System and method for simultaneous backhaul link and control link transmissions for network nodes

Abstract

Systems and methods for simultaneous backhaul link and control link transmissions for a network node are presented. The network node may determine (i) a first power of the network node for a control link from the network node to the wireless communication node, and (ii) a second power of the network node for a forwarding link from the network node to the wireless communication node. The network node may perform at least one of (i) sending a first signal from the network node to the wireless communication node via the control link, and (ii) forwarding a second signal from the network node to the wireless communication node via the forwarding link.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, including but not limited to systems and methods for simultaneous backhaul link and control link transmissions for network nodes. Background Art

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

[0003] The example embodiments disclosed herein are directed to solving problems related to one or more problems presented in the prior art, and provide additional features, which will become apparent by reference to the following detailed description and in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. According to various embodiments, example systems, methods, devices, and computer program products are disclosed herein. However, it should be understood that these embodiments are presented in an exemplary manner, not restrictive, and that various modifications may be made to the disclosed embodiments while remaining within the scope of the present disclosure to those of ordinary skill in the art who read the present disclosure.

[0004] At least one aspect is directed to a system, method, device, or computer-readable medium. A network node (e.g., a Smart Node (SN)) may determine (i) a first power of the network node for a control link from the network node to a wireless communication node (e.g., a base station (BS), a gNB, or a transmission and reception point (TRP)), and (ii) a second power of the network node for a forwarding link from the network node to the wireless communication node. The network node may perform / initiate / perform at least one of the following: (i) sending a first signal from the network node to the wireless communication node via the control link, and / or (ii) forwarding a second signal from the network node to the wireless communication node via the forwarding link.

[0005] In some implementations, when transmission on the control link and transmission on the forwarding link occur simultaneously, at least one of the following items: the first power may be less than or equal to the first maximum power configured for the control link; and / or the second power may be less than or equal to the second maximum power configured for the forwarding link. In some implementations, when transmission on the control link and transmission on the forwarding link occur simultaneously, at least one of the following items: the sum of the maximum value of the first power and the maximum value of the second power is less than or equal to the total maximum power, wherein the total maximum power may be part of the capabilities of the network node; or the maximum value of the first power is independent of the maximum value of the second power; or at least one of the maximum value of the first power or the maximum value of the second power is configured by the wireless communication node; or at least one of the maximum value of the first power or the maximum value of the second power is determined based on the total maximum power minus the other of the maximum value of the first power or the maximum value of the second power, wherein the total maximum power may be part of the capabilities of the network node.

[0006] In some implementations, when the total power of the first power and the second power exceeds the total maximum power, and / or when transmission on the control link and transmission on the forwarding link occur simultaneously, the method may include one of the following: determining to perform A, A may include: not allocating power to the second power, or determining not to perform forwarding of the second signal; determining to perform B, B may include: not allocating power to the first power, or determining not to send the first signal; or determining to perform A or B according to a priority rule. In some implementations, the priority rule may indicate: among the signals matching the candidate signals identified in the priority rule, forwarding or sending of at least one signal with the highest priority is performed.

[0007] In some implementations, the priority rule may identify at least one of the following candidate signals for the first signal as having a higher priority than the candidate signal for the second signal: Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) transmission, Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmission, PUCCH transmission with Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request Acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information, Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission with HARQ-ACK information, Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), PUCCH transmission with status report and / or PUSCH transmission with status report.

[0008] In some implementations, a prioritization rule may identify / indicate / provide at least one of the following candidate signals for the first signal as having a lower priority than a candidate signal for the second signal: a signal other than a physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission, a signal other than a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission, a signal other than a PUCCH transmission with hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information, a signal other than a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission with HARQ-ACK information, a signal other than a sounding reference signal (SRS), a signal other than a PUCCH transmission with a status report, and / or a signal other than a PUSCH transmission with a status report.

[0009] In some implementations, the priority rule may identify / list / specify, in descending order of priority, a first candidate signal for the first signal, a second candidate signal for the second signal, and a third candidate signal for the first signal, respectively, including: {physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission, or physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission; any signal; a signal other than a PRACH transmission or a PUCCH transmission}; and / or {PRACH transmission, or a PUCCH transmission with hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) information; any signal; a signal other than a PRACH transmission, or a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information}. {signal other than a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information}; and / or {PRACH transmission, PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information, or Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission with HARQ-ACK information; any signal; signal other than a PRACH transmission, a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information, or a PUSCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information}; and / or {PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information; any signal; signal other than a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information}; and / or {PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information; any signal; signal other than a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information}; and / or { any signal; other than a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information or a PUSCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information}; and / or {PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK, or Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) information; any signal; other than a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information, or a SRS}; and / or {PRACH transmission, PUCCH with HARQ-ACK information transmission, or SRS; any signal; a signal other than a PRACH transmission, a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information, or an SRS}; and / or {PRACH transmission, or a PUCCH transmission with a status report; any signal; a signal other than a PRACH transmission, or a PUCCH transmission with a status report}; and / or {PRACH transmission, a PUCCH transmission with a status report, or a PUSCH transmission with a status report; any signal; a signal other than a PRACH transmission, a PUCCH transmission with a status report, or a PUSCH transmission with a status report}.

[0010] In some implementations, when the network node determines / decides / proceeds to perform B, the network node may transmit / send / provide / signal / communicate the first signal in a frequency domain resource allocated to the first signal that was not previously transmitted / forwarded. In some implementations, when the first signal includes a physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission, then at least one of the following items: the PRACH transmission may be transmitted in the next random access channel (RACH) opportunity (RO); the PRACH transmission may be transmitted in the next PRACH time slot; and / or the PRACH transmission may be transmitted according to the following items: a synchronization signal block (SSB) determined by the network node, and a relationship between the SSB and the PRACH transmission.

[0011] In some implementations, when the first signal includes a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission, and / or a sounding reference signal (SRS), then at least one of the following items: the first signal may be transmitted in the next time slot; the first signal may be transmitted in the next uplink time slot; the first signal may be transmitted in the time domain resources based on an indication from the wireless communication node; and / or the first signal may be transmitted after a defined duration.

[0012] In some implementations, the network node may determine / continue to prioritize the transmission of the first signal. The network node may reduce / lower / drop the second power to the smaller of: (i) the maximum total power minus the first power, and / or (ii) the input power to the network node multiplied by the configured gain of the network node. In some implementations, the network node may adjust / change / update / configure the actual gain of the network node so that: the input power multiplied by the actual gain is less than (e.g., less than) or equal to the maximum total power minus the first power.

[0013] In some implementations, the network node may determine / continue to prioritize forwarding of the second signal. The network node may determine the first power to be the lesser of: (i) a maximum total power, and / or (ii) an input power of the network node multiplied by a configured gain of the network node. In some implementations, the network node may determine the first power to be the lesser of: (i) a maximum total power minus the second power, and / or (ii) a value of the first power specific to the type of the first signal.

[0014] In some implementations, the network node may determine / calculate / calculate the first power as: a value of the first power specific to the type of the first signal minus a power offset. In some implementations, the power offset may be at least one of: not less than: a value of the first power specific to the type of the first signal, plus the determined second power, minus a maximum total power; a fixed value; and / or configured by the wireless communication node.

[0015] In some implementations, the network node may receive / obtain / acquire an indication for adjusting the second power. The network node may adjust the second power according to the indication. In some implementations, the indication may include at least one of the following: an indication of a transmission power value of the second power, wherein at least one of the following items: (i) the gain of the network node can be determined / calculated / calculated based on the transmission power value divided by the input power to the network node, and / or (ii) the sum of the transmission power value and the first power is less than the maximum total power; an indication of a gain, wherein at least one of the following items: (i) the second power is the smaller of: (a) the maximum total power minus the value of the first power specific to the type of the first signal, and / or (b) the input power of the network node multiplied by the configured gain of the network node; and / or (ii) the gain is such that the input power multiplied by the gain is less than or equal to the maximum total power minus the first power; an indication of a frequency domain resource for the second power, comprising at least one of the following items: a frequency offset, a resource block (RB) number or a resource element (RE) number, a bandwidth part (BandWidth Part, BWP) index, a frequency band index and / or a frequency domain resource allocation (Frequency Domain ResourceAllocation, FDRA) indicator; and / or an indication of time domain resources of a second power, including at least one of the following items: a time slot offset, a symbol offset, a duration, a periodicity, a system frame number (System Frame Number, SFN), a start and length indicator value (Start and Length Indicator Value, SLIV), the number of absolute time units, and / or an absolute time unit.

