System and method for determining downlink / uplink timing

Abstract

Systems and methods for determining downlink / uplink timing are presented. The network node may determine a downlink timing for the first link or the second link based on at least one of the first downlink timing or the second downlink timing. The first downlink timing may correspond to a first frequency band of the first link. The second downlink timing may correspond to a second frequency band of the second link. The network node may determine an uplink timing for the first link or the second link based on at least one of the first uplink timing or the second uplink timing. The first uplink timing may correspond to a first frequency band. The second uplink timing may correspond to a second frequency band.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, including but not limited to systems and methods for determining downlink / uplink timing. Background Art

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

[0003] The exemplary embodiments disclosed herein are intended to solve problems related to one or more problems raised in the prior art, and when combined with the accompanying drawings, by reference to the following detailed description, additional features that are easy to understand will be provided. According to various embodiments, example systems, methods, devices, and computer program products are disclosed herein. However, it should be understood that these embodiments are given as examples rather than limitations, and it is obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art who have read this disclosure that various modifications can be made to the disclosed embodiments (e.g., including combining features from various disclosed examples, embodiments, and / or implementations) while still within the scope of this disclosure.

[0004] At least one aspect relates to the following system, method, apparatus, or computer-readable medium. A network node may determine a downlink timing of a first link or a second link based on at least one of a first downlink timing or a second downlink timing. The first downlink timing may correspond to a first frequency band of the first link. The second downlink timing may correspond to a second frequency band of the second link. The network node may determine an uplink timing of the first link or the second link based on at least one of a first uplink timing or a second uplink timing. The first uplink timing may correspond to a first frequency band. The second uplink timing may correspond to a second frequency band.

[0005] In some embodiments, the first link may include at least one of the following links: a first communication link from a wireless communication node to a network node; or a second communication link from a network node to a wireless communication node. The second link may include at least one of the following links: a first forwarding link from a wireless communication node to a network node; a second forwarding link from a network node to a wireless communication node; a third forwarding link from a network node to a wireless communication device; or a fourth forwarding link from a wireless communication device to a network node.

[0006] In some embodiments, the timing difference between the first downlink timing and the second downlink timing or between the first uplink timing and the second uplink timing may be predefined, measured by the network node, or received by the network node from the wireless communication node. The network node may report the timing difference, the subcarrier spacing associated with the timing difference, and / or the frequency band associated with the timing difference to the wireless communication node. The network node may receive information from the wireless communication node, the information including at least one of the following: the subcarrier spacing corresponding to the timing difference or the frequency band corresponding to the timing difference. The wireless communication node may indicate the timing difference, the subcarrier spacing, and / or the frequency band to the network node through at least one of the following: system information (e.g., in SIB1), RRC signaling (e.g., dedicated signaling or common signaling), or MAC CE and / or DCI signaling (e.g., UE-specific DCI or group common DCI). If indicated by DCI signaling, the DCI signaling may be scrambled by a new SN-specific, link-specific, service type-specific, or SN logical unit-specific RNTI. Operation, administration, and maintenance (OAM) may indicate the timing difference, subcarrier spacing, and / or frequency band to the network node. The timing difference may also be a timing advance (TA) difference between the first uplink timing and the second uplink timing. The timing difference may be used to determine the UL timing of the network node.

[0007] In some embodiments, the network node may obtain the first downlink timing based on receiving a downlink signal in the first frequency band. The network node may obtain the first uplink timing based on sending an uplink signal in the first frequency band. The network node may obtain the second downlink timing based on receiving a downlink signal in the second frequency band. The network node may obtain the second uplink timing based on sending an uplink signal in the second frequency band. The first uplink timing and / or the second uplink timing may be determined based on at least one of the following parameters: N of the timing advance offset; TA,偏移 , N indicated by the timing advance command TAIn some embodiments, the network node may determine that the first downlink timing is a downlink timing. The network node may determine that the first uplink timing is an uplink timing. The network node may determine that the second downlink timing is a downlink timing. The network node may determine that the second uplink timing is an uplink timing.

[0008] In some embodiments, the network node may determine that the second downlink timing is the downlink timing. The network node may determine that the first uplink timing combined with the timing difference is the uplink timing. The network node may determine that the first downlink timing combined with the timing difference is the downlink timing. The network node may determine that the first uplink timing combined with the timing difference is the uplink timing. The timing advance may be configured based on the first uplink timing and the timing difference.

[0009] In some embodiments, the downlink timing of the second link can be aligned with the downlink timing of the first link. The uplink timing of the second link can be aligned with the uplink timing of the first link. One or more subcarrier spacings can be configured or allowed for the first link and / or the second link, each subcarrier spacing satisfying a specific condition within a plurality of subcarrier spacings in the first or second frequency band. In some embodiments, the specific condition can be that the configured or allowed subcarrier spacing can be greater than or equal to a certain subcarrier spacing (e.g., 60kHz), or less than or equal to a certain subcarrier spacing (e.g., 60kHz).

