (102-1A) to the second-level IAB node (102-2A) via the first broadcast signal. According to some embodiments, the primary system information may be presented in its original form as one or more sequences of digital bits, and the one or more sequences of digital bits may be processed through multiple steps (e.g., encoding, scrambling, modulation, mapping steps, etc.), all of which may be processed by the IAB donor processor module 158 to become the first broadcast signal. Similarly, according to some embodiments, when IAB node 102-1A receives the first broadcast signal (in symbol format) using IAB node 1 transceiver 162, IAB node 1 processor module 168 may perform a number of steps (demapping, demodulating, decoding, etc.) to estimate primary system information, such as, for example, the bit position of the bits of the primary system information, the number of bits, etc. IAB node 1 processor module 168 is also coupled to I / O interface 169, which provides IAB node 102-1A with the ability to connect to other devices, such as computers. I / O interface 169 is the communication path between these accessories and IAB node 1 processor module 168.

[0052] Figure 2A schematic diagram of a radio frame structure 200 with multiple synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) 202, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, is shown. SSBs are used to carry resource information for access-related signals in the time-frequency domain, including synchronization signals, the physical broadcast channel (PBCH), corresponding demodulation reference signals (DMRS), and the like. In the illustrated embodiment, multiple SSBs can be grouped together to form an SSB burst set 204. Each of the multiple SSBs 202 in an SSB burst set 204 carries synchronization signals for a specific beam / port or a specific set 206 of beams / ports. A full beam scan can be performed within an SSB burst set 204, i.e., all beams / ports are transmitted within the SSB burst set. An SSB may also include the PBCH and corresponding DMRS, other control channels, data channels, and the like. In some embodiments, multiple SSBs can be grouped together into an SS burst set. This structure is used to transmit synchronization signals and scan resources on the physical broadcast channel (PBCH). Each of the multiple SSBs in an SS burst set carries synchronization signals for a specific beam and / or port. After beam scanning is performed on the SS burst set, the beam / port is transmitted. In some embodiments, the SSB also includes the PBCH, the corresponding DMRS, and other control channels, data channels, etc. In some embodiments, when multiple SSBs are mapped to the same subframe or time slot, the offsets of different SSBs relative to the edge of the time slot or subframe are different. UEs located at different locations in the cell can detect the synchronization signal in the SSB. The time index of the SSB to which the UE 104 synchronizes is required to achieve subframe timing and time slot timing.

[0053] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of an SSB structure 300 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. In some embodiments, the SSB is used to carry signals and channels used for initial access, such as synchronization signals, physical broadcast channels, and corresponding demodulation reference signals (DMRS). In some embodiments, the SSB includes four OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) symbols, namely, a first OFDM symbol 302a, a second OFDM symbol 302b, a third OFDM symbol 302c, and a fourth OFDM symbol 302d. In some embodiments, a primary synchronization signal (PSS) 304 and a secondary synchronization signal (SSS) 306 are carried on the first OFDM symbol 302a and the third OFDM symbol 302c, respectively. In the illustrated embodiment, PBCH 308a / 308b may be transmitted on the second OFDM symbol 302b and the fourth OFDM symbol 302d, respectively. In some embodiments, in the frequency domain, the PSS / SSS 304 / 306 occupies 12 physical resource blocks (PRBs) 310 and the PBCH occupies 24 PRBs 312 .

[0054] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of an SSB structure 410 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. In some embodiments, the SS / PBCH block is used to carry signals and channels used for initial access, such as synchronization signals, physical broadcast channels, and corresponding demodulation reference signals (DMRS). In some embodiments, the SS / PBCH block includes four OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) symbols, namely a first OFDM symbol 402a, a second OFDM symbol 402b, a third OFDM symbol 402c, and a fourth OFDM symbol 402d. In some embodiments, a primary synchronization signal (PSS) 404 and a secondary synchronization signal (SSS) 406 are carried on the first OFDM symbol 402a and the third OFDM symbol 402c, respectively. In the illustrated embodiment, PBCH 408a / 408b may be transmitted on the second OFDM symbol 402b and the fourth OFDM symbol 402d, respectively, and PBCH 408c is transmitted on the third OFDM symbol. In some embodiments, in the frequency domain, the PSS / SSS 404 / 406 occupy 12 physical resource blocks (PRBs) 410, and the PBCH 408a / 408b on the second OFDM symbol 402b and the fourth OFDM symbol 402d occupy 20 PRBs 412. The PBCH 408c on the third OFDM symbol 402c occupies 8 PRBs. Specifically, the PBCH 408c occupies 4 PRBs on each side of the SSS 406 on the third OFDM symbol 402c.

[0055] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of an SSB mapping pattern 500 in a resource block according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. In the illustrated embodiment, a resource block (RB) 504 occupies a time slot 502, which forms one resource block 504 having 12 subcarriers 512 in the frequency domain. The time slot 502 includes 14 OFDM symbols 510 in the subcarriers 512. In the illustrated embodiment, the subcarriers 512 have a frequency of 15 kHz. There are two SSBs 514 / 515 in the time slot 502, and each of these two SSBs 514 / 515 occupies four OFDM symbols. Specifically, the first SSB 514 occupies symbols 2, 3, 4, and 5; and the second SSB 515 occupies symbols 8, 9, 10, and 11. The first SSB 514 and the second SSB 515 may occupy all 12 subcarriers 512 in the PRB 504. It should be noted that although the SSB is shown occupying 1 PRB 504, this is not intended to be limiting. Any number of PRBs in the frequency domain occupied by an SSB is within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0056] Figure 6A schematic diagram of an SSB mapping pattern 600 in a resource block according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. In the illustrated embodiment, a resource block (RB) 504 occupies two time slots, a first time slot 502a and a second time slot 502b. RB 504 includes 12 subcarriers 512 in the frequency domain. Each of the two time slots 502a and 502b in the subcarriers 512 includes 14 OFDM symbols 510. In the illustrated embodiment, the subcarriers 512 have a frequency of 30 kHz. There are two SSBs 514 / 515 in time slot 502, and each of the two SSBs 514 / 515 occupies four SC-OFDM symbols. Specifically, the first SSB 514a of the first time slot 502a occupies symbols 4, 5, 6, and 7; and the second SSB 515a of the first time slot 502a occupies symbols 8, 9, 10, and 11. The first SSB 514b of the second time slot 502b occupies symbols 2, 3, 4, and 5; and the second SSB 515b of the second time slot 502b occupies symbols 6, 7, 8, and 9. The first SSB 514a / 514b and the second SSB 515a / 515b of the first time slot 502a and the second time slot 502b further occupy 12 subcarriers 512 in the PRB 504. It should be noted that although the SSBs are shown occupying one PRB 504, this is not intended to be limiting. Any number of PRBs in the frequency domain occupied by the SSBs is within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0057] Figure 7A schematic diagram of an SSB mapping pattern 700 in a resource block according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. In the illustrated embodiment, a resource block (RB) 504 occupies two time slots, a first time slot 502a and a second time slot 502b. RB 504 includes 12 subcarriers 512 in the frequency domain. Each of the two time slots 502a and 502b in the subcarriers 512 includes 14 OFDM symbols 510. In the illustrated embodiment, the subcarriers 512 have a frequency of 30 kHz. There are two SSBs 514 / 515 in time slot 502, and each of the two SSBs 514 / 515 occupies four SC-OFDM symbols. Specifically, the first SSB 514a of the first time slot 502a occupies symbols 2, 3, 4, and 5; and the second SSB 515a of the first time slot 502a occupies symbols 8, 9, 10, and 11. The first SSB 514b of the second time slot 502b occupies symbols 2, 3, 4, and 5; and the second SSB 515b of the second time slot 502b occupies symbols 8, 9, 10, and 11. The first SSB 514a / 514b and the second SSB 515a / 515b of the first time slot 502a and the second time slot 502b further occupy 12 subcarriers 512 in the PRB 504. It should be noted that although the SSBs are shown as occupying one PRB 504, this is not intended to be limiting. In some other embodiments, the SSBs 514a, 514b, 514c, and 514d occupy multiple PRBs 504. In some embodiments, the SSBs occupy 20 PRBs 504. Any number of PRBs in the frequency domain occupied by the SSB system is within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0058] Figure 8A schematic diagram of an SSB mapping pattern 800 in a resource block according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. In the illustrated embodiment, a resource block (RB) 504 occupies two time slots, a first time slot 502a and a second time slot 502b. RB 504 includes 12 subcarriers 512 in the frequency domain. Each of the two time slots 502a and 502b in the subcarriers 512 includes 14 OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) symbols 510. In the illustrated embodiment, the subcarriers 512 have a frequency of 120 kHz. There are two SSBs 514 / 515 in time slot 502, and each of the two SSBs 514 / 515 occupies four SC-OFDM symbols. Specifically, the first SSB 514a of the first time slot 502a occupies symbols 4, 5, 6, and 7; and the second SSB 515a of the first time slot 502a occupies symbols 8, 9, 10, and 11. 5. The first SSB 514b of the second time slot 502b occupies symbols 2, 3, 4, and 5; and the second SSB 515b of the second time slot 502b occupies symbols 6, 7, 8, and 9. The first SSB 514a / 514b and the second SSB 515a / 515b of the first time slot 502a and the second time slot 502b further occupy 12 subcarriers 512 in the PRB 504. It should be noted that although the SSBs are shown as occupying one PRB 504, this is not intended to be limiting. In some other embodiments, the SSBs 514a, 514b, 514c, and 514d occupy multiple PRBs 504. In some embodiments, the SSBs occupy 20 PRBs 504. Any number of PRBs in the frequency domain occupied by the SSBs is within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0059] Figure 9A schematic diagram illustrating an SSB mapping pattern 900 in a resource block according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. In the illustrated embodiment, a resource block (RB) 504 occupies two time slots, a first time slot 502a and a second time slot 502b. RB 504 includes 12 subcarriers 512 in the frequency domain. Each of the two time slots 502a and 502b in the subcarriers 512 includes 28 OFDM symbols 510. In the illustrated embodiment, the subcarriers 512 have a frequency of 240 kHz. There are four SSBs 514 / 515 in time slot 502, and each of the four SSBs 514 / 515 occupies four SC-OFDM symbols. Specifically, the first SSB 514a of the first time slot 502a occupies symbols 8, 9, 10, and 11; the second SSB 515a of the first time slot 502a occupies symbols 12, 13, 14, and 15; the third SSB 514b of the first time slot 502a occupies symbols 16, 17, 18, and 19; and the fourth SSB 515b of the first time slot 502a occupies symbols 20, 21, 22, and 23. The first SSB 514c of the second time slot 502b occupies symbols 4, 5, 6, and 7; the second SSB 515c of the second time slot 502b occupies symbols 8, 9, 10, and 11; the third SSB 514d of the second time slot 502b occupies symbols 12, 13, 14, and 15; and the fourth SSB 515d of the second time slot 502b occupies symbols 16, 17, 18, and 19. The four SSBs 514a / 515a / 514b / 515b of the first time slot 502a and the four SSBs 514c / 515c / 514d / 515d of the first time slot 502b also occupy 12 subcarriers 512 in the PRB 504. It should be noted that although the eight SSBs are shown occupying one PRB 504, this is not intended to be limiting. In some other embodiments, the SSBs 514a / 515a, 514b / 515b, 514c / 515c, and 514d / 515d occupy multiple PRBs 504. In some embodiments, the SSBs occupy 20 PRBs 504. Any number of PRBs in the frequency domain occupied by the SSBs is within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0060] Figures 10A-10F A diagram illustrating a radio frame structure 1000 having multiple synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) 202 in a 5 millisecond (ms) half-frame according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. When the frequency is less than or equal to 3 gigahertz (GHz), the maximum number of SSBs is 4; when the frequency is in the range of 3 to 6 GHz, the maximum number of SSBs is 8; and when the frequency is greater than or equal to 6 GHz, the maximum number of SSBs is 64.

