System and method for resource information indication

Abstract

Systems and methods for resource information indication are presented. A network node may receive resource information from a wireless communication node for at least one of a first forwarding link, a second forwarding link, a third forwarding link, or a fourth forwarding link. The first forwarding link may be from the wireless communication node to the network node. The second forwarding link may be from the network node to the wireless communication node. The third forwarding link may be from the network node to the wireless communication device. The fourth forwarding link may be from the wireless communication device to the network node.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present invention relate to wireless communications, including systems and methods for resource information indication. Background Art

[0002] The third generation partnership project (3GPP), a standardization organization, is currently specifying a new air interface called 5G New Radio (5G NR) and the next generation packet core network (NG-CN or NGC). 5G NR will have three main components: 5G access network (5G-AN), 5G core network (5G GC) and user equipment (UE). In order to facilitate the implementation of different data services and requirements, the elements of 5GC (also called network functions) have been simplified, some of which are software-based and some of which are hardware-based, so that these elements can be adjusted as needed. Summary of the invention

[0003] Embodiments of the present invention are intended to solve problems related to one or more problems raised in the related art, and when combined with the accompanying drawings, by referring to the following detailed description, additional features that are easy to understand will be provided. According to various embodiments, the present invention discloses example systems, methods, devices, and computer program products. However, it should be understood that these embodiments are given as examples rather than limitations, and it is obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art who has read the embodiments of the present invention that various modifications can be made to the disclosed embodiments while still within the scope of the embodiments of the present invention.

[0004] At least one aspect relates to a system, method, device, or computer-readable medium. A network node may receive resource information from a wireless communication node, and the resource information is used for at least one of the following: a first forwarding link, a second forwarding link, a third forwarding link, or a fourth forwarding link. The first forwarding link may be from the wireless communication node to the network node. The second forwarding link may be from the network node to the wireless communication node. The third forwarding link may be from the network node to the wireless communication device. The fourth forwarding link may be from the wireless communication device to the network node. The resource information may include at least one of the following: beam information or additional information of an access link. The additional information may include at least one of the following: frequency information of the access link, panel information of the access link, link-level on / off information, beam information of the backhaul link, frequency information of the backhaul link, panel information of the backhaul link, or uplink (UL) / downlink (DL) information. The backhaul link may include a first forwarding link and a second forwarding link. The access link may include a third forwarding link and a fourth forwarding link.

[0005] In some embodiments, before the network node receives the resource information, the wireless communication node may have received capability information of the network node. The capability information may be sent from an operations, administration and maintenance (OAM) entity to the wireless communication node. The capability information may be reported from the network node to the wireless communication node. The capability information may include at least one of: frequency information allocation on the access link and / or the backhaul link; simultaneous beam operation capability on the access link and / or the backhaul link; frequency shift capability; or sub-band non-overlapping full duplex (SBFD) capability.

[0006] In some embodiments, the frequency information may include at least one of the following formats: carrier index, passband index, bandwidth part (BWP) index, subband index, cell identifier (ID), starting physical resource block (PRB), starting resource element (RE), ending PRB, ending RE, multiple consecutive PRBs, multiple REs, RB offset, RE offset, absolute radio frequency channel number (ARFCN) or global synchronization raster channel number (GCSN). The panel information may include at least one of the following formats: panel ID, panel index, antenna group ID or antenna group index. Link level on / off information may be used to indicate an on / off state, which is applicable to at least one of the following: a first forwarding link, a second forwarding link, a third forwarding link or a fourth forwarding link. The beam information of the backhaul link may have one of the following formats: a beam index or a transmission configuration indication (TCI) state.

[0007] In some embodiments, when the beam information of the backhaul link has the format of a TCI state, a list including one or more TCI states can be configured for the network node for backhaul link beam information indication. The list can be configured to the network node by the wireless communication node via at least one of the following: radio resource control (RRC) signaling, medium access control control element (MAC CE) signaling, or downlink control information (DCI) signaling. A set of logical reference signals used in the TCI state can be defined for the network node. A set of logical reference signals can be mapped one-to-one to a physical backhaul link beam. The new type of TCI state can include a logical beam index defined for the network node, and the logical beam index can be mapped one-to-one to a physical backhaul link beam. At least one additional information can be indicated in the same RRC signaling, and the same RRC signaling is used for periodic beam information indication of the access link. The indication format of each type of additional information includes one of the following: the additional information is indicated in pairs with the beam index of the access link configured in the list through RRC signaling, and each access link beam has associated corresponding additional information; or a field is added to indicate the additional information, and it applies to all access link beams configured in the list through RRC signaling.

[0008] In some embodiments, at least one additional information may be indicated in the same RRC signaling used for the semi-persistent beam information indication of the access link. The indication format of each type of additional information may be one of the following: the additional information is indicated in pairs with the beam index of the access link configured in the list through RRC signaling; or a field is added to indicate the additional information and is applicable to all beam indexes of the access link configured in the list through RRC signaling. At least one additional information may be indicated in the same MAC CE signaling used for the semi-persistent beam indication of the access link. The indication format of each type of additional information may be one of the following: one or more fields are added in the MAC CE signaling to indicate one or more additional information, which is mapped one-to-one to the beam index information of the access link indication activated in the MAC CE signaling; or a field is added to indicate the additional information and is applicable to all beam index information of the access link activated in the MAC CE signaling.

[0009] In some embodiments, at least one additional information may be indicated in the same RRC signaling and MAC CE signaling for semi-persistent beam indication of an access link. The indication format of each type of additional information may include: adding a field in the RRC signaling to indicate the additional information, and being applicable to all beam indexes of the access link configured in the list through RRC signaling; and adding one or more fields in the MAC CE signaling to update one or more additional information of the access link beam information for a specific indication. At least one additional information may be indicated in the same DCI signaling for aperiodic beam indication of an access link. The indication format of each type of additional information may include one of the following: adding one or more fields in the DCI signaling to indicate the one or more additional information, and mapping one-to-one to the beam index information of the access link indication; or adding a field in the DCI signaling to indicate the additional information, and being applicable to the indicated beam index information of all access links.

[0010] In some embodiments, at least one additional information may be indicated in the new signaling. The new signaling may include at least one of the following: RRC signaling, MAC CE signaling, or DCI signaling. The panel information of the access link may be implicitly indicated by the specific beam index of the access link. The link level on / off information may be implicitly indicated by the specific beam index of the access link. The link level on / off information may be implicitly indicated by the time division duplex (TDD) configuration.

[0011] In some embodiments, when the backhaul link beam information has the format of a TCI state, the MAC CE signaling that can be used to activate or deactivate a TCI state of the backhaul link from the TCI state list configured by RRC of the control link is reused to activate or deactivate a TCI state of the backhaul link from the TCI state list configured by RRC of the backhaul link, wherein the control link includes a first control link from the wireless communication node to the network node and a second control link from the network node to the wireless communication node. A higher layer parameter can be defined for the network node to distinguish whether the TCI state indicated in the MAC CE signaling is from the TCI state list configured by RRC of the backhaul link, or from the beam configured by RRC of the control link. The backhaul link beam information can be indicated in new signaling, which includes at least one of the following: RRC signaling, MAC CE signaling, or DCI signaling. RRC signaling for periodic and / or semi-persistent access link beam indication can be used to update the backhaul link beam information for one or more access link beam indexes. The field for the backhaul link beam indication may be indicated in pairs with the field for the beam index of the access link configured in the list through RRC signaling. In the case where the field for the backhaul link beam indication is not indicated in the RRC signaling for the periodic access link beam indication, the backhaul link beam information associated with the corresponding access link beam may refer to the backhaul link beam information indicated in the new signaling. The MAC CE signaling for the semi-persistent access link beam indication may be used to update the backhaul link beam information for one or more access link beam indexes. One or more fields for the backhaul link beam indication may be added in the MAC CE signaling to update the corresponding backhaul link beam information of one or more indicated access link beams activated in the MAC CE signaling. In the case where the backhaul link beam indication for updating the access link beam is not updated in the MAC CE signaling for the semi-persistent access link beam indication, the backhaul link beam information associated with the corresponding access link beam may refer to the backhaul link beam information indicated in the new signaling.

[0012] In some embodiments, a network node may receive a list including one or more beam pairs from a wireless communication node, each beam pair including a first beam index configured for an access link and second beam information configured for a backhaul link. Each beam pair in the list may have a corresponding beam pair index. The list may be configured from the wireless communication node to the network node via at least one of: RRC signaling, MAC CE signaling, or DCI signaling. The list may be configured to the network node via an OAM entity. The access link beam information in different beam pairs in the list may be the same or different. The backhaul link beam information in different beam pairs in the list may be the same or different. In certain embodiments, the access link beam information in different beam pairs in the list may be different, and the backhaul link beam information in different beam pairs in the list may be the same or different.

[0013] In some embodiments, the access link beam information field may be reinterpreted as being used to indicate a beam pair index. A higher layer parameter may be configured to the network node to indicate that the access link beam information field is used to indicate a beam pair index or an access link beam index. Based on the indicated access link beam index, the backhaul link beam information may be obtained from the beam pair list. In the case where more than one backhaul link beam is obtained for the associated indicated access link beam and the network node supports simultaneous beam transmission on the backhaul link beam, the network node may use the backhaul link beam and the associated access link beam simultaneously. In the case where more than one backhaul link beam is obtained for the associated indicated access link beam and the network node does not support simultaneous beam transmission on the backhaul link beam, a predefined rule may be defined for the network node to determine the backhaul link beam information of the associated access link beam. The predefined rule may include at least one of the following: a backhaul link beam corresponding to the associated access link beam defined for the first time in the beam pair list; or a backhaul link beam of the associated access link beam defined last in the beam pair list; or a default backhaul link beam. One or more fields may be added to the MAC CE signaling of the semi-persistent access link beam information to update the backhaul link beam information of the access link beam information activated in the MAC CE signaling. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] Various exemplary embodiments of the present solution are described in detail below with reference to the following drawings. The drawings or diagrams 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.

[0015] Figure 1An example cellular communication network according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown, in which the techniques of embodiments of the present invention may be implemented;

[0016] Figure 2 A block diagram showing an example base station and user equipment device according to some embodiments of the present invention;

[0017] FIG. 3A to FIG. 3E Relevant aspects of resource information indication according to some embodiments of the present invention are shown;

[0018] Figure 4 The structure of a conceptual model of a network controlled repeater (NCR) according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown;

[0019] Figure 5 An example of SBFD according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown;

[0020] Figure 6 A flow chart illustrating an example method for resource information indication according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] 1. Mobile communication technology and environment

[0022] Figure 1 An example wireless communication network and / or system 100 is shown in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, in which the techniques disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention may be implemented. In the following discussion, 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 referred to as "BS 102"; also referred to as a wireless communication node) and a user equipment device 104 (hereinafter referred to as "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.

[0023] 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 an embodiment of the present invention, the embodiment of the present invention describes BS 102 and UE 104 as non-limiting examples of "communication nodes", which may generally practice the methods of the embodiments of the present invention. According to various implementations of the embodiments of the present invention, such communication nodes may be capable of wireless and / or wired communication.

[0024] 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 in the embodiments of the present invention. In one illustrative embodiment, as described above, the system 200 may be used in a communication environment such as Figure 1 The wireless communication environment 100 may be used to communicate (eg, transmit and receive) data symbols.

[0025] The system 200 generally includes a base station 202 (hereinafter referred to as "BS202") and a user equipment device 204 (hereinafter referred to as "UE204"). The BS202 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 and interconnected to 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 and interconnected to each other via a data communication bus 240 as needed. The BS202 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 in the embodiments of the present invention.

[0026] As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the system 200 may also include Figure 2Modules of any number 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 of the present invention 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. Whether such functions are implemented as hardware, firmware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints imposed on the entire system. People familiar with the concepts described in the embodiments of the present invention 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 embodiments of the present invention.

[0027] 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 downlink receiver circuit is coupled to the downlink 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 the downlink receiver coupled to the downlink antenna 212 receives transmissions over the wireless transmission link 250 at the same time as the uplink transmitter coupled to the uplink antenna 232. In some embodiments, tight time synchronization with minimal guard times between changes in duplex direction is provided.

[0028] 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 embodiments of the present invention are not necessarily limited to application to specific standards and related protocols. On the contrary, 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.

[0029] 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 in the embodiments of the present invention. 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, such as 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.

[0030] In addition, the steps of the method or algorithm described in conjunction with the implementation of the embodiments of the present invention may be directly embodied in hardware, firmware, software modules executed by the processor modules 214 and 236, respectively, or 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 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.

[0031] 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.

[0032] 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 representing 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 another layer.

