System and method for on / off state control of network nodes

Abstract

Systems and methods for on / off state control of network nodes are presented. A network node may receive an on / off indication from a wireless communication node. The network node may determine an on / off state of the network node according to the on / off indication to support signal forwarding of the one or more signals.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, including but not limited to systems and methods for on / off state control of network nodes. Background Art

[0002] Coverage is a fundamental aspect of cellular network deployment. Mobile operators rely on different types of network nodes to provide blanket coverage in their deployments. As a result, new types of network nodes are considered to increase the flexibility of mobile operators in network deployment. For example, some systems or architectures introduce integrated access and backhaul (IAB), which is a new type of network node that does not require a wired backhaul and can be enhanced in some other systems. Another type of network node is the RF repeater, which simply amplifies and retransmits any signal they receive. RF repeaters have been widely deployed in 2G, 3G, and 4G to supplement the coverage provided by conventional full-stack units. Summary of the invention

[0003] The exemplary embodiments disclosed herein are intended to solve problems related to one or more problems existing in the prior art, and provide additional features, which will become apparent when referring to the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. According to various embodiments, exemplary systems, methods, devices, and computer program products are disclosed herein. However, it should be understood that these embodiments are presented by way of example, not by way of 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 this disclosure.

[0004] At least one aspect relates to a system, method, apparatus, or computer-readable medium. A network node (e.g., a smart node (SN)) may receive an on / off indication from a wireless communication node (e.g., a base station (BS) or a gNB). The network node may determine an on / off state of the network node based on the on / off indication to support signal forwarding of one or more signals.

[0005] In some implementations, the on / off indication may include a first indication and a second indication. In some implementations, the on / off status may include at least one of the following: an on / off status of a network node; an on / off status of a group of network nodes; an on / off status of one or more antenna ports of a network node; an on / off status of one or more beam indexes of a network node; an on / off status of one or more service sectors of a network node; or an on / off status of one or more components of a network node.

[0006] In some implementations, the on / off state may also include the on / off state of at least one of the following links: a first communication link from a wireless communication node to a network node; a second communication link from a network node to a wireless communication node; a first forwarding link from a wireless communication node to a network node; a second forwarding link from a network node to a wireless communication node; a third forwarding link from a network node to a wireless communication device; or a fourth forwarding link from a wireless communication device to a network node.

[0007] In various implementations, the network node may receive one or both of the first indication and the second indication via at least one of the following: at least one downlink control information (DCI) signaling, at least one medium access control control element (MAC CE) signaling, at least one radio resource control (RRC), or at least one operation, administration, and maintenance (OAM) signaling. In various implementations, the first indication may indicate whether signal forwarding is enabled for: a common transport channel or a channel for all transports.

[0008] In some arrangements, the common transport channel may include at least one of the following: a synchronization signal block (SSB), a control resource set (CORESET) #0, a physical random access channel (PRACH), a system information block of type 1 (SIB1), or a group common physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). In some implementations, the network node may determine that the first indication indicates that signal forwarding is disabled.

[0009] In some implementations, when the first indication indicates disabling signal forwarding, the network node may ignore the second indication when determining the on / off state of the network node to support signal forwarding, or the wireless communication node may prevent the second indication from being sent to the network node. In some arrangements, at least one of the following: signal forwarding may be disabled for a duration of a time domain resource associated with the first indication, the time domain resource being implicitly determined or explicitly determined, or signal forwarding may remain disabled until another first indication indicating enabling signal forwarding is received.

[0010] In some aspects, the network node may determine that the first indication indicates that signal forwarding is enabled. In some implementations, when the first indication indicates that signal forwarding is enabled, the network node may determine the on / off state of the network node based on an override or change of the second indication to the first indication to enable signal forwarding. In some cases, when the first indication indicates that signal forwarding is enabled, the network node may determine the on / off state of the network node based on the on state of the on / off mode of the common transmission channel.

[0011] In some implementations, the on / off state of the network node may be determined by adding an on portion of an on / off pattern of the common transport channel to a non-overlapping on portion represented by the second indication. In some cases, at least one of the following: signal forwarding may be enabled for a duration of a time domain resource associated with the first indication, the time domain resource being implicitly determined or explicitly determined, or signal forwarding may remain enabled until at least one of another first indication or a second indication is received indicating that signal forwarding is disabled.

[0012] In some arrangements, the first indication may include at least one of the following: a first parameter for configuring the enabling or disabling of signal forwarding, or a second parameter for configuring the time domain resources for enabling or disabling signal forwarding. In some implementations, the second parameter may include at least one of the following: a start time, a mode, a start and length indication value (SLIV), a time offset, a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) index, a duty cycle, a duration, or a periodicity.

[0013] In some implementations, the on / off indication or the second indication may include at least one of the following: an indicator for enabling or disabling signal forwarding; an indicator for enabling or disabling signal forwarding, the indicator being associated with a time domain resource; multiple indicators for enabling or disabling signal forwarding; one or more time domain resources for enabling or disabling signal forwarding; one or more parameters for discontinuous activation of signal forwarding; beam information associated with a time domain resource; beam information not associated with any time domain resource; power control information; or a configuration of discontinuous reception (DRX) of a network node.

[0014] In some implementations, multiple indicators for enabling or disabling signal forwarding may include: a bitmap, wherein if there is a "0" in the bitmap, it indicates that signal forwarding is enabled, and if there is a "1" in the bitmap, it indicates that signal forwarding is disabled; "1" is used for each indicator, wherein each "1" indicates that signal forwarding is enabled; "0" is used for each indicator, wherein each "0" indicates that signal forwarding is disabled; a set of on / off states; or a predefined on / off pattern. In some implementations, each indicator in the multiple indicators is associated with a corresponding configured time domain resource, all indicators in the multiple indicators are associated with the same configured time domain resource, or all indicators in the multiple indicators are associated with a predefined time domain resource.

[0015] In various aspects, the time domain resources may be specified by at least one of: a start time, a pattern, a start and length indication value (SLIV), a time offset, a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) index, a duty cycle, a duration, or a periodicity.

[0016] At least one aspect relates to a system, method, apparatus, or computer-readable medium. A wireless communication node (e.g., a BS or a gNB) may send an on / off indication to a network node (e.g., a SN), so that the network node determines an on / off state of the network node according to the on / off indication to support signal forwarding of one or more signals between the wireless communication node and a wireless communication device (e.g., a UE).

[0017] The systems and methods presented herein include a novel method for on / off state control of a network node. Specifically, the systems and methods presented herein discuss a novel solution for improving the efficiency of a network node (e.g., a SN) (e.g., for extending the coverage of a network) through various implementations of on / off states based on various indications / messages / signals from a BS. For example, the SN may receive / obtain / acquire a first indication / message / signal / information and a second indication from the BS. The SN may determine the on / off state of the SN based on at least one indication.

[0018] The first indication may include at least one of the following types: enabling / disabling the on / off function of the SN FU (e.g., or the full / entire channel forwarding function); enabling / disabling the function of the common channel on / off configuration (e.g., or the common channel forwarding function). The system and method of the technical solution described herein may provide or introduce behaviors / features of the SN FU (or NCR fwd) corresponding to different types of first indications. For example, if the first indication is to enable / disable the entire channel forwarding function, at least one of the following items may be considered or performed:

[0019] ●If the first indication indicates "disabled" (e.g., false, off, or deactivated state), then with associated time domain resources (e.g., the time domain resources can be explicitly or implicitly provided / determined / indicated), within the given time domain resources, the SNFU can remain turned off (e.g., remain in the off state) until the SN CU receives at least one indication (e.g., another first indication) to change the on / off function of the SN (e.g., network node). In this case, the on / off state of the SN FU may not be affected by the second indication.

[0020] ●If the first indication indicates "enabled" (e.g., true, on, or activated, and other interchangeable terms), the SN FU may remain turned on within the given time domain resources, with associated time domain resources (e.g., the time domain resources may be explicitly or implicitly provided / determined / indicated), until the SN receives a second indication. Subsequently, the SN may determine the on / off state based on the second indication and / or the common channel mode. For example, the SN FU may be turned on within or during the common channel mode. Outside the common channel mode, the SN may determine whether it is in the on or off state based on the on / off indication of the second indication.

[0021] In another example, if the first indication enables / disables the common channel forwarding function, at least one of the following items may be performed:

[0022] ●If the first indication indicates disable, false, off, or deactivation, the SN FU may remain in the off state (e.g., the SN FU may not forward common channel signals) within at least one of a given time domain resource and / or common channel mode with associated time domain resources (e.g., the time domain resources may be determined explicitly or implicitly) until the SN receives another first indication. The first indication may indicate a change in the SN common channel forwarding function / state outside of the common channel mode (e.g., with or without a given time domain resource). The on / off state of the SN FU may be determined / configured based on the second indication.

