Selection of spatial filters in relay-assisted networks

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a method for enabling a network node to effectively control beam switching of a set of periodic and / or aperiodic signals / channels at a secondary repeater. A method at a repeater node includes receiving one or more periodic beam configurations and receiving one or more dynamic beam indications. The method further includes selecting a periodic beam configuration or a dynamic beam indication for the time interval based on the priority order, and then applying the periodic beam configuration or the dynamic beam indication to the transmitted beam. A method at a network node includes determining a priority list for a plurality of repeater spatial filters for a repeater node, and providing one or more periodic beam configurations to the repeater node based on the priority list, and providing one or more dynamic beam indications to the repeater node.

Description

Related Applications

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 394,233, filed on August 1, 2022, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Technical Field

[0002] The present disclosure relates to selection of spatial filters in a repeater-assisted network in a wireless communication network. Background Art Network controlled repeater

[0003] To increase data rates and support the increasing number of user equipment (UE), different approaches are considered, among which network densification and millimeter wave (mmW) communication are the main ones. Network densification refers to the deployment of multiple access points of different types, for example in a metropolitan area. In particular, it is expected that small nodes such as repeaters, integrated access and backhaul (IAB), relays, etc. will be densely deployed in the future to support the existing macro base stations (BS) that provide services to the UE.

[0004] During the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 16 (Rel-16) and Release 17 (Rel-17), IAB has been well studied as the main relay technology in the fifth generation (5G), and discussions about mobile IAB will continue in Release 18 (Rel-18). Here, using decode and forward relay technology, IAB can extend coverage and / or increase throughput. However, IAB can be a relatively complex and expensive node, and therefore, depending on the deployment, alternative nodes with low complexity / cost may be needed, such as for blind spot elimination. Here, the candidate type of network node is a radio frequency (RF) repeater, which only amplifies and forwards any signal they receive. RF repeaters have been considered in the second generation (2G), third generation (3G) and fourth generation (4G) to supplement the coverage provided by conventional full-stack cells. However, RF repeaters lack precise beamforming, which may limit their efficiency in, for example, frequency range 2 (FR2).

[0005] In this context, a new study item has been considered in 3GPP Rel-18 (Study Item 1), which was launched in early 2022, where the potential and challenges of Network Controlled Repeaters (NCR) will be evaluated. The scope and characteristics of NCR are still under discussion. Figure 1 An example of an NCR deployment is given, in which the wireless connection between the NCR 104 and the gNB 102 is referred to as the backhaul link 108, and the wireless connection between the NCR 104 and the UE 106 is referred to as the access link 110. The backhaul link may include control signaling from the gNB 102 to the NCR 104.

[0006] In an alternative, the network controlled repeater can be a normal repeater with beamforming capabilities. In this way, the NCR should be considered as a network controlled "beam bender" compared to the gNB. Therefore, logically, it is part of the gNB for all management purposes, i.e., it is likely that the network controlled repeater is already deployed and under the control of the operator. The NCR is based on an amplify and forward relay scheme and is likely to be limited to single-hop communications in fixed deployments focusing on FR2.

[0007] In particular, the Network Controlled Repeaters research project considered the following focuses for the research project: Network-controlled repeaters are in-band RF repeaters used to extend network coverage on both Frequency Range 1 (FR1) and FR2 bands, with FR2 deployments likely to be prioritized for outdoor and outdoor-to-indoor (O2I) scenarios during this study period; ·Repeaters used only for single-hop fixed network control; Network-controlled relays are transparent to the UE; and A network-controlled relay can maintain both a gNB-relay link and a relay-UE link simultaneously. In addition, the research project will focus on identifying which side control information is needed: Beamforming information; Timing information used to align transmit / receive boundaries of repeaters for network control; Information about UL-DL time division duplex (TDD) configuration; ON-OFF information for effective interference management and improved energy efficiency; and Power control information for effective interference management.