[0010] In some embodiments, the first / second DL / UL timing may refer to a reference time point obtained / measured by the network node. The network node may determine that the first DL / UL timing is the DL / UL timing, i.e., the network node may use the timing obtained in the first frequency band as the actual reference time point for DL / UL transmission or reception at the network node. In some embodiments, the actual reference time point may be the same as the reference time point.

[0011] In some embodiments, the network node may determine that the second DL / UL timing is the DL / UL timing, that is, the network node may use the timing obtained in the second frequency band as the actual reference time point for DL / UL transmission or reception at the network node. In some embodiments, the actual reference time point may be the same as the reference time point.

[0012] In some embodiments, the network node may determine that the first DL timing combined with the timing difference is the DL timing, that is, the actual reference time point of DL transmission or reception at the network node may be based on the first DL timing advance or delay the timing difference. In some embodiments, there may be a timing difference between the actual reference time point and the reference time point.

[0013] In some embodiments, the network node may determine that the first UL timing combined with the timing difference is the UL timing, that is, the actual reference time point of UL transmission or reception at the network node may be based on the first UL timing advance or delay timing difference. In some embodiments, there may be a timing difference between the actual reference time point and the reference time point. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] Various exemplary embodiments of the present solution are described in detail below with reference to the following figures or drawings. The drawings are provided for illustrative purposes only and depict only exemplary embodiments of the present solution to facilitate the reader's understanding of the present solution. Therefore, the drawings should not be considered as limiting the breadth, scope or applicability of the present solution. It should be noted that for clarity and ease of illustration, these drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.

[0015] Figure 1 An example cellular communication network in which the techniques disclosed herein may be implemented according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

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

[0017] Figure 3 shows a sequence diagram for determining downlink / uplink timing according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0018] Figure 4 shows a sequence diagram for determining downlink / uplink timing according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0019] Figure 5 shows a sequence diagram for determining downlink / uplink timing according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0020] Figure 6 shows a sequence diagram for determining downlink / uplink timing according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0021] Figure 7 shows a sequence diagram for determining downlink / uplink timing according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0022] Figure 8 A flow chart for determining downlink / uplink timing according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] 1. Mobile communication technology and environment

[0024] Figure 1An example wireless communication network and / or system 100 is shown 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 narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) network, and is referred to herein as "network 100". Such an example network 100 includes a base station 102 (hereinafter referred to as "BS 102"; also referred to as a wireless communication node) and a user equipment device 104 (hereinafter referred to as "UE 104"; also referred to as a wireless communication device) that may communicate with each other via a communication link 110 (e.g., a wireless communication channel), and a cluster of cells 126, 130, 132, 134, 136, 138, and 140 covering a geographic area 101. In Figure 1 1, BS 102 and UE 104 are contained within 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 with its allocated bandwidth to provide adequate radio coverage to its intended users.

[0025] For example, BS 102 can operate on the allocated channel transmission bandwidth to provide sufficient coverage to UE 104. BS 102 and UE 104 can communicate via downlink radio frame 118 and uplink radio frame 124, respectively. Each radio frame 118 / 124 can be further divided into subframes 120 / 127, and subframes 120 / 127 can include data symbols 122 / 128. In the present disclosure, BS 102 and UE 104 are described herein as non-limiting examples of "communication nodes", which can generally practice the methods disclosed herein. According to various embodiments of the present solution, such communication nodes may be capable of wireless and / or wired communication.

[0026] Figure 2 A block diagram of an example wireless communication system 200 for sending and receiving wireless communication signals (e.g., OFDM / OFDMA signals) according to some embodiments of the present solution is shown. The system 200 may include components and elements configured to support known or conventional operating features that need not be described in detail herein. In one illustrative embodiment, as described above, the system 200 may be used in applications such as Figure 1 The wireless communication environment 100 may be used to communicate (eg, transmit and receive) data symbols.

[0027] The system 200 generally includes a base station 202 (hereinafter referred to as "BS 202") and a user equipment device 204 (hereinafter referred to as "UE 204"). The BS 202 includes a BS (base station) transceiver module 210, a BS antenna 212, a BS processor module 214, a BS memory module 216, and a network communication module 218, each of which is coupled to and interconnected with each other via a data communication bus 220 as needed. The UE 204 includes a UE (user equipment) transceiver module 230, a UE antenna 232, a UE memory module 234, and a UE processor module 236, each of which is coupled to and interconnected with each other via a data communication bus 240 as needed. The BS 202 communicates with the UE 204 via a communication channel 250, which may be any wireless channel or other medium suitable for data transmission as described herein.