[0023] ●If the first indication indicates enabled, true, on, or activated, the SN FU may remain in the on state (e.g., the SN may forward common channel signals) within a given time domain resource and / or common channel mode with associated time domain resources (e.g., the time domain resources may be determined explicitly or implicitly) until the SN CU receives another first indication. The first indication may indicate that the SN changes its common channel forwarding function. Outside of the common channel mode (e.g., with or without a given time domain resource), the on / off state of the SN FU may be determined based on the second indication. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] Various exemplary embodiments of the present solution are described in detail below with reference to the following figures or drawings. The drawings are provided for illustrative purposes only and depict only exemplary embodiments of the present solution to facilitate the reader's understanding of the present solution. Therefore, the drawings should not be considered as limiting the breadth, scope or applicability of the present solution. It should be noted that for clarity and ease of illustration, these drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.

[0025] Figure 1 An example cellular communication network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown, in which the techniques disclosed herein may be implemented;

[0026] Figure 2 A block diagram showing an example base station and user equipment device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0027] Figure 3 A schematic diagram showing an example network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0028] Figure 4 A schematic diagram showing transmission links between a BS and a SN and between a SN and a UE according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0029] Figure 5 A tree diagram showing an example first on / off state control structure according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0030] Figure 6 A tree diagram showing an example second on / off state control structure according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0031] Figure 7 A graph showing an example single-state indication according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0032] Figure 8 A graph illustrating an example single-state indication associated with a time domain resource according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0033] Fig. 9 a graph showing a first example multi-state indication according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0034] Fig.10 a graph showing a second example multi-state indication according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0035] Fig.11 a graph showing a third example multi-state indication according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0036] Fig.12 A graph showing a first example time domain resource indication according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0037] Fig.13 a graph showing a second example time domain resource indication according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0038] Fig.14 A graph showing an example discontinuous forwarding (DF) pattern with a short DF period and a long DF period according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0039] Fig.15A graph illustrating a first example combination of full and / or common channel forwarding functionality according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0040] Fig.16 a graph illustrating a second example combination of full and / or common channel forwarding functionality according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0041] Fig.17 a graph illustrating a third example combination of full and / or common channel forwarding functionality according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0042] Fig.18 a graph illustrating a fourth example combination of full and / or common channel forwarding functionality according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0043] Fig.19 A flow chart of an example method for on / off state control of a network node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0044] 1. Mobile communication technology and environment

[0045] Figure 1 An example wireless communication network and / or system 100 is shown in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, in which the techniques disclosed herein may be implemented. In the discussion that follows, the wireless communication network 100 may be any wireless network, such as a cellular network or a narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) network, and is referred to herein as “network 100.” Such an example network 100 includes a base station 102 (hereinafter “BS 102”; also referred to as a wireless communication node) and a user equipment device 104 (hereinafter “UE 104”; also referred to as a wireless communication device) that may communicate with each other via a communication link 110 (e.g., a wireless communication channel), and a cluster of cells 126, 130, 132, 134, 136, 138, and 140 covering a geographic area 101. In Figure 1 1 , BS 102 and UE 104 are contained within respective geographic boundaries of cell 126. Each of the other cells 130, 132, 134, 136, 138, and 140 may include at least one base station operating with its allocated bandwidth to provide adequate radio coverage to its intended users.

[0046] For example, BS 102 may operate on an allocated channel transmission bandwidth to provide adequate coverage to UE 104. BS 102 and UE 104 may communicate via downlink radio frames 118 and uplink radio frames 124, respectively. Each radio frame 118 / 124 may be further divided into subframes 120 / 127, which may include data symbols 122 / 128. In the present disclosure, BS 102 and UE 104 are described herein as non-limiting examples of "communication nodes," which may generally practice the methods disclosed herein. According to various embodiments of the present solution, such communication nodes may be capable of wireless and / or wired communication.

[0047] Figure 2 A block diagram of an example wireless communication system 200 for sending and receiving wireless communication signals (e.g., OFDM / OFDMA signals) according to some embodiments of the present solution is shown. The system 200 may include components and elements configured to support known or conventional operating features that need not be described in detail herein. In one illustrative embodiment, as described above, the system 200 may be used in applications such as Figure 1 The wireless communication environment 100 may be used to communicate (eg, transmit and receive) data symbols.

[0048] The system 200 generally includes a base station 202 (hereinafter referred to as "BS 202") and a user equipment device 204 (hereinafter referred to as "UE 204"). The BS 202 includes a BS (base station) transceiver module 210, a BS antenna 212, a BS processor module 214, a BS memory module 216, and a network communication module 218, each of which is coupled to and interconnected with each other via a data communication bus 220 as needed. The UE 204 includes a UE (user equipment) transceiver module 230, a UE antenna 232, a UE memory module 234, and a UE processor module 236, each of which is coupled to and interconnected with each other via a data communication bus 240 as needed. The BS 202 communicates with the UE 204 via a communication channel 250, which may be any wireless channel or other medium suitable for data transmission as described herein.

[0049] As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the system 200 may also include Figure 2Any number of modules outside the modules shown. It will be appreciated 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 according to their functions. Such functions are implemented as hardware, firmware, or software, depending on the specific application and design constraints imposed on the entire system. People familiar with the concepts described herein can implement such functions in a manner suitable for each specific application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the present disclosure.

[0050] According to some embodiments, the UE transceiver 230 may be referred to herein as an "uplink" transceiver 230, which includes a radio frequency (RF) transmitter and an RF receiver, each including circuitry coupled to an antenna 232. A duplex switch (not shown) may alternatively couple the uplink transmitter or receiver to the uplink antenna in a time duplex manner. Similarly, according to some embodiments, the BS transceiver 210 may be referred to herein as a "downlink" transceiver 210, which includes an RF transmitter and an RF receiver, each including circuitry coupled to an antenna 212. The downlink duplex switch may alternatively couple the downlink transmitter or receiver to the downlink antenna 212 in a time duplex manner. The operation of the two transceiver modules 210 and 230 may be coordinated in time such that the uplink receiver circuit is coupled to the uplink antenna 232 so as to receive transmissions over the wireless transmission link 250 while the downlink transmitter is coupled to the downlink antenna 212. Instead, the operation of the two transceivers 210 and 230 may be coordinated in time such that a downlink receiver coupled to downlink antenna 212 receives transmissions over wireless transmission link 250 at the same time as an uplink transmitter coupled to uplink antenna 232. In some embodiments, tight time synchronization with minimal guard times between changes in duplex direction is provided.

[0051] The UE transceiver 230 and the base station transceiver 210 are configured to communicate via a wireless data communication link 250 and cooperate with an appropriately configured RF antenna arrangement 212 / 232 that can support a specific wireless communication protocol and modulation scheme. In some illustrative embodiments, the UE transceiver 210 and the base station transceiver 210 are configured to support industry standards such as long-term evolution (LTE) and emerging 5G standards. However, it should be understood that the present disclosure is not necessarily limited to application to specific standards and related protocols. Instead, the UE transceiver 230 and the base station transceiver 210 can be configured to support alternative or additional wireless data communication protocols, including future standards or variations thereof.

[0052] According to various embodiments, for example, BS202 can be an evolved node B (eNB), a serving eNB, a target eNB, a femtocell or a microcell. In some embodiments, UE 204 can be embodied in various types of user equipment, such as mobile phones, smart phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), tablet computers, laptop computers, wearable computing devices, etc. Processor modules 214 and 236 can be implemented or completed with 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, a discrete gate or transistor logic, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof for performing the functions described herein. In this way, the processor can be implemented as a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a state machine, etc. The processor can 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.

[0053] In addition, the steps of the methods or algorithms described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein may be directly embodied in hardware, in firmware, in software modules executed by the processor modules 214 and 236, respectively, or in any practical combination thereof. The memory modules 216 and 234 may be implemented as RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, removable disk, CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. In this regard, the memory modules 216 and 234 may be coupled to the processor modules 210 and 230, respectively, so that the processor modules 210 and 230 can read information from the memory modules 216 and 234 and write information to the memory modules 216 and 234, respectively. The memory modules 216 and 234 may also be integrated into their respective processor modules 210 and 230. In some embodiments, the memory modules 216 and 234 may each include a cache memory for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during the execution of instructions executed by the processor modules 210 and 230, respectively. Memory modules 216 and 234 may also each include non-volatile memory for storing instructions to be executed by processor modules 210 and 230, respectively.

[0054] The network communication module 218 generally represents the hardware, software, firmware, processing logic and / or other components of the base station 202 that enable bidirectional communication between the base station transceiver 210 and other network components and communication nodes configured to communicate with the base station 202. For example, the network communication module 218 can be configured to support Internet or WiMAX services. In a typical deployment, but not limited to, the network communication module 218 provides an 802.3 Ethernet interface so that the base station transceiver 210 can communicate with a traditional Ethernet-based computer network. In this way, the network communication module 218 can include a physical interface for connecting to a computer network (e.g., a mobile switching center (MSC)). The terms "configured for", "configured to" and their conjugates used herein for a specific operation or function refer to a device, component, circuit, structure, machine, signal, etc. that is physically constructed, programmed, formatted and / or arranged to perform a specific operation or function.