[0061] Figure 10AA schematic diagram of a half-frame structure 1000 with 2 time slots 502 for SSB transmission at a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz in a 5 ms half-frame 504 is shown in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the subcarrier spacing (SCS) is 15 kHz and the maximum number of SSBs is 4. One time slot in a 5 ms half-frame can carry 2 SSBs and include 14 symbols. Since there are two SSBs in the time slot 502 and each of the two time slots occupies 1 ms, a maximum number of 2 time slots and 4 SSBs are required in the 5 ms half-frame. In the embodiment shown, the first two time slots 502-1 / 502-2 each include 2 SSBs. It should be noted that the time slots with SSBs can occupy any 2 time slots in the 5 ms half-frame and each SSB can occupy any 4 consecutive symbols in the time slot, as shown above in Figure 3-Figure 7 As discussed in .

[0062] Figure 10B A schematic diagram of a half-frame structure 1000 with 4 time slots 502 for SSB transmission at a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz in a 5 ms half-frame 504 is shown in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the subcarrier spacing (SCS) is 15 kHz and the maximum number of SSBs is 8. One time slot in a 5 ms half-frame can carry 2 SSBs and include 14 symbols. Since there are two SSBs in the time slot 502 and each of the two time slots occupies 1 ms, a maximum number of 4 time slots and 8 SSBs are required in the 5 ms half-frame 504. In the embodiment shown, the first four time slots 502-1 / 502-2 / 502-3 / 502-4 each include 2 SSBs. It should be noted that the time slots with SSBs can occupy any 4 time slots in the 5 ms half-frame 504 and each SSB can occupy any 4 consecutive symbols in the time slot, as described above in Figure 3-Figure 7 As discussed in .

[0063] Figure 10CA schematic diagram of a half-frame structure 1000 with 2 time slots 502 for SSB transmission at a subcarrier spacing of 30 kHz in a 5 ms half-frame 504 is shown in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the subcarrier spacing (SCS) is 30 kHz and the maximum number of SSBs is 4. One time slot in a 5 ms half-frame can carry 2 SSBs and include 14 symbols. Since there are two SSBs in the time slot 502 and each of the two time slots occupies 0.5 ms, a maximum number of 2 time slots and 4 SSBs are required in the 5 ms half-frame 504. In the embodiment shown, the first two time slots 502-1 / 502-2 each include 2 SSBs. It should be noted that the time slots with SSBs can occupy any 2 time slots in the 5 ms half-frame 504 and each SSB can occupy any 4 consecutive symbols in the time slot, as described above in Figure 3-Figure 7 As discussed in .

[0064] Figure 10D A schematic diagram of a half-frame structure 1000 with 4 time slots 502 for SSB transmission at a subcarrier spacing of 30 kHz in a 5 ms half-frame 504 is shown in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the subcarrier spacing (SCS) is 30 kHz and the maximum number of SSBs is 8. One time slot in a 5 ms half-frame can carry 2 SSBs and include 14 symbols. Since there are 2 SSBs in a time slot 502 and each of the 4 time slots occupies 0.5 ms, a maximum number of 4 time slots and 8 SSBs are required in the 5 ms half-frame 504. In the embodiment shown, the first four time slots 502-1 / 502-2 / 502-3 / 502-4 each include 2 SSBs. It should be noted that the time slot 502 with SSBs can occupy any 4 time slots in the 5 ms half-frame 504 and each SSB can occupy any 4 consecutive symbols in the time slot, as described above in Figure 3-Figure 5 and Figure 8 As discussed in .

[0065] Figure 10EA schematic diagram of a half-frame structure 1000 with 32 time slots 502 for SSB transmission at a subcarrier spacing of 120 kHz in a 5 ms half-frame 504 is shown in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the subcarrier spacing (SCS) is 120 kHz and the maximum number of SSBs is 64. One time slot in a 5 ms half-frame can carry 2 SSBs and include 14 symbols. Since there are 2 SSBs in a time slot 502 and each of the 64 time slots occupies 0.5 ms, a maximum number of 4 time slots and 8 SSBs are required in the 5 ms half-frame 504. In the embodiment shown, the 32 time slots 502 in the subcarrier spacing of 120 kHz each include 2 SSBs. It should be noted that the time slots 502 with SSBs can occupy any 4 time slots in the 5 ms half-frame 504 and each SSB can occupy any 4 consecutive symbols in the time slot, as described above in Figure 3-Figure 5 and Figure 8 As discussed in .