[0028] As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the system 200 may also include Figure 2 Any number of modules outside the modules shown. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the various illustrative blocks, modules, circuits, and processing logic described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in hardware, computer-readable software, firmware, or any actual combination thereof. In order to clearly illustrate this interchangeability and compatibility of hardware, firmware, and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps are generally described according to their functions. Whether such functions are implemented as hardware, firmware, or software depends on the specific application and design constraints imposed on the entire system. People familiar with the concepts described herein can implement such functions in a manner suitable for each specific application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the present disclosure.

[0029] According to some embodiments, the UE transceiver 230 may be referred to herein as an "uplink" transceiver 230, which includes a radio frequency (RF) transmitter and an RF receiver, each including circuitry coupled to an antenna 232. A duplex switch (not shown) may alternatively couple the uplink transmitter or receiver to the uplink antenna in a time duplex manner. Similarly, according to some embodiments, the BS transceiver 210 may be referred to herein as a "downlink" transceiver 210, which includes an RF transmitter and an RF receiver, each including circuitry coupled to an antenna 212. The downlink duplex switch may alternatively couple the downlink transmitter or receiver to the downlink antenna 212 in a time duplex manner. The operation of the two transceiver modules 210 and 230 may be coordinated in time such that the uplink receiver circuit is coupled to the uplink antenna 232 to receive transmissions over the wireless transmission link 250 while the downlink transmitter is coupled to the downlink antenna 212. Instead, the operation of the two transceivers 210 and 230 may be coordinated in time such that the downlink receiver coupled to the downlink antenna 212 receives transmissions over the wireless transmission link 250 at the same time as the uplink transmitter coupled to the uplink antenna 232. In some embodiments, tight time synchronization with minimal guard times between changes in duplex direction is provided.

[0030] The UE transceiver 230 and the base station transceiver 210 are configured to communicate via a wireless data communication link 250 and cooperate with an appropriately configured RF antenna arrangement 212 / 232 that can support a specific wireless communication protocol and modulation scheme. In some illustrative embodiments, the UE transceiver 210 and the base station transceiver 210 are configured to support industry standards such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) and emerging 5G standards. However, it should be understood that the present disclosure is not necessarily limited to application to specific standards and related protocols. Instead, the UE transceiver 230 and the base station transceiver 210 can be configured to support alternative or additional wireless data communication protocols, including future standards or variations thereof.

[0031] According to various embodiments, for example, BS202 can be an evolved node B (eNB), a serving eNB, a target eNB, a femtocell or a microcell. In some embodiments, UE 204 can be embodied in various types of user equipment, such as mobile phones, smart phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), tablet computers, laptop computers, wearable computing devices, etc. Processor modules 214 and 236 can be implemented or completed with a general-purpose processor, a content addressable memory, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, any suitable programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. In this way, the processor can be implemented as a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a state machine, etc. The processor can also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors combined with a digital signal processor core, or any other such configuration.

[0032] In addition, the steps of the methods or algorithms described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein may be directly embodied in hardware, in firmware, in software modules executed by the processor modules 214 and 236, respectively, or in any practical combination thereof. The memory modules 216 and 234 may be implemented as RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, removable disk, CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. In this regard, the memory modules 216 and 234 may be coupled to the processor modules 210 and 230, respectively, so that the processor modules 210 and 230 can read information from and write information to the memory modules 216 and 234, respectively. The memory modules 216 and 234 may also be integrated into their respective processor modules 210 and 230. In some embodiments, the memory modules 216 and 234 may each include a cache memory for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during the execution of instructions executed by the processor modules 210 and 230, respectively. Memory modules 216 and 234 may also each include non-volatile memory for storing instructions to be executed by processor modules 210 and 230, respectively.

[0033] The network communication module 218 generally represents the hardware, software, firmware, processing logic and / or other components of the base station 202 that enable bidirectional communication between the base station transceiver 210 and other network components and communication nodes configured to communicate with the base station 202. For example, the network communication module 218 can be configured to support Internet or WiMAX services. In a typical deployment, but not limited to, the network communication module 218 provides an 802.3 Ethernet interface so that the base station transceiver 210 can communicate with a traditional Ethernet-based computer network. In this way, the network communication module 218 can include a physical interface for connecting to a computer network (e.g., a mobile switching center (MSC)). The terms "configured for", "configured to" and their conjugates used herein for a specific operation or function refer to a device, component, circuit, structure, machine, signal, etc. that is physically constructed, programmed, formatted and / or arranged to perform a specific operation or function.

[0034] The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model (referred to herein as the "Open Systems Interconnection Model") is a conceptual and logical layout that defines network communications used by systems (e.g., wireless communication devices, wireless communication nodes) that are open to interconnection and communication with other systems. The model is divided into seven subcomponents or layers, each representing a conceptual set of services provided to the layers above and below it. The OSI model also defines a logical network and effectively describes computer packet transmission by using different layer protocols. The OSI model may also be referred to as a seven-layer OSI model or a seven-layer model. In some embodiments, the first layer may be a physical layer. In some embodiments, the second layer may be a 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 (NAS) layer or an Internet Protocol (IP) layer, and the seventh layer is another layer.