[0008] How the NCR will be designed and how it will communicate with the network remains unclear. Figure 2 A schematic example of how it might look is shown in FIG. 1. In this example, NCR 104 consists of three main building blocks, a modem module 206, a controller module 208, and a repeater module (in FIG. Figure 2The NCR 104 is provided with an antenna configuration in which a signal is first received in the downlink (DL) or uplink (UL) and further transmitted in the DL (or UL) after, for example, power amplification. Since the repeater module (also called NCR-Forward (Fwd)) only amplifies and (similarly) beamforms the signal, no advanced receiver or transmitter chains are required, which reduces costs and energy consumption compared to, for example, ordinary transmission and reception points (TRPs). In its simplest architecture, different antenna modules are used for the donor side and the service side, i.e. the antennas targeting the gNB 102 and the UE 106, respectively, while more complex architectures (including self-interference cancellation) will allow the use of the same antenna modules for both sides.

[0009] The modem module 206 is capable of and is used to exchange control and status signaling with the gNB that is controlling the NCR 104. To this end, the modem module 206 supports at least a subset of UE functionality. NCR control and status information is further exchanged between the modem module 206 and the controller module 208. The modem module 206 can be equipped with an antenna separate from the antenna used by the repeater module; however, in most configurations, the modem module 206 and the repeater module will share an antenna configuration.

[0010] The controller module 208 is used to control the repeater modules (202 and 204) by, for example, providing beamforming information, power control information, etc. The controller module 208 is connected to the network through the modem module 206 so that the network can control the controller module 208, and in that way, control the repeater modules (202 and 204).

[0011] Both the modem module 206 and the controller module 208 may be considered as part of building the mobile terminal (MT) functionality in the NCR 104 .

[0012] The amplification and forwarding operations of the repeater modules are controlled by the controller module 208. The controller module 208 may also be directly responsible for the beamforming control on the serving antenna side (i.e., to / from the serving UE 106). In the alternative, the beamforming on the serving antenna side is operated by the repeater modules (202 and 204) under the control of the controller module 208. On the donor antenna side, i.e., to / from the controlling gNB 102, the modem module 206 may be directly responsible for the beamforming control. In the alternative, the beamforming on the serving antenna side is operated by the repeater modules 202 and 204 and / or the modem module 206 under the control of the controller module 208.

[0013] In one configuration, the modem module 206 and the repeater modules 202 and 204 share not only an antenna configuration but also parts of the (analog) transmitter and / or receiver, such as power (transmit) amplifiers and / or receiver amplifiers and / or filters.

[0014] The modem module 206 and the repeater modules (202 and 204) may operate at the same or different frequencies. For example, the repeater modules (202 and 204) may operate at a high frequency band (FR2) while the modem module 206 may operate at a low frequency band (FR1). Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface (RIS)

[0015] Intelligent Reflective Surfaces (IRS), also known as Reconfigurable Smart Surfaces (RIS), are an emerging technology that can intelligently manipulate the propagation of electromagnetic waves. RIS consists of a two-dimensional array of reflective units, where each unit acts as a passive reconfigurable scatterer, i.e., a piece of fabricated material that can be programmed to change the incident electromagnetic waves in a customizable manner. Such units are typically low-cost passive surfaces that do not require a dedicated power supply, and radio waves incident on them can be forwarded without the use of power amplifiers or RF chains. In addition, RIS can potentially operate in full-duplex mode without significant self-interference or increased noise levels, and only requires a low-rate control link or backhaul connection. Due to its light weight and low power consumption, RIS can be flexibly deployed. In particular, RIS is of great interest in fixed or low-mobility networks, where transmission parameters can be well planned and, for example, communications assisted by RIS can bypass obstacles / foliage.

[0016] There is still ambiguity about the detailed differences between network-controlled repeaters and RIS. A simple explanation is that RIS is a network-controlled repeater with negative amplification. In general, RIS is expected to be a simpler and cheaper node, with less centralized beamforming capability / precision and no active amplification. That is, RIS may have the ability to reflect signals via adjusting the phase matrix, while network-controlled repeaters have advanced beamforming capabilities with power amplification. In addition, in terms of latency, RIS may have slightly lower latency compared to network-controlled repeaters. In 3GPP, some companies have recently suggested RIS-assisted communications as a possible technology to be considered in the Rel-18 network-controlled repeater study project. For example, RIS was discussed at the 3GPP Technical Specification Group (TSG) Radio Access Network (RAN) Rel-18 workshop in June 2021 [2]. However, while network-controlled repeaters are likely to be a superset of RIS from a specification perspective, it is not impossible to discuss RIS-specific features in the Rel-18 study project on network-controlled repeaters.