[0033] Various exemplary embodiments of the present solution are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings so that a person of ordinary skill in the art can make and use the present solution. It is obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art that, after reading the embodiments of the present invention, various changes or modifications can be made to the examples described in the embodiments of the present invention without departing from the scope of the present solution. Therefore, the present solution is not limited to the exemplary embodiments and applications described and shown in the embodiments of the present invention. In addition, the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the method of the embodiments of the present invention is merely an example method. Based on design preferences, the specific order or hierarchy of the steps of the disclosed method or process can be rearranged while remaining within the scope of the present solution. Therefore, a person of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the methods and techniques of the embodiments of the present invention present various steps or actions in a sample order, and unless otherwise explicitly stated, the present solution is not limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented.

[0034] 2. System and method for resource information indication

[0035] As New Radio (NR) systems move to higher frequencies (around 4 GHz for FR1 deployments and over 24 GHz for FR2), propagation conditions degrade compared to lower frequencies, exacerbating coverage challenges. Therefore, further densification of cells may be required. While deploying conventional full-stack cells is preferred, it may not always be a possible (e.g., backhaul is not available) or economically viable option. In order to provide comprehensive coverage in cellular network deployments at a relatively low cost, RF repeaters with full-duplex amplification and forwarding operation can be used in 2G, 3G, and 4G systems. However, the main problem posed by RF repeaters is that they amplify signals and noise and increase interference in the system.

[0036] To solve this problem, a network controlled repeater (NCR) can be considered. NCR can receive and process supplementary control information (SCI) from the network. In order to control the forwarding operation of NCR, some resource information can be used to indicate to NCR.

[0037] In addition, a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) may also be considered to be able to implement controllable forwarding. In this case, the resource information indication discussed in the embodiments of the present invention may also be applicable to the RIS. The RIS may have a large number of controllable reflective elements, which may be divided into element groups for efficient control. Each element group SCI may use the resource information discussed below as part of the SCI.

[0038] In an embodiment of the present invention, a method for indicating resource information for forwarding operation of NCR for wireless network is proposed. The method included in the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to NCR, and can also be applied to intelligent repeater, enhanced RF repeater, reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) and / or integrated access and backhaul (IAB).

[0039] FIG. 3A to FIG. 3E Relevant aspects of resource information indication according to some implementations of embodiments of the present invention are shown.

[0040] RF repeaters can be used in 2G, 3G, and 4G deployments to supplement the coverage provided by conventional full-stack cells with various transmission power characteristics. RF repeaters may constitute the simplest and most cost-effective way to improve network coverage. The main advantages of RF repeaters may be low cost, ease of deployment, and the fact that RF repeaters do not increase latency. The main disadvantage may be that RF repeaters may amplify signals and / or noise, which may lead to increased interference (e.g., pollution) in the system. RF repeaters may not have beam management capabilities, which indicates that RF repeaters may not provide beamforming gain in their signal forwarding. Within RF repeaters, there may be different categories depending on the power characteristics and the amount of spectrum configured to be amplified (e.g., single band or multi-band). RF repeaters may be non-regenerative type relay nodes and may amplify and forward everything received. RF repeaters may be full-duplex nodes and may not distinguish between uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) from a transmission and / or reception perspective. As traffic demands increase, there is growing interest in new communication modes for future / beyond 5G wireless networks.

[0041] The NCR may be located at a selected location with good wireless channel conditions (e.g., with a LOS path) to the BS. When the NCR is started, a network integration process may be performed. Through the network integration process, the BS may identify the NCR as a network node and may configure the NCR for its subsequent amplification and forwarding operations. After the integration is complete, the NCR may perform amplification and forwarding operations on user equipment within its coverage using control information received from the base station.

[0042] From a functional perspective, Figure 4 The structure of NCR is provided in. Figure 4is a structure showing a conceptual model of a network controlled repeater (NCR) according to some implementations of the embodiments of the present invention. The NCR controller can maintain a control link (C link) between the BS and the NCR to enable information exchange, for example, to carry supplementary control information (SCI). The NCR-RU radio unit (RU) can forward data between the BS and the UE using a forwarding link (F link), which includes an F link for backhaul (F link 1 & 2 or referred to as backhaul link) and an F link for access (F link 3 & 4 or referred to as access link). The behavior of the F link can be controlled based on the SCI received from the BS.

[0043] In order to facilitate the forwarding operation of the NCR, control information including beam information in particular can be used for the NCR. The NCR auxiliary control display can reach the following protocol.

[0044] Beam indication for access link: For each periodic beam indication for access link, RRC signaling can be used to configure a list of forwarding resources, each of which can be defined as {beam index, time resource}. Each time resource can be defined by {start slot is defined as slot offset in a period, start symbol is defined by symbol offset within slot, duration is defined by number of symbols} with dedicated fields. The periodicity can be configured as part of the RRC signaling for periodic beam indication, and the same periodicity can be assumed for all time resources in one periodic beam indication. The reference SCS can be configured as part of the RRC signaling for periodic beam indication, and the same reference SCS can be assumed for all time resources in one periodic beam indication. For each non-periodic beam indication for access link, the list of time resources can be pre-defined by RRC signaling. Each time resource can be defined by {start slot is defined as slot offset, start symbol is defined by symbol offset within slot, duration is defined by number of symbols} with dedicated fields. The new DCI signaling can be used with one or more fields to indicate beam information, and each field refers to a beam index and one or more fields to indicate the time resources defined by RRC. The time indication and beam indication in the DCI signaling can be associated in sequence with a one-to-one mapping. For semi-persistent beam indication of the access link, RRC can configure one or more forwarding resource lists, each list can include one or more forwarding resources, and each forwarding resource can be defined by {beam index, time resource}. Each time resource can be defined by {starting slot is defined as a slot offset in a cycle, starting symbol is defined by symbol offset within the slot, and duration is defined by number of symbols} with a dedicated field. Periodicity and reference SCS can be configured as part of the RRC signaling for each forwarding resource list. The new MAC-CE can be used to activate / deactivate one of all configured lists in the RRC, so that all forwarding resources in the list can be selected. MAC-CE signaling can also optionally provide updates to the beam index in the forwarding resource.

[0045] Beam indication for backhaul link: For the backhaul link, semi-static beam indication can be considered for the backhaul link. If the beam indication frame is used for NCR-MT, the DL beam can be indicated by a new MAC CE to select a TCI state ID from the RRC configured beam list for the C link, and the UL beam can be indicated by SRI on the C link via new MAC CE signaling. If another beam indication frame is used for NCR-MT, the DL and UL beams can be indicated by a new MAC CE to select a TCI state ID from the RRC configured beam list for the C link.

[0046] On / off indication of NCR-Fwd: The "on" state of NCR-Fwd can be implicitly indicated via the access link beam indication (e.g., if there is an AC link beam indication, it can be assumed that NCR is on on the indicated time domain resources associated with the corresponding beam). The backhaul link can follow the access link in terms of on / off.

[0047] Sub-band non-overlapping full-duplex (SBFD): SBFD may be a new duplex mode in which a TDD carrier is divided into sub-bands to enable simultaneous transmission and reception in the same time slot. Figure 5 An example of sub-band non-overlapping full duplex (SBFD) according to some implementations of the embodiments of the present invention is shown. Figure 5 In the UMTS, configuration of UL subbands (SBs) in DL and / or flexible symbols / slots may be supported.

[0048] Implementation Example 1: What resource information can be used by NCR forwarding operations to indicate

[0049] In the embodiment of the present invention, in order to enable and control the forwarding operation of the NCR, the BS may indicate the beam information of the access link to the NCR. The beam indication method for the access link of the NCR may include periodic beam indication, semi-persistent beam indication and / or aperiodic beam indication. In addition to the beam information of the access link, the BS also indicates to the NCR using at least one of the following information:

[0050] (1) The frequency information of the access link can be used to indicate the frequency resources of the access link. For example, when the NCR-Fwd has multiple carriers / frequency bands for the access link, the frequency information can be indicated to the NCR to indicate which carriers / frequency bands the NCR can use when forwarding signals on the access link.

[0051] (2) Panel information of access link The panel information of access link can be used to indicate panel information of access link. For example, when NCR-Fwd has multiple panels / TRPs for access link, panel information can also be indicated.

[0052] (3) Link-level on / off information can be used to indicate the on / off status of one or more links. In an embodiment of the present invention, the "on" state of NCR-Fwd is implicitly indicated via the access link beam indication, and the return link follows the access link in terms of on / off status, so if the access link has a beam indication and is "on" for the corresponding time resource, the return link can also remain in the "on" state. However, in some cases, link-level on / off can sometimes be used. For example, in order to measure self-interference, the access link can remain "on" while the return link needs to remain "off" for a period of time. For another example, in order to achieve UL-only forwarding, forwarding link 2+4 can be "on" while forwarding link 1+3 can remain "off". Therefore, in order to achieve link-level on / off of NCR-Fwd, link-level on / off indication can be utilized.

[0053] (4) The beam information of the backhaul link may represent beam information that may be used for the forwarding operation of the NCR of the backhaul link. In an embodiment of the present invention, since the C-link and the backhaul link operate in the same frequency band, the beam information of the backhaul link indicates that the same spatial filter of the C-link may be shared, and thus the beam information of the backhaul link may share the same RRC configuration of the beam of the C-link, or reuse the SRI of the C-link. However, in some cases, the spatial filter of the C-link cannot be shared with the backhaul link, which indicates that the RRC configuration of the beam of the C-link cannot be shared with the backhaul link. For example, when the C-link and the backhaul link operate in different frequency bands (e.g., the C-link operates in FR1 and the backhaul link operates in FR2), or when the C-link and the backhaul link operate in different panels, or when the NCR-MT and the NCR-Fwd are in different locations, the RRC configuration list of the TCI state of the C-link cannot be shared with the backhaul link. In this way, a new beam indication method for the backhaul link may be considered.

[0054] (5) Frequency information of the backhaul link can be used to indicate frequency resources used for the backhaul link. For example, when the NCR-Fwd has multiple carriers / frequency bands for the backhaul link, the frequency information used for the forwarding operation of the backhaul link can be indicated to the NCR.

[0055] (6) Panel information of the backhaul link can be used to indicate panel information for the backhaul link. For example, when the NCR-Fwd has multiple panels / TRPs for the backhaul link, the panel information for the forwarding operation of the backhaul link can also be indicated to the NCR.

[0056] (7) The UL / DL information of the access link and / or the backhaul link may be used to indicate the access link beam indication and / or the direction information of the backhaul link beam. For example, when the NCR-Fwd supports sub-band non-overlapping full-duplex, it may be indicated / described that the NCR-Fwd may simultaneously operate DL forwarding and UL forwarding on the access link during the SBFD symbol / time slot. In this way, the NCR-Fwd may know whether the indicated beam on the SBFD symbol / time slot is used for DL ​​forwarding or UL forwarding, and thus may utilize the UL / DL information.

[0057] Implementation Example 2: How to let the BS know the capability information of the NCR

[0058] As introduced in implementation example 1, frequency information, panel information of the access link and / or the backhaul link, and the backhaul link beam information may also be indicated in association with the access link beam information from the BS to the NCR. Before indicating, the BS may know the capability information about the frequency information and / or panel information and / or the backhaul link beam information of the NCR-Fwd. In this case, the following aspects may be considered.

[0059] Aspect 1: How does BS know capability information?

[0060] Option 1: Capability information can be configured to the BS via OAM.

[0061] Option 2: Capability information can be reported from the NCR to the BS.

[0062] Aspect 2: What capability information might include:

[0063] The capability information related to the frequency information may include at least one of the following: (1) the number of frequency resources supported on the NCR-Fwd of the access link and / or the backhaul link; (2) the number of frequency resources supported for simultaneous transmission on the NCR-Fwd of the access link and / or the backhaul link; (3) frequency shift capability; (4) frequency information allocation of the access link and / or the backhaul link; or (5) SBFD capability. For the number of frequency resources supported for simultaneous transmission on the NCR-Fwd, the frequency resource may be a carrier, a BWP, or a passband. For the frequency shift capability, the frequency shift capability may be used to indicate whether the NCR-Fwd supports frequency shift on the access link and / or the backhaul link. For the SBFD capability, the SBFD capability may be used to indicate whether the NCR-Fwd may support SBFD on the access link and / or the backhaul link. For the frequency information allocation of the access link and / or the backhaul link, the frequency information allocation of the access link and / or the backhaul link may be a subband or passband allocation on the access link and / or the backhaul link.

[0064] The capability information related to the panel information may include at least one of the following: (1) the number of panels supported on the NCR-Fwd; or (2) the number of panels supported for simultaneous transmission on the NCR-Fwd. For the number of panels supported on the NCR-Fwd, the number of panels may be panel information supported on the NCR-Fwd for the access link and / or the backhaul link, respectively. For the number of panels supported for simultaneous transmission on the NCR-Fwd, the number of panels supported for simultaneous transmission on the NCR-Fwd may be panel information supported on the NCR-Fwd for simultaneous operation of the access link and / or the backhaul link, respectively.