[0016] At least one aspect is directed to a system, method, apparatus, or computer-readable medium. A wireless communication node may receive / obtain / acquire at least one of: (i) a first signal via a control link from a network node to the wireless communication node, and / or (ii) a second signal via a forwarding link from the network node to the wireless communication node. The network node may determine (i) a first power of the network node for the control link from the network node to the wireless communication node, and / or (ii) a second power of the network node for the forwarding link from the network node to the wireless communication node.

[0017] The systems and methods proposed herein include a novel method for simultaneous backhaul link and control link (C-link) transmission of a network node. Specifically, the systems and methods proposed herein discuss a novel solution for prioritizing one of the C-link or backhaul link transmissions to avoid the total power of the simultaneous C-link and backhaul link transmissions exceeding the maximum power limit / threshold / upper limit (e.g., maximum power threshold). In some example implementations, if the sum of the control link (C-link) power and the backhaul link power exceeds the total maximum power limit, one of the links is discarded according to or following at least one predefined rule. If the C-link is discarded according to at least one predefined rule, the smart node (SN) communication unit (Communication Unit, CU) (e.g., Network Controlled Repeater (NCR)-Mobile Terminal (MT)) can retransmit / resend the discarded signal in the same frequency domain resources.

[0018] In some example implementations, the C-link and the backhaul link may share a total maximum power limit, and the output power of the C-link may be prioritized. In some example configurations, the C-link and the backhaul link may share a total maximum power limit, and the output power of the backhaul link may be prioritized. In some example arrangements, a wireless communication node (e.g., a gNB, a BS, or a TRP) may transmit a power control indication to the NCR to adjust the output power for the backhaul link, for example, to ensure that the sum of the power for the C-link and the backhaul link does not exceed the total maximum power limit. The power control indication may include at least one of the following:

[0019] Transmission power:

[0020] o If the transmission power is indicated, the amplification gain can be calculated as: amplification gain = transmission power / input power.

[0021] o The sum of the transmission power of the backhaul link and the C-link may be less than the maximum total power.

[0022] Amplification gain:

[0023] o If the amplification gain is indicated, the transmission power may be determined / calculated / worked out as: transmission power = min(maximum total power - C-link power, input power x amplification gain).

[0024] Frequency resources.

[0025] Time resources. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] Various example embodiments of the present solution are described in detail below with reference to the following drawings or figures. These drawings are provided for illustrative purposes only and only describe example 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.

[0027] Figure 1 illustrates an example cellular communication network in which the techniques disclosed herein may be implemented according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0028] Figure 2 illustrates a block diagram of example base station and user equipment apparatus according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0029] Figure 3 illustrates a schematic diagram of an example network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0030] Figure 4 A schematic diagram illustrating transmission links between a BS and a SN, and between a SN and a UE according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is illustrated;

[0031] Figure 5 illustrates an example of an implementation structure for simultaneous backhaul link and control link transmission according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0032] Figure 6 A flow chart illustrating an example method of simultaneous backhaul link and control link transmission according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is illustrated. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] 1. Mobile communication technology and environment

[0034] Figure 1 An example wireless communication network and / or system 100 is illustrated in which the techniques disclosed herein may be implemented according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In the following discussion, the wireless communication network 100 may be any wireless network, such as a cellular network or a Narrow Band 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), which 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 11 , BS 102 and UE 104 are contained within the 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 within its allocated bandwidth to provide adequate wireless coverage to its intended users.

[0035] For example, BS 102 may operate under an allocated channel transmission bandwidth to provide adequate coverage to UE 104. BS 102 and UE 104 may communicate via downlink radio frames 118 and uplink radio frames 124, respectively. Each radio frame 118 / 124 may be further divided into subframes 120 / 127, which may include data symbols 122 / 128. In the present disclosure, BS 102 and UE 104 are generally described herein as non-limiting examples of "communication nodes" that may practice the methods disclosed herein. According to various embodiments of the present solution, such communication nodes may be capable of wireless and / or wired communications.

[0036] 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 illustrated. The system 200 may include components and elements configured to support known or conventional operating features, which need not be described in detail herein. In an illustrative embodiment, the system 200 may be used to communicate with a wireless communication environment (such as a Figure 1 The present invention relates to a method for transmitting (eg, sending and receiving) data symbols in a wireless communication environment 100 of the present invention, as described above.

[0037] The system 200 generally includes a base station 202 (hereinafter referred to as "BS 202") and a user equipment device 204 (hereinafter referred to as "UE 204"). The BS 202 includes a BS (base station) transceiver module 210, a BS antenna 212, a BS processor module 214, a BS memory module 216, and a network communication module 218, each of which is coupled 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 BS 202 communicates with the UE 204 via a communication channel 250, which can be any wireless channel or other medium suitable for transmitting the data described herein.

[0038] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the system 200 may also include Figure 2. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative blocks, modules, circuits, and processing logics described in relation to the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in hardware, computer-readable software, firmware, or any actual combination thereof. In order to clearly illustrate this interchangeability and compatibility of hardware, firmware, and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps are generally described with their functionality. Whether these functionalities are implemented as hardware, firmware, or software can depend on specific applications and the design constraints imposed on the entire system. People familiar with the concepts described herein can implement such functionality in a suitable manner for each specific application, but these implementation decisions should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the present disclosure.

[0039] 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 of which includes circuitry coupled to an antenna 232. A duplex switch (not shown) may alternately 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 of which includes circuitry coupled to an antenna 212. The downlink duplex switch may alternately couple the downlink transmitter, or receiver, to the downlink antenna 212 in a time duplex manner. The operation of the two transceiver modules 210 and 230 may be coordinated in time such that the uplink receiver circuit is coupled to the uplink antenna 232 to receive transmissions on 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 is coupled to the downlink antenna 212 to receive transmissions on the wireless transmission link 250 while the uplink transmitter is coupled to the uplink antenna 232. In some embodiments, there is tight time synchronization between changes in duplex direction with minimal guard times.

[0040] 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 a 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, etc. However, it should be understood that the present disclosure is not necessarily limited to specific standards and associated protocols in application. Instead, the UE transceiver 230 and the base station transceiver 210 can be configured to support alternative or additional wireless data communication protocols, including future standards or variants thereof.

[0041] According to various embodiments, BS202 may be an evolved Node B (eNB), a serving eNB, a target eNB, a femtocell, or a microcell. In some embodiments, UE 204 may 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, and the like. Processor modules 214 and 236 may be implemented 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, designed to perform the functions described herein. In this way, the processor may be implemented as a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a state machine, and the like. The processor may 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, a combination of one or more microprocessors and a digital signal processor core, or any other such configuration.

[0042] In addition, the steps of the methods or algorithms described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be directly embodied in hardware, firmware, in 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 may read information from the memory modules 216 and 234, respectively, and write information to the memory modules 216 and 234. 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 to be 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.

[0043] The network communication module 218 generally represents the hardware, software, firmware, processing logic and / or other components of the base station 202, which enables 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 computer network based on Ethernet. 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 variations used herein for a specified 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 specified operation or function.

[0044] The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model (referred to herein as the "OSI model") is a concept and logical layout that defines network communications used by systems (e.g., wireless communication devices, wireless communication nodes) that are open for interconnection and communication with other systems. The model is divided into seven subcomponents or layers, each of which represents a set of conceptual services provided by the layers above and below it. The OSI model also defines logical networks 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 media 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 stratum (NAS) layer or an Internet Protocol (IP) layer, and the seventh layer is another layer.