[0055] The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model (referred to herein as the "Open Systems Interconnection Model") is a conceptual and logical layout that defines network communications used by systems (e.g., wireless communication devices, wireless communication nodes) that are open to interconnection and communication with other systems. The model is divided into seven subcomponents or layers, each of which represents a conceptual set of services provided to the layers above and below it. The OSI model also defines a logical network and effectively describes computer packet transmission by using different layer protocols. The OSI model may also be referred to as a seven-layer OSI model or a seven-layer model. In some embodiments, the first layer may be a physical layer. In some embodiments, the second layer may be a medium access control (MAC) layer. In some embodiments, the third layer may be a radio link control (RLC) layer. In some embodiments, the fourth layer may be a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer. In some embodiments, the fifth layer may be a radio resource control (RRC) layer. In some embodiments, the sixth layer may be a non-access (NAS) layer or an Internet Protocol (IP) layer, and the seventh layer is other layers.

[0056] Various exemplary embodiments of the present solution are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings to enable those of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the present solution. It is apparent to those 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 solution. Therefore, the present solution is not limited to the exemplary embodiments and applications described and 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 solution. Therefore, those 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 otherwise expressly stated, the present solution is not limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented.

[0057] 2. System and method for on / off state control of network nodes

[0058] In certain systems (e.g., 5G New Radio (NR), Next Generation (NG) systems, 3GPP systems, and / or other systems), network-controlled repeaters may be introduced as an enhancement to conventional RF repeaters with the ability to receive and / or process auxiliary control information from the network. The auxiliary control information may allow the network-controlled repeater to perform / perform / operate its amplification and forwarding operations in a more efficient manner. Certain benefits may include at least mitigation of unnecessary noise amplification, transmission and reception with better spatial directivity, and / or simplified network integration.

[0059] A network controlled repeater (NCR) can be considered as a stepping stone for a reconfigurable smart surface (RIS). RIS nodes can adjust the phase and amplitude of received signals to improve / enhance coverage (e.g., network communication coverage). As discussed herein, for simplicity, network nodes including but not limited to network controlled repeaters, smart repeaters, reconfigurable smart surfaces (RIS), integrated access and backhaul (IAB) can be represented, referred to, or set as smart nodes (SN) (e.g., network nodes). For example, a SN may include, correspond to, or refer to a network node to help BS 102 improve coverage (e.g., avoid / get around congestion / obstacles, increase transmission range, etc.). However, since the SN is unaware of other SNs, UE 104 may suffer interference from other SNs, such as for cell edge UEs.

[0060] In order to mitigate / minimize / reduce (e.g., unexpected) interference from other SNs, the systems and methods of the technical solutions discussed herein may introduce / provide / utilize more structured (e.g., enhanced) on / off indications and / or signaling. According to at least one of the on / off indication techniques or a combination thereof, the on / off indication may include or indicate various SN behaviors / features / modes. Using on / off state control, the network (e.g., BS102) may explicitly or implicitly indicate / provide the on / off state / condition / indication of one or more SNs, thereby mitigating the potential impact of interference during communication between BS102 and UE 104 through one or more SNs (e.g., network nodes).

[0061] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of an example network 300 is shown. Figure 3 As shown, one or more BSs 102A-B (e.g., BS 102) can provide services to one or more UEs 104A-B (e.g., UE 104) in their respective cells via corresponding one or more SNs 302A-B (e.g., sometimes labeled as SN 302), such as when there is congestion between BS 102 and UE 104. However, in some cases, signals from SN 302 may interfere with communications in adjacent cells. For example, signals from SN 302A may interfere with communications in a cell associated with UE 104B, and / or signals from SN 302B may interfere with communications in a cell associated with UE 104A. Therefore, the systems and methods discussed herein can utilize on / off state control of SNs to at least minimize interference of signals of SN 302 between different cells.

[0062] Figure 4 A schematic diagram 400 of transmission links between BS 102 and SN 302 and between SN 302 and UE 104 is shown. SN 302 may include or consist of at least two functional parts / components, such as a communication unit (CU) (e.g., SN CU) and a forwarding unit (FU) (e.g., SN FU). For example, the SN CU may be a network controlled repeater (NCR) MT. In another example, the SN FU may be an NCR forwarder / forward (Fwd). The SN CU may act as / behave as or include features similar to UE 104, such as receiving and decoding auxiliary control information from BS 102. The SN CU may be a control unit, a controller, a mobile terminal (MT), a part of a UE, a third-party IoT device, etc. The SN FU may use the auxiliary control information received by the SN CU to perform intelligent amplification and forwarding operations. The SN FU may be a radio unit (RU), a RIS, etc.

[0063] like Figure 4 The transmission links shown between BS 102 and SN 302 and between SN 302 and UE 104 may be defined / described / provided as follows:

[0064] C1: Control link from SN CU to BS;

[0065] C2: Control link from BS to SN CU;

[0066] F1: backhaul link from SN FU to BS;

[0067] F2: backhaul link from BS to SN FU;

[0068] F3: Access link from UE to SN FU; and

[0069] F4: Access link from SN FU to UE.

[0070] A control link (e.g., sometimes referred to as a communication link) may refer to or mean that a signal from one side will be detected and decoded by the other side, so that the information transmitted in the control link can be used to control the state of a forwarding link (e.g., a backhaul link and / or an access link). A forwarding link may mean that the SN FU is unaware of the signal from the BS 102 or the UE 104. In this case, the SN FU can amplify and forward the signal without decoding it. For example, the F1 and F3 links may correspond to or be associated with a complete uplink (UL) forwarding link (e.g., a backhaul link and an access link, respectively) from the UE 104 to the BS 102, where F1 is the SN FU UL forwarding link. In addition, the F2 and F4 links may correspond to or be associated with a complete downlink (DL) forwarding link (e.g., a backhaul link and an access link, respectively) from the BS 102 to the UE 104, where F4 is the SN FU DL forwarding link. The F1 and F2 links may correspond to or be referred to as a backhaul link, while the F3 and F4 links may correspond to or be referred to as an access link.

[0071] Example implementation: BS transmits an on / off indication to SN CU and determines the on / off state of SN FU based on the indication

[0072] In various arrangements, SN 302 (e.g., a network node) may receive one or more indications (e.g., a first indication and / or a second indication) from BS 102 (e.g., a gNB or a wireless communication node). Subsequently, SN 302 may determine the on / off state of SN 302 based on at least one of the one or more indications. For example, one or more indications may refer to a message or signal transmitted from BS 102 to SN 302. In some cases, one or more indications may be included in one message. In some other cases, the indications may be included in different messages, such as a first indication corresponding to a first message and a second indication corresponding to a second message. In some other cases, multiple messages may be part of a single message or combined into a single message. Although BS 102 provides two indications to SN 302, multiple additional indications (e.g., in addition to the two indications) may be provided to SN 302 depending on the configuration of BS 102, SN 302, and / or UE 104, and other devices within the network.

[0073] In various embodiments, the first indication may include at least one of the following types:

[0074] 1. Enable / disable the on / off function of the SN FU (e.g., the entire channel forwarding function, sometimes referred to as all transmitted channels), and / or

[0075] 2. Enable / disable the function of common channel on / off configuration (for example, common channel forwarding function, sometimes called common transmission channel).

[0076] The first indication may indicate whether a signal forwarding function of a channel is enabled (or disabled), such as a common transmission channel (e.g., a common channel) and / or a channel for all transmissions (e.g., an entire channel). As discussed herein, a common channel may include at least one of a synchronization signal block (SSB), a control resource set (CORESET) #0, a physical random access channel (PRACH), a system information block of type 1 (SIB1), and / or a group common physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), etc. In addition, the term / phrase "common channel on / off configuration" or "SN is turned on in common channel mode" may refer to at least one of F1-F4 (or Fc1-Fc4, corresponding to forwarding functions 1-4) of SN 302 being turned on, activated, or enabled in or during a common channel mode (e.g., during an on state indicated by the common channel mode).

[0077] For example, in SSB and / or CORESET#0 mode, forwarding links 2 and 4 of SN 302 may be turned on. In SIB1 transmission mode, forwarding links 2 and 4 may be turned on. In group common PDCCH transmission mode, forwarding links 2 and 4 may be turned on. In PRACH mode, forwarding links 1 and 3 may be turned on. SN 302 (e.g., SN CU) may receive an on / off indication (e.g., including at least one of the first indication and / or the second indication) from BS 102. Subsequently, SN 302 may update / change / adjust / configure the on / off state of the SN FU in an epoch time (e.g., "t") according to the on / off indication. For example, the on / off indication may include or indicate at least one of the following:

[0078] The start time of the next subframe after the SN 302 receives the indication (e.g., at least one of the first indication and / or the second indication);

[0079] ● SN 302 receives the end of the indicated subframe;

[0080] The start time of the next frame after SN 302 receives the indication;

[0081] ● SN 302 receives the indicated end of frame;

[0082] The start time of the next time slot after the SN 302 receives the indication;

[0083] SN 302 receives the end of the indicated time slot;

[0084] The start time of the subframe, indicated by the system frame number (SFN) and the subframe number signaled together with the on / off indication;

[0085] ● The start time of the frame, indicated by the SFN signaled together with the on / off indication;

[0086] ●The end of the SI window;

[0087] ● A time instance (e.g., a time period or time instant) defined / provided in a specification, e.g., SFN0, SFN512, etc. SFN0 may refer to the first frame in a superframe, and SFN512 may refer to the 513th frame in a superframe, where a superframe may include 1024 frames;

[0088] ● after receiving a fixed duration (e.g., a time offset predetermined by or configured according to the specification) between the indicated SN 302 and the epoch time. The duration or time offset may be at least one of a frame level, a subframe level, a symbol level, a slot level, and / or a ms level, such as 1 frame, 1 subframe, 1 slot, 1 symbol, and / or 1 ms, etc.;

[0089] • after a duration or time offset between the time when the indication was received by the SN 302 and the epoch time based on the capabilities / support / configuration of the SN 302;

[0090] ●After SN 302 receives the duration or time offset between the indicated time and the epoch time, the epoch time can be configured by BS 102 through at least one of downlink control information (DCI) signaling, medium access control control element (MAC CE) signaling, radio resource control (RRC) and / or operation, administration and maintenance (OAM) signaling, etc.