[0065] The capability information related to the beam information of the access link and / or the backhaul link may include at least one of the following: (1) the number of beams supported by the backhaul link and / or the access link; (2) the number of beams that can simultaneously transmit the backhaul link and / or the access link; (3) the beam arrangement / association of the backhaul link and / or the access link; (4) the beams used for the backhaul link and / or the access link; (5) the number of beams used for the backhaul link and / or the access link; or (6) the beam index of the backhaul link and / or the access link.

[0066] Implementation Example 3: Format and Interpretation of Resource Information

[0067] As described above, resource information may have an explicit indication or an implicit indication. If an explicit indication is considered, the format of resource information may have the following options respectively.

[0068] (1) The format and interpretation of the frequency information may include at least one of the following options, which may be applicable to the frequency information of the access link and the frequency information of the backhaul link.

[0069] Option 1: Use logical indexing to indicate frequency information.

[0070] Example 1: In some embodiments, when multiple carriers or multiple frequency bands are considered for NCR-Fwd, the logical index can be interpreted as one of a carrier index, a passband index, or a bandwidth part (BWP) index. For example, in an NR system, a NBWP-specific BWP can be configured for each NCR. For example, if NBWP=4, 2 bits can be used for the BWP index. Similarly, if multiple carriers are configured, the bit size can be determined.

[0071] Example 2: In some implementations, when NCR-Fwd supports SBFD, the logical index may be interpreted as a subband index.

[0072] Example 3: In some embodiments, the logical index can be interpreted as a cell ID or a cell index. For example, when multiple carriers or multiple frequency bands are considered for NCR-Fwd, a single carrier can be used as an Scell. In this way, in order to indicate different carriers of beam information, the cell ID can be used to indicate frequency information.

[0073] Option 2: Start PRB and / or start RE + end PRB and / or end RE.

[0074] Option 3: starting PRB and / or starting RE + number of consecutive PRBs and / or number of consecutive REs.

[0075] Option 4: Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number (ARFCN).

[0076] Option 5: Global Synchronous Grating Channel Number (GCSN).

[0077] Option 6: One or more offset values ​​from reference or specific frequency information. For example, if the BS wants to indicate the frequency information of the access link, the reference frequency information may be predefined frequency information or the frequency information of the backhaul link. If the frequency information of the access link is indicated to the NCR, the reference information of the DL frequency information and the UL frequency information of the access link may be the same or different. If the frequency information of the backhaul link is indicated to the NCR, the reference information of the DL frequency information and the UL frequency information of the backhaul link may be the same or different. The offset value may be a positive value or a negative value. In some embodiments, if the frequency information of the access link is indicated to the NCR, the frequency information of the DL and UL of the access link may have the same or different indicated offset values. If the frequency information of the backhaul link is indicated to the NCR, the frequency information of the DL and UL of the backhaul link may have the same or different indicated offset values. In some examples, the format of the offset value may be the number of PRBs and / or the number of REs.

[0078] Example 1: The frequency information of the backhaul link may be fixed. In this way, the BS may indicate the frequency information of the access link to the NCR. The frequency information of the backhaul link may be regarded as reference information, so for the frequency information indication of the access link, one or more offset values ​​are indicated to the NCR from the OAM or the BS. In some embodiments, if the frequency information of the DL and UL of the access link are different, two offset values ​​may be indicated to the NCR. The offset value may be a positive value or a negative value. For example, if the frequency information of the backhaul link is f0, two positive offset values ​​δ1 and δ2 may be indicated to the NCR of the DL and UL, respectively. The frequency information for the DL transmission of the access link may be f0+δ1, and the frequency information for the UL reception of the access link may be f0+δ2. In other examples, the positive value δ1 and the negative value δ2 may be indicated to the NCR of the DL and UL, respectively. In this way, the frequency information for the DL transmission of the access link may be f0+δ1, and the frequency information for the UL reception of the access link may be f0-δ2. In other embodiments, if the frequency information of the DL and UL of the access link are the same, one offset value may be indicated to the NCR.

[0079] Example 2: The frequency information of the access link may be fixed. Therefore, by considering the access link beam information as a reference point, the frequency information may be indicated to the NCR. For example, the frequency information of the access link may be f1 and be the same for DL ​​and UL. If the frequency information of the DL and UL of the backhaul link is the same, an offset value may be indicated to the NCR.

[0080] Example 3: The frequency information of the backhaul link may be fixed. The frequency information of the DL may be f0. The frequency information of the UL may be f1. In this way, when indicating the access link frequency information, if the frequency information of the DL and UL of the access link are different, the reference information of the frequency information of the DL transmission and UL reception of the access link may be different. For example, the reference information of the frequency information of the DL transmission of the access link may be the DL frequency information of the backhaul link, and the reference information of the frequency information of the UL reception of the access link is the UL frequency information of the backhaul link. In this way, two positive offset values ​​δ1 and δ2 may be indicated for the DL and UL of the access link, respectively. Therefore, the frequency information for the DL transmission of the access link may be f0+δ1, and the frequency information for the UL transmission of the access link may be f1+δ2.

[0081] Example 4: The frequency information of the reverse link can be fixed to f0. The frequency information of the backhaul link can be regarded as reference information, so for the frequency information indication of the access link, one or more offset values ​​can be indicated from the OAM or the BS to the NCR. In some embodiments, if the frequency information of the DL and UL of the access link are different, two offset values ​​δ1 and δ2 can be indicated to the NCR of the DL and UL of the access link, respectively. In some examples, the indicated offset value can be an integer value that does not represent a positive or negative value. The frequency information of the access link can be obtained by a default rule or a predefined rule, which can add the offset value to the reference frequency information, or can subtract the indicated offset value from the reference frequency information. Therefore, if the default rule is to obtain the access link frequency information by adding the indicated offset value to the reference frequency information, the frequency information of the DL and UL of the access link are f0+δ1, f0+δ2, respectively. In some examples, a higher layer parameter can be configured from the BS to the NCR to indicate that the frequency information of the access link is obtained by adding the offset value to the reference frequency information and subtracting the offset value from the reference frequency information.

[0082] In some embodiments, the starting PRB, the ending PRB, a plurality of consecutive PRBs, the starting RE, the ending RE, and the plurality of REs may be presented by the number of PRBs and the number of REs, respectively. In addition, the starting PRB and the ending PRB may also be represented by an offset relative to a reference point (eg, point A).

[0083] (2) The format and interpretation of the panel information may include at least one of the following options, which may be applicable to the panel information of the access link and the panel information of the backhaul link.

[0084] Option 1: Panel ID / Index.

[0085] Option 2: Antenna Group ID / Index.

[0086] (3) The format and interpretation of link-level on / off information may include at least one of the following options.

[0087] Option 1: A new field may be used to indicate an on / off status, including at least one of the following links: forwarding link 1; forwarding link 2; forwarding link 3; or forwarding link 4.

[0088] The example given below further illustrates the interpretation of this field.

[0089] Example 1: The new field may have only one bit. In some embodiments, a bit value of 0 may indicate the shutdown state of the access link (e.g., forwarding links 3 and 4), and a bit value of 1 may indicate the shutdown state of the backhaul link (e.g., forwarding links 1 and 2). In other embodiments, a bit value of 1 may indicate the shutdown state of the access link (e.g., forwarding links 3 and 4), and a bit value of 0 may indicate the shutdown state of the backhaul link (e.g., forwarding links 1 and 2).

[0090] Example 2: The new field may have two bits, and different values ​​may represent different on / off states of different links. In some embodiments, a bit value of 0 represents only forwarding link 1 "on", a bit value of 1 represents only forwarding link 2 "on", a bit value of 2 represents only forwarding link 3 "on", and a bit value of 4 represents only forwarding link 4 "on".

[0091] Example 3: The new field may have two bits, and different values ​​may represent different on / off states for different link combinations. In some embodiments, a bit value of 0 represents only forwarding links 1 and 2 are "on", a bit value of 1 represents only forwarding links 3 and 4 are "on", a bit value of 2 represents only forwarding links 1 and 3 are "on", and a bit value of 3 represents only forwarding links 2 and 4 are "on". In other embodiments, a bit value of 0 represents forwarding links 1 and 2 are "off", a bit value of 1 represents forwarding links 3 and 4 are "off", a bit value of 2 represents forwarding links 1 and 3 are "off", and a bit value of 3 represents forwarding links 2 and 4 are "off".

[0092] (4) The format and interpretation of the beam information of the backhaul link may include at least one of the following options.

[0093] Option 1: Beam index. The backhaul link can also use the beam index to indicate the beam information.

[0094] Option 2: TCI state. The backhaul link can use TCI state to represent beam information. Since the RRC configuration of the TCI state for the C link cannot be shared by the backhaul link, a dedicated TCI state list for the backhaul link can be configured from the BS for NCR-Fwd via at least one of RRC, MAC CE, or DCI signaling, or via OAM configuration. However, since there is no dedicated reference signal for the backhaul link, the following options can be considered for the format of the TCI state configured for the backhaul link.

[0095] Alternative 2.1: The current format of the TCI state can be reused, and a set of logical reference signal (e.g., CSI-RS) indexes / IDs can be defined for NCR-Fwd by the BS or OAM. The defined logical reference signal indexes / IDs can be mapped to the corresponding forwarding beams of the NCR-Fwd of the backhaul link, and the mapping relationship can be indicated to the NCR-Fwd by the BS via at least one of RRC, MAC CE, and DCI signaling, or to the NCT-Fwd and / or BS via OAM. In this way, the logical reference signal ID can be used in the TCI state configured for the backhaul link.

[0096] Alternative 2.2: A new type of TCI state may be defined to indicate the beam information of the backhaul link. The format of the new type of TCI state may directly include a logical index / ID instead of a reference signal with QCL type D. The logical index / ID may be mapped to the forwarding beam of the NCR-Fwd on the backhaul link. This new type of TCI state may be applicable only to the NCR, which does not exist for the UE.

[0097] (5) The format and interpretation of the UL / DL direction information may include at least one of the following options.

[0098] Option 1: A bit field indicating the UL / DL direction applicable to both the access link and the backhaul link.

[0099] Option 2: Two separate bit fields, where one bit field can be used to indicate the UL / DL direction of the access link and the other bit field can be used to indicate the UL / DL direction of the backhaul link.

[0100] Implementation Example 4: How to indicate the resource information associated with the beam indication of the access link

[0101] Implementation Example 1 may introduce a variety of resource information, and the format of the resource information may have different options mentioned in Implementation Example 3. The signaling of the resource information may consider the following cases. The resource information mentioned in the following cases and options may be any resource information described in Implementation Example 1. Different resource information may have the same or different signaling options mentioned below.

[0102] Case 1: Resource information can be indicated separately from the beam indication of the access link. In this way, resource information can be indicated via at least one of the following: radio resource control (RRC) signaling, medium access control control element (MAC CE) signaling, or downlink control information (DCI) signaling, which is separate signaling from the beam indication for the access link. The combination of different layer signaling can also save signaling costs. Different resource information can be indicated in the same signaling or in different signaling.

[0103] Option 1: RRC only, MAC CE only and / or DCI only. Semi-static or common resource information can be configured or indicated via RRC signaling and / or MAC CE signaling, which may not change frequently. The main benefit is saving dynamic signaling costs. For example, if common access link frequency information is applied to all beam indications of the access link, it can be configured via RRC signaling and / or MAC CE signaling.

[0104] Option 2: RRC+MAC CE+DCI, RRC+DCI, MAC CE+DCI and / or RRC+MAC CE. A set of candidate resource information can be configured via RRC signaling. Then, MAC CE and / or DCI can be used to activate / deactivate a subset or one of the resource information in the candidate resource set. For example, a TCI state list dedicated to the beam indication of the backhaul link can be configured via RRC signaling. The format of the TCI state of the backhaul link can refer to implementation example 3. One or more TCI states can be activated / deactivated from the list via MAC CE signaling. For another example, a TCI state list for the beam indication of the backhaul link can be configured via RRC signaling. One or more TCI states can be selected from the list via DCI signaling.