[0045] Various example 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. A person of ordinary skill in the art will understand that, after reading this disclosure, various changes or modifications may be made to the examples described herein without departing from the scope of the present solution. Therefore, the present solution is not limited to the example embodiments and applications described and illustrated herein. In addition, the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods disclosed herein are merely example methods. Based on design preferences, the specific order or hierarchy of steps of the disclosed methods or processes may be rearranged while still remaining within the scope of the present solution. Therefore, a person of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the methods and techniques disclosed herein present various steps or actions in an example order, and that the present solution is not limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented, unless otherwise expressly stated.

[0046] 2. System and method for simultaneous backhaul link and control link transmission of network nodes

[0047] In some systems (e.g., 5G New Radio (NR), Next Generation (NG) systems, 3GPP systems, and / or other systems), different types of network nodes may be utilized to enhance coverage (e.g., provide comprehensive coverage) in cellular network deployments. New types of network nodes may be introduced or considered to increase the flexibility of their network deployment. For example, the IAB may be deployed as a new type of network node that does not require a wired backhaul. Another type of network node may be an RF repeater. An RF repeater may be deployed or configured to receive, amplify, and forward any signal. An RF repeater may be deployed in a variety of network environments to supplement the coverage provided by, for example, a conventional full stack unit.

[0048] Network-Controlled Repeaters (NCRs) may be introduced as an enhancement to conventional RF repeaters with the ability to receive and / or process side control information from the network. The side control information may allow the network-controlled repeater to perform / perform / operate its amplification and forwarding operations in a more efficient manner. Certain benefits may include at least: mitigation of unnecessary noise amplification, transmission and reception with better spatial directivity, and / or simplified network integration.

[0049] NCR can be considered as a stepping stone (e.g., a variant, replacement, or modification) to a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS). RIS nodes can adjust the phase and amplitude of received signals to improve / enhance coverage (e.g., network communication coverage). As discussed herein, for simplicity, network nodes (including but not limited to network-controlled repeaters, intelligent repeaters, enhanced RF repeaters, reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS) and / or integrated access and backhaul (IAB)) can be labeled, referred to, or provided as intelligent nodes (SN) (e.g., network nodes). For example, SN may include, correspond to, or refer to a network node for assisting BS102 in improving coverage (e.g., avoiding / preventing blocking / obstruction, increasing transmission range, etc.). In some systems, SN may initiate / execute control link (C-link) and backhaul link transmission simultaneously (e.g., at relatively the same time). Simultaneous transmission via C-link and backhaul link may consume a certain amount of power exceeding the maximum power threshold. Therefore, the systems and methods of the technical solution can perform the features, operations, techniques and / or methods discussed herein to prioritize one of the C-link or the backhaul link to avoid the total power of the simultaneous C-link and backhaul link transmissions exceeding the maximum power limit. As discussed herein, the systems and methods can prioritize the C-link or the backhaul link by dropping one of the transmissions, or configuring / adjusting the power of the C-link transmission and / or the backhaul link transmission.

[0050] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of an example network 300 is shown. Figure 3 As illustrated in FIG, such as when there is congestion between (multiple) BSs 102 and (multiple) UEs 104, one or more BSs 102A-B (e.g., BSs 102) may provide service to one or more UEs 104A-B (e.g., UE 104) in their cells, respectively, via corresponding one or more SNs 306A-B (e.g., sometimes labeled as (multiple) SNs 306).

[0051] Figure 4A schematic diagram 400 of transmission links between BS 102 to SN 306 and SN 306 to UE 104 is illustrated. SN 306 (e.g., a network node) may include or consist of at least two units or functional parts / components (e.g., sometimes referred to as functional entities) such as a Communication Unit (CU) (e.g., SN CU) and a Forwarding Unit (FU) (e.g., SN FU). The units of SN 306 may support different functions to communicate with at least one of BS 102 and / or UE 104. In some cases, a first unit (or functional entity) of SN 306 may be referred to as SN CU, and a second unit (or functional entity) of SN 306 may be referred to as SN FU, or vice versa. For example, SN CU (e.g., the first unit) may be a network controlled repeater (NCR) mobile terminal (Mobile Terminal, MT). In another example, SN FU (e.g., the second unit) may be an NCR forwarder / forwarding (Fwd). The SN CU may take / perform actions similar to those of the UE 104 or include features similar to those of the UE 104, such as receiving and decoding side control information from the BS 102. The SN CU may be a control unit, a controller, an MT, a part of a UE, a third-party IoT device, etc. The SN FU may perform intelligent amplification and forwarding operations using the side control information received by the SN CU. The SN FU may be a Radio Unit (RU), a RIS, etc.

[0052] Figure 4 The transmission links between BS 102 to SN 306 and SN 306 to UE 104 may be defined / described / provided as follows:

[0053] C1: Control link (C-link) from SN CU to BS;

[0054] C2: Control link (C-link) from BS to SN CU;

[0055] F1: forwarding link (backhaul link) from SN FU to BS;

[0056] F2: forwarding link (backhaul link) from BS to SN FU;

[0057] F3: forwarding link (access link) from UE to SN FU;

[0058] F4: Forwarding link (access link) from SN FU to UE.

[0059] A control link (e.g., sometimes referred to as a communication link) may refer to or mean that a signal from one side will be detected and decoded by the other side, so that the state of a forwarding link (e.g., a backhaul link and / or an access link, F-link) may be controlled using information transmitted in the control link. In some implementations, a control link may correspond to, or be referred to as, a communication link.

[0060] A forwarding link may mean that a signal from BS 102 or UE 104 is unknown to the SN FU (e.g., not decoded by the SN FU, or not checked by the SN FU). In this case, the SN FU may amplify and forward the signal without decoding it. For example, the F1 and F3 links may correspond to, or be associated with, a complete uplink (UL) forwarding link (e.g., a backhaul link and an access link, respectively) from the UE 104 to the BS 102, where F1 is a SN FU UL forwarding link. In addition, the F2 and F4 links may correspond to, or be associated with, a complete DL forwarding link (e.g., a backhaul link and an access link, respectively) from the BS 102 to the UE 104, where F4 is a SN FU DL forwarding link. The F1 and F2 links may correspond to, or be referred to as, a backhaul link, while the F3 and F4 links may correspond to, or be referred to as, an access link.

[0061] See also Figure 5 According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, an example of an implementation structure 500 for simultaneous backhaul link and control link transmissions is described. For simultaneous backhaul link and C-link transmissions (e.g., F1 and C1, respectively), the total power of the two transmissions (e.g., the sum of the C-link and backhaul link powers) is expected to be less than or equal to (e.g., not exceed) a total maximum power limit / limit / capability (e.g., a maximum power threshold). The following example features may be considered to prevent the total power of the two transmissions from exceeding the total maximum power limit.

[0062] In some configurations, the signals / channels in the backhaul link (e.g., F1) may be transparent to the SN 306, e.g., the SN FU (or NCR Fwd) may forward the signals from the UE 104 to the BS 102 without knowing the contents of the signals. In some configurations, the total maximum power may be a fixed value. In some other configurations, the total maximum power may be adjusted according to or based on the capabilities of the SN 306.

[0063] In various implementations of the present disclosure, unless explicitly indicated / mentioned / provided (e.g., in example implementation 3), the power of the C-link may be determined / calculated / calculated based on a UE power control mechanism of certain systems for different channels, such as physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission, physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission, physical random access channel (PRACH), and / or sounding reference signal (SRS) and other types of channels. In some implementations, the C-link power calculation formula may be presented / described / illustrated as follows:

[0064] If the C-link transmits PUSCH, the C-link power can be calculated as:

[0065]

[0066] If the C-link transmits PUCCH, the C-link power can be calculated as:

[0067]

[0068] If the C-link transmits PRACH, the C-link power can be calculated as:

[0069] P PRACHb,f,c (i) = min{P CMAXf,c (i),P PRACHtarget,f,c +PL b,f,c}[dBm](3)

[0070] If the C-link transmits SRS, the C-link power can be calculated as:

[0071]

[0072] Example Implementation 0: Separate / different maximum power limits (or thresholds) configured for backhaul link and C-link

[0073] In some implementations, separate maximum power limits may be configured for the backhaul link and the C-link. In this case, if the C-link and the backhaul link are transmitted / sent / forwarded simultaneously (e.g., signals configured to be transmitted simultaneously via the C-link and the backhaul link), the power of the C-link or the power associated with the C-link may be lower than the first maximum power limit, and / or the power of the backhaul link may be lower than the second maximum power limit. The first maximum power limit may be different from the second maximum power limit. In some implementations, both the first maximum power limit / threshold and the second maximum power limit may be configured by BS102. In some implementations, at least one of the first maximum power limit and / or the second maximum power limit may be calculated / determined by / based on / according to the total maximum power limit minus the other of the first maximum power limit and the second maximum power limit.