[0066] Figure 10F A schematic diagram of a half-frame structure 1000 with 16 time slots 502 for SSB transmission at a subcarrier spacing of 120 kHz in a 5 ms half-frame 504 is shown in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the subcarrier spacing (SCS) is 120 kHz and the maximum number of SSBs is 64. One time slot in a subcarrier spacing of 120 kHz in a 5 ms half-frame can carry 4 SSBs and include 28 symbols in a subcarrier spacing of 240 kHz. Since there are 4 SSBs in a time slot 502 with a subcarrier spacing of 120 kHz and each of the 16 time slots occupies 0.125 ms, a maximum number of 16 time slots and 64 SSBs are required in the 5 ms half-frame 504. It should be noted that a time slot 502 with SSBs can occupy any 4 time slots in the half-frame 504 and each SSB can occupy any 4 consecutive symbols in the time slot, as described above in Figure 3-Figure 5 and Figure 8 As discussed in . A time slot in a particular SCS includes 14 consecutive OFDM symbols in the particular SCS.

[0067] In some embodiments, Figures 10A-10F The exemplary configuration of time slots in a half-frame in FIG. 1 shows all available time slots that can potentially be used by the IAB node 102 to send an SSB, i.e., for potential transmissions of an SSB. It should be noted that the IAB node 102 can select any one or more time slots from these available time slots in a half-frame that can actually be used by the IAB node 102 to send an SSB, i.e., for actual transmissions of an SSB. In some embodiments, the time slots used for actual transmissions of an SSB are a subset of the time slots used for potential transmissions of an SSB.

[0068] Figure 11 A schematic diagram of a radio frame structure 1100 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. In the illustrated embodiment, an SSB transmission period has the same length as a 20 ms time window, and an SSB burst set 1106-1A for SSB transmission occupies the first half-frame 1102, which has a 20 ms period 1104 for actual transmission of SSBs. In some embodiments, the 20 ms SSB transmission period is used to detect and receive SSBs on a UE 104 for carriers supporting initial access. SSB burst set 1106-A has a length 1105 of 2 ms and occupies the first 2 ms of a 5 ms half-frame 1102. SSB burst set 1106-A includes multiple SSBs 514 / 515. Three other SSB burst sets 1106-B, 1106-C, and 1106-D in period 1104 are used for potential transmission of SSBs. Radio frame structure 1100 occupies system bandwidth and bandwidth part (BWP) 1108. In some embodiments, the BWP is a portion of the system bandwidth that can be used as a frequency range for data scheduling. It should be noted that the half-frame 1102 can occupy any of the four half-frames used for actual transmission of the SSB in the period 1104, and the SSB burst set 1106 can occupy any symbol in the half-frame 1102, as shown in FIG. Figure 6-Figure 9 and this is within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0069] In some embodiments, the SSB transmission period may be one of the following: 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, and 160 ms. In some embodiments, when the SSB transmission period is 10 ms, two SSB burst sets 1106 in odd positions (i.e., 1102-A and 1102-C) or even positions (1102-B and 1102-D) in the half-frame 1102 may be used for actual SSB transmission. In some embodiments, when the SSB transmission period is 5 ms, all four SSB burst sets 1106 (i.e., 1106-A, 1106-B, 1106-C, and 1106-D) in the corresponding half-frame 1102 (i.e., 1102-A, 1102-B, 1102-C, and 1102-D) are used for actual SSB transmission.

[0070] Figure 12A schematic diagram of a half-frame structure 1200 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. In the illustrated embodiment, an SSB transmission period is 20 ms and occupies the first time slot 1102. Furthermore, an SSB burst set 1106 includes five time slots 502, namely 502A, 502B, 502C, 502D, and 502E. Each of the time slots 502 occupies one BWP 1108 and 14 OFDM symbols 510. The first four time slots each include two SSBs 514 / 515, each of which occupies four OFDM symbols and a frequency range 1202, where the frequency range 1202 is smaller than the BWP 1108. In the illustrated embodiment, two SSBs 514 / 515 occupy the same OFDM symbol in the first four time slots 502. It should be noted that diagram 1200 is an example, and any configuration of SSBs in a time slot and set of SSB bursts in a half-frame, as well as different SSB transmission periods, may be used and remain within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0071] In some embodiments, when it is necessary to silence the SSB burst set 1106 in the SSB transmission period so that the corresponding IAB node 102 can detect the SSBs transmitted from other IAB nodes 102, the resources occupied by all eight SSBs 514 / 515 in the first half-frame 1102 can be configured as silent resources in the SSB transmission period. Specifically, in the illustrated embodiment, the silent resources are SSBs 514A and 515A in the first time slot 502A, 514B and 515B in the second time slot 502B, 514C and 515C in the third time slot 502C, and 514D and 515D in the fourth time slot 502D, occupying a frequency range 1202 of 32 OFDM symbols 510 and 20 PRBs.

[0072] In some embodiments, when it is necessary to silence the SSB burst set 1106 in an SSB transmission period so that the corresponding IAB node 102 can detect the SSB transmitted from the neighboring IAB node 102, the resources used for the actual transmission of the SSBs in the half-frame 1102 can be configured as silent resources in the SSB transmission period. Although there are a total of eight SSB blocks in one SSB transmission period, the IAB node 102 does not select three SSBs for the actual transmission of SSBs, and these SSBs are not used as silent resources. Specifically, in the illustrated embodiment, the silent resources are SSB 514A in the first time slot 502A, 514B in the second time slot 502B, 514C in the third time slot 502C, and 514D and 515D in the fourth time slot 502D, occupying the frequency range 1202 of 20 OFDM symbols 510 and 20 PRBs.

[0073] Figure 13A schematic diagram of a half-frame structure 1300 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. In the illustrated embodiment, the SSB transmission period 1104 is 20 ms and occupies the first half-frame 1102. Furthermore, an SSB burst set 1106 includes five time slots 502, namely 502A, 502B, 502C, 502D, and 502E. Each of the time slots 502 occupies one BWP 1108 and 14 OFDM symbols 510. The first four time slots each include two SSBs 514 / 515, with each SSB occupying four OFDM symbols and a frequency range 1202, where the frequency range 1202 is smaller than the BWP 1108. Furthermore, in the illustrated embodiment, two SSBs 514 / 515 occupy the same OFDM symbol in the first four time slots 502. It should be noted that diagram 1200 is an example, and any configuration of SSBs in a time slot and set of SSB bursts in a half-frame, as well as different SSB transmission periods, may be used and remain within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0074] In some embodiments, when it is necessary to mute the SSB burst set 1106 in the SSB transmission period 1104 so that the corresponding IAB node 102 can detect the SSBs transmitted from other IAB nodes 102, resources on the OFDM symbol 510 having a frequency range of the BWP 1108 and occupied by all eight SSBs 514 / 515 in the half-frame 1102 can be configured as silent resources in the SSB transmission period. Specifically, in the illustrated embodiment, SSBs 514A and 515A of the first time slot 502A, 514B and 515B of the second time slot 502B, 514C and 515C of the third time slot 502C, and 514D and 515D of the fourth time slot 502D each occupy a frequency range 1202 of 4 OFDM symbols 510 (i.e., 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, and 11 symbols) and 20 PRBs. The silent resources 1302 (ie, 1302A, 1302B, 1302C, 1302D, 1302E, 1302F, 1302G, and 1302H) occupy all resources in the frequency domain (ie, the system bandwidth or BWP 1108) over 32 OFDM symbols corresponding to all eight SSBs 514 / 515.

[0075] In some embodiments, when it is necessary to mute the SSB burst set 1106 in the SSB transmission period 1104 so that the corresponding IAB node 102 can detect the SSB transmitted from other IAB nodes 102, resources on the OFDM symbol 510 having the frequency range of the BWP 1108 and occupied by the SSB 514 / 515 for actual transmission of the SSB in the half-frame 1102 can be configured as silent resources in the SSB transmission period. Specifically, in the illustrated embodiment, the SSB 514A of the first time slot 502A, 514B of the second time slot 502B, 514C of the third time slot 502C, and 514D and 515D of the fourth time slot 502D are each used for actual transmission of the SSB and occupy 4 OFDM symbols 510 (i.e., symbols 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, and 11) and the frequency range 1202 of 20 PRBs in the time slot. The silent resources 1302 (i.e., 1302A, 1302C, 1302E, 1302G, and 1302H) occupy all resources (i.e., system bandwidth and BWP) in the frequency domain over 20 OFDM symbols corresponding to the following SSBs, namely SSB 514A of the first slot 502A, 514B of the second slot 502B, 514C of the third slot 502C, and 514D and 515D of the fourth slot 502D.