[0091] SN FU behavior / characteristics – entire channel (i.e., all transmitted channels)

[0092] refer to Figure 5 , depicts a tree diagram 500 of an example first on / off state control structure (eg, for the entire channel). In various arrangements, the behavior / features of the SN FU (or NCR Fwd) corresponding to different types of first indications may be combined with at least Figure 5 For example, SN 302 may receive a first indication (502) from BS 102. The first indication may be used to enable or disable the entire channel forwarding function (eg, signal forwarding of all transmitted channels).

[0093] In some implementations, the first indication may indicate a state of disabling (e.g., false, off, or deactivated, etc.) the entire channel forwarding function (e.g., disabling signal forwarding of the entire / entire channel) (514). The first indication may be associated with a time domain resource or may not be associated with the time domain resource. The time domain resource may be explicitly determined / indicated / provided or implicitly determined. For example, within / during the provided / given / determined time domain resource (e.g., the duration of the time domain resource associated with the first indication), the SN FU may be maintained / remained in an off / disabled state (516). In some cases, the SN FU may be turned off until the duration of the time domain resource expires / ends. In this case, the SN FU may be enabled in response to a time exceeding / passing the determined duration. Additionally or alternatively, in some cases, the SN FU may maintain a disabled state until the SN CU receives another indication (e.g., another first indication, such as in a separate message) to adjust / change / modify the on / off function of the SN 302. For example, the SN FU may remain in the disabled state until another indication (e.g., an indication of the on state) changes the on / off state of the SN 302. In various implementations, as shown, because the first indication is used to disable the entire channel forwarding function, the on / off state of the SN FU may not be affected by the second indication (e.g., at operation 508). Therefore, in various arrangements where the first indication is used to disable signal forwarding of all transmitted channels, the SN 302 may ignore the second indication, reject the second indication, and / or the BS 102 may not signal / send / provide the second indication to the SN 302, such as during the duration of the time domain resource. In this case, for example, the on / off indication may include only the first indication, such as without the second indication.

[0094] In various arrangements, the first indication may indicate that signal forwarding of the entire channel (e.g., forwarding functionality of all transmitted channels) is enabled (504). Similarly, in some cases, the first indication may be associated with time domain resources, which may be explicitly or implicitly determined. For example, the implicit and / or explicit determination of time domain resources may be based on the configuration / support / capability of the SN 302 and / or BS 102.

[0095] In some implementations, within the time domain resources, the SN FU may maintain an activated state (506). The SN FU may be turned on within a common channel (e.g., according to a common channel mode). In some implementations, the SN FU may be turned on until the SN 302 receives a second indication. For example, the SN 302 may receive a second indication (e.g., as part of the same message or a different message that includes the first indication) (508), which may indicate different on / off state modes of the SN FU. The SN 302 may determine the on / off state based on at least one of the second indication and / or the common channel mode (e.g., the SN FU may remain turned on within the common channel mode, outside the common channel mode (e.g., a UE dedicated channel), and / or the on / off state of the SN 302 may be determined based on the on / off indication indicated in the second indication).

[0096] In some implementations, the SN 302 may receive an explicit indication of an on / off state outside of a mode associated with the second indication (510). The explicit indication may include at least one of a single-state indication, a multi-state indication, a DF mode, etc. In some implementations, the SN 302 may receive an implicit indication of an on / off state (512). For example, the SN 302 may determine the on / off state of the SN FU outside of the mode based on the implicit indication. The implicit indication may include at least one of power control (e.g., determined based on or according to power control), beam information, and / or a discontinuous reception (DRX) mode of the SN CU, etc.

[0097] SN FU Behavior / Characteristics - Common Channels (e.g., Common Transport Channels)

[0098] refer to Figure 6 , depicting a tree diagram of an example second on / off state control structure (e.g., for a common channel) 600. In various arrangements, a first indication may represent enabling (e.g., turning on or activating) or disabling (e.g., turning off or deactivating) a forwarding function (e.g., signal forwarding) of a common channel (e.g., a common transport channel) (602).

[0099] In some cases, the first indication may represent disabling (e.g., a false state, an off state, a deactivated state, etc.) of a common channel forwarding function (608). In some cases, SN 302 may determine a time domain resource associated with the first indication (e.g., sent from BS102 in the same or different signal). The time domain resource may be determined via an explicit indication or an implicit indication. Within or during the time domain resource, the SN FU may be turned off according to the common channel mode (610). During the off state, the SN FU may not forward the common channel signal until the SN FU is turned on / activated. For example, the SN FU may remain turned off until at least one of the following: the SN 302 (e.g., the SN CU) receives another first indication (or another indication) to change the common channel forwarding function; the on / off state of the SN FU outside the common channel mode may be determined according to the second indication.

[0100] In some implementations, the first indication may represent enabling (e.g., an activation state, a true state, an on state, etc.) the SN FU (e.g., a common channel forwarding function) (604). In some cases, the SN 302 may receive or determine the associated time domain resources (e.g., associated with the first indication, which may be via a table lookup operation). The time domain resources may be implicitly or explicitly determined. In this case, within the time domain resources, the SN FU may be turned on (e.g., enabled, for forwarding common channel signals) according to the common channel mode (606). The SN FU may be turned on until the SN CU receives another first indication to change its common channel forwarding function. In various aspects, the on / off state of the SN FU outside the common channel mode may be determined based on the second indication.

[0101] For example, SN 302 may receive a second indication (e.g., in the same message as the first indication or in a different message) indicating an on / off state of the SN FU outside the common channel (612). The on / off state may be indicated by an explicit indication or an implicit indication. SN 302 may include a capability or be configured to support determining the on / off state of the SN FU via an implicit indication, which may be controlled / indicated by BS 102.

[0102] Contents of the first instruction

[0103] The first indication may be carried in at least one of an RRC message (e.g., via RRC establishment, RRC configuration, RRC reconfiguration and / or RRC release, etc.), a MAC CE and / or a DCI, and other signaling. The content / information / indication of the first indication may include at least one of the following:

[0104] 1) Parameters for configuring the on / off state, such as an enabled / true / on / activated state or a disabled / false / off / deactivated state. Time domain resources may not be included in or associated with this parameter. Because time domain resources are not included, this implies that the on or off state may be applied to the SN FU until the SN CU receives the next indication (e.g., another first indication via RRC reconfiguration and other signaling).

[0105] 2) A first parameter for configuring at least one of an on state or an off state of the SN FU (e.g., configuring enablement or disablement of signal forwarding) and a second parameter for configuring associated time domain resources (e.g., time domain resources for enablement or disablement of signal forwarding). The first parameter and the second parameter may be part of the same indication from BS 102.

[0106] a. The second parameter (e.g., configuring time domain resources) may include at least one of a start time, a mode, a start and length indication value (SLIV), a time offset, a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) index, a duty cycle, a duration and / or a periodicity, etc.

[0107] b. Based on the associated time domain resources in the second parameter, the first parameter (eg, indication of an on state or an off state) may be applied to the SN FU.

[0108] 3) Parameters used to configure time domain resources

[0109] a. Where the parameter is provided or included as part of the first indication, the parameter may include at least one of a start time, a mode, a SLIV, a time offset, a TDRA index, a duty cycle, a duration and / or a periodicity, etc.

[0110] b. For example, an explicit on / off state indication may not be included as part of the first indication. In this case, the on or off state may be incorporated into the time domain resource indication so that the first indication includes the time domain resource without an explicit on / off state indication. Within the time domain resource, the entire channel forwarding function and / or the common channel forwarding function may be enabled. Within the time domain resource may refer to during the duration of the time domain resource. Outside the time domain resource, the entire channel forwarding function and / or the common channel forwarding function may be disabled. Outside the time domain resource may refer to outside the duration of the time domain resource.

[0111] Contents of the Second Instruction

[0112] The second indication may be carried / included / contained in at least one of an RRC signal / message (e.g., via RRC establishment, RRC configuration, RRC reconfiguration, and / or RRC release), a MAC CE, and / or a DCI. The on / off indication of the second indication may not affect the common channel forwarding function. In some implementations, in the case / scenario where the second indication is not considered when determining the on / off state of the SN FU (e.g., based on the first indication for at least one of the entire channel or the common channel forwarding function), the BS 102 may not send the second indication, or the SN 302 may ignore the second indication. In various arrangements, the content of the second indication may include at least one of the following:

[0113] 1) An explicit indication, which may include or correspond to at least one of the following:

[0114] a. Single on / off status indication / indicator. A single on / off status indication may indicate whether to change (or in some cases, maintain) the status of the SN FU to on / enabled / activated or off / disabled / deactivated (e.g., changing the on / off status of the SN 302). For example, the single on / off status indication / indicator may not affect common channel forwarding.