[0074] The C-link power (e.g., the determined C-link power) may be determined / calculated according to formulas for different signals / channels. Thus, the actual C-link power may be the minimum of the first maximum power limit or the determined C-link power (e.g., min(first maximum power limit, determined C-link power)).

[0075] The backhaul link power may be determined / calculated as the minimum of the second maximum power limit, or the product of the input power and the (configured) amplification gain (e.g., min(second maximum power limit, input power×amplification gain)). In some implementations, the configured amplification gain may be applied to different scenarios, such as simultaneous C-link and backhaul link transmissions, TDMed C-link and backhaul link transmissions, etc. In some implementations, the sum of the first maximum power limit and the second maximum power limit may be less than or equal to (e.g., not greater than) the total maximum power limit (e.g., the third maximum power limit), thereby avoiding the total maximum power between the C-link and backhaul link transmissions from exceeding the total maximum power limit. In some implementations, the first maximum power limit may be independent of the second maximum power limit. For example, the SN CU (e.g., NCR MT) and the SN FU (e.g., NCRFwd) may have separate radio frequency (RF) components. In various implementations, the signal associated with the C-link may be referred to as a first signal, the power associated with the C-link transmission may be referred to as a first power, the signal associated with the backhaul link may be referred to as a second signal, and the power associated with the backhaul link may be referred to as a second power.

[0076] Example 1: The sum of the C-link and backhaul link power exceeds the total maximum power limit

[0077] In some implementations, in response to the SN 306 (e.g., a network node) calculating the total power consumed by the simultaneous C-link and backhaul link transmissions (e.g., the sum of the C-link power and the backhaul link power), the SN 306 can determine whether the total power exceeds the total maximum power limit. If the total power exceeds the total maximum power limit, the SN 306 can drop / cancel / terminate / skip / bypass the transmission of one of the links (e.g., perform the transmission on one of the links) according to the following predefined / predetermined / configured rules (e.g., sometimes referred to as priority rules).

[0078] The precedence rules may include / contain at least one of the following:

[0079] If the total power exceeds the total maximum power limit, the C-link may be dropped regardless of which signal / channel is being transmitted, and the backhaul link may be maintained (eg, transmitted via the backhaul link).

[0080] oIn this case, the backhaul link can take precedence over the C-link. The C-link transmission may not affect the backhaul link forwarding.

[0081] • If the total power exceeds the total maximum power limit, the backhaul link may be dropped regardless of which signal / channel is transmitted, and the C-link may be maintained.

[0082] oIn this case, the C-link can take precedence over the backhaul link. The C-link transmission may not be affected by the backhaul link forwarding.

[0083] ·C-link {PRACH transmission, PUCCH transmission} > backhaul link > C-link other channels / signals.

[0084] o In this case, the priority of the C-link may depend on the specific / exact transmission signal of the C-link, and the link with a lower priority (e.g., the C-link or the backhaul link) may be discarded. For example, if the C-link transmits PRACH and / or PUCCH, the backhaul link may be discarded. In another example, if the C-link transmits other signals (e.g., PUSCH and / or SRS), the C-link may be discarded.

[0085] · C-link {PRACH transmission, PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information} > backhaul link > C-link other channels / signals.

[0086] o In this case, the priority of the C-link may depend on the specific / exact transmission signal of the C-link, and the link with a lower priority (e.g., the C-link, or the backhaul link) may be discarded. For example, if the C-link transmits PRACH and / or PUCCH with HARQ-ACK information, the backhaul link may be discarded. In another example, if the C-link transmits other signals (e.g., PUSCH and / or SRS), the C-link may be discarded.

[0087] C-link {PRACH transmission, PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information, PUSCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information} > backhaul link > C-link other channels / signals.

[0088] o In this case, the priority of the C-link may depend on the specific / exact transmission signal of the C-link, and the link with a lower priority (e.g., the C-link, or the backhaul link) may be discarded. For example, if the C-link transmits PRACH, PUCCH with HARQ-ACK information, and / or PUSCH with HARQ-ACK information, the backhaul link may be discarded. In another example, if the C-link transmits other signals (e.g., PUSCH with other information and / or SRS), the C-link may be discarded.

[0089] • C-link {PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information} > backhaul link > C-link other channels / signals.

[0090] o In this case, the priority of the C-link may depend on the specific / exact transmission signal of the C-link, and the link with a lower priority (e.g., the C-link, or the backhaul link) may be discarded. For example, if the C-link transmits a PUCCH with HARQ-ACK information, the backhaul link may be discarded. In another example, if the C-link transmits other signals (e.g., PUSCH and / or SRS), the C-link may be discarded.

[0091] · C-link {PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information, PUSCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information} > backhaul link > C-link other channels / signals.

[0092] o In this case, the priority of the C-link may depend on the specific / exact transmission signal of the C-link, and the link with a lower priority (e.g., the C-link, or the backhaul link) may be discarded. For example, if the C-link transmits a PUCCH with HARQ-ACK information and / or a PUSCH with HARQ-ACK information, the backhaul link may be discarded. In another example, if the C-link transmits other signals (e.g., a PUSCH with other information and / or an SRS), the C-link may be discarded.

[0093] · C-link {PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information, SRS} > backhaul link > C-link other channels / signals.

[0094] o In this case, the priority of the C-link may depend on the specific / exact transmission signal of the C-link, and the link with a lower priority (e.g., the C-link, or the backhaul link) may be discarded. For example, if the C-link transmits PUCCH and / or SRS with HARQ-ACK information, the backhaul link may be discarded. In another example, if the C-link transmits other signals (e.g., PRACH, PUCCH with other information, PUSCH, etc.), the C-link may be discarded.

[0095] · C-link {PRACH, PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information, SRS} > backhaul link > C-link other channels / signals.

[0096] o In this case, the priority of the C-link may depend on the specific / exact transmission signal of the C-link, and the link with a lower priority (e.g., the C-link, or the backhaul link) may be discarded. For example, if the C-link transmits PRACH, PUCCH with HARQ-ACK information, and / or SRS, the backhaul link may be discarded. In another example, if the C-link transmits other signals (e.g., PUCCH with other information and / or PUSCH), the C-link may be discarded.

[0097] • C-link {PRACH, PUCCH transmission with status report} > backhaul link > C-link other channels / signals.

[0098] o In this case, the priority of the C-link may depend on the specific / exact transmission signal of the C-link, and the link with a lower priority (e.g., the C-link, or the backhaul link) may be discarded. For example, if the C-link transmits PRACH and / or PUCCH with status reports, the backhaul link may be discarded. In another example, if the C-link transmits other signals (e.g., PUCCH with other information, SRS, and / or PUSCH), the C-link may be discarded.

[0099] o In this case, the status report may include at least one of abnormality information (e.g., overheating, self-excitation detection, beam failure, wireless failure, etc.), measurement report and / or HARQ-ACK information.

[0100] · C-link {PRACH, PUCCH transmission with status report, PUSCH transmission with status report} > backhaul link > C-link other channels / signals.