[0105] As for the return link beam information, since in the return link beam indication of the NCR, the MAC CE signaling can be used to activate / deactivate the TCI state from the RRC-configured beam list of the C-link. In this case, if the list of TCI states dedicated to the beam indication of the return link can be configured via RRC signaling, and the format of the TCI state for the return link can refer to implementation example 3, the MAC CE signaling can be reused through some explanations. The TCI state activated or deactivated in the MAC CE signaling can come from the dedicated TCI state list configured for the NCR-Fwd. In some embodiments, in order to distinguish whether the TCI state activated / deactivated in the MAC CE signaling is from the RRC-configured beam of the C-link or the return link, a higher layer parameter can be defined. For example, a bit field may be defined, wherein a bit value of 1 may indicate that the TCI state activated / deactivated in the MAC CE signaling is from the RRC-configured beam of the backhaul link, and a bit value of 0 may indicate that the TCI state activated / deactivated in the MAC CE signaling is from the RRC-configured beam of the C-link, and vice versa. In other examples, if this higher layer parameter is configured, it may indicate / describe that the TCI state activated / deactivated in the MAC CE signaling is from the RRC-configured beam of the backhaul link. If not configured, it may indicate / describe that the TCI state activated / deactivated in the MAC CE signaling is from the RRC-configured beam of the C-link.

[0106] Case 2: Resource information can be explicitly indicated in the same signaling together with the beam indication of the access link. For the access link, there can be three different beam indication mechanisms (e.g., periodic, non-periodic, and semi-persistent beam indication methods), and these three beam indication mechanisms can include RRC signaling, MAC CE signaling, and / or DCI signaling. How to signal resource information together with the beam indication of the access link can be considered from the following options.

[0107] Option 1: For periodic and semi-persistent access link beam indication, RRC signaling can be used to configure a forwarding resource list, and each forwarding resource can be defined as {beam index, time resource}. In this way, a new field can be added to the forwarding resources of the RRC signaling to indicate the resource information, and it can be stated that each forwarding resource is defined as {beam index of the access link, resource information, time resource}. In some embodiments, the new field may be optional. If the field is not configured, if the field is not configured in the forwarding resource, the default resource information or predefined resource information can be used for the indicated access link beam. The default resource information or predefined resource information can be configured to the NCR via the operation, administration, and maintenance (OAM) entity.

[0108] Example 1: Backhaul link beam information can be indicated in the forwarding resource. In this way, the forwarding resource in the RRC signaling can be defined as {beam index of the access link, beam information of the backhaul link, time resource}.

[0109] Option 2: For current periodic and semi-persistent access link beam indications, RRC signaling can be used to configure a forwarding resource list, and each forwarding resource can be defined as {beam index, time resource}. In this case, for RRC signaling of periodic beam indication and RRC signaling of semi-persistent beam indication, a new field for resource information indication can be configured as part of the RRC signaling, and the same resource information can be assumed for all indicated access link beams in one forwarding resource list.

[0110] Example 1: For periodic beam indication of an access link, a field may be added to the corresponding RRC signaling to indicate resource information applicable to all indicated access link beams in the list (e.g., frequency information of the access link), which is similar to the periodicity and SCS configuration in the periodic beam indication.

[0111] Example 2: For semi-persistent beam indication of an access link, a field may be added to the corresponding RRC signaling to indicate resource information applicable to all indicated access link beams in the list (e.g., panel information of the access link), which is similar to the periodicity and SCS configuration in the semi-persistent beam indication. In addition, in an embodiment of the present invention, for semi-persistent access link beam indication, RRC signaling may be used to configure one or more forwarding resource lists. Each list may include one or more forwarding resources. MAC CE signaling may be used to activate / deactivate one of all configured lists in the RRC signaling. All forwarding resources in the list may be selected. MAC-CE signaling may also optionally provide updates to beam indexes in the forwarding resources. In this way, in some embodiments, if a new field is added to the RRC signaling and is common to all forwarding resources in the list, the MAC CE may also optionally provide updates to the resource information in the forwarding resources to achieve flexibility.

[0112] Example 3: For the return link beam information configured in the RRC signaling applicable to all forwarding resources in the list, if the NCR wants to update the return link beams of some forwarding resources that can be used to activate the list through MAC CE signaling, the MAC CE signaling can be used to optionally provide updates to the return link beams of some forwarding resources.

[0113] Option 3: In an embodiment of the present invention, for semi-persistent access link beam indication, RRC signaling can be used to configure one or more forwarding resource lists. Each list can consist of one or more forwarding resources. MAC CE signaling can be used to activate / deactivate one of all configured lists in RRC. All forwarding resources in the list can be selected. MAC-CE signaling can also optionally provide an update to the beam index in the forwarding resource. In this case, a new field can be added to the MAC CE signaling to indicate resource information, and the indicated resource information can be common to all forwarding resources in the activation list.

[0114] Option 4: In an embodiment of the present invention, for semi-persistent access link beam indication, RRC signaling can be used to configure one or more forwarding resource lists. Each list can include one or more forwarding resources. MAC CE signaling can be used to activate / deactivate one of all configured lists in RRC signaling. All forwarding resources in the list can be selected. MAC-CE signaling can also optionally provide an update to the beam index in the forwarding resource. In this case, one or more fields can be added to the MACCE signaling to indicate resource information, and the indicated resource information can be mapped one-to-one to the forwarding resources in the activation list. The number of fields added in the MAC CE can be the same as the number of forwarding resources in the activation list.

[0115] Option 5: In an embodiment of the present invention, for non-periodic access link beam indication, the time resource list can be predefined through RRC signaling. New DCI signaling can be used together with one or more fields to indicate beam information. Each field can refer to a beam index, or one or more fields to indicate the time resources defined by RRC signaling. And one or more beam information fields and one or more time resource fields are associated with a one-to-one mapping in sequence. In this way, one or more fields can be added to the DCI signaling to indicate resource information, and the indicated resource information can be associated with the access link beam information and the time resource information in the DCI signaling in sequence, with a one-to-one mapping relationship.

[0116] Option 6: In an embodiment of the present invention, for non-periodic access link beam indication, the time resource list can be predefined through RRC signaling. New DCI signaling can be used together with one or more fields to indicate beam information. Each field can refer to a beam index or one or more fields to indicate the time resources defined by RRC signaling. And one or more beam information fields and one or more time resource fields are associated with a one-to-one mapping in turn. In this way, a new field can be added in the DCI signaling to indicate resource information, and the indicated resource information can be applicable to all indicated access link beams and time resources in the DCI signaling.

[0117] Option 7: In an embodiment of the present invention, for non-periodic access link beam indication, the time resource list can be predefined through RRC signaling. New DCI signaling can be used together with one or more fields to indicate beam information. Each field can refer to a beam index or one or more fields to indicate the time resources defined by RRC signaling. And one or more beam information fields and one or more time resource fields are associated with a one-to-one mapping in turn. In this way, a new field can be added in the corresponding RRC signaling to indicate resource information, and the indicated resource information can be applicable to all indicated access link beams and time resource information in the DCI signaling.

[0118] Case 3: Resource information can be configured in a separate signaling with the access link. The beam indication and resource information can be updated within the access link beam indication signaling. As described in Case 1 of Implementation Example 4, resource information can be indicated to the NCR via a signaling different from the access link beam indication, and all options listed in Case 1 of Implementation Example 4 can be considered. In this case, in order to achieve flexibility and dynamism, the following alternatives can be considered.

[0119] Alternative 1: For periodic access link beam indication and / or semi-persistent access link beam indication, a new field may be added to the forwarding resources of the RRC signaling, which may state that each forwarding resource is defined as {beam index of the access link, resource information, time resource}. This field may be optional. If the NCR wants to update the corresponding resource information of some forwarding resources, this field may be configured in the forwarding resources. If not configured, the resource information associated with the indicated access link beam may refer to the resource information in a separate signaling, as described in Case 1 of Implementation Example 4.

[0120] Example 1: The backhaul link beam information may be indicated in the new signaling, as described in any of the options for implementing Case 1 in Example 4. The backhaul link beam information may be regarded as the initial backhaul link beam. If the backhaul link beam information field in some forwarding resources is configured, the configured backhaul link beam may be used for these forwarding resources. For those forwarding resources for which the backhaul link beam information field is not configured, the initial backhaul link beam indicated in the dedicated signaling may be used.

[0121] Alternative 2: For semi-persistent access link beam indication, MAC CE signaling can optionally update the resource information of some forwarding resources in the activation list.

[0122] Example 1: The frequency information of the access link may be indicated in the new signaling, as described in any of the options for implementing Case 1 in Example 4. For semi-persistent access link beam indication, the MAC CE signaling may have activated the list, and if the frequency information of some forwarding resources needs to be changed, the MAC CE signaling may be used to optionally update the access link frequency information of some forwarding resources in the activated list.

[0123] As described in the options of Case 1, Case 2 and Case 3 above, MAC CE signaling can be used to update the resource information of some forwarding resources in the activated RRC list. In this way, the format of MAC CE signaling can consider the following options to update the resource information:

[0124] Option 1: One or more fields may be added to the MAC CE signaling to indicate the forwarding resource index, and one or more fields may be added to the MAC CE signaling to indicate the updated resource information. The one or more fields for the forwarding resource index and the one or more fields for the updated resource information may be associated with a one-to-N (where N≥1) mapping or an N-to-one (where N≥1) mapping in sequence. In some embodiments, a new field may be added to the MAC CE signaling to indicate whether there is updated resource information in the MAC CE signaling.

[0125] Option 2: A bitmap may be indicated in MAC CE signaling to indicate which one or more forwarding resources are needed to update resource information, wherein each bit in the bitmap may correspond to a forwarding resource, and the bit value indicates whether the corresponding forwarding resource needs to update resource information. If one or more forwarding resources need to update resource information, one or more fields may be added in the MAC CE signaling to respectively indicate the updated resource information of the corresponding forwarding resources. For example, a bit value of 1 may indicate that the corresponding forwarding resource needs to update resource information, while a bit value of 0 may indicate that the corresponding forwarding resource does not need to update resource information, and vice versa. For example, if the activated RRC list includes 3 forwarding resources, a bitmap 110 including 3 bits may be used in the MAC CE signaling, wherein the lowest bit in the bitmap corresponds to the first forwarding resource in the activated RRC list, the second bit indicates the second forwarding resource in the activated RRC list, and the most significant bit in the bitmap indicates the last forwarding resource in the activated RRC list. In this way, if the bit value 1 indicates that the corresponding forwarding resource needs to update resource information, it can be indicated that the second forwarding resource and the last forwarding resource need to update resource information, and then, two fields are indicated in the MAC CE signaling to indicate the updated resource information of the second forwarding resource and the last forwarding resource, respectively. For another example, if the most significant bit in the bitmap represents the first forwarding resource in the activated RRC list, and the second bit represents the second forwarding resource, then the least significant bit represents the last forwarding resource. In this way, it can be indicated that the first and second forwarding resources in the activated RRC list need to update resource information, and two fields can also be indicated in the MAC CE signaling to update the resource information of the first and second forwarding resources, respectively. In some embodiments, a new field can be added to the MAC CE signaling to indicate whether there is updated resource information in the MAC CE signaling.

[0126] Case 4: Resource information can be indicated implicitly.

[0127] 1. Panel information can be implicitly indicated using at least one of the following options.

[0128] Option 1: Implicitly indicated by the beam index of the access link In some embodiments, beams on different panels may have different beam indices, so the panel information may be implicitly indicated via the beam index.

[0129] Option 2: If you are only operating one panel, you may not need to indicate panel information.

[0130] Option 3: Default panel information may be predefined for the NCR. If there is no explicit indication of the panel information, the default panel information may be considered for the beam.

[0131] 2. Link-level on / off information may be implicitly indicated using at least one of the following options.

[0132] Option 1: Implicitly indicated by beam index. One or more specific beam indexes may be used to indicate a link-level on / off state, and each specific beam index may be used to indicate a link-level on / off state of at least one of the following links: forwarding link 1; forwarding link 2; forwarding link 3; or forwarding link 4. The specific beam index mentioned above may have the following alternatives.

[0133] Alternative 1.1: These specific beam indices can be used to indicate the link-level on / off state, and the specific beam index can also correspond to the physical beam of the access link. In order to know whether the indicated specific beam index has the meaning of implicitly indicating the link-level on / off state, the higher-layer parameter can be configured to implicitly enable / disable the link-level on / off indication through the beam index. In some examples, the higher-layer parameter can be a bit field, wherein a bit value of 0 can indicate that the specific beam index can be used to implicitly indicate the link-level on / off state, and a bit value of 1 can indicate disabling the link-level on / off state implicitly indicated by the specific beam index. In some examples, if the higher-layer parameter is configured, it can be explained that the specific beam index can also be used to implicitly indicate the link-level on / off state; if the higher-layer parameter is not configured, it can be explained that the beam index is only used to indicate beam information. The higher-layer parameter can be configured in at least one of RRC signaling, MAC CE signaling, or DCI signaling. The following example is given to better understand Alternative 1.1.

[0134] Example 1: A specific beam index of 0 may indicate that access link 3 is “on” and backhaul link is “off”. In this way, if the NCR receives beam indication 0 from the base station, the NCR may turn on the access link and use access link beam 3 to complete the forwarding operation.