[0076] In some embodiments, when it is necessary to silence the SSB burst set 1106 in the SSB transmission period 1104 so that the corresponding IAB node 102 can detect the SSB transmitted from other IAB nodes 102, the resources in all four time slots 502 with potential transmission of SSB 514 / 515 can be configured as silent resources. Specifically, all OFDM symbols 510 (i.e., 56 OFDM symbols) occupying all four time slots 502 in the time domain and the resources in the frequency range of the SSB 1202 in the frequency domain are configured as silent resources. These resources include all resources used for SSB transmission and data transmission. In some embodiments, the silent resources include contiguous resources in the time domain. In some embodiments, the silent resources are resources in all four time slots 502 occupying 56 OFDM symbols 510 in the time domain and in the frequency range 1108 covering all PRBs in the system bandwidth or BWP 1108.

[0077] In some embodiments, when it is necessary to mute the SSB burst set 1106 in the SSB transmission period 1104 so that the corresponding IAB node 102 can detect the SSBs transmitted from other IAB nodes 102, the resources in the time slot 502 having resources used for actual transmission of the SSBs 514 / 515 can be configured as silent resources. Specifically, in the illustrated embodiment, the SSB 514A of the first time slot 502A, the SSB 514B of the second time slot 502B, and the SSB 514C of the third time slot 502C are each used for actual transmission of the SSB and occupy 4 OFDM symbols 510 and a frequency range 1202 of 20 PRBs in the time slot. The silent resources are the resources in the time slots 502A, 502B, and 502C that occupy the frequency range 1202 of 42 OFDM symbols 510 in the time domain and 20 PRBs in the frequency domain. In some other embodiments, the silent resources are resources in slots 502A, 502B, and 502C that occupy 42 OFDM symbols 510 in the time domain and a frequency range 1108 covering all PRBs in the system bandwidth or BWP 1108 .

[0078] In some embodiments, when it is necessary to silence the SSB burst set 1106 in the SSB transmission period so that the corresponding IAB node 102 can detect the SSBs sent from other IAB nodes 102, the resources in the entire half-frame 1102 with the period for potential transmission of the SSB 514 / 515 can be configured as silent resources. In some embodiments, the silent resources are resources in the half-frame 1102 that occupy 5 time slots 502 (i.e., 60 OFDM symbols) and the frequency range 1102 of 20 RBs. In some other embodiments, the silent resources are resources in the half-frame 1102 that occupy 5 time slots 502 (i.e., 60 OFDM symbols) and the frequency range 1108 that covers all PRBs in the system bandwidth or BWP 1108.

[0079] Figure 14 A method 1400 for performing silent period configuration on an IAB node in a communication system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 14 Additional operations are provided before, during, and after the method 1400, and some operations may be omitted or reordered. The communication system includes one IAB donor 102-0A, two first-level IAB nodes 102-1A and 102-1B, and one second-level IAB node 102-2A. It should be noted that Figure 14 are examples, and communication systems including any number of IAB nodes are within the scope of this disclosure.

[0080] Method 1400 begins at operation 1402, whereby silence resource configuration information is transmitted from an upper-level IAB node (also referred to as a parent IAB node) to a lower-level IAB node (also referred to as a child IAB node). Specifically, a first-level IAB node (102-1A) and a second-level IAB node (102-1B) obtain the silence configuration information from an IAB donor 102-0A. A second-level IAB node 102-2A obtains the silence configuration information from a corresponding second-level IAB node 102-1B.

[0081] In some embodiments, the silence resource configuration information can be sent from the upper IAB node to the lower IAB node via one of the following: an existing system information block (e.g., SIB1 or SIB2), an IAB-related SIB (i.e., SIBn), and UE-specific radio resource control (RRC) signaling. In some embodiments, the silence resources include resources in an SSB burst set. In some embodiments, the silence resource configuration information can be sent from the upper IAB node to the lower IAB node via a combination of system information and RRC signaling.

[0082] In some embodiments, the silent resource configuration information includes a silent period, a silent pattern table index, and a silent pattern index. In some embodiments, the silent period is predefined by the system. In some embodiments, a bit field can be used to indicate the silent period value from the upper IAB node to the lower IAB node. For example, if there are 4 silent period values ​​(i.e., a set of silent period values), including 40, 80, 160, and 320 ms, a 2-bit index can be used to indicate these values. Specifically, 00 represents a silent period of 40 ms; 01 represents a silent period of 80 ms; 10 represents a silent period of 160 ms; and 11 represents a silent period of 320 ms. In some embodiments, the silent period is a fixed value and is preconfigured to all IAB nodes, and in this case, the silent resource configuration information does not include the silent period.

[0083] Figure 15 A radio frame structure 1500 of three IAB nodes 102 with a 160 ms silent period 1502 is shown, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the silent period 1502 is predefined by the system. The first symbol of each silent period 1502 is defined as the starting edge of a radio frame satisfying SFN mod 16 = 0. In some embodiments, the silent period 1502 occupies 16 radio frames. In the illustrated embodiment, the SSB transmission period is 20 ms, and there are eight potential silent resources within one silent period 1502. It should be noted that the SSB transmission period 1104 and the silent period 1502 can be other values, which can result in a different number of silent resources within one silent period 1502 and is within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0084] exist Figure 15 In the illustrated embodiment, there are three first-level IAB nodes, including a first first-level IAB node 102-1A, a second first-level IAB node 102-1B, and a third first-level IAB node 102-1C. Each of the three IAB nodes has a 120ms silent period and a 20ms SSB transmission period. Specifically, the first first-level IAB node 102-1A silences silent resource 1106-1 during the first SSB transmission period; the second first-level IAB node 102-1B silences silent resource 1106-2 during the second SSB transmission period; and the third first-level IAB node 102-1C silences silent resource 1106-3 during the third SSB transmission period.

[0085] Return Reference Figure 14 The silence pattern table is pre-defined by the system, and a 2-bit field can be used and sent to the lower-level IAB node to indicate the silence pattern table index. For example, the silence pattern table index value 00 corresponds to the silence pattern table 1; the silence pattern table index value 01 corresponds to the silence pattern table 2; the silence pattern table index value 10 corresponds to the silence pattern table 3; and the silence pattern table index value 11 corresponds to the silence pattern table 4.

[0086] Figures 16A-16D An exemplary silence pattern table 1600 with exemplary silence patterns according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Each of the four silence pattern tables 1600 includes eight different silence patterns 1604, and each of the eight silence patterns in the table is indexed using a silence pattern index 1602 (i.e., 0-7). In addition, each of the eight silence patterns includes eight SSB transmission resources, i.e., resources 0-7 for potential transmission of SSB.

[0087] exist Figure 16AIn the silent pattern table 1600, each of the 8 silent patterns includes 1 silent resource and 7 regular SSB transmission resources. Specifically, when the silent pattern index in the silent pattern table 1600 is 0, SSB transmission resource 0 is a silent resource, and the remaining SSB transmission resources (i.e., 1-7) are used for actual transmission of SSB; when the silent pattern index in the silent pattern table 1600 is 1, SSB transmission resource 1 is a silent resource, and the remaining SSB transmission resources (i.e., 0 and 2-7) are used for actual transmission of SSB; when the silent pattern index in the silent pattern table 1600 is 2, SSB transmission resource 2 is a silent resource, and the remaining SSB transmission resources (i.e., 0, 1, and 3-7) are used for actual transmission of SSB; when the silent pattern index in the silent pattern table 1600 is 3, SSB transmission resource 3 is a silent resource, and the remaining SSB transmission resources (i.e., 0-2 and 4-7) are used for actual transmission of SSB. actual transmission of SSB; when the silent pattern index in 1600 is 4, SSB transmission resource 4 is a silent resource, and the remaining SSB transmission resources (i.e., 0-3 and 5-7) are used for actual transmission of SSB; when the silent pattern index in the silent pattern table 1600 is 5, SSB transmission resource 5 is a silent resource, and the remaining SSB transmission resources (i.e., 0-4, 6, and 7) are used for actual transmission of SSB; when the silent pattern index in the silent pattern table 1600 is 6, SSB transmission resource 6 is a silent resource, and the remaining SSB transmission resources (i.e., 0-5 and 7) are used for actual transmission of SSB; and when the silent pattern index in the silent pattern table 1600 is 7, SSB transmission resource 7 is a silent resource, and the remaining SSB transmission resources (i.e., 1-6) are used for actual transmission of SSB.