[0035] Various exemplary embodiments of the present solution are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings to enable a person of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the present solution. It is apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art that, after reading this disclosure, various changes or modifications may be made to the examples described herein without departing from the scope of the present solution. Therefore, the present solution is not limited to the exemplary embodiments and applications described and illustrated herein. In addition, the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods disclosed herein are merely example methods. Based on design preferences, the specific order or hierarchy of steps of the disclosed methods or processes may be rearranged while remaining within the scope of the present solution. Therefore, a person of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the methods and techniques disclosed herein present various steps or actions in a sample order, and unless otherwise expressly stated, the present solution is not limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented.

[0036] 2. Systems and methods for determining downlink / uplink timing

[0037] In 3GPP, Release 18 (e.g., network node, network controlled repeater (NCR)) was introduced as an enhancement to the traditional radio frequency (RF) repeater with the ability to receive and process auxiliary control information from the network. The network node may include, but is not limited to, a network controlled repeater (NCR), a smart repeater (SR), an enhanced RF repeater, a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS), or an integrated access and backhaul (IAB). For simplicity, the network node may be denoted as a smart node (SN). An SN may be a network node that helps a BS improve coverage.

[0038] In some embodiments, the frequency band of the communication / control link (C-link) (or SN communication / control unit (CU)) may be different from the frequency band of the forwarding link (F-link) (or SN forwarding unit (FU)). In other words, the above two operating frequency bands are out-of-band. Because different frequency bands may use different subcarrier spacings. The corresponding timing advance (TA) granularity of different frequency bands may be different. In addition, the timing requirements of different frequency bands may also be different (for example, Te, TA adjustment accuracy). Therefore, if the operating frequency bands of the C-link and the F-link are out-of-band, there may be a timing difference between the C-link and the F-link.

[0039] FU may include only RF units. FU cannot detect signals to obtain timing synchronization. If CU controls FU forwarding based on the timing of C-link (e.g., on / off, beam management, and / or power control), it may cause resource conflicts, interference, and / or performance loss because the timing of C-link is inaccurate for F-link. Therefore, we need to design / study a mechanism to obtain accurate timing of F-link in order to accurately control the forwarding of FU.

[0040] Coverage may be a fundamental aspect of cellular network deployment. Mobile operators may rely on different types of network nodes to provide comprehensive coverage in a deployment. Therefore, new types of network nodes are considered to increase the flexibility of network deployment for mobile operators. For example, Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) was introduced in Release-16 and enhanced in Release-17 as a new type of network node that does not require a wired backhaul. Another type of network node is the RF repeater, which can amplify and retransmit any received signal. RF repeaters may have been widely deployed in 2G, 3G, and 4G to supplement the coverage provided by conventional full-stack cells. RF repeaters may have only radio units.

[0041] In Release-18, network-controlled repeaters are introduced as an enhancement to traditional RF repeaters with the ability to receive and process auxiliary control information from the network. The auxiliary control information can allow the network-controlled repeater to perform amplification and forwarding operations in a more efficient manner. These advantages can include mitigation of unnecessary noise amplification, transmission and reception with better spatial directionality, and / or simplified network integration. The same mechanisms for control specified in this disclosure can also be applied to other products, including RIS Reconfigurable Smart Surfaces (RIS).

[0042] A smart node (SN) / network node may include two units (or functional entities) to support different functions: a first unit and a second unit, respectively. The first unit may receive and decode auxiliary control information from a base station (BS). The first unit may be a communication / control unit (CU), a mobile terminal (MT), a part of a UE and / or a third-party Internet of Things (IoT) device. The second unit may use the auxiliary control information received by the first unit of the SN to perform / conduct / implement intelligent amplification and forwarding operations. The second unit may be a forwarding unit (FU), a radio unit (RU) and / or a RIS. In the present disclosure, a smart node / network node may be referred to as a SN for short. The communication / control unit (CU) and the forwarding unit (FU) may be referred to as the first unit of the SN and the second unit of the SN, respectively.

[0043] Reference now Figure 3, depicting an example configuration of transmission links between BS and SN and SN and UE. C1 can be a communication link (or control link) (CL) from BS to SN CU. C2 can be a communication / control link from SN CU to BS. F1 can be a forwarding link from BS to SN FU. F2 can be a forwarding link from SN FU to BS. F3 can be a forwarding link from SN FU to UE. F4 can be a forwarding link from UE to SN FU. In some embodiments, the communication link can illustrate / indicate that a signal from one side (e.g., BS or SN CU) can be detected and decoded by the other side (e.g., SN CU or BS). The information transmitted in the communication link can be used to control the state of the forwarding link. The forwarding link may illustrate / indicate that a signal from the BS or UE may not be known to the SN FU. The SN FU may only amplify and forward the signal without decoding the signal. F1+F3 is a complete DL forwarding link from BS to UE, where F3 is a SN FU DL forwarding link. F2+F4 is a complete uplink (UL) forwarding link from the UE to the BS, where F2 is the SN FU UL forwarding link.