[0135] Example 2: A specific beam index of 0 may indicate that access link 3 is "on" and the backhaul link is "off". Higher layer parameters may be configured for the NCR to indicate that the link-level on / off state is implicitly indicated by the beam index. In this way, if the NCR receives a beam indication of 0 from the BS, the NCR may shut down the backhaul link and may use beam 1 to complete the forwarding operation. In some examples, if higher layer parameters are not configured or are configured to not enable the link-level on / off state, when the NCR receives a beam indication of 0 from the BS, the NCR may directly use beam 1 to complete the forwarding operation and may not shut down the backhaul link.

[0136] Alternative 1.2: These specific beam indices can be used to indicate link-level on / off status, and the specific beam indices cannot correspond to the physical beams of the access link. In this way, if the NCR receives these specific beam indices, the NCR can know / realize that the indicated specific beam indices are not real beam information and can be used to implicitly indicate the link-level on / off status.

[0137] Example 1: If the NCR has 10 beams on the access link, the BS can use 4 bits to indicate the beam information on the access link. In this way, beam index 11 can be used to indicate that the NCR-Fwd can shut down the access link and can keep the backhaul link open.

[0138] Option 2: In some embodiments, if the time domain resources associated with the beam of the backhaul link are indicated separately from the access link, the link-level on / off status of the backhaul link and the access link may be implicitly indicated by the beam information of the access link and the backhaul link, respectively. For the backhaul link, specific beam information (e.g., TCI status or beam index) may be used to implicitly indicate the link-level on / off status of at least one of forwarding link 1 and forwarding link 2. For the access link, a specific beam index may be used to implicitly indicate the link-level on / off status of at least one of forwarding link 3 and forwarding link 4.

[0139] Option 3: Implicitly indicated by time division duplex (TDD) configuration. For example, if the corresponding TDD configuration indicating the time resource is UL, it can be indicated that only forwarding links 2 and 4 can be turned on, while forwarding links 1 and 3 can be turned off. In some embodiments, a dedicated TDD configuration can be configured for NCR-Fwd. In this way, if NCR-Fwd is used for UL forwarding, the dedicated TDD configuration of NCR-Fwd can have UL symbols and flexible symbols, which implicitly indicates that only forwarding links 2 and 4 can be turned on, while forwarding links 1 and 3 can be turned off.

[0140] Implementation Example 5: Beam Information Indication for Backhaul Link

[0141] In an embodiment of the present invention, since the C-link and the backhaul link operate in the same frequency band, the beam information indication of the backhaul link can share the same spatial filter of the C-link, and therefore the beam information of the backhaul link can share the same RRC configuration of the beam of the C-link. However, in some cases, the spatial filter of the C-link cannot be shared with the backhaul link, which means that the RRC configuration of the beam of the C-link cannot be shared with the backhaul link. For example, when the C-link and the backhaul link operate in different frequency bands (for example, the C-link operates in FR1 and the backhaul link operates in FR2), or when the C-link and the backhaul link operate in different panels, or when the NCR-MT and the NCR-Fwd are in different locations, the RRC configuration list of the TCI state of the C-link cannot be shared with the backhaul link. In this way, a new beam indication method for the backhaul link can be considered.

[0142] The format of the beam information of the backhaul link may refer to the options of the backhaul link beam information described in implementation example 3.

[0143] Case 1: The beam information of the backhaul link and the beam information of the access link can be indicated in different signaling. In this way, the backhaul link beam information can be indicated via at least one of the following: RRC signaling, MAC CE signaling, or DCI signaling, which can be separate from the beam indication for the access link. The combination of different layer signaling can also save signaling costs.

[0144] Option 1: RRC only, MAC CE only, and / or DCI only. Semi-static or common backhaul link beam information can be configured or indicated via RRC signaling and / or MAC CE signaling, which may not change frequently. The main benefit is saving dynamic signaling costs. For example, if a common backhaul link beam is applied to all beam indications of an access link, it can be configured via RRC signaling and / or MAC CE signaling.

[0145] Option 2: RRC+MAC CE+DCI, RRC+DCI, MAC CE+DCI and / or RRC+MAC CE. A set of candidate backhaul link beam information can be configured via RRC signaling. Then MAC CE and / or DCI can be used to activate / deactivate a subset or one of the backhaul link beams in the candidate resource set. In some examples, if more than one backhaul link beam information is activated, the number of activated backhaul link beams can be the same as the number of indicated access link beams. For example, a TCI state list of beam indications dedicated to the backhaul link can be configured via RRC signaling, and the format of the TCI state of the backhaul link can refer to implementation example 3. One or more TCI states can be activated / deactivated from the list via MAC CE signaling. For another example, a TCI state list of beam indications for the backhaul link can be configured via RRC signaling. One or more TCI states can be selected from the list via DCI signaling.

[0146] Option 3: In the backhaul link beam indication of the NCR, MAC CE signaling can be used to activate / deactivate the TCI state from the RRC-configured beam list of the C-link. In this case, if the list of TCI states dedicated to the beam indication of the backhaul link can be configured via RRC signaling, and the format of the TCI state for the backhaul link can refer to implementation example 3, the MAC CE signaling can be reused with some explanations. The TCI state activated or deactivated in the MAC CE signaling can come from the dedicated TCI state list configured for the NCR-Fwd. In some embodiments, in order to distinguish whether the TCI state activated / deactivated in the MAC CE signaling is from the RRC-configured beam of the C-link or the backhaul link, higher layer parameters can be defined. For example, a bit field may be defined, wherein a bit value of 1 may indicate that the TCI state activated / deactivated in the MAC CE signaling is from the RRC-configured beam of the backhaul link, and a bit value of 0 may indicate that the TCI state activated / deactivated in the MAC CE signaling is from the RRC-configured beam of the C-link, and vice versa. In other examples, if this higher layer parameter is configured, it may be stated that the TCI state activated / deactivated in the MAC CE signaling is from the RRC-configured beam of the backhaul link. If not configured, it may be stated that the TCI state activated / deactivated in the MAC CE signaling is from the RRC-configured beam of the C-link.

[0147] Case 2: The beam information of the backhaul link and the beam information of the access link may be indicated in the same signaling. In this case, at least one of the following options may be considered.

[0148] Option 1: For periodic and semi-persistent access link beam indication, RRC signaling can be used to configure a forwarding resource list, and each forwarding resource can be defined as {beam index of the access link, time resource}. In this way, since the backhaul link beam is always associated with the access link beam to complete the DL / UL forwarding operation, a new field can be added to the forwarding resource of the RRC signaling, which can indicate that each forwarding resource is defined as {beam index of the access link, beam information of the backhaul link, time resource}.

[0149] Option 2: For periodic and semi-persistent access link beam indications, RRC signaling can be used to configure a forwarding resource list, and each forwarding resource can be defined as {beam index of the access link, time resource}. In this way, since the communication conditions between the BS and the NCR do not change frequently, a common backhaul link beam can be considered for the indicated access link beams of all forwarding resources in the list. In this case, for the RRC signaling of periodic beam indication and the RRC signaling of semi-persistent beam indication, a new field for the backhaul link beam information can be configured as part of the RRC signaling, and the same backhaul beam can be assumed for all indicated access link beams in one forwarding resource list. In an embodiment of the present invention, for semi-persistent access link beam indication, one or more forwarding resource lists can be configured using RRC signaling. Each list can include one or more forwarding resources. MAC CE signaling can be used to activate / deactivate one of all configured lists in the RRC signaling. All forwarding resources in the list can be selected. MAC-CE signaling can also optionally provide updates to the beam index in the forwarding resource. In some embodiments, if a new field is added to the RRC signaling and is common to all forwarding resources in the list, the MAC CE may also optionally provide updates to the beam information of the backhaul link in the forwarding resource to achieve flexibility.

[0150] Option 3: In an embodiment of the present invention, for semi-persistent access link beam indication, RRC signaling can be used to configure one or more forwarding resource lists. Each list can include one or more forwarding resources. MAC CE signaling can be used to activate / deactivate one of all configured lists in RRC. All forwarding resources in the list can be selected. MAC-CE signaling can also optionally provide an update to the beam index in the forwarding resource. In this case, a new field can be added to the MAC CE signaling to indicate the beam information of the backhaul link, and the indicated backhaul link beam information can be common to all forwarding resources in the activation list.

[0151] Option 4: In an embodiment of the present invention, for semi-persistent access link beam indication, RRC signaling can be used to configure one or more forwarding resource lists. Each list may include one or more forwarding resources. MAC CE signaling can be used to activate / deactivate one of all configured lists in the RRC signaling. All forwarding resources in the list can be selected. The MAC-CE signaling can also optionally provide an update to the beam index in the forwarding resource. In this case, one or more fields can be added to the MACCE signaling to indicate the beam information of the return link, and the indicated return link beam information can be mapped one-to-one to the forwarding resources in the activation list in turn. The number of fields added in the MAC CE can be the same as the number of forwarding resources in the activation list.

[0152] Option 5: In an embodiment of the present invention, for non-periodic access link beam indication, the time resource list can be predefined through RRC signaling. The new DCI signaling can be used together with one or more fields to indicate beam information, and each field refers to a beam index, and can also refer to one or more fields to indicate the time resources defined by the RRC signaling. And one or more beam information fields and one or more time resource fields are associated with a one-to-one mapping in sequence. In this way, one or more fields can be added in the DCI signaling to indicate the beam information of the return link, and the indicated return link beam information can be associated with the access link beam information in the DCI signaling in sequence.

[0153] Option 6: In an embodiment of the present invention, for non-periodic access link beam indication, the time resource list can be predefined through RRC signaling. New DCI signaling can be used together with one or more fields to indicate beam information, and each field can refer to a beam index or one or more fields to indicate the time resources defined by RRC signaling. And one or more beam information fields and one or more time resource fields are associated with a one-to-one mapping in turn. In this way, a new field can be added to the DCI signaling to indicate the beam information of the return link, and the indicated return link beam information can be common to all indicated access link beams in the DCI signaling.

[0154] Option 7: In an embodiment of the present invention, for non-periodic access link beam indication, the time resource list can be predefined through RRC signaling. New DCI signaling can be used together with one or more fields to indicate beam information. Each field can refer to a beam index or one or more fields to indicate the time resources defined by RRC signaling. And one or more beam information fields and one or more time resource fields are associated with a one-to-one mapping in turn. In this way, a new field can be added in the corresponding RRC signaling to indicate the return link beam information, and the indicated return link beam information can be applicable to all indicated access link beams and time resource information in the DCI signaling.

[0155] Case 3: The beam information of the backhaul link can be configured in a separate signaling with the access link beam indication, and the backhaul link beam can be updated in the access link beam indication signaling. As described in Case 1 of Implementation Example 5, the beam information of the backhaul link can be indicated to the NCR via a signaling different from the access link beam indication, and all the options listed in Case 1 can be considered. In this case, in order to achieve flexibility and dynamism, the following alternatives can be considered.

[0156] Alternative 1: For periodic access link beam indication and / or semi-persistent access link beam indication, a new field may be added to the forwarding resources of the RRC signaling, which may state that each forwarding resource is defined as {beam index of the access link, beam information of the return link, time resource}. This field may be optional. If the NCR wants to update the return link beam of some forwarding resources, this field may be configured in the forwarding resources. If not configured, the return beam associated with the indicated access link beam may refer to the beam information of the return link indicated in a separate signaling, as described in Case 1 of Implementation Example 5.

[0157] Alternative 2: For semi-persistent access link beam indication, MAC CE signaling can optionally update the backhaul link beam information of some forwarding resources in the activation list.

[0158] Case 4: To complete the UL forwarding operation, the NCR may know the UL receive beam for the access link and the UL transmit beam for the backhaul link. For the DL forwarding operation, the NCR may know the DL receive beam for the backhaul link and the DL transmit beam for the access link. In this way, the beam for the access link and the beam for the backhaul link may be configured together as a beam pair to the NCR for the forwarding operation.

[0159] Considering that the access link and the backhaul link have multiple beams, one or more beam pair lists can be configured for the NCR, wherein each beam pair list includes one or more beam pairs, and each beam pair includes a beam index of the access link and beam information of the backhaul link (e.g., a beam index or a TCI state). In some embodiments, each beam pair list may have a list index. In some examples, each beam pair in the beam pair list may have a beam pair index. The beam pair list may be indicated from the BS to the NCR via at least one of the following: RRC signaling, MAC CE signaling, or DCI signaling; or configured to the NCR and the BS via OAM.

[0160] In other examples, since NCR-Fwd may cause self-interference, the configured beam pair list can be configured to NCR to indicate that these beam pairs are used for self-interference measurement. In other examples, the beam pair list can be configured for NCR to indicate that these beam pairs will not cause self-interference problems.

[0161] When one or more beam pair lists are configured for the NCR, the beam information indication of the backhaul link and the access link may consider the following aspects.