[0101] o In this case, the priority of the C-link may depend on the specific / exact transmission signal of the C-link, and the link with a lower priority (e.g., the C-link, or the backhaul link) may be discarded. For example, if the C-link transmits PRACH, PUCCH with status report, and / or PUSCH with status report, the backhaul link may be discarded. In another example, if the C-link transmits other signals (e.g., PUCCH with other information, SRS, and / or PUSCH with other information), the C-link may be discarded.

[0102] o In this case, the status report may include at least one of abnormality information (e.g., overheating, self-excitation detection, beam failure, wireless failure, etc.), measurement report and / or HARQ-ACK information.

[0103] Embodiment 1a: Dropping C-links according to predefined rules

[0104] In some implementations, according to or based on a predefined rule (e.g., refer to or see example implementation 1), SN 306 can determine whether to discard the C-link or the backhaul link. If SN 306 discards the C-link (e.g., discards the C-link signal or the first signal) according to the predefined rule, the SN CU (or NCR-MT) can retransmit the signal (e.g., the discarded signal) in the same frequency domain resources allocated to the C-link signal that was not previously forwarded (e.g., the initial C-link transmission signal and the C-link retransmission signal can be in / on the same frequency domain resources).

[0105] In some cases, if the discarded signal is a PRACH, at least one of the following may be performed / performed for the discarded signal:

[0106] o The PRACH signal may be transmitted / sent / communicated / signaled in the next Random Access Channel (RACH) opportunity (RO).

[0107] o The PRACH signal shall / may be transmitted in the next PRACH slot.

[0108] o The SN CU may re-evaluate the Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) (e.g., perform a DL synchronization procedure) and may transmit the PRACH (e.g., following a RACH procedure) at a time domain position determined based on the selected SSB and the relationship between the SSB and the PRACH.

[0109] In some other cases, if the discarded signal is a PUCCH, a PUSCH, or an SRS, at least one of the following operations may be performed on the discarded signal:

[0110] o A signal (eg, a first signal) may be transmitted / retransmitted in the next time slot.

[0111] oThe signal can be transmitted in the next uplink (UL) timeslot.

[0112] o The signal may be transmitted in the time domain resources according to the instruction from BS 102 .

[0113] o A signal may be transmitted after a predefined / predetermined duration (e.g., 1 millisecond, 1 time slot, 1 frame, etc.) (e.g., relative to the time when the signal was previously dropped).

[0114] Example Implementation 2: C-link and backhaul link share the total maximum power limit and prioritize the output power of the C-link

[0115] In various implementations, the C-link and the backhaul link may share a total maximum power limit (e.g., the total maximum power limit may be applied to the sum of the C-link power and the backhaul link power). In some configurations, the SN 306 (e.g., the network node) may determine to prioritize the output power of the C-link (e.g., prioritize sending the first signal). The output power of the C-link may be determined / calculated for different signals / channels according to at least one of formulas (1)-(4). By prioritizing the C-link, the SN 306 may reduce the output power of the backhaul link for simultaneous transmission (e.g., the second power). Therefore, the output power of the C-link may not be affected by the backhaul link power (e.g., the output power of the C-link may be prioritized over the output power of the backhaul link).

[0116] The output power of the backhaul link can be determined / calculated / worked out as:

[0117] Backhaul link output power = min(maximum total power - C-link power, input power x amplifier gain) (eg, the smaller of the maximum total power minus the C-link power and / or the product of the input power and the configured amplifier gain value).

[0118] The input power may refer to the incoming signal power from the UE 104 (e.g., F3 signal power) to the SN 306. The SN 306 may reduce the backhaul link power according to the determined output power of the backhaul link. In some cases, the SN 306 may adjust the actual amplification gain of the SN 306 (e.g., different from the configured gain value) to meet the following constraints / criteria / parameters:

[0119] Input power×actual gain<=maximum total power−C-link power (eg, input power multiplied by actual gain may be less than or equal to maximum total power minus first power).

[0120] Example Implementation 3: C-link and backhaul link share the total maximum power limit and prioritize the output power of the backhaul link

[0121] In various implementations, the C-link and the backhaul link may share a total maximum power limit (e.g., the total maximum power limit may be applied to the sum of the C-link power and the backhaul link power). In some configurations, the SN 306 (e.g., the network node) may determine to prioritize the output power of the backhaul link (e.g., prioritize sending the second signal). By prioritizing the backhaul link, the SN 306 may determine / calculate the output power of the backhaul link as follows:

[0122] Backhaul link output power = min (maximum total power, input power x amplification gain) (eg, configuring the output power of the backhaul link to be the smaller of the maximum total power or the product of the input power and the (configured) amplification gain).

[0123] In this case, the SN 306 may determine, or calculate, the output power of the C-link using at least one of the following techniques / methods / calculations:

[0124] Example Technology 1

[0125] The output power of the C-link can be determined as:

[0126] C-link output power = min(maximum total power - backhaul link output power, C-link power) (eg, maximum total power minus the smaller of a second power and / or a first power term specific to the type of the first signal).

[0127] In this case, the C-link power may be determined / calculated for different signals / channels according to at least one of formulas (1)-(4) (e.g., the value of the first power may be specific to the signal type of the C-link). Since the backhaul link is given priority in this implementation, the determined C-link power may be compared with the maximum total power minus the backhaul output power (e.g., maximum total power-backhaul link output power), for example, such that the C-link power is less than or equal to the maximum total power-backhaul link output power.

[0128] Example Technique 2

[0129] SN 306 may determine the output power of the C-link as:

[0130] • C-link output power = C-link power - power offset (eg, the value of the first power specific to the type of the first signal minus the power offset).

[0131] In this case, the C-link power may be determined for different signals / channels according to at least one of formulas (1)-(4) (e.g., the C-link power may be specific to the signal type of the C-link). The power offset may be at least one of the following: not less than: C-link power + backhaul link output power – maximum total power (e.g., C-link power plus the determined second power, minus the maximum total power), a fixed value, and / or configured by BS 102. Example Implementation 4: BS transmits a power control indication to SN to adjust the output power for the backhaul link

[0132] In various implementations, BS 102 may transmit a power control indication to SN 306 to adjust the output power (e.g., the second power) for the backhaul link to ensure that the sum of the power of the C-link and the backhaul link is lower than / less than or equal to (does not exceed) the total maximum power limit. SN 306 may receive an indication (e.g., a power control indication) for adjusting the backhaul link power from BS 102. SN 306 may adjust the backhaul link power according to the power control indication. The power control indication (e.g., for controlling the backhaul link power) may include an indication of at least one of: transmission power, amplification gain, frequency resources, and / or time resources.

[0133] Transmission power

[0134] In some configurations, if the transmission power (e.g., the power of the backhaul link or the second power) is indicated (e.g., the power control indication may include an indication of the transmission power), the amplification gain may be determined / calculated as: amplification gain=transmission power / input power (e.g., the transmission power value divided by the input power from the UE 104 to the SN 306). The sum of the transmission powers of the backhaul link and the C-link may / should be less than the maximum total power (e.g., the total maximum power limit or the maximum power threshold).

[0135] Amplifier Gain

[0136] In some configurations, if the amplification gain is indicated (e.g., included in the power control indication), the SN 306 may determine / calculate the transmission power (e.g., the power of the backhaul link) as:

[0137] Transmission power = min(maximum total power - C-link power, input power x amplification gain) (e.g., the smaller of the maximum total power minus a value of a first power specific to the type of the first signal, and / or a product term of the input power of SN 306 multiplied by the configured amplification gain of SN 306).

[0138] The SN 306 can adjust the amplification gain to meet the following constraints:

[0139] Input power×actual gain<=maximum total power−C-link power (eg, input power multiplied by actual gain is less than / less than or equal to the maximum total power minus the first power).

[0140] Frequency resources

[0141] In some configurations, a frequency resource may be indicated for the backhaul link power (e.g., the second power). The indication of the frequency resource may include at least one of the following parameters:

[0142] Frequency offset, used to indicate the start of the frequency resource. The frequency offset can be compared to at least one of the following: point A (e.g., the frequency position defined in the specification), the start of the bandwidth part (BWP), and / or the start of the resource block (RB). The granularity of the frequency offset can be at the RB level or the resource element (RE) level.