[0044] F1 and / or F2 may also be referred to as a backhaul link (B-link). F3 and / or F4 may also be referred to as an access link (A-link).

[0045] In some embodiments, the frequency band of the communication / control link (C-link) (or SN communication / control unit (CU)) may be different from the frequency band of the forwarding link (F-link) (or SN forwarding unit (FU)). In other words, both operating frequency bands are out-of-band. Figure 4 As shown, the C-link can operate in frequency range 1 (FR1) for initial access to control forwarding of the F-link. The F-link can operate in frequency range 2 (FR2) to extend network coverage on the FR2 band.

[0046] In the present disclosure, two frequency bands are out-of-band, including at least one of the following situations: the two frequency bands are different carriers; the two frequency bands are located in different frequency bands; the two frequency bands are in different frequency ranges (e.g., FR1, FR2 (FR2-1, FR2-2)).

[0047] Since different frequency bands can use different subcarrier spacings, the corresponding timing advance (TA) granularity can be different. In addition, the timing requirements of different frequency bands can also be different (e.g., Te, TA adjustment accuracy). If the operating frequency bands of the C-link and F-link are out-of-band, there may be a timing difference between the C-link and the F-link.

[0048] Assuming that the SN CU (or C-link) operates in the first frequency band, the SN CU can obtain at least one of the following timings: (a) first downlink (DL) timing: the SN CU detects the DL signal (e.g., synchronization signal block (SSB)) transmitted by the base station in the first frequency band to obtain the first DL timing, that is, adopts the UE mechanism to obtain the first DL timing; (b) first uplink (UL) timing: the SN CU obtains the first UL timing according to the UL signal (e.g., random access channel (RACH)) transmitted by the CU in the first frequency band, that is, adopts the UE mechanism to obtain the first UL timing.

[0049] In some embodiments, downlink (DL) timing may refer to an actual reference time point of DL transmission or reception at the SN (e.g., the start of a DL frame / subframe / time slot at the SN). DL timing may include at least one of downlink reception timing or downlink transmission timing. In some embodiments, uplink (UL) timing may refer to an actual reference time point of UL transmission or reception at the SN (e.g., the start of a UL frame / subframe / time slot at the SN), which is T before the start of the corresponding DL frame at the SN. TA . T TA It can be determined based on at least one of the following parameters: TA,偏移 , N indicated by the timing advance command TA UL timing may include at least one of uplink reception timing and uplink transmission timing. The overall structure of the present disclosure is Figure 5 Shown in.

[0050] Implementation Example 1

[0051] The smart node (SN) communication / control unit (CU) (or C-link) can mainly operate in the first frequency band for initial access and / or control information reception / transmission. However, the SN can also detect / transmit some signals (e.g., synchronization signal block (SSB) or random access channel (RACH)) from / to the base station in the second frequency band for timing acquisition. The SN forwarding unit (FU) (or F-link) can operate in the second frequency band for forwarding. Figure 6 An example is shown in FIG.

[0052] Second downlink (DL) timing: The SN CU may detect a DL signal (e.g., SSB) transmitted by the base station in the second frequency band to obtain a second DL timing. Alternatively, the SSB transmitted by the base station in the second frequency band may be used only to obtain the radio frame timing and / or system frame number (SFN) of the SN CU. In some embodiments, the DL signal may not be used for other purposes (e.g., measurement).

[0053] Second uplink (UL) timing: The SN CU may obtain a second UL timing based on a UL signal (e.g., RACH) transmitted by the CU in the second frequency band. Optionally, the UL signal transmitted by the SN CU in the second frequency band may be used only to obtain the UL timing of the SN CU. In some embodiments, the UL signal may not be used for other purposes (e.g., measurement).

[0054] Timing for SN CU (or C-link)

[0055] Option 1-1: The SN CU may use the first DL timing as the DL timing of the C-link, and / or the SN CU may use the first UL timing as the UL timing of the C-link.

[0056] Option 1-2: The SN CU may use the second DL timing as the DL timing of the C-link, and / or the SN CU may use the second UL timing as the UL timing of the C-link.

[0057] Option 1-3: The SN CU may use the first DL timing as the DL timing of the C-link, and / or the SN CU may use the second UL timing as the UL timing of the C-link.

[0058] Option 1-4: The SN CU may use the second DL timing as the DL timing of the C-link, and / or the SN CU may use the first UL timing as the UL timing of the C-link.