[0162] Aspect-1: Format of the configured beam pair list. For each beam pair list, one or more beam pairs may be included. For each beam pair, a beam index for indicating an access link beam and beam information for indicating a backhaul link beam may be included.

[0163] Option 1: The access link beams in different beam pairs can be the same or different, and the backhaul beam information in different beam pairs can also be the same or different, which means there is no restriction on the configured beam pair list. The following example pair of beams is given to clearly illustrate the format of the list.

[0164] Example 1: Assume that the access link has 8 beams indexed 0-7 and the backhaul link has 4 beams indexed 0-3. A beam pair list (e.g., Table 1) can be configured for the NCR. As shown in Table 1, beam pair indexes 0 and 1 both include access link beam 1, but include different backhaul link beams (e.g., backhaul link beam 1 and backhaul link beam 2). And beam pair indexes 0 and 2 both include backhaul beam 1, but include different access link beams (e.g., access link beam 1 and access link beam 3).

[0165] Beam Pair Index Access Link Beam Information Field Backhaul link beam information field 0 Access link beam 1 Backhaul link beam 1 1 Access link beam 1 Backhaul link beam 2 2 Access link beam 3 Backhaul link beam 1 3 Access link beam 4 Backhaul link beam 3 4 Access link beam 5 Backhaul link beam 0

[0166] Table 1

[0167] Example 2: Assume that the access link has 8 beams indexed 0-7 and the backhaul link has 4 beams indexed 0-3. A beam pair list (e.g., Table 2) can be configured for the NCR. As shown in Table 2, different beam pairs have different access link beams and different backhaul link beams.

[0168] Beam Pair Index Access Link Beam Information Field Backhaul link beam information field 0 Access link beam 0 Backhaul link beam 0 1 Access link beam 1 Backhaul link beam 2 2 Access link beam 3 Backhaul link beam 1 3 Access link beam 4 Backhaul link beam 3

[0169] Table 2

[0170] Option 2: For each beam pair, different access link beams can be included, while the backhaul link beams in each beam pair can be the same or different, which means that each access link beam of the NCR can be linked to one backhaul beam in the configured beam pair list.

[0171] Example 1: Assume that the access link has 5 beams indexed 0-4 and the backhaul link has 4 beams indexed 0-3. A beam pair list (e.g., Table 3) can be configured for the NCR. As shown in Table 3, different access link beams can be included in different beam pairs in the list, and the backhaul link beams in each beam pair can be the same or different.

[0172] Beam Pair Index Access Link Beam Information Field Backhaul link beam information field 0 Access link beam 0 Backhaul link beam 0 1 Access link beam 1 Backhaul link beam 1 2 Access link beam 2 Backhaul link beam 1 3 Access link beam 3 Backhaul link beam 2 4 Access link beam 4 Backhaul link beam 3

[0173] Table 3

[0174] Aspect 2: Method for backhaul link beam indication: When a beam pair list is configured for an NCR, as described in aspect 1 of implementation mode 5, the following options may be considered for beam indication of the access link and backhaul link of the NCR.

[0175] Option 1: Since the beam pair already includes the beam information of the return link and the beam information of the access link, the beam pair index can be used for beam information indication. In this way, the access link beam information field can be reinterpreted as a beam pair index. Specifically, for periodic and semi-persistent beam indications of the access link, the beam information field in the forwarding resources of the current RRC signaling can be reinterpreted as a beam pair index. For non-periodic beam indications of the access link, the beam information field in the corresponding DCI signaling can be reinterpreted as a beam pair index. In some examples, in order to let the NCR know whether the corresponding beam information field represents the access link beam index or the beam pair index, higher layer parameters can be configured from the BS to the NCR to determine the meaning of the beam information field in the access link beam signaling. For example, a bit field can be defined, wherein a bit value of 1 can indicate that the current beam information field in the access link beam signaling is used for the access link beam index, and a bit value of 0 can indicate that the current beam information field in the access link beam signaling is used for the beam pair index, and vice versa. In other examples, if the higher layer parameter is configured, it can be stated that the current beam information field in the access link beam signaling is used for the beam pair index. If not configured, it can be stated that the current beam information field in the access link beam signaling is still used for the access link beam index. In an embodiment of the present invention, for semi-persistent access link beam indication, RRC signaling can be used to configure one or more forwarding resource lists. Each list may include one or more forwarding resources. MAC CE signaling can be used to activate / deactivate one of all configured lists in the RRC signaling. All forwarding resources in the list can be selected. The MAC-CE signaling can also optionally provide an update to the access link beam index in the forwarding resource. In some embodiments, if the current beam information field in the forwarding resources of the RRC signaling is used for the beam pair index, the MAC CE can also optionally provide an update to the beam information of the return link of some forwarding resources in the activated RRC list to achieve flexibility.

[0176] Option 2: The beam information field of the access link in the periodic access link beam indication, semi-persistent access link beam indication, and aperiodic access link beam indication signaling can be reused. Once the NCR receives the access link beam indication, the NCR can check the beam pair list based on the indicated access link beam index and obtain the corresponding backhaul link beam information. The following two alternatives can be considered.

[0177] Alternative 2.1: A beam pair list can be configured for each beam pair to the NCR, each beam pair includes different access link beams, and the backhaul link beams in each beam pair can be the same or different, and it can be stated that each access link beam of the NCR can only be linked to one backhaul beam in the configured beam pair list. The following is an example of a configured beam pair list.

[0178] Example 1: Assume that the access link includes 5 beams indexed 0-4, and the backhaul link includes 4 beams indexed 0-3. In this case, when the NCR receives an access link beam indication, it can query the beam pair list and obtain a corresponding backhaul link beam that can be used in association with each indicated access link beam index. For example, according to Table 4, when the NCR receives two access link beam indices 0 and 1, it can be obtained that backhaul beam 0 can be used in association with access link beam 0, and backhaul beam 2 can be used in association with access link beam 1. For semi-persistent access link beam indication, one or more forwarding resource lists can be configured using RRC signaling. Each list can include one or more forwarding resources. MAC CE signaling can be used to activate / deactivate one of all configured lists in the RRC signaling. All forwarding resources in the list can be selected. The MAC-CE signaling can also optionally provide updates to the access beam index in the forwarding resources. In some embodiments, if the current beam information field in the forwarding resource of the RRC signaling is still used for the access link beam, the return link can be obtained from the beam pair list according to the indicated access link beam. MAC CE signaling can also optionally provide updates to the beam information of the return link of some forwarding resources to achieve flexibility.

[0179] Beam Pair Index Access Link Beam Information Field Backhaul link beam information field 0 Access link beam 0 Backhaul link beam 0 1 Access link beam 1 Backhaul link beam 2 2 Access link beam 2 Backhaul link beam 1 3 Access link beam 3 Backhaul link beam 3 4 Access link beam 4 Backhaul link beam 1

[0180] Table 4

[0181] Alternative 2.2: A beam pair list is configured for the NCR. The access link beams in different beam pairs can be the same or different. The backhaul beam information in different beam pairs can also be the same or different. The following is an example of a configured beam pair list:

[0182] Example 1: Assume that the access link has 5 beams indexed 0-4 and the backhaul link has 4 beams indexed 0-3:

[0183] Beam Pair Index Access Link Beam Information Field Backhaul link beam information field 0 Access link beam 0 Backhaul link beam 0 1 Access link beam 1 Backhaul link beam 2 2 Access link beam 2 Backhaul link beam 1 3 Access link beam 3 Backhaul link beam 3 4 Access link beam 4 Backhaul link beam 1 5 Access link beam 4 Backhaul link beam 2 6 Access link beam 0 Backhaul link beam 1

[0184] Table 5

[0185] In this case, when the NCR receives an access link beam indication, it can query the beam pair list and obtain one or more return link beams to be used in association with each indicated access link beam index. If only one return link beam is associated with the access link beam index, the NCR can use the access link beam and the corresponding return link beam to complete the forwarding operation. If more than one return link beam is associated with the indicated access link beam index, the NCR can determine its action based on whether it supports simultaneous transmission on these return link beams. If simultaneous transmission is supported, the NCR can use all of these return link beams to simultaneously complete the forwarding operation in the indicated time domain and / or frequency domain resources associated with the indicated access link beam. If simultaneous transmission is not supported, the NCR can determine the return link beam associated with the access link beam based on a predefined rule (for example, select the return link beam corresponding to the first defined access link beam index in the beam pair list). For example, according to Table 5, when the NCR receives access beam index 4, it can query the beam pair list and obtain two return link beams with indexes 1 and 2. In this case, if the NCR supports simultaneous transmission on backhaul link beams 1 and 2, the two backhaul beams and access link beam 4 can be used simultaneously to complete the forwarding operation. If the NCR does not support simultaneous transmission on backhaul link beams 1 and 2, backhaul link beam 1 can be selected based on a predefined rule, for example, the first defined access link beam 4 is beam pair 4, and the backhaul link beam in beam pair 4 is backhaul link beam 1.

[0186] For semi-persistent access link beam indication, RRC signaling can be used to configure one or more forwarding resource lists, each list consisting of one or more forwarding resources. And MAC CE signaling can be used to activate / deactivate one of all configured lists in RRC, so all forwarding resources in the list can be selected. The MAC-CE signaling can also optionally provide updates to the access beam index in the forwarding resources. In this way, in some embodiments, if the current beam information field in the forwarding resources of the RRC signaling is still used for the access link beam, the return link can be obtained from the beam pair list based on the indicated access link beam. Then the MAC CE can also optionally provide updates to the beam information of the return link of some forwarding resources to achieve flexibility.

[0187] Option 3: As introduced in Case 1 of Implementation Example 5, new dedicated signaling may be defined to indicate beam information of the backhaul link, and all options listed in Case 1 of Implementation Example 5 may be considered for the new signaling. In some embodiments, if there is no dedicated signaling to indicate the backhaul link beam, or there is no valid indicated backhaul link beam information, or there is no activated backhaul link beam, the NCR may query the configured beam pair list according to the indicated access link beam index to obtain the corresponding backhaul link beam. The beam pair list may be configured for the NCR, and the access link beams in different beam pairs may be the same or different. The backhaul beam information in different beam pairs may also be the same or different. In this way, when the NCR receives an access link beam indication, it may query the beam pair list and obtain one or more backhaul link beams that may be used in association with each indicated access link beam index. If there is only one backhaul beam associated with the access link beam index, the NCR may use the access link beam and the corresponding backhaul link beam to complete the forwarding operation. If more than one backhaul link beam is associated with the indicated access link beam index, the NCR may determine its action based on whether it supports simultaneous transmission on these backhaul link beams. If simultaneous transmission is supported, the NCR may use all of these backhaul link beams to simultaneously complete forwarding operations in the indicated time domain and / or frequency domain resources associated with the indicated access link beam. If simultaneous transmission is not supported, the NCR may determine the backhaul link beam associated with the access link beam based on predefined rules (e.g., selecting the backhaul link beam corresponding to the first defined access link beam index in the beam pair list).

[0188] Option 4: As introduced in Case 2 of Implementation Example 5, a new field may be added to the current access link beam indication signaling to indicate the beam information of the backhaul link, and the new field may consider all the options listed in Case 2 of Implementation Example 5. In some embodiments, the newly added field is optional, and if there is no explicitly indicated backhaul link beam for the indicated access link beam, the NCR may query the configured beam pair list according to the indicated access link beam index to obtain the corresponding backhaul link beam. The beam pair list may be configured for the NCR, and the access link beams in different beam pairs may be the same or different. The backhaul beam information in different beam pairs may also be the same or different. In this way, when the NCR receives an access link beam indication, it may query the beam pair list and obtain one or more backhaul link beams that may be used in association with each indicated access link beam index. If there is only one backhaul beam associated with the access link beam index, the NCR may use the access link beam and the corresponding backhaul link beam to complete the forwarding operation. If more than one backhaul link beam is associated with the indicated access link beam index, the NCR may determine its action based on whether it supports simultaneous transmission on these backhaul link beams. If simultaneous transmission is supported, the NCR may use all of these backhaul link beams to simultaneously complete forwarding operations in the indicated time domain and / or frequency domain resources associated with the indicated access link beam. If simultaneous transmission is not supported, the NCR may determine the backhaul link beam associated with the access link beam based on predefined rules (e.g., selecting the backhaul link beam corresponding to the first defined access link beam index in the beam pair list or the last defined access link beam index in the beam pair list).

[0189] As described in the above options of Case 1, Case 2, Case 3, and Case 4 of Implementation Example 5, MAC CE signaling can be used to update the backhaul link beam information of some forwarding resources in the activated RRC list. In this way, the format of MAC CE signaling can consider the following options to update the backhaul link beam information.