[0143] RB number and / or RE number, used to indicate the applied frequency resource, for example, frequency offset to frequency offset+RB number or RE number.

[0144] - BWP index, where the power control indication can be applied to one or more supported BWPs.

[0145] • Frequency band index, where the power control indication can be applied to one or more supported frequency bands.

[0146] • Frequency Domain Resource Allocation (FDRA) indicator, such as in DCI.

[0147] Time Resources

[0148] In some configurations, a time resource may be indicated for the backhaul link power (e.g., the second power). The time resource may include at least one of the following parameters:

[0149] A slot offset, which indicates the start of a time resource in a slot level. The offset may be compared to at least one of the following: the start of a cycle, an application time of the indication (e.g., which may be predefined or indicated), a reference point (e.g., SFN0, SFN512, etc.), and / or the start of a frame, etc.

[0150] A symbol offset, used to indicate the start of a time resource in a symbol level. The offset may be compared to at least one of the following: the start of a slot, the start of a cycle, an application time of the indication (e.g., predefined or indicated), a reference point (e.g., SFN0, SFN512, etc.), and / or the start of a frame, etc.

[0151] Duration, in milliseconds, slots, or symbols.

[0152] Periodicity.

[0153] System Frame Number (SFN).

[0154] • Start and Length Indicator Value (SLIV).

[0155] Subcarrier Spacing (SCS): For example, the value of SCS may be 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, 120 kHz (which may affect the time slot size, for example).

[0156] • The number of absolute time units. For example, if the number is 5 and the absolute time unit is 1 millisecond, the indicated duration may be 5 milliseconds.

[0157] • Absolute time unit, for example, 1 ms, 0.5 ms, 0.25 ms, etc. The absolute time unit parameter may be a parameter of the time resource or be predefined in the specification.

[0158] See now Figure 6 , a flowchart of a method 600 for simultaneous backhaul link and control link transmission of a network node (eg, SN) is illustrated. The method 600 may be used in conjunction with the present invention. Figure 1-Figure 5 In general, method 600 may include determining a first power and a second power (602). Method 600 may include sending a first signal via a control link (604). Method 600 may include forwarding a second signal via a forwarding link (606). Method 600 may include receiving the first signal via the control link (608). Method 600 may include receiving the second signal via the forwarding link (610).

[0159] In operation (602), and in some arrangements, the network node (e.g., SN) may determine / calculate / work out a first power of the network node for a control link from the network node to a wireless communication node (e.g., BS, gNB, eNB, or TRP) (e.g., C-link power or transmission power of the C-link), and a second power of the network node for a forwarding link (e.g., F1, backhaul link) from the network node to the wireless communication node (e.g., backhaul link power or transmission power of the backhaul link).

[0160] In some arrangements, the network node may perform at least one of operations (604) and / or (606). At operation (604), the network node may send / transmit / provide / signal / communicate a first signal / message from the network node to the wireless communication node via a control link. In operation (606), the network node may forward / send a second signal from the network node to the wireless communication node via a forwarding link. In response to at least one of operations (604) and / or (606), the BS 102 may receive / obtain / acquire / obtain at least one of the following: a first signal via a control link from the network node to the wireless communication node in operation (608), and / or a second signal via a forwarding link from the network node to the wireless communication node in operation (610).

[0161] In various implementations, when transmissions on the control link and transmissions on the forwarding link occur simultaneously (e.g., overlap in time), at least one of the following: the first power may be less than or equal to a first maximum power configured for the control link, and / or the second power may be less than or equal to a second maximum power configured for the forwarding link. The first maximum power (e.g., maximum power limit) may be different from the second maximum power.

[0162] In some implementations, when transmission on the control link and transmission on the forwarding link occur simultaneously, at least one of a plurality of methods / scenarios (e.g., a first method, a second method, etc.) may be supported / utilized / executed. In the first method / scenario, the sum of the maximum value of the first power (e.g., the maximum power of the C-link) and the maximum value of the second power (e.g., the maximum power of the backhaul link) may be less than or equal to the total maximum power (e.g., the C-link and the backhaul link may share or be associated with a total maximum power limit, or may be associated with the same RF component). The total maximum power may be part of the capabilities of the network node. For example, the hardware and / or software of the network node may limit / limit / cap the peak output power to a value (e.g., the total maximum power). In the second method / scenario, the maximum value of the first power may be independent of the maximum value of the second power (e.g., the C-link and the backhaul link may have separate maximum power limits, e.g., the C-link and the backhaul link may have separate RF components). For example, when the network node supports the first method / scenario, the sum of the first maximum power and the second maximum power may be lower than the total maximum power limit. When the network node supports the second method / scenario, the first maximum power and the second maximum power may be unrelated (for example, the maximum power limits of the C-link and the backhaul link are unrelated). In this case, there may be no total maximum power limit. In the third method / scenario, at least one of the maximum value of the first power or the maximum value of the second power may be configured by the wireless communication node. In the fourth method / scenario, at least one of the maximum value of the first power or the maximum value of the second power may be calculated / determined by / based on / according to the total maximum power minus the maximum value of the first power or the maximum value of the second power. The total maximum power may be part of the capabilities of the network node. In some configurations, two or more methods may be combined or supported according to the capabilities or support of the network node, such as the first method and the third method, the first method and the fourth method, the third capability and the fourth method, etc.

[0163] In some implementations, when the total power of the first power and the second power exceeds the total maximum power (e.g., the total maximum power limit between the C-link and the backhaul link), and / or when transmission on the control link and transmission on the forwarding link occur simultaneously, the network node can determine to perform A, perform B, or perform A or B (according to a priority rule).

[0164] For example, to perform A, the network node may not allocate power to the second power, and / or determine not to perform forwarding / transmission of the second signal (e.g., give priority to the control link and / or discard the backhaul link). To perform B, the network node may not allocate power to the first power, or determine not to send the first signal (e.g., give priority to the backhaul link and / or discard the C-link). In some cases, the network node may determine to perform A or B according to or based on a priority rule (e.g., a predefined rule). Performing A or B may include performing transmission on the C-link and the backhaul link according to the priority rule.

[0165] In various configurations, the prioritization rule may indicate that forwarding or sending of at least one signal with the highest priority among the signals matching the candidate signals identified in the prioritization rule is performed. In some implementations, the prioritization rule may identify at least one of the following candidate signals for the first signal (e.g., control link) as having a higher priority than the candidate signal of the second signal: physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission, physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission, PUCCH transmission with hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information, physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission with HARQ-ACK information, sounding reference signal (SRS), PUCCH transmission with status report, and / or PUSCH transmission with status report. For example, if the first signal includes / contains at least one of the above-mentioned specific types of signals (e.g., and / or messages or information) having a higher priority than the candidate signal of the second signal, the network node may prioritize the first signal for C-link transmission and discard the second signal. If the first signal includes other types of signals that are not included in the prioritization rules or are outside the prioritization rules, the network node may prioritize the second signal for backhaul link transmission, thereby discarding the first signal.

[0166] In some implementations, the prioritization rule may identify at least one of the following candidate signals for the first signal as having a lower priority than the candidate signal for the second signal: a signal other than a physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission, a signal other than a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission, a signal other than a PUCCH transmission with hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information, a signal other than a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission with HARQ-ACK information, a signal other than a sounding reference signal (SRS), a signal other than a PUCCH transmission with a status report, and / or a signal other than a PUSCH transmission with a status report. For example, if the first signal includes / contains at least one of the above-mentioned specific types of signals (e.g., and / or messages or information) having a lower priority than the candidate signal for the second signal, the network node may prioritize the second signal for backhaul link transmission and discard the first signal. If the first signal includes other types of signals not included in or outside the prioritization rules (eg, lower priority than the second signal in this case), the network node may prioritize the first signal for C-link transmission, thereby discarding the second signal.