[0088] exist Figure 16BIn the silence pattern table 1610, each of the 8 silence patterns includes 7 silence resources and 1 resource for actual transmission of SSB. Specifically, when the silence pattern index in the silence pattern table 1600 is 0, SSB transmission resource 0 is a resource for actual transmission of SSB, and the rest are silence resources (i.e., 1-7); when the silence pattern index in the silence pattern table 1600 is 1, SSB transmission resource 1 is a resource for actual transmission of SSB, and the rest are silence resources (i.e., 0 and 2-7); when the silence pattern index in the silence pattern table 1600 is 2, SSB transmission resource 2 is a resource for actual transmission of SSB, and the rest are silence resources (i.e., 0, 1, and 3-7); when the silence pattern index in the silence pattern table 1600 is 3, SSB transmission resource 3 is a resource for actual transmission of SSB, and the rest are silence resources (i.e., 0-2 and 4-7 ); when the silent pattern index in the silent pattern table 1600 is 4, SSB transmission resource 4 is a resource for actual transmission of SSB, and the rest are silent resources (i.e., 0-3 and 5-7); when the silent pattern index in the silent pattern table 1600 is 5, SSB transmission resource 5 is a resource for actual transmission of SSB, and the rest are silent resources (i.e., 0-4, 6, and 7); when the silent pattern index in the silent pattern table 1600 is 6, SSB transmission resource 6 is a resource for actual transmission of SSB, and the rest are silent resources (i.e., 0-5 and 7); and when the silent pattern index in the silent pattern table 1600 is 7, SSB transmission resource 7 is a resource for actual transmission of SSB, and the rest are silent resources (i.e., 1-6).

[0089] exist Figure 16CIn the silence pattern table 1620, each of the 8 silence patterns includes 4 silence resources and 3 resources for actual transmission of SSB. Specifically, when the silent pattern index in the silent pattern table 1600 is 0, SSB transmission resources 1, 3, 5, and 7 are silent resources, and SSB transmission resources 0, 2, 4, and 6 are used for actual transmission of SSB; when the silent pattern index in the silent pattern table 1600 is 1, SSB transmission resources 0, 2, 4, and 6 are silent resources, and SSB transmission resources 1, 3, 5, and 7 are used for actual transmission of SSB; when the silent pattern index in the silent pattern table 1600 is 2, SSB transmission resources 2, 3, 6, and 7 are silent resources, and SSB transmission resources 0, 1, 4, and 5 are used for actual transmission of SSB; when the silent pattern index in the silent pattern table 1600 is 3, SSB transmission resources 0, 1, 4, and 5 are silent resources, and SSB transmission resources 2, 3, 6, and 7 are used for actual transmission of SSB ; When the silent pattern index in the silent pattern table 1600 is 4, SSB transmission resources 2, 3, 4 and 5 are silent resources, and SSB transmission resources 0, 1, 6 and 7 are used for actual transmission of SSB; when the silent pattern index in the silent pattern table 1600 is 5, SSB transmission resources 0, 1, 6 and 7 are silent resources, and SSB transmission resources 2, 3, 4 and 5 are used for actual transmission of SSB; when the silent pattern index in the silent pattern table 1600 is 6, SSB transmission resources 4, 5, 6 and 7 are silent resources, and SSB transmission resources 0, 1, 2, 3 are used for actual transmission of SSB; and when the silent pattern index in the silent pattern table 1600 is 7, SSB transmission resources 0, 1, 2 and 3 are silent resources, and SSB transmission resources 4, 5, 6 and 7 are used for actual transmission of SSB.

[0090] exist Figure 16DIn the silence pattern table 1630, each of the 8 silence patterns includes 2 silence resources and 6 resources for actual transmission of SSB. Specifically, when the silence pattern index in the silence pattern table 1600 is 0, SSB transmission resources 6 and 7 are silence resources, and SSB transmission resources 0-5 are used for actual transmission of SSB; when the silence pattern index in the silence pattern table 1600 is 1, SSB transmission resources 0 and 1 are silence resources, and SSB transmission resources 2-7 are used for actual transmission of SSB; when the silence pattern index in the silence pattern table 1600 is 2, SSB transmission resources 2 and 3 are silence resources, and SSB transmission resources 0, 1 and 4-7 are used for actual transmission of SSB; when the silence pattern index in the silence pattern table 1600 is 3, SSB transmission resources 4 and 5 are silence resources, and SSB transmission resources 0-3, 6 and 7 are used for actual transmission of SSB; When the silent pattern index in the silent pattern table 1600 is 4, SSB transmission resources 5 and 7 are silent resources, and SSB transmission resources 0-4 and 6 are used for actual transmission of SSB; when the silent pattern index in the silent pattern table 1600 is 5, SSB transmission resources 4 and 6 are silent resources, and SSB transmission resources 0-3, 5 and 7 are used for actual transmission of SSB; when the silent pattern index in the silent pattern table 1600 is 6, SSB transmission resources 1 and 3 are silent resources, and SSB transmission resources 0, 2 and 4-7 are used for actual transmission of SSB; and when the silent pattern index in the silent pattern table 1600 is 7, SSB transmission resources 0 and 2 are silent resources, and SSB transmission resources 1 and 3-7 are used for actual transmission of SSB.

[0091] Figures 16A-16D is an exemplary silence pattern table with exemplary silence patterns, and it should be noted that any number of silence pattern tables including any number of silence patterns and different silence patterns are within the scope of the present disclosure. Different silence pattern tables include different numbers of silence resources in a silence period. In some embodiments, there is only one silence pattern table. In some embodiments, the number of silence resources in a silence period of an IAB node can affect the chance of being detected by a neighboring IAB node and can also affect the chance of successfully detecting a neighboring IAB node. For example, referring to Figure 15 and Figures 16A-16DWhen there are seven silent resources in a silent period for IAB node 102-1A, the chance of IAB node 102-1A being detected by IAB nodes 102-1B / 102-1C is very low. For another example, when there are seven resources for actual transmission of SSBs in a silent period, but only one silent resource is available for IAB node 102-1A, IAB node 102-1A detects SSBs from IAB nodes 102-1B / 102-1C on the same silent resource, which may reduce the measurement performance of IAB node 102-1A on the silent resource. In some embodiments, the number of silent resources in a silent period is determined by an upper-level IAB node based on the state of the wireless communication network, and a silent table may be determined and configured for a lower-level IAB node.

[0092] In some embodiments, in order to indicate a silence pattern in the silence pattern table, a bit field may be used for silence pattern index indication. Figures 16A-16D Each silence pattern table includes eight silence patterns, and a three-bit field may be used to indicate a silence pattern index. In some embodiments, different IAB nodes may receive different three-bit fields corresponding to different silence patterns. In some embodiments, the silence patterns in the silence pattern table are predefined by the system and sent from the upper-level IAB node to the lower-level IAB node in silence resource configuration information.

[0093] In some embodiments, the silent pattern index in the silent pattern table may be determined by the upper IAB node (i.e., the parent IAB node) based on the cell identification (ID) of the lower IAB node. For example, the silent pattern index may be determined using (the cell ID of the lower IAB node) mod (the number of resources for potential transmission of SSB in the silent period). Figure 15 In a 160ms silent period, there are eight potential resources for SSB transmission. Specifically, when the cell ID of the subordinate IAB node is 001010111 in binary (corresponding to 87 in decimal), the silent pattern index of the subordinate IAB node is equal to 7 (i.e., 87 mod 8). The silent pattern index 7 can then be used with the silent table to locate the silent resource.

[0094] For another example, the upper-level IAB node can use the cell ID mod 4 to determine the interleaved resources for all lower-level IAB nodes. IAB nodes in the same group include values ​​on the two least significant bits (LSBs). In addition, a similar method discussed above can be used to determine the silence pattern index. Specifically, the silence pattern index of the lower-level IAB node can be determined by the 8 most significant bits (MSBs) of the cell ID of the corresponding lower-level IAB node (e.g., 01010111 in binary and 87 in decimal) and the number of resources potentially used for SSB transmission during the silence period, e.g., 87 mod 8, which is equal to 7. The silence pattern index of the IAB node with a cell ID of 01010111 is 7. The overhead of indicating the silence pattern index based on the cell ID can be lower than the overhead of using an explicit indication (e.g., using a bit field).