[0059] Option 1-5: The SN CU may use the second DL timing as the DL timing of the C-link, and / or the SN CU may use the first UL timing plus the first timing difference as the UL timing of the C-link. The first timing difference may be the difference between the first DL timing and the second DL timing. A new timing advance (TA) may be obtained or defined by adding the first timing difference to the first UL timing (e.g., the TA obtained in the first frequency band). The SN CU may report the first timing difference and / or the associated subcarrier spacing (SCS) to the base station.

[0060] Timing for SN FU (or F-link)

[0061] Option 2-1: The timing of the SN FU may be aligned with the timing of the CU, including: the DL timing of the FU is aligned with the DL timing of the CU, and / or the UL timing of the FU is aligned with the UL timing of the CU.

[0062] Option 2-2: The DL timing of the FU is aligned with the second DL timing, and / or the UL timing of the FU is aligned with the second UL timing, or the first UL timing plus the first timing difference.

[0063] Implementation Example 2

[0064] The communication / control unit (CU) (or C-link) may operate in a first frequency band. The forwarding unit (FU) (or F-link) may operate in a second frequency band. Figure 7 An example is shown in . The CU cannot detect the synchronization signal transmitted by the base station in the second frequency band, and / or the CU cannot transmit the uplink signal in the second frequency band.

[0065] In this implementation example, for the timing of the SN CU (or C-link), the SN CU can use the first DL timing as the DL timing of the C-link, and / or the SN CU can use the first UL timing as the UL timing of the C-link (i.e., option 1-1 in implementation example 1).

[0066] From the timing requirements, it can be seen / observed from both frequency bands. The closer the subcarrier spacing is, the smaller the timing difference between the two frequency bands is. Since the CU usually works in the low frequency band for initial access and control information reception / transmission, the FU usually works in the high frequency band for network coverage expansion. Therefore, the larger the subcarrier spacing of the C-link operating in the first frequency band, the smaller the timing difference between the C-link and the F-link is.

[0067] Therefore, in order to reduce the timing difference between the C-link and the F-link, it may be necessary to impose one of the following restrictions on the subcarrier spacing of the SN CU (or C-link): (a) Operation, Administration and Maintenance (OAM) or the base station may configure one or more larger subcarrier spacings in the subcarrier spacing supported in the first frequency band of the C-link; (b) among the subcarrier spacings supported in the first frequency band, only one or more larger subcarrier spacings are allowed to be used for the C-link.

[0068] For example, the subcarrier spacing of SSB in C-link can be configured / preset to 30kHz, which is the maximum subcarrier spacing of SSB in FR1. The subcarrier spacing of UL signal / channel in C-link can be configured / preset to 60kHz, which is the maximum subcarrier spacing of signal / channel in FR1.

[0069] In addition, in this implementation example, the timing of the FU (or F-link) can be aligned with the timing of the CU (or C-link), including (i.e., Option 2-1 Implementation Example 1): the DL timing of the FU is aligned with the DL timing of the CU, and / or the UL timing of the FU is aligned with the UL timing of the CU.

[0070] Implementation Example 3

[0071] The OAM or the base station may store a table of second timing differences. A second timing difference is a timing difference between two frequency bands (e.g., DL timing in a first frequency band and DL timing in a second frequency band). The table may include the second timing difference and / or one or more of the following information: frequency band or SCS.

[0072] The OAM or base station may indicate the second timing difference, the corresponding subcarrier spacing and / or the corresponding frequency band to the SN CU. The indication may be carried by system information, radio resource control (RRC) signaling, media access control (MAC) control element (CE) and / or downlink control information (DCI) signaling.

[0073] Timing for SN CU (or C-link)

[0074] Option 1-1: The SN CU may use the first DL timing as the DL timing of the C-link, and / or the SN CU may use the first UL timing as the UL timing of the C-link.

[0075] Option 1-6: The SN CU may use the first DL timing plus the second timing difference as the DL timing of the C-link, and / or the SN CU may use the first UL timing plus the second timing difference as the UL timing of the C-link. A new TA may be obtained or defined by adding the first UL timing (e.g., the TA obtained in the first frequency band) to the first timing difference.

[0076] Timing for SN FU (or F-link)

[0077] Option 2-1: The timing of the SN FU may be aligned with the timing of the CU, including: the DL timing of the FU is aligned with the DL timing of the CU, and / or the UL timing of the FU is aligned with the UL timing of the CU.

[0078] Option 2-3: The DL timing of the FU is aligned with the first DL timing plus the second timing difference, and / or the UL timing of the FU is aligned with the first UL timing plus the second timing difference.

[0079] It should be understood that one or more features from the above-mentioned implementation examples are not exclusive of a specific implementation example, but can be combined in any manner (eg, in any priority and / or order, simultaneously or otherwise).