[0167] In some implementations, the priority rule may identify, in descending order of priority, a first candidate signal for the first signal (e.g., a C-link signal), a second candidate signal for the second signal (e.g., a backhaul link signal), and a third candidate signal for the first signal (e.g., another C-link signal), for example, one of the following: {a physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission, or a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission; any signal (e.g., any backhaul link signal); a signal other than a PRACH transmission or a PUCCH transmission}; or {a PRACH transmission, or a PUCCH transmission with hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement ( any signal; other than a PRACH transmission or a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information}; or {PRACH transmission, PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information, or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission with HARQ-ACK information; any signal; other than a PRACH transmission, a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information, or a PUSCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information}; or {PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information; any signal; other than a PRACH transmission, a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information, or a PUSCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information}; any signal; except a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information or a PUSCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information}; or {a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information or a PUSCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information; any signal; except a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information or a PUSCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information}; or {a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK or a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) information; any signal; except a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information or a SRS}; or {a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information or a PUSCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information}; or {a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information or a PUSCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information}; PUCCH transmission with ARQ-ACK information, or SRS; any signal; a signal other than PRACH transmission, PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information, or SRS}; or {PRACH transmission, or PUCCH transmission with status report; any signal; a signal other than PRACH transmission or PUCCH transmission with status report}; or {PRACH transmission, PUCCH transmission with status report, or PUSCH transmission with status report; any signal; a signal other than PRACH transmission or PUCCH transmission with status report or PUSCH transmission with status report}.

[0168] In some configurations, when the network node determines to perform B (e.g., discard the first signal), the network node may send / retransmit the first signal (e.g., another C-link signal, or the discarded first signal) in frequency domain resources allocated to the first signal that was not previously forwarded / sent (e.g., the same frequency domain resources as the discarded first signal that is to be transmitted simultaneously with the second signal).

[0169] In some implementations, when the first signal includes a physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission, at least one of the following items: the network node may send the PRACH transmission in the next random access channel (RACH) opportunity (RO); the network node may transmit the PRACH transmission in the next PRACH time slot; and / or the network node may transmit the PRACH transmission based on the following items: a synchronization signal block (SSB) determined by the network node, and the relationship between the SSB and the PRACH transmission. In some implementations, when the first signal includes a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission, and / or a sounding reference signal (SRS), at least one of the following items: the network node may send the first signal in the next time slot (e.g., a signal on the C-link); the network node may send the first signal in the next uplink time slot; the network node may send the first signal in the time domain resource based on an indication from the wireless communication node; and / or the network node may send the first signal after a defined / configured / predetermined duration.

[0170] In some configurations, for example, for simultaneous transmission on a C-link and a backhaul link, the network node may determine that priority is given to sending a first signal (e.g., a C-link signal). In this case, the network node may reduce / lower the second power (e.g., the backhaul link output power) to the smaller of the following (e.g., the minimum value): the maximum total power minus the first power (e.g., the C-link power), and / or the input power of the network node (e.g., from a wireless communication device, such as a UE) multiplied by the configured (amplified) gain of the network node. The configured gain may refer to the amplified gain, or may refer to the unadjusted maximum gain.

[0171] In some implementations, the network node may adjust / change the actual gain of the network node so that: the input power multiplied by the actual gain is less than / less than or equal to the maximum total power minus the first power. The network node may adjust the actual gain so that the total power output by the network node does not exceed the maximum power threshold.

[0172] In some configurations, the network node may determine that priority is given to forwarding a second signal (e.g., a backhaul link signal). In this case, the network node may determine the second power (e.g., the backhaul link output power) to be the lesser of: the maximum total power, and / or the input power of the network node multiplied by the configured gain of the network node. In some implementations, the network node may determine the first power (e.g., the C-link output power) to be the lesser of: the maximum total power minus the second power (e.g., the backhaul link output power), and / or a value of the first power specific to the type of the first signal (e.g., the C-link power, which may be calculated for different signals / channels using at least one of formulas (1)-(4)).

[0173] In some implementations, the network node may determine the first power (e.g., C-link output power) as: a value of the first power specific to the type of the first signal (e.g., C-link power) minus a power offset. The power offset may be at least one of: not less than: a value of the first power specific to the type of the first signal (e.g., C-link power), plus a determined second power (e.g., backhaul link power), minus a maximum total power (e.g., a total maximum power limit); a fixed value; and / or configured by the wireless communication node.

[0174] In some configurations, the network node may receive / obtain / acquire an indication for adjusting the second power (e.g., backhaul link power), such as for prioritizing the first signal on the C-link. The network node may adjust the second power according to the indication. For example, the indication may include at least one of the following:

[0175] an indication of a transmission power value for a second power, wherein at least one of the following: a gain of the network node may be determined based on / according to the transmission power value divided by an input power of the network node, and / or a sum of the transmission power value and the first power may be less than a maximum total power;

[0176] an indication of a gain, wherein at least one of the following: the second power is the smaller of (e.g., a minimum value) a maximum total power minus a value of a first power specific to the type of the first signal (e.g., a calculated C-link power), and / or an input power of the network node multiplied by a configured gain of the network node; and / or the gain may be such that the input power multiplied by the (actual) gain is less than or equal to the maximum total power minus the first power (e.g., the C-link power);

[0177] An indication of frequency domain resources for a second power. The indication may include at least one of the following: a frequency offset, a resource block (RB) number or a resource element (RE) number, a bandwidth part (BWP) index, a frequency band index and / or a frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) indicator; and / or

[0178] An indication of a time domain resource for a second power. The indication may include at least one of the following: a slot offset, a symbol offset, a duration, a periodicity, a system frame number (SFN), a start and length indicator value (SLIV), an absolute number of time units, and / or an absolute time unit.

[0179] Although various embodiments of the present solution have been described above, it should be understood that they are presented only by way of example, rather than by way of limitation. Similarly, various diagrams may describe example architectures or configurations, which are provided to enable those of ordinary skill in the art to understand the example features and functions of the present solution. However, these personnel will understand that the solution is not limited to the illustrated example architectures or configurations, but may be implemented using various alternative architectures and configurations. In addition, as those of ordinary skill in the art will understand, one or more features of an embodiment may be combined with one or more features of another embodiment described herein. Therefore, the breadth and scope of the present disclosure should not be limited by any of the illustrative embodiments described above.

[0180] It should also be understood that any reference to an element using names such as "first", "second", etc. herein does not generally limit the number or order of these elements. On the contrary, these names can be used as a convenient means of distinguishing two or more elements or element instances in this article. Therefore, the reference to the first and second elements does not mean that only two elements can be used, nor does it mean that the first element must be located before the second element in some way.

[0181] 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 and methods. For example, 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.

[0182] Those of ordinary skill in the art will also appreciate that any of the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, processors, components, circuits, methods, and functions described in connection with the various aspects disclosed herein may be implemented by electronic hardware (e.g., digital implementations, analog implementations, or a combination of both), firmware, various forms of programs or design code incorporating instructions (which, for convenience, may be referred to herein as "software" or "software modules"), or any combination of these technologies. In order to clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware, firmware, and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above in general terms of functionality. These functionalities are implemented as hardware, firmware, or software, or a combination of these technologies, depending on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system. A skilled technician may implement the described functionality in various ways for each specific application, but such implementation decisions will not result in a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0183] In addition, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the various illustrative logic blocks, modules, devices, components, and circuits described herein may be implemented within or performed by an integrated circuit (IC), which may include 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 devices, or any combination thereof. The logic blocks, modules, and circuits may also 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 in an alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, a combination of one or more microprocessors and a DSP core, or any other suitable configuration for performing the functions described herein.

[0184] If implemented in software, the function can be stored as one or more instructions or codes on a computer-readable medium. Therefore, the steps of the method or algorithm disclosed herein can be implemented as software stored on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media include computer storage media and communication media, which include any media that can enable a computer program or code to be transferred from one place to another. The storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. As an example and not limitation, such a computer-readable medium can include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage device, magnetic disk storage device or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to store the desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer.

[0185] In this document, the term "module" as used herein refers to software, firmware, hardware, and any combination of these elements for performing the relevant functions described herein. In addition, for the purpose of discussion, various modules are described as discrete modules; however, as will be clear to one of ordinary skill in the art, two or more modules may be combined to form a single module that performs relevant functions according to embodiments of the present solution.