[0095] In some embodiments, based on the cell ID of the subordinate IAB node, the superior IAB node can determine a set of 8 random numbers and each random number in the set is between 0 and 7 as an initialization parameter. For example, the superior IAB node generates 8 random numbers (e.g., 37153406) for the subordinate node. In the first silent period, SSB transmission resource 3 is a silent resource, and the remaining SSB transmission resources (i.e., 0-2 and 4-7) are resources used for actual transmission of SSB; in the second silent period, SSB transmission resource 7 is a silent resource, and the remaining SSB transmission resources (i.e., 0-6) are resources used for actual transmission of SSB; in the third silent period, SSB transmission resource 1 is a silent resource, and the remaining SSB transmission resources (i.e., 0 and 2-7) are resources used for actual transmission of SSB; in the fourth silent period, SSB transmission resource 5 is a silent resource, and the remaining SSB transmission resources (i.e., 0-4 and 6-7) are resources used for actual transmission of SSB; In the fifth silent period, SSB transmission resource 3 is a silent resource, and the remaining SSB transmission resources (i.e., 0-2 and 4-7) are resources used for actual transmission of SSB; in the sixth silent period, SSB transmission resource 4 is a silent resource, and the remaining SSB transmission resources (i.e., 0-3 and 5-7) are resources used for actual transmission of SSB; in the seventh silent period, SSB transmission resource 0 is a silent resource, and the remaining SSB transmission resources (i.e., 1-7) are resources used for actual transmission of SSB; and in the eighth silent period, SSB transmission resource 6 is a silent resource, and the remaining SSB transmission resources (i.e., 0-5 and 7) are resources used for actual transmission of SSB. In some embodiments, the set of random numbers can be reused after multiple silent periods. For example, after 8 silent periods, in the ninth silent period, the silent resource configuration is the same as the silent resource configuration used in the first silent period, and the remaining silent periods can be completed in the same manner. In some other embodiments, after 8 silent periods, the upper-level IAB node may generate a different set of random numbers for the lower-level IAB node, which may be used in the following silent periods.

[0096] In some embodiments, the silent resource configuration information includes a silent period and a silent pattern. In some embodiments, the silent period is predefined by the system. In some embodiments, a bit field can be used to indicate the silent period value from the upper IAB node to the lower IAB node. For example, if there are four silent period values, including 40, 80, 160, and 320 ms, four 2-bit indexes can be used to indicate these values. Specifically, 00 represents a silent period of 40 ms; 01 represents a silent period of 80 ms; 10 represents a silent period of 160 ms; and 11 represents a silent period of 320 ms. In some embodiments, the silent period is a fixed value and is preconfigured to all IAB nodes, and in this case, the silent resource configuration information does not include the silent period.

[0097] In some embodiments, the silence pattern in the silence resource configuration information sent from the high-level IAB node to the low-level IAB node can be indicated by a bitmap. Figure 15 , where the silent period includes 8 resources for potential transmission of SSB, the upper-level IAB node can use an 8-bit bitmap to indicate at least one silent resource to the lower-level IAB node. Specifically, the 8-bit bitmap including "11011111" (indicating SSB transmission resource 2) is a silent resource, and the remaining SSB transmission resources (i.e., 0, 1, and 3-7) are used for actual transmission of SSB. In some embodiments, the bitmap for silent pattern indication can be sent from the upper-level IAB node to the lower-level IAB node via RRC signaling.

[0098] In some embodiments, different SSB transmission periods can be used on different IAB nodes. For example, the SSB transmission period of IAB node 1 is 20 ms, and the SSB transmission period of IAB node 2 is 10 ms. Under the same 160 ms silent period, there are 8 resources for potential transmission of the SSB of IAB node 1 and 16 resources for potential transmission of the SSB of IAB node 2. Therefore, different bitmaps (i.e., 8-bit and 16-bit bitmaps) can be used for IAB node 1 and IAB node 2, respectively.

[0099] In some embodiments, multiple IAB nodes with different SSB transmission periods can share the same silent pattern table, which can be pre-defined by the upper-level IAB node. The upper-level IAB node determines the silent pattern table based on the maximum SSB transmission period among the different SSB transmission periods from multiple IAB nodes. For example, the SSB transmission period of IAB node 1 is 20ms, and the SSB transmission period of IAB node 2 is 10ms. The upper-level IAB node selects one silent pattern table (e.g., Figure 16A1600), where 8 resources are used for potential transmission of SSBs by IAB Node 1 and IAB Node 2. As discussed in various embodiments of the present disclosure, IAB Node 1, which has 8 resources for potential transmission of SSBs, can obtain its silent resources based on the table.

[0100] On the other hand, IAB node 2 having 16 resources for potential transmission of SSB may obtain its quiet resources using the same table. For example, at the silent pattern index 0 of Table 1600, SSB transmission resources 0 and 1 of the IAB node 2 are silent resources, and the remaining SSB transmission resources (i.e., 2-15) are resources used for actual transmission of the SSB; at the silent pattern index 1 of Table 1600, SSB transmission resources 2 and 3 of the IAB node 2 are silent resources, and the remaining SSB transmission resources (i.e., 0-1 and 4-15) are resources used for actual transmission of the SSB; at the silent pattern index 0 of Table 1600, SSB transmission resources 4 and 5 of the IAB node 2 are silent resources, and the remaining SSB transmission resources (i.e., 0-3 and 6-15) are resources used for actual transmission of the SSB; at the silent pattern index 3 of Table 1600, SSB transmission resources 6 and 7 of the IAB node 2 are silent resources, and the remaining SSB transmission resources (i.e., 0-5 and 8-15) are resources used for actual transmission of the SSB; 00, SSB transmission resources 8 and 9 of the IAB node 2 are silent resources, and the remaining SSB transmission resources (i.e., 0-7 and 10-15) are resources used for actual transmission of the SSB; at the silent pattern index 5 of Table 1600, SSB transmission resources 10 and 11 of the IAB node 2 are silent resources, and the remaining SSB transmission resources (i.e., 0-9 and 12-15) are resources used for actual transmission of the SSB; at the silent pattern index 6 of Table 1600, SSB transmission resources 12 and 13 of the IAB node 2 are silent resources, and the remaining SSB transmission resources (i.e., 0-11 and 14-15) are resources used for actual transmission of the SSB; and at the silent pattern index 7 of Table 1600, SSB transmission resources 14 and 15 of the IAB node 2 are silent resources, and the remaining SSB transmission resources (i.e., 0-13) are resources used for actual transmission of the SSB.

[0101] For example, the silent pattern table (e.g., Figure 16AThe SSB transmission resources in Table 1600) are used to indicate silent resources at even or odd SSB transmission resources, and the remaining SSB transmission resources are used as resources for actual transmission of SSB. Specifically, at the silence pattern index 0, the SSB transmission resource 0 of the IAB node 2 is a silence resource, and the remaining SSB transmission resources of the IAB node 2 (i.e., 1-15) are resources for actual transmission of the SSB; at the silence pattern index 1, the SSB transmission resource 3 of the IAB node 2 is a silence resource, and the remaining SSB transmission resources of the IAB node 2 (i.e., 1-2 and 4-15) are resources for actual transmission of the SSB; at the silence pattern index 2, the SSB transmission resource 5 of the IAB node 2 is a silence resource, and the remaining SSB transmission resources of the IAB node 2 (i.e., 1-4 and 6-15) are resources for actual transmission of the SSB; at the silence pattern index 3, the SSB transmission resource 7 of the IAB node 2 is a silence resource, and the remaining SSB transmission resources of the IAB node 2 (i.e., 1-6 and 8-15) are resources for actual transmission of the SSB; At pattern index 4, SSB transmission resource 9 of IAB node 2 is a silent resource, and the remaining SSB transmission resources of IAB node 2 (i.e., 1-8 and 10-15) are resources for actual transmission of SSB; at silent pattern index 5, SSB transmission resource 11 of IAB node 2 is a silent resource, and the remaining SSB transmission resources of IAB node 2 (i.e., 1-10 and 12-15) are resources for actual transmission of SSB; at silent pattern index 6, SSB transmission resource 13 of IAB node 2 is a silent resource, and the remaining SSB transmission resources of IAB node 2 (i.e., 1-12 and 14-15) are resources for actual transmission of SSB; and at silent pattern index 7, SSB transmission resource 15 of IAB node 2 is a silent resource, and the remaining SSB transmission resources of IAB node 2 (i.e., 1-14) are resources for actual transmission of SSB.