[0115] i. Because a single on / off state indication does not include or is not associated with time domain resources, the on or off state can be implied to be continuously applied to SN 302, such as until SN 302 receives a next indication (e.g., a next first indication via an RRC message) or another second indication (e.g., via DCI).

[0116] ii. For example, Figure 7 A graph 700 of an example single state indication is shown. As shown, when the SN FU is off and the SNCU receives a single state indication indicating an on state, at an epoch time (e.g., at Figure 7 In the example shown as a left arrow at the epoch time of the on / off indication, such as the time when the on / off indication is applied to SN 302), the SN FU may be activated until the epoch time of another single state indication (e.g., shown as a right arrow). Upon receiving another single state indication (e.g., indicating a deactivated state), the SN FU may be deactivated at the epoch time of the other single state indication.

[0117] b. A single on / off state indication / indicator associated with a time domain resource. In some implementations, the single on / off state may represent an on or off state to change the on / off state of non-common channel signal (or UE-specific signal) forwarding of SN 302. The single on / off state indication does not affect common channel forwarding. The time domain resource may be configured by at least one of a start time, a mode, a SLIV, a time offset, a TDRA index, a duty cycle, a duration, and / or a periodicity, etc.

[0118] i. For example, Figure 8 Graph 800 shows an example single-state indication associated with a time domain resource. When a SN FU is deactivated and a SN CU receives a single-state indication indicating activation of a SN FU associated with a time domain resource, the SN FU may be turned on (e.g., at least Figure 8 The position of the arrow in refers to the epoch time of the on / off indication, such as the time at which the on / off indication applies to SN 302. SN 302 may maintain an active or on state for the duration of the time domain resource. After the duration of the time domain resource, SN 302 may be deactivated or turned off.

[0119] c. Multiple on / off state indications, each on / off state indication is associated with a time domain resource. Each on / off state indication can represent an on state or an off state, such as changing the activation / deactivation state of the signal forwarding of SN 302. Each of the multiple on / off state indications does not affect the common channel forwarding. For example, multiple switch states can be carried / included / provided in a bitmap (for example, [11011001] is an 8-bit bitmap, where 1 can represent an on state and 0 can represent an off state, or vice versa). Although this example includes an 8-bit bitmap with a specific pattern, another bitmap with more or fewer bits can be configured / used. In another example, multiple on / off states can be represented as all 1s (e.g., in each time domain resource, the SN FU can be activated (e.g., the forwarding function is activated), and outside these time domain resources, the SN FU can be deactivated (e.g., the forwarding function is deactivated). In some cases, an additional bit (e.g., 1 bit) can represent 0 or 1 for various multiple on / off states. In some other cases, for example, multiple on / off states can be predefined as all 1s or all 0s. In various aspects, each state (e.g., on / off state) can correspond to a time domain resource (e.g., non-contiguous time domain resources, time slot 1 corresponds to state 1, time slots 5 and 6 correspond to state 2, etc.). In this case, the indication can include a group of time domain resources (e.g., non-contiguous time domain resources) such that each time domain resource can refer to the same predefined or configured on / off state (e.g., 0 or 1).

[0120] i. In some implementations, multiple on / off states may be carried in a pattern. In some cases, there may be multiple predefined patterns (e.g., using a bitmap and / or a set of multiple states). In this case, in the indication, the BS 102 may configure the pattern index for the SN 302. In some other cases, the mode may be indicated (e.g., directly) by a set of multiple states. For example, the set may be ['on', 'on', 'off', 'on', 'off', etc.], which may be another type / kind of indicator similar to a bitmap.

[0121] ii. In some cases, each on / off state may be associated with a time domain resource. In some implementations, the time domain resource may be the same for each on / off state. For example, the indication (e.g., at least one of the multiple on / off state indications) may include a single time domain resource configured by BS102. A single time domain resource may be applied to more than one of the multiple switch states. In this case, the time domain resource may be configured by at least one of a start time, a mode, a SLIV, a time offset, a TDRA index, a duty cycle, a duration, and / or a periodicity, etc. In some cases, the time domain resource may be predefined / indicated in the specification, such as 1 time slot, 1 ms, 1 frame, and / or 1 subframe, etc.

[0122] iii. For example, Fig. 9 A graph 900 of a first example multi-state indication is shown. The time domain resources may be configured by duration and / or periodicity of each duration portion / portion / segment. Within or during the duration of the corresponding period, the corresponding state of the SN FU may be on (e.g., an activated state). Outside the duration of the corresponding period, the SN FU may be off (e.g., a deactivated state).

[0123] iv. In another example, Fig.10 A graph 1000 of a second example multi-state indication is shown. A time domain resource may be configured by at least one SLIV or a set of SLIVs (e.g., including a start time and / or a length / duration). Each SLIV may correspond to a respective time domain resource. For each configured time domain resource, a SN FU may be activated or turned on, such as during the duration of the time domain resource, such as denoted as t1, t2, t3, etc., as shown in FIG. Fig.10 Outside the duration (eg, outside t1, t2 and / or t3), the SN FU may be deactivated.

[0124] v. In yet another example, Fig.11A graph 1100 of a third example multi-state indication is shown. In this case, the time domain resource may be configured by a set of SLIVs (e.g., including a start time and a length). Each SLIV may correspond to a corresponding time domain resource. For each configured time domain resource (e.g., represented as t1, t2, t3, t4, t5, t6, etc., as shown in FIG. 1 ), the time domain resource may be configured by a set of SLIVs (e.g., including a start time and a length). Each SLIV may correspond to a corresponding time domain resource. Fig.11 As shown in the bitmap), the on / off state can be represented by the corresponding 0 or 1 in the bitmap. For simplicity, 1 can represent the active / activated state, and 0 can represent the inactive / deactivated state. In this case, the bitmap can be [010101...], so that the SN FU can be turned on in the time domain resources corresponding to 1 in the bitmap, and / or turned off in the time domain resources corresponding to 0. SLIV can indicate the start time of at least one of the activation state and / or deactivation state of the SN FU. SLIV can indicate the duration of the activation state and / or deactivation state of the SN FU.

[0125] d. One or more time domain resources. The time domain resource may be configured or associated with at least one of a start time, a mode, a SLIV, a time offset, a TDRA index, a duty cycle, a duration, and / or a periodicity. In this case, the time domain resource may not be associated with an explicit on / off state indication. Therefore, the on / off state (e.g., an indication of the on / off state) may be included in the time domain resource indication. For example, the second indication may include one or more time domain resources. Within the time domain resource, the forwarding function may be activated (e.g., based on the configuration of at least one of the SN 302 and / or the BS 102). Outside the time domain resource, the forwarding function may be deactivated.

[0126] i. Fig.12 A graph 1200 of a first example time domain resource indication is shown. For example, the time domain resource may be configured by a duration and a periodicity (e.g., a period in a cycle). Each periodicity may correspond to a duration portion / portion. The state corresponding to the duration (e.g., within the duration) may be on (e.g., based on a default configuration, such as no explicit state indication). Thus, the SN FU may be on within the duration and / or off outside the duration.

[0127] ii. In another example, Fig.13A graph 1300 of a second example time domain resource indication is shown. A time domain resource may be configured by a set of SLIVs (e.g., including a start time and a length / duration). Each SLIV may correspond to a corresponding time domain resource. For each configured time domain resource, the corresponding state within the duration may default to an activated state (e.g., without an explicit state indication). Thus, the SN FU may be activated during / within the duration of the time domain resource (e.g., activated at the start time of the corresponding duration), and / or deactivated outside the duration (e.g., deactivated at the end time of the corresponding duration). As shown, the duration may correspond to t1, t2, t3, etc.