[0080] Figure 8 A flow chart of a method 800 for determining downlink / uplink timing is shown. The method 800 may be used in conjunction with Figure 1 and Figure 2The method 800 may be implemented by any one or more components and devices described in detail. In general, in some embodiments, the method 800 may be performed by a control unit of a network node. Depending on the implementation, additional, fewer or different operations may be performed in the method 800. At least one aspect of the operation involves a system, method, apparatus or computer-readable medium.

[0081] The network node may determine the downlink timing of the first link or the second link based on at least one of the first downlink timing or the second downlink timing. The first downlink timing may correspond to the first frequency band of the first link. The second downlink timing may correspond to the second frequency band of the second link. The network node may determine the uplink timing of the first link or the second link based on at least one of the first uplink timing or the second uplink timing. The first uplink timing may correspond to the first frequency band. The second uplink timing may correspond to the second frequency band.

[0082] In some embodiments, the first link may include at least one of the following links: a first communication link from a wireless communication node to a network node; or a second communication link from a network node to a wireless communication node. The second link may include at least one of the following links: a first forwarding link from a wireless communication node to a network node; a second forwarding link from a network node to a wireless communication node; a third forwarding link from a network node to a wireless communication device; or a fourth forwarding link from a wireless communication device to a network node.

[0083] In some embodiments, the timing difference between the first downlink timing and the second downlink timing or between the first uplink timing and the second uplink timing may be predefined, measured by the network node, or received by the network node from the wireless communication node. The network node may report the timing difference, the subcarrier spacing associated with the timing difference, and / or the frequency band associated with the timing difference to the wireless communication node. The network node may receive information from the wireless communication node, the information comprising at least one of the following: the subcarrier spacing corresponding to the timing difference or the frequency band corresponding to the timing difference.

[0084] In some embodiments, the network node may obtain the first downlink timing based on receiving a downlink signal in the first frequency band. The network node may obtain the first uplink timing based on sending an uplink signal in the first frequency band. The network node may obtain the second downlink timing based on receiving a downlink signal in the second frequency band. The network node may obtain the second uplink timing based on sending an uplink signal in the second frequency band. The first uplink timing and / or the second uplink timing may be determined based on at least one of the following parameters: N of the timing advance offset; TA,偏移 , N indicated by the timing advance command TA .

[0085] In some embodiments, the network node may determine that the first downlink timing is the downlink timing. The network node may determine that the first uplink timing is the uplink timing. The network node may determine that the second downlink timing is the downlink timing. The network node may determine that the second uplink timing is the uplink timing.

[0086] In some embodiments, the network node may determine that the second downlink timing is the downlink timing. The network node may determine that the first uplink timing combined with the timing difference is the uplink timing. The network node may determine that the first downlink timing combined with the timing difference is the downlink timing. The network node may determine that the first uplink timing combined with the timing difference is the uplink timing. The timing advance may be configured based on the first uplink timing and the timing difference.

[0087] In some embodiments, the downlink timing of the second link may be aligned with the downlink timing of the first link. The uplink timing of the second link may be aligned with the uplink timing of the first link. One or more subcarrier spacings may be configured or allowed for the first link and / or the second link, each subcarrier spacing satisfying a specific condition within a plurality of subcarrier spacings in the first or second frequency band.

[0088] Although various embodiments of the present solution have been described above, it should be understood that they are given only by way of example and not by way of limitation. Similarly, various figures may depict example architectures or configurations, which are provided to enable those of ordinary skill in the art to understand the exemplary features and functions of the present solution. However, these personnel will understand that the present solution is not limited to the example architectures or configurations shown, but may be implemented using a variety of alternative architectures and configurations. In addition, as will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art, one or more features of an embodiment may be combined with one or more features of another embodiment described herein. Therefore, the breadth and scope of the present disclosure should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments.

[0089] It should also be understood that any reference to an element herein using names such as "first," "second," etc. does not generally limit the number or order of those elements. Rather, these names may be used herein as a convenient means of distinguishing between two or more instances of an element or an element. Thus, a reference to a first and a second element does not indicate that only two elements may be used, or that the first element must be located before the second element in some manner.

[0090] In addition, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different techniques. 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.

[0091] Those of ordinary skill in the art will further understand that any of the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, processors, devices, circuits, methods, and functions described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented by electronic hardware (e.g., digital implementation, analog implementation, or a combination of both), firmware, various forms of programs or design codes containing instructions (for convenience, 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 generally in terms of their functions. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware, firmware, or software, or a combination of these technologies, depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system. Technicians may implement the described functions in various ways for each specific application, but such implementation decisions will not cause a departure from the scope of this disclosure.