[0186] In addition, in the embodiment of the present solution, memory or other storage devices and communication components can be adopted.It should be understood that, for the sake of clarity, the above description has described the embodiment of the present solution with reference to different functional units and processors.However, it is obvious that any appropriate functional distribution between different functional units, processing logic elements or domains can be used without departing from the present solution.For example, the functionality that is illustrated as being performed by a separate processing logic element or controller can be performed by the same processing logic element or controller.Therefore, the reference to a specific functional unit is only a reference to the appropriate components for providing the described functionality, rather than indicating a strict logical or physical structure or organization.

[0187] Various modifications to the embodiments described in the present disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments shown herein, but should be given the widest scope consistent with the novel features and principles disclosed herein, as set forth in the following claims.

Claims

1. A method comprising: determining, by a network node, (i) a first power of the network node for a control link from the network node to a wireless communication node, and (ii) a second power of the network node for a forwarding link from the network node to the wireless communication node; as well as At least one of the following is performed by the network node: (i) sending a first signal from the network node to the wireless communication node via the control link, and (ii) forwarding a second signal from the network node to the wireless communication node via the forwarding link.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein when the transmission on the control link and the transmission on the forwarding link occur simultaneously, at least one of the following: The first power will be less than or equal to a first maximum power configured for the control link; or The second power will be lower than or equal to a second maximum power configured for the forwarding link.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein when the transmission on the control link and the transmission on the forwarding link occur simultaneously, at least one of the following: a sum of a maximum value of the first power and a maximum value of the second power is less than or equal to a total maximum power, wherein the total maximum power is a capability of the network node; or The maximum value of the first power is independent of the maximum value of the second power; or At least one of the maximum value of the first power or the maximum value of the second power is configured by the wireless communication node; or At least one of the maximum value of the first power or the maximum value of the second power is determined based on a total maximum power minus the other of the maximum value of the first power or the maximum value of the second power, wherein the total maximum power is a capability of the network node.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein when the total power of the first power and the second power exceeds the total maximum power, or when the transmission on the control link and the transmission on the forwarding link occur simultaneously, the method comprises one of the following items: Determine to execute A, wherein A includes: not allocating power to the second signal, or determining not to perform the forwarding of the second signal; Determine to execute B, where B includes: not allocating power to the first power, or determining not to send the first signal; or According to the priority rules, determine whether to execute A or B. 5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the prioritization rule indicates that among the signals matching the candidate signals identified in the prioritization rule, forwarding or sending of at least one signal having the highest priority is performed.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the prioritization rule identifies at least one of the following candidate signals for the first signal as having a higher priority than a candidate signal for the second signal: Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) transmission, Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmission, PUCCH transmission with Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request Acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information, Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission with HARQ-ACK information, Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), PUCCH transmission with status reporting, and PUSCH transmission with status reporting.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the prioritization rule identifies at least one of the following candidate signals for the first signal as having a lower priority than a candidate signal for the second signal: Signals other than Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) transmissions, Signals other than Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmissions, Signals other than PUCCH transmissions with Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request Acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information, signals other than Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmissions with HARQ-ACK information, Signals other than Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), signals other than PUCCH transmissions with status reports, and Signals other than PUSCH transmissions with status reports.

8. The method according to claim 5, wherein the priority rule identifies, in descending order of priority, a first candidate signal for the first signal, a second candidate signal for the second signal, and a third candidate signal for the first signal as comprising: {Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) transmission, or Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmission; any signal; a signal other than a PRACH transmission or a PUCCH transmission}; or {PRACH transmission, or PUCCH transmission with hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information; any signal; a signal other than a PRACH transmission or a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information}; or {PRACH transmission, PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information, or Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission with HARQ-ACK information; any signal; signal other than PRACH transmission, PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information, or PUSCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information}; or {PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information; any signal; signal other than PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information}; or {a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information, or a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission with HARQ-ACK information; any signal; a signal other than a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information, or a PUSCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information}; or {PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK, or Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) information; any signal; signal other than PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information, or SRS}; or {PRACH transmission, PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information, or SRS; any signal; signal other than PRACH transmission, PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information, or SRS}; or {PRACH transmission, or PUCCH transmission with status report; any signal; signal other than PRACH transmission, or PUCCH transmission with status report}; or {PRACH transmission, PUCCH transmission with status report, or PUSCH transmission with status report; any signal; signal other than PRACH transmission, or PUCCH transmission with status report, or PUSCH transmission with status report}.

9. The method according to claim 4, wherein when the network node determines to perform B, the method further comprises: The first signal is sent by the network node in a frequency domain resource allocated to the first signal that has not been previously sent.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein when the first signal comprises a physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission, then at least one of the following: The PRACH transmission will be sent in the next random access channel (RACH) opportunity (RO); The PRACH transmission will be sent in the next PRACH time slot; or The PRACH transmission will be sent according to: a synchronization signal block (SSB) determined by the network node, and the relationship between the SSB and the PRACH transmission.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein when the first signal comprises a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission, or a sounding reference signal (SRS), then at least one of the following: The first signal will be sent in the next time slot; The first signal is to be sent in a next uplink time slot; The first signal will be sent in the time domain resource according to the instruction from the wireless communication node; or The first signal will be sent after a defined duration.

12. The method according to claim 1, comprising: Determining, by the network node, to give priority to the sending of the first signal; as well as The second power is reduced by the network node to the lesser of: (i) a maximum total power minus the first power, and (ii) an input power to the network node multiplied by a configured gain of the network node.

13. The method according to claim 12, comprising: The network node adjusts the actual gain of the network node so that: the input power multiplied by the actual gain is less than or equal to the maximum total power minus the first power.

14. The method according to claim 1, comprising: Determining, by the network node, to preferentially forward the second signal; as well as The second power is determined by the network node as the lesser of: (i) a maximum total power, and (ii) an input power to the network node multiplied by a configured gain of the network node.

15. The method according to claim 14, comprising: The first power is determined by the network node as the lesser of: (i) the maximum total power minus the second power, and (ii) a value of the first power specific to a type of the first signal.

16. The method according to claim 14, comprising: The first power is determined by the network node as a value of the first power specific to the type of the first signal minus a power offset.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the power offset is at least one of: is not less than: the value of the first power specific to the type of the first signal, plus the determined second power, minus the maximum total power; a fixed value; or Configured by the wireless communication node.

18. The method according to claim 1, comprising: receiving, by the network node, an indication for adjusting the second power; as well as The second power is adjusted by the network node according to the indication.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the indication comprises at least one of the following: an indication of a transmission power value for the second power, wherein at least one of: (i) a gain of the network node is determined based on the transmission power value divided by an input power to the network node, or (ii) a sum of the transmission power value and the first power is less than a maximum total power; an indication of the gain, wherein at least one of: (i) the second power is the lesser of: (a) the maximum total power minus the first power specific to the type of the first signal, and (b) the input power to the network node multiplied by a configured gain of the network node; or (ii) the gain is such that: the input power multiplied by the gain is less than or equal to the maximum total power minus the first power; The indication of the frequency domain resources for the second power comprises at least one of the following items: a frequency offset, a resource block (RB) number or a resource element (RE) number, a bandwidth part (BWP) index, a frequency band index, or a frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) indicator; or The indication of the time domain resources for the second power comprises at least one of the following items: a time slot offset, a symbol offset, a duration, a period, a system frame number (SFN), a start and length indicator value (SLIV), a number of absolute time units, or an absolute time unit.

20. A method comprising: receiving, by a wireless communication node, at least one of: (i) a first signal via a control link from a network node to the wireless communication node, and (ii) a second signal via a forwarding link from the network node to the wireless communication node, The network node determines (i) a first power of the network node for the control link from the network node to the wireless communication node, and (ii) a second power of the network node for the forwarding link from the network node to the wireless communication node.

21. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-20.

22. An apparatus comprising: At least one processor configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-20.

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