[0128] e. DF mode (e.g., similar to discontinuous reception (DRX) mode). In DF mode, the forwarding function of SN 302 may be discontinuously enabled / activated by configuring one or more parameters. For example, Fig.14 Graphs of example DF modes with short DF cycles (e.g., graph 1400) and long DF cycles (e.g., graph 1402) are shown. For example, in a DF mode with a short cycle, the SN FU may be activated (e.g., turned on) more frequently than in a long cycle. At least one of the following parameters may be configured to enable the discontinuous forwarding function of the SN 302:

[0129] -df-onDurationTimer: duration of the start / beginning of the DF cycle;

[0130] -df-SlotOffset: Delay time before starting df-onDurationTimer;

[0131] -df-InactivityTimer: duration after a PDCCH event, where PDCCH indicates a new UL or DL ​​transmission by the MAC entity;

[0132] -df-RetransmissionTimerDL (e.g., each DL Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) process except the broadcast process): maximum duration before a DL retransmission is received;

[0133] -df-RetransmissionTimerUL (e.g., per UL HARQ process): maximum duration before receiving a grant / acknowledgement / confirmation / approval for a UL retransmission;

[0134] -df-LongCycleStartOffset: long DF cycle and / or df-StartOffset, this can indicate the subframe where the long and / or short DF cycle starts;

[0135] -df-ShortCycle: short DF cycle (e.g., may or may not be part of the parameters);

[0136] -df-ShortCycleTimer: duration / length that the UE 104 follows the short DF cycle (e.g., may or may not be part of the parameters);

[0137] -df-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL (e.g., each DL HARQ process except the broadcast process): minimum duration before which the MAC entity expects a DL allocation of a HARQ retransmission;

[0138] -df-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL (per UL HARQ process): minimum duration before the MAC entity expects a UL HARQ retransmission grant;

[0139] -ps-Wakeup: Starts the configuration of the associated df-onDurationTimer, such as in the case where the DCP is monitored but not detected (e.g., may or may not be part of the parameters);

[0140] -ps-TransmitOtherPeriodicCSI (e.g., may or may not be part of the parameters): Configuration to report periodic channel state information (CSI) that is not level 1 (L1) on the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) during the duration indicated by df-onDurationTimer - Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), such as when a dynamic control point (DCP) (e.g., DCI with cyclic redundancy check (CRC) scrambled by Power Saving Radio Network Temporary Identity (PS-RNTI)) is configured but the associated df-onDurationTimer is not started;

[0141] -ps-TransmitPeriodicL1-RSRP (eg, may or may not be part of the parameters): Configuration to transmit periodic CSI on PUCCH, which is L1-RSRP, during the duration indicated by df-onDurationTimer, e.g., when DCP is configured but the associated df-onDurationTimer is not started.

[0142] 2) Implicit indication, which may include at least one of the following:

[0143] a. Implicit determination through beam information

[0144] i. In some implementations, beam information (e.g., in RRC, MAC CE and / or DCI, such as provided / indicated in the second indication) may be associated with a time domain resource. In this case, the beam information may imply that the SN FU is configured to be activated / turned on within the time domain resource. For example, based on this implicitness, the SN FU may be activated (or maintained in an activated state, depending on the previous state) within the associated time domain resource. The SN FU may become off or deactivated after the time domain resource (e.g., outside the duration of the time domain resource). The time domain resource may be configured by at least one of a start time, a mode, a SLIV, a time offset, a TDRA index, a duty cycle, a duration and / or a periodicity, etc.

[0145] ii. In some implementations, the beam information may not be associated with the time domain resources. In this case, based on the beam information, it may be implied that the SN FU may be activated. For example, the SN FU may be turned on (or remain on, depending on the previous state) until the next on / off indication (e.g., off state indication) is received.

[0146] iii. In various aspects, the beam information may not be associated with time domain resources. In this case, the beam information may imply that the SN FU is configured to be activated until a predefined / predetermined / configured duration / period / length. For example, the SN FU may be turned on (or remain on, depending on the previous state) for a predetermined duration, such as 1 timeslot, 1 subframe, 1 frame, 1 ms and / or 1 symbol. After the duration, the SN FU may be deactivated.

[0147] b. Implicit determination through power control information

[0148] i. In various arrangements, the implicit indication may be determined by a power control value or a value related to the transmission power control of the SN FU (e.g., a transmission control protocol (TCP) command, etc.). The power control value may correspond to at least one of an absolute power control value (e.g., the exact power used by the SN FU) and / or a relative power control value (such as a deviation of the power control value). The deviation value may be added to the current power of the SN FU so that the accumulated value may be the transmission power of the SN FU (e.g., the relative power control value).

[0149] ii. In some implementations, the power control value may include at least one of a value of a DCI field, an RRC parameter, and / or a MAC CE. The DCI field may be used to reinterpret the TCP command field and / or a new DCI field that defines / indicates / provides a power control value for the SN FU. For example, if the power control value (e.g., the value of the DCI field) and / or the cumulative power control value (e.g., the value of the DCI field added to the current power of the SN FU) is greater than or equal to a predefined / predetermined value X (e.g., a threshold power control value), the power control value and / or the cumulative power control value may indicate activation of signal forwarding (e.g., turning on the SN FU). Otherwise, the power control value or the cumulative power control value may indicate deactivation of signal forwarding. The predefined value X may be predefined / configured / preset by / via RRC and / or OAM signaling, in addition to other types of signaling.

[0150] iii. In some cases, a predefined value X (e.g., a threshold) may be provided / fixed / configured in the specification. In some cases, the predefined value X may be 0, so that if the power control value (e.g., the value of the DCI field) and / or the cumulative power control value (e.g., the value of the DCI field added to the current power of the SN FU) is 0, the power control value and / or the cumulative power control value may indicate deactivation of signal forwarding. Otherwise, the power control value and / or the cumulative power control value (e.g., if greater than 0) may indicate activation of signal forwarding. The activation or deactivation state of the forwarding signal may be maintained until the SN CU receives a next indication indicating a different state (e.g., the next second indication, or in some cases, the first indication).

[0151] c. Implicit determination of DRX mode of SN CU (or NCR MT)

[0152] i. When the SN CU is in DRX mode (e.g., power saving mode, extended DRX (e-DRX) mode, etc.), the SN FU may be turned on (e.g., activating the forwarding function of the SN) during the active time (or "on" duration) of the DRX mode. Outside the active time of the DRX mode (e.g., outside the "on" duration), the SN FU may be turned off (e.g., deactivating the forwarding function of the SN).

[0153] Example of combination of signaling for indication

[0154] In various arrangements, different combinations of signaling technologies / methods may be used to carry the first indication and the second indication, configured to determine the on / off state of the SN 302 (e.g., SN FU). Some examples may include at least the following:

[0155] 1) The first indication may be carried in an RRC message / signaling, and the second indication may be carried in a DCI signaling.

[0156] 2) The first indication may be carried in RRC signaling, and the second indication may be carried in RRC signaling.

[0157] 3) The first indication may be carried in RRC signaling, and the second indication may be carried in MAC CE signaling.

[0158] 4) The first indication may be carried in DCI signaling, and the second indication may be carried in DCI signaling.

[0159] 5) The first indication may be carried in MAC CE signaling, and the second indication may be carried in DCI signaling.

[0160] Other combinations of signaling methods for carrying (eg, among other indications) the first indication and the second indication may be considered / provided, and are not limited to the combinations indicated in the aforementioned examples.

[0161] Combination of SN behaviors / characteristics of the first and second indications

[0162] In various arrangements, different combinations of features / behaviors may be configured for the SN 302. For example, the first indication may disable (e.g., the SN 302 may determine that the first indication indicates disabling) the entire forwarding function, and the second indication may not affect the on / off state or the forwarding function (e.g., not take effect). In this case, the first indication may disable the entire forwarding function, so that the SN FU may remain in the off state until the SN CU receives another indication (e.g., another first indication or message). In various aspects, because the second indication may not be utilized or may not affect the on / off state, in this case, the SN CU may not receive the second indication (e.g., the BS 102 may not transmit the second indication). In some implementations, because the second indication does not affect the on / off state, in this case, if the second indication is received from the BS 102, the SN CU may ignore the second indication, so that the on / off state indication from the second indication is not effective.

[0163] In another example, the first indication may disable the common channel forwarding function (e.g., signal forwarding of the common transport channel), and the second message may change the on / off state of the SN FU outside the common channel mode. Fig.15, graphs 1500, 1502, 1504 of example combinations of entire and / or common channel forwarding functions are depicted. For example, a first indication may represent disabling of the common channel forwarding function, as shown in graph 1500. In graph 1500, "on" represents disabling of the forwarding function. Thus, the SN FU may be turned off (e.g., represented as "on" in graph 1500) within the common channel mode, such as until the SN CU receives another indication (e.g., the first indication). Graph 1502 may include a mode provided by a second indication. As shown, in graph 1504, the modes of the first indication and the second indication may be combined. Because the second indication may not change the state of the SN 302 within the common channel mode, the disabled mode from the first indication may be reflected in the final on / off state of the SN 302. In addition to the mode from the first indication, the activated mode from the second indication may be applied to the final on / off state of the SN 302, as shown in graph 1504.

[0164] In various examples, the first indication may indicate enabling the entire channel forwarding function and / or the common channel forwarding function, and the second indication may include a single state indication. In this case, if the first indication enables the entire channel forwarding function and / or the common channel forwarding function, the SN FU may be turned on or remain on within the common channel mode until the SN CU receives another indication (e.g., the first indication). In this case, the second indication may not change / alter the state of the SN FU within the common channel mode (e.g., the “on” state). Outside the common channel mode, the on / off state of the SN FU may be determined based on the on / off indication of the second indication (e.g., or the “on” indication). For example, Fig.16 Graphs 1600, 1602, 1604 of another example combination of overall and / or common channel forwarding functions are shown. Graph 1600 may include a common channel mode (e.g., marked as "on", such as including an SSB mode, a PRACH mode, etc.) for enabling the SN FU from a first indication. Graph 1602 may include an on / off indication of a second indication (e.g., a single-state on / off indication). Based on a combination of the first mode and the second mode from the first indication and the second indication, respectively, the final on / off state of the SN 302 may be shown in graph 1604, such that the PRACH mode from the first indication is extended according to the on / off indication from the second indication (e.g., a portion outside the common channel mode activates the SN FU according to the second indication).