[0190] Option 1: One or more fields may be added in the MAC CE signaling to indicate the forwarding resource index, and one or more fields may be added in the MAC CE signaling to indicate the updated return link beam information. The one or more fields for the forwarding resource index and the one or more fields for the updated return link beam information are associated with a one-to-N (where N≥1) mapping or an N-to-one (where N≥1) mapping in sequence. For example, there are 5 forwarding resources in the activated RRC list, and the return link beam information applicable to all forwarding resources is configured to the NCR. And the BS wants to update the return link beam information of forwarding resource 1 and forwarding resource 2. In this case, two fields are added in the MAC CE signaling to indicate the forwarding resource index 1 and the forwarding resource index 2, and two fields are added in the MAC CE signaling to update the return link beams of the two forwarding resources respectively, which shows that the field for the forwarding resource index and the field for the updated return link beam are a one-to-one mapping. For another example, if the updated backhaul link beam is the same for the two forwarding resources, two fields are added to the MAC CE signaling to indicate the forwarding resource index 1 and the forwarding resource index 2, and one field is added to the MAC CE signaling to update the backhaul link beam applicable to the two forwarding resources, which indicates that the field for the forwarding resource and the field for the updated backhaul link beam are N-to-one (N>1) mappings. In some implementations, a new field is added to the MAC CE signaling to indicate whether there is updated backhaul link beam information in the MAC CE signaling.

[0191] Option 2: A bitmap may be indicated in the MAC CE signaling to indicate which one or more forwarding resources are needed to update the backhaul link beam information, wherein each bit in the bitmap corresponds to a forwarding resource, and the bit value indicates whether the corresponding forwarding resource needs to update the backhaul link beam information. And if one or more forwarding resources need to update the backhaul link beam information, one or more fields may be added in the MAC CE signaling to respectively indicate the updated backhaul link beam information of the corresponding forwarding resources. For example, a bit value of 1 indicates that the corresponding forwarding resource needs to update the backhaul link beam information, and a bit value of 0 indicates that the corresponding forwarding resource does not need to update the backhaul link beam information, and vice versa. For example, if the activated RRC list includes 3 forwarding resources, a bitmap 110 including 3 bits may be used in the MAC CE signaling, the lowest bit in the bitmap corresponds to the first forwarding resource in the activated RRC list, the second bit indicates the second forwarding resource in the activated RRC list, and the most significant bit in the bitmap indicates the last forwarding resource in the activated RRC list. In this way, if the bit value 1 indicates that the corresponding forwarding resource needs to update the return link beam information, it can be explained that the second forwarding resource and the last forwarding resource need to update the return link beam information, and then, two fields are indicated in the MAC CE signaling to respectively indicate the updated return link beam information of the second forwarding resource and the last forwarding resource. For another example, if the most significant bit in the bitmap represents the first forwarding resource in the activated RRC list, and the second bit represents the second forwarding resource, then the least significant bit represents the last forwarding resource. In this way, it can be explained that the first and second forwarding resources in the activated RRC list need to update the return link beam information, and two fields are also indicated in the MAC CE signaling to respectively update the return link beam information of the first and second forwarding resources. In some embodiments, a new field can be added to the MAC CE signaling to indicate whether there is updated return link beam information in the MAC CE signaling.

[0192] It should be understood that one or more features from the above-mentioned implementation examples are not exclusive of a specific implementation example, but can be combined in any manner (eg, in any priority and / or order, simultaneously or otherwise).

[0193] Figure 6 A flowchart of a method 600 for indicating resource information is shown. The method 600 may be used in combination with an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 and Figure 2 The method 600 may be implemented by any one or more components and devices described in detail. In general, in some embodiments, the method 600 may be performed by a network node. Depending on the embodiment, additional, fewer or different operations may be performed in the method 600. At least one aspect of the operation involves a system, method, device or computer-readable medium.

[0194] The network node may receive resource information from the wireless communication node, and the resource information is used for at least one of the following: a first forwarding link, a second forwarding link, a third forwarding link, or a fourth forwarding link. The first forwarding link may be from the wireless communication node to the network node. The second forwarding link may be from the network node to the wireless communication node. The third forwarding link may be from the network node to the wireless communication device. The fourth forwarding link may be from the wireless communication device to the network node. The resource information may include at least one of the following: beam information or additional information of the access link. The additional information may include at least one of the following: frequency information of the access link, panel information of the access link, link-level on / off information, beam information of the backhaul link, frequency information of the backhaul link, panel information of the backhaul link, or uplink (UL) / downlink (DL) information. The backhaul link may include the first forwarding link and the second forwarding link. The access link may include the third forwarding link and the fourth forwarding link.

[0195] In some embodiments, before the network node receives the resource information, the wireless communication node may have received capability information of the network node. The capability information may be sent from an operation, administration, and maintenance (OAM) entity to the wireless communication node. The capability information may be reported from the network node to the wireless communication node. The capability information may include at least one of: frequency information allocation on the access link and / or the backhaul link; simultaneous beam operation capability on the access link and / or the backhaul link; frequency shift capability; or sub-band non-overlapping full-duplex (SBFD) capability.

[0196] In some embodiments, the frequency information may include at least one of the following formats: carrier index, passband index, bandwidth part (BWP) index, subband index, cell identifier (ID), starting physical resource block (PRB), starting resource element (RE), ending PRB, ending RE, multiple consecutive PRBs, multiple REs, RB offset, RE offset, absolute radio frequency channel number (ARFCN), or global synchronization raster channel number (GCSN). The panel information may include at least one of the following formats: panel ID, panel index, antenna group ID, or antenna group index. Link-level on / off information may be used to indicate an on / off state, which is applicable to at least one of the following: a first forwarding link, a second forwarding link, a third forwarding link, or a fourth forwarding link. The beam information of the backhaul link may have one of the following formats: a beam index or a transmission configuration indication (TCI) state.

[0197] In some embodiments, when the beam information of the backhaul link has the format of a TCI state, a list including one or more TCI states can be configured for the network node for backhaul link beam information indication. The list can be configured to the network node by the wireless communication node via at least one of the following: radio resource control (RRC) signaling, medium access control control element (MAC CE) signaling, or downlink control information (DCI) signaling. A set of logical reference signals used in the TCI state can be defined for the network node. A set of logical reference signals can be mapped one-to-one to a physical backhaul link beam. The new type of TCI state can include a logical beam index defined for the network node, and the logical beam index can be mapped one-to-one to a physical backhaul link beam. At least one additional information can be indicated in the same radio resource control (RRC) signaling for periodic beam information indication of the access link. The indication format of each type of additional information is one of the following: the additional information is indicated in pairs with the beam index of the access link configured in the list through RRC signaling, and each access link beam has associated corresponding additional information; a field is added to indicate the additional information, and it applies to all access link beams configured in the list through RRC signaling.

[0198] In some embodiments, at least one additional information may be indicated in the same RRC signaling used for the semi-persistent beam information indication of the access link. The indication format of each type of additional information may be one of the following: the additional information is indicated in pairs with the beam index of the access link configured in the list through the radio resource control (RRC) signaling; or a field is added to indicate the additional information and is applicable to all beam indexes of the access link configured in the list through the RRC signaling. At least one additional information may be indicated in the same medium access control control element (MACCE) signaling used for the semi-persistent beam indication of the access link. The indication format of each type of additional information may be one of the following: one or more fields are added in the MAC CE signaling to indicate one or more additional information, which is mapped one-to-one to the indicated beam index information of the access link activated in the MAC CE signaling; or a field is added to indicate the additional information and is applicable to all beam index information of the access link activated in the MAC CE signaling.

[0199] In some embodiments, at least one additional information may be indicated in the same radio resource control (RRC) signaling and medium access control control element (MAC CE) signaling for semi-persistent beam indication of an access link. The indication format of each type of additional information may include: adding a field in the RRC signaling to indicate the additional information, and being applicable to all beam indexes of the access link configured in the list by RRC signaling; and adding one or more fields in the MAC CE signaling to update one or more additional information of the access link beam information for a specific indication. At least one additional information may be indicated in the same downlink control information (DCI) signaling for aperiodic beam indication of an access link. The indication format of each type of additional information may be one of the following: adding one or more fields in the DCI signaling to indicate the one or more additional information, and mapping one-to-one to the indicated beam index information of the access link; or adding one field in the DCI signaling to indicate the additional information, and being applicable to the indicated beam index information of all access links.

[0200] In some embodiments, at least one additional information may be indicated in the new signaling. The new signaling may include at least one of the following: radio resource control (RRC) signaling, medium access control control element (MAC CE) signaling, or downlink control information (DCI) signaling. The panel information of the access link may be implicitly indicated by the specific beam index of the access link. The link level on / off information may be implicitly indicated by the specific beam index of the access link. The link level on / off information may be implicitly indicated by the time division duplex (TDD) configuration.

[0201] In some embodiments, when the backhaul link beam information has a format of a transmission configuration indication (TCI) state, a medium access control unit (MAC CE) signaling for activating or deactivating a TCI state of the backhaul link from a TCI state list configured by a radio resource control (RRC) of a control link is reused to indicate one or more TCI states activated or deactivated from the TCI state list configured by the RRC of the backhaul link, and the control link includes a first control link from a wireless communication node to a network node and a second control link from a network node to a wireless communication node. A higher layer parameter may be defined for the network node to distinguish whether the TCI state indicated in the MAC CE signaling is from the TCI state list configured by the RRC of the backhaul link or from the beam configured by the RRC of the control link. The backhaul link beam information may be indicated in new signaling, the new signaling including at least one of the following: radio resource control (RRC) signaling, medium access control control element (MAC CE) signaling, or downlink control information (DCI) signaling. When a wireless communication node updates the backhaul link beam information of one or more indicated access link beams, the RRC signaling for periodic and / or semi-persistent access link beam indication may be used to update the backhaul link beam information of one or more indicated access link beam indices. The field for the backhaul link beam indication may be indicated in pairs with the field for the beam index of the access link configured in the list by RRC signaling. When there is no field indicating the backhaul link beam indication in the RRC signaling for the periodic access link beam indication, the backhaul link beam information associated with the corresponding access link beam may refer to the backhaul link beam information indicated in the new signaling. When a wireless communication node updates the backhaul link beam information of one or more indicated access link beams of a semi-persistent access link beam indication, the MAC CE signaling for the semi-persistent access link beam indication may be used to update the backhaul link beam information of one or more indicated access link beam indices. One or more fields for backhaul link beam indication may be added in MAC CE signaling to update corresponding backhaul link beam information of one or more indicated access link beams activated in MAC CE signaling. When the backhaul link beam indication for the access link beam is not updated in the MAC CE signaling for the semi-persistent access link beam indication, the backhaul link beam information associated with the corresponding access link beam may refer to the backhaul link beam information indicated in the new signaling.

[0202] In some embodiments, a network node may receive a list including one or more beam pairs from a wireless communication node, each beam pair including a first beam index configured for an access link and a second beam information configured for a backhaul link. Each beam pair in the list may have a corresponding beam pair index. The list may be configured from the wireless communication node to the network node via at least one of: radio resource control (RRC) signaling, medium access control control element (MAC CE) signaling, or downlink control information (DCI) signaling. The list may be configured to the network node via an operation, administration, and maintenance (OAM) entity. The access link beam information in different beam pairs in the list may be the same or different. The backhaul link beam information in different beam pairs in the list may be the same or different. In certain embodiments, the access link beam information in different beam pairs in the list may be different, and the backhaul link beam information in different beam pairs in the list may be the same or different.

[0203] In some embodiments, the access link beam information field may be reinterpreted as being used to indicate a beam pair index. A higher layer parameter may be configured to the network node to indicate whether the access link beam information field is used to indicate a beam pair index or an access link beam index. Based on the indicated access link beam index, the backhaul link beam information may be obtained from the beam pair list. When more than one backhaul link beam is obtained for an associated indicated access link beam and the network node supports simultaneous beam transmission on the backhaul link beam, the network node may use the backhaul link beam and the associated access link beam simultaneously. When more than one backhaul link beam is obtained for an associated indicated access link beam and the network node does not support simultaneous beam transmission on the backhaul link beam, a predefined rule may be defined for the network node to determine the backhaul link beam information of the associated access link beam. The predefined rule may include at least one of the following: a backhaul link beam corresponding to an associated access link beam that is first defined in the beam pair list; or a backhaul link beam corresponding to an associated access link beam that is last defined in the beam pair list; or a default backhaul link beam. One or more fields may be added in the medium access control element (MAC CE) signaling of the semi-persistent access link beam information to update the backhaul link beam information of the access link beam information activated in the MAC CE signaling.

[0204] 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 in the embodiments of the present invention. Therefore, the breadth and scope of the embodiments of the present invention should not be limited to any of the above-described exemplary embodiments.