[0102] In some embodiments, the silent resource configuration information includes a silent period and a silent pattern index. In some embodiments, the silent period is predefined by the system. In some embodiments, a bit field can be used to indicate the silent period value from the upper IAB node to the lower IAB node. For example, if there are four silent period values, including 40, 80, 160, and 320 ms, four 2-bit indices can be used to indicate these values. Specifically, 00 represents a silent period of 40 ms; 01 represents a silent period of 80 ms; 10 represents a silent period of 160 ms; and 11 represents a silent period of 320 ms. In some embodiments, the silent period is a fixed value and is preconfigured to all IAB nodes, and in this case, the silent resource configuration information does not include the silent period.

[0103] In some embodiments, at least one silent resource for a subordinate IAB node can be directly obtained according to its corresponding cell ID. Figure 15 In a 160ms silent period, there are eight resources for potential transmission of SSBs. For example, when the cell ID of a subordinate IAB node is 001010111 in binary (corresponding to 87 in decimal), the silent pattern index of the subordinate IAB node is equal to 7, i.e., (87 mod 8) + 1. The silent resource of a subordinate IAB node with a cell ID of 01010111 is 8. For another example, the superior IAB node can use the cell ID mod 4 to determine the interleaved resources for all subordinate IAB nodes. IAB nodes in the same group include values ​​on the two least significant bits (LSBs). In addition, a similar method discussed above can be used to determine silent resources. Specifically, the silent resource for the subordinate IAB node can be determined by the 8 most significant bits (MSBs) of the cell ID of the corresponding subordinate IAB node (e.g., 01010111 in binary and 87 in decimal) and the number of resources for potential transmission of the SSB in the silent period, for example, (87 mod 8) + 1, which is equal to 8. The silent resource of the subordinate IAB node with a cell ID of 01010111 is 8. The overhead of indicating the silent pattern index according to the cell ID can be lower than the overhead of using explicit indication (e.g., using a bit field).

[0104] In some embodiments, the random number generated by the upper IAB node can be directly used to indicate the silent resource of the lower IAB node. Figure 15 , there are 8 types of resources for potential transmission of SSB with a silent period of 160ms. Specifically, the random number (i.e., 0-7) can directly indicate that at least one silent resource can be configured to the subordinate IAB node. For example, the upper-level IAB node sends the random number 4 to the lower-level IAB node, and the SSB transmission source 4 is the silent resource, and the remaining SSB transmission sources (i.e., 0-3 and 5-7) are resources for the actual transmission of SSB. In some embodiments, the random number and therefore the silent resource remain constant in at least one silent period. In some embodiments, the upper-level IAB node can generate different random numbers, and therefore different silent resources can be indicated to the lower-level IAB node with different silent periods. Therefore, according to the method of silent resource indication based on the random number generated by the upper-level IAB node through multiple silent periods, the possibility of measuring adjacent IAB nodes can be improved.

[0105] In some embodiments, at least one silent resource may also be determined by comparing the SSB transmission resource with the measurement resource configured by the upper IAB node to the lower IAB node. In some embodiments, the measurement resource from the upper IAB node to the lower IAB node may be configured using at least one of the following: a measurement period, a measurement offset, a measurement duration, and a measurement frequency. For example, the measurement period is 10 radio frames, the measurement offset is 5 radio frames, and the measurement duration is 5 radio frames. In some embodiments, the edge of radio frame 5 is used as the starting point of the measurement period, and measurements are performed in the time domain over 5 radio frames; and in the frequency domain, measurements are further performed over a frequency range centered on the measurement frequency and having the same bandwidth as the SSB bandwidth.

[0106] In some embodiments, when a reference signal (e.g., SS and PBCH blocks and CSI-RS) transmission resource completely or partially overlaps with a measurement resource in the time-frequency domain, the resource is a silent resource. As used herein, "measurement resource" refers to a resource in the time and frequency domains on which an IAB node receives reference signals (e.g., SS and PBCH blocks and CSI-RS) transmitted from a neighboring IAB node. In the following description, we use SSB as an example of a reference signal.

[0107] An SSB transmission resource and a measurement resource are considered to overlap if at least one of the following is satisfied: the OFDM symbols occupied by the SSB transmission resource and the OFDM symbols occupied by the measurement resource overlap; the SSB transmission resource overlaps with the measurement resource in both the time domain and the frequency domain; the time offset between the SSB transmission resource and the measurement resource is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold (e.g., X OFDM symbols or time T); and the frequency offset between the SSB transmission resource and the measurement resource is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold (e.g., Y RE, Z RB, or frequency M kHz). In some embodiments, when an SSB transmission resource overlaps with a measurement resource configured by an advanced IAB node, the SSB transmission resource may be muted in a silent period for measurement of neighboring IAB nodes according to the silent resource configuration discussed in detail above. In some embodiments, multiple measurement resources overlap with multiple SSB transmission resources, resulting in multiple silent resources in a silent period.

[0108] Return Reference Figure 14 , method 1400 continues to operation 1404, wherein according to some embodiments, at least one silent resource set including at least one silent resource in the half frame is determined. As discussed above, the at least one silent resource set may be determined based on the silent resource configuration information and / or the measurement resource configuration information. After determining the at least one silent resource, according to Figure 3-Figure 13In various embodiments, the lower-level IAB node may further perform silent resource configuration (ie, the maximum number of SSBs, the OFDM symbols occupied by each SSB in a time slot).

[0109] Method 1400 continues to operation 1406, where the IAB nodes 102-1A, 102-1B, and 102-2A transmit their SS / PBCH to neighboring IAB nodes on at least one resource used for actual SSB transmission and detect their neighboring IAB nodes on at least one silent resource in accordance with some embodiments. The actual transmission of the SSB and the measurement of the neighboring IAB nodes are performed based on the at least one silent resource.

[0110] Although various embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it should be understood that they are presented by way of example only and not by way of limitation. Similarly, various figures may depict example architectures or configurations, which are provided to enable those of ordinary skill in the art to understand the exemplary features and functions of the present invention. However, these personnel will understand that the present invention is not limited to the example architectures or configurations shown, but may be implemented using a variety of alternative architectures and configurations. In addition, as will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art, one or more features of an embodiment may be combined with one or more features of another embodiment described herein. Therefore, the breadth and scope of the present disclosure should not be limited by any of the exemplary embodiments described above.

[0111] It should also be understood that any reference to an element herein using designations such as "first," "second," etc., does not generally limit the quantity or order of those elements. Rather, these designations may be used herein as a convenient means of distinguishing between two or more elements or instances of an element. Thus, a reference to a first element and a second element does not mean that only two elements may be employed, or that the first element must precede the second element in some manner.

[0112] In addition, those skilled in the art will understand that any of a variety of different technologies and techniques may be used to represent information and signals. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, and symbols may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0113] Those of ordinary skill in the art will further understand that any of the illustrative logical blocks, modules, processors, devices, circuits, methods, and functions described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented by electronic hardware (e.g., a digital implementation, an analog implementation, or a combination of the two that may be designed using source code coding or some other technique), various forms of program or design code incorporating instructions (which, for convenience, may be referred to herein as "software" or "software modules"), or a combination of the two. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware, firmware, or software, or a combination of these techniques, depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system. A skilled person may implement the described functionality in various ways for each specific application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of this disclosure.

[0114] In addition, one of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the various illustrative logic blocks, modules, devices, components, and circuits described herein may be implemented within or performed by an integrated circuit (IC) comprising a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, or any combination thereof. The logic blocks, modules, and circuits may further include an antenna and / or a transceiver to communicate with various components within a network or within a device. The general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suitable configuration to perform the functions described herein.

[0115] If implemented in software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or codes on a computer-readable medium. Thus, the steps of the methods or algorithms disclosed herein may be implemented as software stored on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media include computer storage media and communication media, including any media that enables a computer program or code to be transferred from one place to another. A storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer.

[0116] In this document, the term "module" as used herein refers to software, firmware, hardware, and any combination of these elements for performing the related functions described herein. In addition, for the purpose of discussion, various modules are described as separate modules; however, it is obvious to those skilled in the art that two or more modules can be combined to form a single module that performs the related functions according to embodiments of the present invention.