[0165] In a further example, the first indication may indicate enabling the entire channel forwarding function and / or the common channel forwarding function, and the second indication may include a multi-state on / off indication (eg, or an on indication). Fig.17, graphs 1700, 1702, 1704 of example combinations of entire and / or common channel forwarding functions are depicted. In various aspects, the first indication may represent enabling / activating the entire channel forwarding function and / or the common channel forwarding function. Based on the first indication, the SN FU may be turned on in the common channel mode (e.g., shown as an "on" mode in graph 1700) until the SN CU receives another first indication. In this case, the second indication may not change the state of the SN FU in the common channel mode. Outside the common channel mode, the on / off state of the SN FU may be determined based on the on / off indication of the second indication (e.g., the "on" indication or mode), for example, in graph 1702. The final on / off state of the SN 302 may be a combination of the modes from the first indication and the second indication. Therefore, in this example, based on the multi-state on / off indication of the second indication, the activation state indicated by the mode from the first indication may be extended (or additional activation state occurrences may be added), as shown in graph 1704.

[0166] In some examples, the first indication may indicate enabling of the entire channel forwarding function and / or the common channel forwarding function, and the second indication may include a DF mode indication. Fig.18 Graphs 1800, 1802, 1804 of example combinations of the entire and / or common channel forwarding functions are shown. For example, if the first indication indicates that the entire channel forwarding function and / or the common channel forwarding function are enabled, the SN FU may be turned on in the common channel mode, such as until the SN CU receives another first indication. The common channel mode of the first indication may be shown in the graph 1800. In this case, the second indication may not change the state of the SN FU in the common channel mode. Instead, the second indication may change / alter the state of the SN FU outside the common channel mode (e.g., outside the "on" mode of the graph 1800) according to the on / off indication of the second indication. For example, outside the common channel mode, the on / off state of the SN FU may be determined / configured according to the on / off indication of the second indication (e.g., shown in the graph 1802). Therefore, based on the combination of the mode of the first indication and the indication of the second indication (e.g., "on" or "activated"), the "on" state indication of the first indication and the second indication may be combined to provide the final on / off state of the SN 302, as shown in the graph 1804. Other combinations of SN behaviors for the first indication and the second indication may be considered / configured / utilized and are not limited to the above examples.

[0167] Reference now Fig.19 , a flowchart of a method 1900 for controlling the on / off state of a network node is shown. The method 1900 may be used in conjunction with the present invention. Figures 1 to 18In general, method 1900 may include sending an on / off indication (1902). Method 1900 may include receiving an on / off indication (1904). Method 1900 may include determining an on / off state (1906).

[0168] Referring now to operation (1902), and in some implementations, a wireless communication node (e.g., a BS or a gNB) may send / transmit / provide / signal an on / off indication to a network node (e.g., a SN). The on / off indication may include at least one of a first indication and / or a second indication. For example, if the on / off indication includes one indication, the on / off indication may correspond to or refer to the first indication. Subsequently, referring to operation (1904), the network node may receive / obtain / acquire the on / off indication from the wireless communication node.

[0169] For example, based on the first indication and / or the second indication, the wireless communication node can cause the network node to determine its on / off state to support signal forwarding. Signal forwarding can be performed between various devices within the network, such as from a wireless communication node to a wireless communication device (e.g., UE), from a wireless communication device to a wireless communication node, from a wireless communication node broadcasting in various directions (e.g., to multiple devices), and / or from a wireless communication device to identify one or more other devices (or wireless communication nodes), etc. Therefore, the on / off indication can reduce interference between network nodes and improve the energy efficiency of each network node, which is used to improve signal coverage within the network. For example, a semi-static indication (e.g., a first indication) can improve energy efficiency (e.g., energy saving), and / or a dynamic indication (e.g., a second indication) can be configured for wireless communication device-specific scheduling of signal transmission or communication.

[0170] In various arrangements, the network node may receive at least one (or both) of the first indication and / or the second indication via at least one or a combination of: at least one downlink control information (DCI) signaling, at least one medium access control control element (MAC CE) signaling, at least one radio resource control (RRC) and / or at least one operation, administration and maintenance (OAM) signaling. In some cases, the first indication and the second indication may be received in a single message or in multiple messages.

[0171] In some implementations, the first indication may indicate whether signal forwarding is enabled for at least one of the following: a common transport channel (e.g., a common channel) and / or a channel for all transmissions (e.g., an entire channel). The common transport channel may include at least one of the following: a synchronization signal block (SSB), a control resource set (CORESET) #0, a physical random access channel (PRACH), a system information block of type 1 (SIB1), and / or a group common physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), etc.

[0172] Referring now to operation (1906), in response to receiving the on / off indication or after receiving the on / off indication, the network node may determine the on / off state of the network node based on the on / off indication. By determining the on / off state of the network node based on the on / off indication, the network node may be configured / activated / turned on to support signal forwarding of one or more signals between the wireless communication node and the wireless communication device.

[0173] In various arrangements, the on / off state may include at least one of the following: an on / off state of a network node, an on / off state of a group of network nodes (e.g., a plurality of network nodes), an on / off state of one or more antenna ports of a network node, an on / off state of one or more beam indices of a network node, an on / off state of one or more service sectors of a network node, and / or an on / off state of one or more components of a network node. In some implementations, the on / off state may include an on / off state of at least one of the following links: a first communication link from a wireless communication node to a network node (e.g., C2), a second communication link from a network node to a wireless communication node (e.g., C1), a first forwarding link from a wireless communication node to a network node (e.g., F2), a second forwarding link from a network node to a wireless communication node (e.g., F1), a third forwarding link from a network node to a wireless communication device (e.g., F4), and / or a fourth forwarding link from a wireless communication device to a network node (e.g., F3).

[0174] In some implementations, the network node may determine that the first indication indicates disabling / turning off signal forwarding (e.g., forwarding functionality). The first indication may refer to the entire channel transmission. In some implementations, the first indication may refer to common channel transmission. For example, when the first indication indicates disabling signal forwarding, the network node may ignore the second indication when determining the on / off state (e.g., mode) of the network node to support signal forwarding. In some cases, the wireless communication node may prevent the second indication from being sent (e.g., delayed or not sent) to the network node. In this case, the network node may not receive the second indication.

[0175] In some implementations, if the first indication indicates disabling signal forwarding, at least one of the following may occur. Signal forwarding may be disabled for a duration / length of a time domain resource associated with the first indication (e.g., a search may be performed to find a time domain resource associated with the first indication, as well as other techniques for identifying associated time domain resources). The time domain resource may be implicitly determined or explicitly determined. In some cases, signal forwarding may remain disabled until another indication (e.g., first indication) indicating enabling signal forwarding (e.g., turning on signal forwarding) is received. For example, if another indication indicates disabling signal forwarding, signal forwarding may remain disabled.

[0176] In various arrangements, the network node may determine that the first indication indicates that signal forwarding is enabled. For example, when the first indication indicates that signal forwarding is enabled, the network node may determine the on / off state of the network node based on the override or change / modification / adjustment / configuration of the first indication to enable signal forwarding by the second indication. For example, in some cases, when the first indication enables signal forwarding, the on / off state of the network node may be determined by the second indication (e.g., override or modification / update).

[0177] In some implementations, when the first indication indicates that signal forwarding is enabled, the network node may determine the on / off state of the network node based on the on state of the on / off mode (e.g., the common channel mode) of the common transmission channel. In some cases, the network node may determine the on / off state of the network node by adding the on portion of the on / off mode of the common transmission channel to the non-overlapping on portion indicated by the second indication. For example, the on portion indicated by the first indication may be added to the non-on (e.g., non-overlapping) portion indicated by the second indication to determine the final mode or on / off state of the network node. In some cases, for example, the on portion indicated by the second indication may be added to the mode indicated by the first indication.

[0178] In various arrangements, when the first indication indicates that signal forwarding is enabled, at least one of the following may occur. Signal forwarding may be enabled for the duration of a time domain resource associated with the first indication. The time domain resource may be implicitly determined or explicitly determined. In some cases, signal forwarding may remain enabled until at least one of another first indication and / or a second indication indicating that signal forwarding is disabled is received. In some implementations, if the first indication indicates that signal forwarding is enabled during an on state of a network node (e.g., an SN FU), the second indication may also change the on / off state (e.g., the "on" state mode of the first indication).

[0179] In various aspects, the first indication may include at least one of the following: a first parameter and / or a second parameter. The first parameter may be an enable or disable configuration signal forwarding. The second parameter may be a time domain resource configured for enabling or disabling signal forwarding. In some implementations, the first indication may include only the first parameter, only the second parameter, or both the first parameter and the second parameter. In some implementations, the second parameter may include at least one of the following: a start time, a mode, a start and length indication value (SLIV), a time offset, a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) index, a duty cycle, a duration, and / or a periodicity.

[0180] In some arrangements, the on / off indication (or the second indication) may include at least one of the following: an indicator for enabling or disabling signal forwarding; an indicator for enabling or disabling signal forwarding, the indicator being associated with a time domain resource (e.g., a single-state indication); various indicators for enabling or disabling signal forwarding (e.g., a multi-state indication); one or more time domain resources for enabling or disabling signal forwarding; one or more parameters for discontinuous activation (e.g., DF) of signal forwarding; beam information associated with a time domain resource; beam information not associated with any time domain resource; power control information and / or configuration of discontinuous reception (DRX) of the network node.