[0205] It should also be understood that any reference to an element using names such as "first", "second", etc., in embodiments of the present invention generally does not limit the number or order of those elements. Instead, these names can be used as a convenient means of distinguishing between two or more elements or instances of an element in embodiments of the present invention. Thus, a reference to a first and a second element does not indicate that only two elements can be used, or that the first element must be located before the second element in some manner.

[0206] 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 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.

[0207] Those of ordinary skill in the art will further understand that any of the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, processors, devices, circuits, methods, and functions described in conjunction with aspects of the embodiments of the present invention may be implemented by electronic hardware (e.g., digital implementation, analog implementation, or a combination of both), firmware, various forms of programs or design codes containing instructions (for convenience, in the embodiments of the present invention, may be referred to 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 described above generally according to 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 the embodiments of the present invention.

[0208] In addition, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the various illustrative logic blocks, modules, devices, components and circuits described in the embodiments of the present invention may be implemented or performed in 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 in the embodiments of the present invention.

[0209] If implemented in software, the function may be stored as one or more instructions or codes on a computer-readable medium. Therefore, the steps of the method or algorithm of an embodiment of the present invention may be implemented as software stored on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media include computer storage media and communication media, and communication media include any media that enables a computer program or code to be transferred from one place to another. The storage medium may 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 devices, and 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.

[0210] In the embodiments of the present invention, the term "module" used in the embodiments of the present invention refers to software, firmware, hardware, and any combination of these elements to perform the relevant functions described in the embodiments of the present invention. In addition, for the purpose of discussion, various modules are described as discrete modules; however, it is obvious to a person skilled in the art that two or more modules can be combined to form a single module that performs the relevant functions of the implementation of the present solution.

[0211] In addition, memory or other storage and communication components may 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 distribution of functions between different functional units, processing logic elements or domains may be used without departing from the present solution. For example, functions illustrated as being performed by separate processing logic elements or controllers may be performed by the same processing logic element or controller. Therefore, references to specific functional units are only references to suitable devices for providing the described functions, rather than indicating a strict logical or physical structure or organization.

[0212] Various modifications to the embodiments described in the embodiments of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined in the embodiments of the present invention may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the scope of the embodiments of the present invention. Therefore, the embodiments of the present invention are not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown in the embodiments of the present invention, but will be given the widest scope consistent with the novel features and principles disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention, as described in the following claims.

Claims

1. A wireless communication method, comprising: The network node receives resource information from the wireless communication node, wherein the resource information is used for at least one of the following: a first forwarding link, a second forwarding link, a third forwarding link, or a fourth forwarding link, Among them, the first forwarding link is from the wireless communication node to the network node, the second forwarding link is from the network node to the wireless communication node, the third forwarding link is from the network node to the wireless communication device, and the fourth forwarding link is from the wireless communication device to the network node.

2. The wireless communication method according to claim 1, wherein: The resource information includes at least one of the following: beam information of the access link, or additional information; The additional information includes at least one of the following: frequency information of the access link, Panel information of the access link, Link level on / off information, beam information of the backhaul link, frequency information of the backhaul link, Panel information of the backhaul link, Uplink UL / downlink DL information; The backhaul link includes the first forwarding link and the second forwarding link, and the access link includes the third forwarding link and the fourth forwarding link.

3. The wireless communication method according to claim 1, wherein: Before the network node receives the resource information, the wireless communication node receives capability information of the network node.

4. The wireless communication method according to claim 3, wherein: The capability information is sent from an operations, administration and maintenance (OAM) entity to the wireless communication node.

5. The wireless communication method according to claim 3, wherein: The capability information is reported from the network node to the wireless communication node.

6. The wireless communication method according to claim 3, wherein: The capability information includes at least one of the following: Frequency information allocation on access link and / or backhaul link; A capability of simultaneously transmitting beams on the access link and / or the backhaul link; Frequency shift capability; or Sub-band non-overlapping full-duplex SBFD capability.

7. The wireless communication method according to claim 2, wherein: The frequency information includes at least one of the following formats: carrier index, passband index, bandwidth part BWP index, subband index, cell identifier ID, starting physical resource block PRB, starting resource element RE, ending PRB, ending RE, multiple consecutive PRBs, multiple REs, RB offset, RE offset, absolute radio frequency channel number ARFCN or global synchronization grid channel number GCSN.

8. The wireless communication method according to claim 2, wherein: The panel information includes at least one of the following formats: panel ID, panel index, antenna group ID or antenna group index.

9. The wireless communication method according to claim 2, wherein: The link-level on / off information is used to indicate an on / off state, wherein the on / off state is applicable to at least one of the following: the first forwarding link, the second forwarding link, the third forwarding link, or the fourth forwarding link.

10. The wireless communication method according to claim 2, wherein: The beam information of the backhaul link has one of the following formats: beam index or transmission configuration indication TCI state.

11. The wireless communication method according to claim 10, wherein: When the beam information of the backhaul link has the format of a TCI state, a list including one or more TCI states is configured for the network node for backhaul link beam information indication.

12. The wireless communication method according to claim 11, wherein: The list is configured by the wireless communication node to the network node via at least one of: radio resource control RRC signaling, medium access control element MAC CE signaling or downlink control information DCI signaling.

13. The wireless communication method according to claim 11, wherein: A set of logical reference signals used in the TCI state is defined for the network node, and the set of logical reference signals is mapped one-to-one to the physical backhaul link beam.

14. The wireless communication method according to claim 11, wherein: The new type of TCI state includes a logical beam index defined for the network node, and the logical beam index is mapped one-to-one to a physical backhaul link beam.

15. The wireless communication method according to claim 2, wherein: At least one additional information is indicated in the same RRC signaling, wherein the same RRC signaling is used for periodic beam information indication of the access link.

16. The wireless communication method according to claim 15, wherein: The format for indicating each type of additional information includes one of the following: The additional information is indicated in pairs with the beam index of the access link configured in the list through RRC signaling, and each access link beam has associated corresponding additional information; or A field is added to indicate the additional information and applies to all access link beams configured in the list via RRC signaling.

17. The wireless communication method according to claim 2, wherein: At least one additional information is indicated in the same RRC signaling as the semi-persistent beam information indication for the access link.

18. The wireless communication method according to claim 17, wherein: The format for indicating each type of additional information includes one of the following: The additional information is indicated in pairs with the beam index of the access link configured in the list through RRC signaling; or A field is added to indicate the additional information and is applicable to all beam indices of the access link configured in the list through the RRC signaling.

19. The wireless communication method according to claim 2, wherein: At least one additional information is indicated in the same MAC CE signaling of the semi-persistent beam indication for the access link.

20. The wireless communication method according to claim 19, wherein: The indication format for each type of additional information is one of the following: Adding one or more fields in the MAC CE signaling to indicate one or more additional information, wherein the one or more additional information is mapped one-to-one to the beam index information indicated by the access link activated in the MAC CE signaling; or A field is added to indicate the additional information and is applicable to all beam index information of the access link activated in the MACCE signaling.

21. The wireless communication method according to claim 2, wherein: At least one additional information is indicated in the same RRC signaling and MAC CE signaling of the semi-persistent beam indication for the access link.

22. The wireless communication method according to claim 21, wherein: The format of instructions for each type of additional information includes: Adding a field in the RRC signaling to indicate the additional information, and applying the additional information to all beam indexes of the access link configured in the list through the RRC signaling; and One or more fields are added in the MAC CE signaling to update one or more additional information of the access link beam information for specific indication.

23. The wireless communication method according to claim 2, wherein: At least one additional information is indicated in the same DCI signaling as the aperiodic beam indication for the access link.

24. The wireless communication method according to claim 23, wherein: The format for indicating each type of additional information includes one of the following: Add one or more fields in the DCI signaling to indicate the one or more additional information, and map them one-to-one to the beam index information indicated by the access link; or A field is added in the DCI signaling to indicate the additional information, and is applicable to the beam index information indicated by all the access links.

25. The wireless communication method according to claim 2, wherein: At least one additional information is indicated in the new signaling, where the new signaling includes at least one of the following: RRC signaling, MAC CE signaling, or DCI signaling.

26. The wireless communication method according to claim 2, wherein: The panel information of the access link is implicitly indicated by a specific beam index of the access link.

27. The wireless communication method according to claim 2, wherein: The link-level on / off information is implicitly indicated by the specific beam index of the access link.

28. The wireless communication method according to claim 2, wherein: The link level on / off information is implicitly indicated by the time division duplex (TDD) configuration.

29. The wireless communication method according to claim 2 or 11, wherein: When the backhaul link beam information has a format for transmission configuration indicating a TCI state, the MAC CE signaling used to activate or deactivate a TCI state of the backhaul link from a TCI state list configured by RRC for the control link is reused to activate or deactivate a TCI state of the backhaul link from a TCI state list configured by RRC for the backhaul link, wherein the control link includes the first control link from the wireless communication node to the network node and the second control link from the network node to the wireless communication node.

30. The wireless communication method according to claim 29, wherein: A higher layer parameter is defined for the network node to distinguish whether the TCI state indicated in the MAC CE signaling is from the TCI state list of the RRC configuration of the backhaul link or from the beam of the RRC configuration of the control link.

31. The wireless communication method according to claim 2, wherein: The return link beam information is indicated in new signaling, and the new signaling includes at least one of the following: RRC signaling, MAC CE signaling, or DCI signaling.

32. The wireless communication method according to claim 31, wherein: The RRC signaling for periodic and / or semi-persistent access link beam indication is used to update the backhaul link beam information for one or more access link beam indexes.

33. The wireless communication method according to claim 32, wherein: The field used for backhaul link beam indication is indicated in pairs with the field used for the beam index of the access link configured in the list through the RRC signaling.

34. The wireless communication method according to claim 31 or 33, wherein: In the case where the field of the backhaul link beam indication is not indicated in the RRC signaling for periodic access link beam indication, the backhaul link beam information associated with the corresponding access link beam refers to the backhaul link beam information indicated in the new signaling.

35. The wireless communication method according to claim 31, wherein: The MAC CE signaling for the semi-persistent access link beam indication is used to update the backhaul link beam information for one or more access link beam indexes.

36. The wireless communication method according to claim 35, wherein: One or more fields for backhaul link beam indication are added in the MAC CE signaling to update the backhaul link beam information of one or more access link beams activated in the MAC CE signaling.

37. The wireless communication method according to claim 31 or 36, wherein: In the case where the return link beam indication of the access link beam is not updated in the MAC CE signaling for the semi-persistent access link beam indication, the return link beam information associated with the corresponding access link beam refers to the return link beam information indicated in the new signaling.

38. The wireless communication method according to claim 1, further comprising: A list including one or more beam pairs is received by the network node from the wireless communication node, each beam pair including a first beam index configured for the access link and second beam information configured for the backhaul link.

39. The wireless communication method according to claim 38, wherein: Each beam pair in the list has a corresponding beam pair index.

40. The wireless communication method according to claim 38, wherein: The list is configured from the wireless communication node to the network node via at least one of: RRC signaling, MACCE signaling, or DCI signaling.

41. The wireless communication method according to claim 38, wherein: The list is configured to the network node via an Operations, Administration and Maintenance, OAM, entity.

42. The wireless communication method according to claim 38, wherein: The access link beam information in different beam pairs in the list is the same or different, and the backhaul link beam information in different beam pairs in the list is the same or different.

43. The wireless communication method according to claim 38, wherein: The access link beam information in different beam pairs in the list is different, and the backhaul link beam information in different beam pairs in the list is the same or different.

44. The wireless communication method according to claim 39, wherein: The access link beam information field is reinterpreted to indicate the beam pair index.

45. The wireless communication method according to claim 44, wherein: A higher layer parameter is configured to the network node to indicate whether the access link beam information field is used to indicate the beam pair index or the access link beam index.

46. ​​The wireless communication method according to any one of claims 42 and 43, wherein: According to the indicated access link beam index, the backhaul link beam information is obtained from the beam pair list.

47. The wireless communication method according to claim 46, wherein: In case more than one backhaul link beam is obtained for an associated indicated access link beam and the network node supports simultaneous beam transmission on the backhaul link beam, the network node simultaneously uses the backhaul link beam and the associated access link beam.

48. The wireless communication method according to claim 46, wherein: In case more than one backhaul link beam is obtained for an associated indicated access link beam and the network node does not support simultaneous beam transmission on the backhaul link beams, predefined rules are defined for the network node to determine the backhaul link beam information of the associated access link beam.

49. The wireless communication method according to claim 48, wherein: The predefined rules include at least one of the following: the backhaul link beam corresponding to the associated access link beam first defined in the beam pair list; the backhaul link beam that is the associated access link beam last defined in the beam pair list; Default backhaul link beam.

50. The wireless communication method according to any one of claims 44 and 46, wherein: One or more fields are added in the MAC CE signaling of the semi-persistent access link beam information to update the backhaul link beam information of the access link beam information activated in the MAC CE signaling.

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