[0092] In addition, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the various illustrative logic blocks, modules, devices, components, and circuits described herein may be implemented or performed within or by an integrated circuit (IC) including a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, or any combination thereof. The logic blocks, modules, and circuits may further include antennas and / or transceivers to communicate with various components within a network or within a device. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but alternatively, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors combined with a DSP core, or any other suitable configuration to perform the functions described herein.

[0093] If implemented in software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or codes on a computer-readable medium. Therefore, the steps of the method or algorithm disclosed herein may be implemented as software stored on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media include computer storage media and communication media, and communication media include any media that enables a computer program or code to be transferred from one place to another. The storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, and any other medium that can be used to store the desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer.

[0094] As used herein, the term "module" refers to software, firmware, hardware, and any combination of these elements to perform the relevant functions described herein. In addition, for the purpose of discussion, various modules are described as discrete modules; however, it is obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art that more than two modules can be combined to form a single module that performs the relevant functions according to the implementation of the present solution.

[0095] In addition, memory or other storage and communication components may be used in the implementation of the present solution. It should be understood that, for the sake of clarity, the above description has described the implementation of the present solution with reference to different functional units and processors. However, it will be apparent that any appropriate distribution of functions between different functional units, processing logic elements or domains may be used without departing from the present solution. For example, functions illustrated as being performed by separate processing logic elements or controllers may be performed by the same processing logic element or controller. Therefore, references to specific functional units are only references to suitable devices for providing the described functions, rather than indicating a strict logical or physical structure or organization.

[0096] Various modifications to the embodiments described in this disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Therefore, this disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but is to be given the widest scope consistent with the novel features and principles disclosed herein, as described in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A wireless communication method, comprising: Determining, by the network node, a downlink timing of the first link or the second link based on at least one of a first downlink timing or a second downlink timing, wherein the first downlink timing corresponds to a first frequency band of the first link, and the second downlink timing corresponds to a second frequency band of the second link; and / or The network node determines an uplink timing of the first link or the second link based on at least one of a first uplink timing or a second uplink timing, wherein the first uplink timing corresponds to the first frequency band and the second uplink timing corresponds to the second frequency band.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The first link includes at least one of the following links: a first communications link from a wireless communications node to the network node; or A second communication link from the network node to the wireless communication node.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The second link includes at least one of the following links: a first forwarding link from a wireless communication node to the network node; a second forwarding link from the network node to the wireless communication node; a third forwarding link from the network node to the wireless communication device; or A fourth forwarding link from the wireless communication device to the network node.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein: A timing difference between the first downlink timing and the second downlink timing or between the first uplink timing and the second uplink timing is predefined, measured by the network node, or received by the network node from a wireless communication node.

5. The method according to claim 4 further includes reporting, by the network node to the wireless communication node, the timing difference, the subcarrier spacing associated with the timing difference and / or the frequency band associated with the timing difference.

6. The method according to claim 4 further includes receiving, by the network node, information from the wireless communication node, the information comprising at least one of the following: a subcarrier spacing corresponding to the timing difference or a frequency band corresponding to the timing difference.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: obtaining, by the network node, the first downlink timing based on receiving a downlink signal in the first frequency band; obtaining, by the network node, the first uplink timing based on sending an uplink signal in the first frequency band; obtaining, by the network node, the second downlink timing based on receiving the downlink signal in the second frequency band; and / or The second uplink timing is obtained by the network node based on sending the uplink signal in the second frequency band.

8. The method according to claim 1 or 7, wherein: The first uplink timing and / or the second uplink timing are determined based on at least one of the following parameters: N of the timing advance offset TA,偏移 , N indicated by the timing advance command TA .

9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: determining, by the network node, that the first downlink timing is the downlink timing; and / or The first uplink timing is determined by the network node to be the uplink timing.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: determining, by the network node, that the second downlink timing is the downlink timing; and / or The second uplink timing is determined by the network node to be the uplink timing.

11. The method according to claim 1 or 4, further comprising: determining, by the network node, that the second downlink timing is the downlink timing; and / or The first uplink timing combined with the timing difference determined by the network node is the uplink timing.

12. The method according to claim 1 or 4, further comprising: determining, by the network node, that the first downlink timing combined with the timing difference is the downlink timing; and / or The first uplink timing combined with the timing difference is determined by the network node to be the uplink timing.

13. The method according to claim 4, wherein: A timing advance is configured based on the first uplink timing and the timing difference.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein: A downlink timing of the second link is aligned with a downlink timing of the first link, and / or an uplink timing of the second link is aligned with an uplink timing of the first link.

15. The method according to claim 1, wherein: One or more subcarrier spacings are configured or allowed for the first link and / or the second link, each subcarrier spacing satisfying a specific condition within a plurality of subcarrier spacings in the first frequency band or the second frequency band.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage 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 1-15.

17. An apparatus comprising at least one processor, the processor being configured to execute the method according to any one of claims 1-15.

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