[0181] In some implementations, various indicators for enabling or disabling signal forwarding may include a bitmap. For example, if there is a "0" in the bitmap, it may indicate that signal forwarding is enabled, and if there is a "1" in the bitmap, it may indicate that signal forwarding is disabled, or vice versa. In some cases, the various indicators may include a "1" for each indicator, where each "1" may indicate that signal forwarding is enabled. In some cases, the various indicators may include a "0" for each indicator, where each "0" may indicate that signal forwarding is disabled. In some implementations, the various indicators may include a set of on / off states, such as at least one parameter may include a set of on / off states. In some implementations, the various indicators may include predefined on / off modes (e.g., several modes that may be predefined in the specification, at least one of which may be indicated, such as using a mode index and other search techniques).

[0182] In some aspects, each of the various indicators may be associated with a corresponding configured time domain resource (e.g., configured via RRC signaling). In some cases, all indicators of the various indicators may be associated with the same configured time domain resources, or in some cases, all indicators of the various indicators may be associated with predefined (e.g., programmed within a network node or according to a specification) time domain resources. In some arrangements, the time domain resource may be specified by at least one of the following: a start time, a mode, a start and length indication value (SLIV), a time offset, a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) index, a duty cycle, a duration, and / or a periodicity.

[0183] Although various embodiments of the present solution have been described above, it should be understood that they are given only by way of example 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 solution. However, these personnel will understand that the present solution 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 above-described exemplary embodiments.

[0184] It should also be understood that any reference to an element herein using names such as "first," "second," etc. does not generally limit the number or order of those elements. Rather, these names 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.

[0185] In addition, those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, the data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, and symbols that may be referenced in the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0186] Those of ordinary skill in the art will further understand that any of the various illustrative logic blocks, modules, processors, devices, circuits, methods, and functions described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented by electronic hardware (e.g., digital implementation, analog implementation, or a combination of the two), firmware, various forms of programs or design codes containing instructions (for convenience, may be referred to herein as "software" or "software modules"), or any combination of these technologies. In order to clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware, firmware, and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been generally described above in terms of their functions. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware, firmware, or software, or a combination of these technologies, depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system. Technicians may implement the described functions in various ways for each specific application, but such implementation decisions will not cause a departure from the scope of this disclosure.

[0187] In addition, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the various illustrative logic blocks, modules, devices, components, and circuits described herein may be implemented or performed within or by an integrated circuit (IC) including 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 antennas and / or transceivers to communicate with various components within a network or within a device. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but alternatively, 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 combined with a DSP core, or any other suitable configuration to perform the functions described herein.

[0188] If implemented in software, the function can be stored as one or more instructions or codes on a computer-readable medium. Therefore, the steps of the method or algorithm disclosed herein can be implemented as software stored on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media, and the communication media include any media that can enable a computer program or code to be transferred from one place to another. The storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access. As an example and not limitation, such a computer-readable medium may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, disk storage or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to store the desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer.

[0189] As used herein, the term "module" refers to software, firmware, hardware, and any combination of these elements to perform the relevant functions described herein. In addition, for the purpose of discussion, various modules are described as discrete modules. However, it is obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art that two or more modules can be combined to form a single module that performs the relevant functions according to the implementation of the present solution.

[0190] In addition, memory or other storage and communication components can be used in the implementation of the present solution. It should be understood that, for the sake of clarity, the above description has described the implementation of the present solution with reference to different functional units and processors. However, it will be apparent that any appropriate functional distribution between different functional units, processing logic elements or domains can be used without departing from the present solution. For example, the functions illustrated as being performed by a separate processing logic element or controller can be performed by the same processing logic element or controller. Therefore, reference to a specific functional unit is only a reference to a suitable device for providing the described function, rather than indicating a strict logical or physical structure or organization.

[0191] Various modifications to the embodiments described in this disclosure will be 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, this disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but is to be given the widest scope consistent with the novel features and principles disclosed herein, as described in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method comprising: receiving, by a network node, an on / off indication from a wireless communication node; as well as The network node determines an on / off state of the network node according to the on / off indication to support signal forwarding of one or more signals.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The on / off indication includes a first indication and a second indication.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The on / off state includes at least one of the following: the on / off status of the network node; The on / off status of a set of network nodes; an on / off state of one or more antenna ports of the network node; an on / off status of one or more beam indexes of the network node; the on / off status of one or more serving sectors of the network node; or The on / off status of one or more components of the network node.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1, wherein: The on / off status also includes the on / off status of at least one of the following links: a first communication link from a wireless communication node to the network node; a second communication link from the network node to the wireless communication node; a first forwarding link from the wireless communication node to the network node; a second forwarding link from the network node to the wireless communication node; a third forwarding link from the network node to the wireless communication device; or A fourth forwarding link from the wireless communication device to the network node.

5. The method according to claim 2, comprising: One or both of the first indication and the second indication are received by the network node via at least one of the following: at least one downlink control information (DCI) signaling, at least one medium access control control element (MAC CE) signaling, at least one radio resource control (RRC) or at least one operation, administration and maintenance (OAM) signaling.

6. The method according to claim 2, wherein: The first indication indicates whether the signal forwarding is enabled for: Common transmission channels, or All transmitted channels.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein: The common transport channel includes at least one of the following: a synchronization signal block (SSB), a control resource set (CORESET) #0, a physical random access channel (PRACH), a type 1 system information block (SIB1), or a group common physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

8. The method according to claim 1, comprising: A first indication is determined by the network node to indicate disabling of forwarding of the signal.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein: When the first indication indicates disabling the signal forwarding: the network node ignores the second indication when determining the on / off state of the network node to support the signal forwarding, or The wireless communication node refrains from sending the second indication to the network node.

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein: At least one of the following: disabling the signal forwarding for a duration of a time domain resource associated with the first indication, the time domain resource being implicitly determined or explicitly determined, or The signal forwarding remains disabled until another first indication is received indicating enabling of the signal forwarding.

11. The method according to claim 2, comprising: The first indication is determined by the network node to indicate enabling of the signal forwarding.

12. The method according to claim 11, further comprising: When the first indication indicates enabling the signal forwarding, the network node determines the on / off state of the network node according to an override or change of the first indication enabling the signal forwarding by the second indication.

13. The method according to claim 11 or 12, further comprising: When the first indication indicates enabling the signal forwarding, the network node determines the on / off state of the network node according to the on state of the on / off mode of the common transmission channel.

14. The method of claim 11, comprising determining the on / off state of the network node by adding an on portion of an on / off pattern of a common transport channel to a non-overlapping on portion represented by the second indication.

15. The method according to claim 11, wherein: At least one of the following: enabling the signal forwarding for a duration of a time domain resource associated with the first indication, the time domain resource being implicitly determined or explicitly determined, or The signal forwarding remains enabled until at least one of another first indication or the second indication is received indicating disabling the signal forwarding.

16. The method according to claim 2, wherein: The first indication includes at least one of the following: A first parameter is used to configure whether the signal forwarding is enabled or disabled, or The second parameter is used to configure the enabled or disabled time domain resource used for forwarding the signal.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein: The second parameter includes at least one of the following: a start time, a mode, a start and length indication value (SLIV), a time offset, a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) index, a duty cycle, a duration, or a periodicity.

18. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The on / off indication or the second indication includes at least one of the following: an indicator for enabling or disabling forwarding of said signal, an indicator for enabling or disabling forwarding of the signal, the indicator being associated with a time domain resource, a plurality of indicators for enabling or disabling forwarding of said signal, one or more time domain resources for said enabling or disabling of said signal forwarding, one or more parameters for discontinuous activation of said signal forwarding, Beam information associated with time domain resources, Beam information not associated with any time domain resource, Power control information, or Configuration of discontinuous reception (DRX) of the network node.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein: The plurality of indicators for enabling or disabling the signal forwarding include: A bitmap, wherein if there is a "0" in the bitmap, it indicates that the signal forwarding is enabled, and if there is a "1" in the bitmap, it indicates that the signal forwarding is disabled, "1" is used for each indicator, wherein each "1" indicates that the signal forwarding is enabled, "0" is used for each indicator, wherein each "0" indicates disabling the signal forwarding, A set of on / off states, or Predefined on / off modes.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein: Each indicator of the plurality of indicators is associated with a corresponding configured time domain resource, All indicators of the plurality of indicators are associated with the same configured time domain resources, or All indicators of the plurality of indicators are associated with predefined time domain resources.

21. The method according to claim 18 or 20, wherein: The time domain resources are specified by at least one of: a start time, a pattern, a start and length indication value (SLIV), a time offset, a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) index, a duty cycle, a duration, or a periodicity.

22. A method comprising: The wireless communication node sends an on / off indication to the network node; as well as The network node is enabled to determine the on / off state of the network node according to the on / off indication to support signal forwarding of one or more signals.

23. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, which, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 22.

24. An apparatus comprising: At least one processor configured to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 22.

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