[0117] In addition, memory or other memory and communication components may be used in embodiments of the present invention. It should be understood that, for the sake of clarity, the above description has described embodiments of the present invention with reference to different functional units and processors. However, it will be apparent that any suitable distribution of functionality between different functional units, processing logic elements or domains may be used without departing from the present invention. For example, functions shown as being performed by separate processing logic elements or controllers may be performed by the same processing logic element or controller. Therefore, references to specific functional units are merely references to appropriate means for providing the described functionality, rather than indications of a strict logical or physical structure or organization.

[0118] Various modifications to the embodiments described in this disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the novel features and principles disclosed herein, as set forth in the following claims.

Claims

1. A method performed by a first wireless communication node, comprising: receiving resource configuration information from a second wireless communication node in the communication system; and determining, according to the resource configuration information, at least one silent resource set from the first plurality of resource sets; The resource configuration information includes: a silence period value, a first index of at least one silence pattern table, a second index of at least one silence pattern, and the at least one silence pattern; and The silent period value in the resource configuration information is indicated from a silent period value set using a bit field, and the silent period value set is predefined.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the resource configuration information is sent from the second wireless communication node to the first wireless communication node using at least one of the following: system information block SIB, UE-specific radio resource control RRC signaling.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one silence pattern table comprises a plurality of silence patterns, wherein the plurality of silence patterns are each mapped to a corresponding silence pattern index in the at least one silence pattern table and each indicates a position of the at least one silence resource set in a silence period.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one silence pattern each comprises a first number of silence resource sets among a second number of the first plurality of resource sets, wherein the first plurality of resource sets comprises at least one first resource in a potential transmission period of a synchronization signal block (SSB), wherein the second number is defined as a ratio between the silence period value and the SSB transmission period.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the silence pattern for the first wireless communication node can be determined based on one of: a cell identifier of the first wireless communication node in combination with a predefined calculation method, a random number, a bit map, and a silence pattern index of a corresponding silence pattern table configured by the second wireless communication node.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one silent resource set in the silent period comprises one of the following: a first set of resources configured for periodic potential SSB transmission, wherein the first set of resources occupies a first plurality of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in the time domain and a first frequency range in the frequency domain; a second set of resources configured for periodic actual SSB transmission, wherein the second set of resources occupies a second plurality of OFDM symbols in the time domain and the first frequency range in the frequency domain; a third resource set, wherein the third resource set occupies the first plurality of OFDM symbols in the time domain and occupies a second frequency range in the frequency domain; a fourth resource set, wherein the fourth resource set occupies the second plurality of OFDM symbols in the time domain and the second frequency range in the frequency domain; a fifth resource set, wherein the fifth resource set occupies a third plurality of OFDM symbols in at least one first time slot in the time domain and occupies the first frequency range in the frequency domain, wherein the at least one first time slot includes at least one resource of the first resource set; a sixth resource set, wherein the sixth resource set occupies a fourth plurality of OFDM symbols in at least one second time slot in the time domain and occupies the second frequency range in the frequency domain, wherein the at least one second time slot includes at least one resource of the second resource set; a seventh resource set, wherein the seventh resource set occupies the third plurality of OFDM symbols in at least one third time slot in the time domain and occupies the second frequency range in the frequency domain; as well as an eighth resource set, wherein the eighth resource set occupies the fourth plurality of OFDM symbols in at least one fourth time slot in the time domain and occupies the first frequency range in the frequency domain; a ninth resource set, wherein the ninth resource set occupies a fifth plurality of OFDM symbols in at least one half radio frame in the time domain and occupies the first frequency range in the frequency domain, wherein the at least one half radio frame includes at least one resource of the first resource set in the time domain; a tenth resource set, wherein the tenth resource set occupies the fifth plurality of OFDM symbols in the at least one half radio frame in the time domain and occupies the second frequency range in the frequency domain; The first frequency range is equal to or smaller than the second frequency range, the second plurality of OFDM symbols is a subset of the first plurality of OFDM symbols, and the second frequency range is one of: a bandwidth and a bandwidth part (BWP) of a carrier. 7 . The method according to claim 4 , wherein the at least one first resource each comprises 4 OFDM symbols in a time slot in the time domain.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: terminating a first actual transmission of a first SSB on the at least one silent resource set in the first silent period; measuring, on the at least one silent resource set in the first silent period, a second SSB having a first SSB transmission period from a third wireless communication node; as well as performing a first actual transmission of the first SSB having a second SSB transmission period to the third wireless communication node for detection, The first silent period is equal to or greater than the first SSB transmission period.

9. A method performed by a first wireless communication node, comprising: sending resource configuration information to a second wireless communication node in the communication system, so that the second wireless communication node determines at least one silent resource set according to the resource configuration information; The resource configuration information includes: a silence period value, a first index of at least one silence pattern table, a second index of at least one silence pattern, and the at least one silence pattern; and The silent period value in the resource configuration information is indicated from a set of silent period values ​​using a bit field, and the set of silent period values ​​is predefined.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the resource configuration information is sent from the first wireless communication node to the second wireless communication node using at least one of the following: system information block (SIB), UE-specific radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the at least one silence pattern table comprises a plurality of silence patterns, wherein the plurality of silence patterns are each mapped to a corresponding silence pattern index in the at least one silence pattern table and each indicates a position of the at least one silence resource set in a silence period.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein each of the at least one silence pattern comprises a first number of silence resource sets among a second number of a first plurality of resource sets, wherein the first plurality of resource sets comprises at least one first resource in a potential transmission period of a synchronization signal block (SSB), wherein the second number is defined as a ratio between the silence period value and the SSB transmission period.

13. The method according to claim 9, wherein the silence pattern for the second wireless communication node can be determined according to one of the following: a cell identifier of the second wireless communication node according to a predefined calculation method, a random number configured by the first wireless communication node, a bit map, and a silence pattern index of a corresponding silence pattern table configured by the first wireless communication node.

14. The method according to claim 9, wherein the at least one silent resource set in a silent period comprises one of the following: a first set of resources configured for periodic potential SSB transmission, wherein the first set of resources occupies a first plurality of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in the time domain and a first frequency range in the frequency domain; a second set of resources configured for periodic actual SSB transmission, wherein the second set of resources occupies a second plurality of OFDM symbols in the time domain and the first frequency range in the frequency domain; a third resource set, wherein the third resource set occupies the first plurality of OFDM symbols in the time domain and occupies a second frequency range in the frequency domain; a fourth resource set, wherein the fourth resource set occupies the second plurality of OFDM symbols in the time domain and the second frequency range in the frequency domain; a fifth resource set, wherein the fifth resource set occupies a third plurality of OFDM symbols in at least one first time slot in the time domain and occupies the first frequency range in the frequency domain, wherein the at least one first time slot includes at least one resource of the first resource set; a sixth resource set, wherein the sixth resource set occupies a fourth plurality of OFDM symbols in at least one second time slot in the time domain and occupies the second frequency range in the frequency domain, wherein the at least one second time slot includes at least one resource of the second resource set; a seventh resource set, wherein the seventh resource set occupies the third plurality of OFDM symbols in at least one third time slot in the time domain and occupies the second frequency range in the frequency domain; as well as an eighth resource set, wherein the eighth resource set occupies the fourth plurality of OFDM symbols in at least one fourth time slot in the time domain and occupies the first frequency range in the frequency domain; a ninth resource set, wherein the ninth resource set occupies a fifth plurality of OFDM symbols in at least one half radio frame in the time domain and occupies the first frequency range in the frequency domain, wherein the at least one half radio frame includes at least one resource of the first resource set in the time domain; a tenth resource set, wherein the tenth resource set occupies the fifth plurality of OFDM symbols in the at least one half radio frame in the time domain and occupies the second frequency range in the frequency domain; The first frequency range is equal to or smaller than the second frequency range, the second plurality of OFDM symbols is a subset of the first plurality of OFDM symbols, and the second frequency range is one of: a bandwidth and a bandwidth part (BWP) of a carrier.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the at least one first resource each comprises 4 OFDM symbols in a slot in the time domain.

16. The method according to claim 9, further comprising: Send resource configuration to a third communication node in the communication system so that the third communication node determines at least one silent resource set based on the resource configuration information, wherein the first SSB transmission period of the second communication node and the second SSB transmission period of the third communication node are different.

17. A computing device comprising at least one processor and a memory coupled to the processor, the at least one processor being configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 16.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for performing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 16.

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