[0017] RIS may have Figure 2 A network controlled repeater of similar design as in the example, but without the signal amplification step in the repeater module. NR multi-beam operation Beam Management Process

[0018] In the high frequency range (FR2), multiple RF beams can be used to transmit and receive signals at the gNB and UE. For each DL beam from the gNB, there is typically an associated best UE receive (Rx) beam for receiving signals from the DL beam. The DL beam and the associated UE Rx beam form a beam pair. The beam pair can be identified by the so-called beam management process in NR.

[0019] A DL beam is (usually) identified by an associated DL Reference Signal (RS) transmitted (periodically, semi-persistently or aperiodically) in the beam. For this purpose, the DL RS can be a Synchronization Signal (SS) / Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) Block (SSB) or a Channel State Information RS (CSI-RS). By measuring all DL RSs, the UE can determine and report to the gNB the best DL beam for DL ​​transmission. The gNB can then send bursts of different DL-RS in the reported best DL beam to let the UE evaluate candidate UE Rx beams.

[0020] Although not explicitly stated in the NR specification, beam management has been divided into three processes, such as Figure 3 The following are the intended explanations: P-1 302: The aim is to use a wide gNB transmit (Tx) beam covering the entire angular sector to find a rough direction for the UE. P-2 304: The purpose is to refine the gNB Tx beam by performing a new beam search around the coarse direction found in P-1. • P-3 306: For UEs with analog beamforming to let them find the appropriate UE Rx beam.

[0021] It is expected that P-1 302 will utilize beams with fairly large beamwidths and where beam reference signals are periodically transmitted and shared among all UEs of the cell. Typically, the reference signal for P-1 302 is a periodic CSI-RS or SSB. The UE then reports the N best beams and their corresponding reference signal received power (RSRP) values ​​to the gNB.

[0022] It is expected that P-2 304 will use aperiodic and / or semi-persistent CSI-RS transmitted in a narrow beam around the coarse direction found in P-1 302.

[0023] It is expected that P-3 306 will use aperiodic and / or semi-persistent CSI-RS that is transmitted repeatedly in a narrow gNB beam. An alternative approach is to let the UE determine the appropriate UE Rx beam based on periodic SSB transmissions. Since each SSB consists of four orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, up to four UE Rx beams can be evaluated during each SSB burst transmission. One benefit of using SSB instead of CSI-RS is that no additional CSI-RS transmission overhead is required. Beam pointing

[0024] In NR, multiple signals can be sent from different antenna ports of the same base station. These signals can have the same large-scale characteristics, such as Doppler shift / spread, average delay spread, or average delay. These antenna ports are then called quasi-co-located (QCL).

[0025] If the UE knows that two of its antenna ports are QCL with respect to a certain parameter (e.g., Doppler spread), the UE can estimate the parameter based on one of the antenna ports and apply the estimate to receiving the signal on the other antenna port.

[0026] For example, there may be a QCL relationship between the CSI-RS for Tracking RS (TRS) and the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS). When a UE receives PDSCH DMRS, it can use the measurements already made on the TRS to assist in DMRS reception.

[0027] Information about what assumptions can be made about the QCL is signaled from the network to the UE. In NR, four types of QCL relationships between the transmit source RS and the transmit target RS are defined: Type A: {Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread} Type B: {Doppler shift, Doppler spread} Type C: {average delay, Doppler shift} Type D: {spatial Rx parameters}

[0028] QCL Type D was introduced in NR to facilitate beam management with analog beamforming and is referred to as spatial QCL. There is no strict definition of spatial QCL, but the understanding is that if two transmit antenna ports are spatial QCL, the UE can use the same Rx beam to receive them. This is helpful for UEs that use analog beamforming to receive signals, because the UE needs to adjust its Rx beam in a certain direction before receiving a certain signal. If the UE knows that the signal is spatial QCL with some other signal it has received earlier, then it can safely use the same Rx beam to receive the signal.

[0029] In NR, the spatial QCL relationship for DL ​​or UL signals / channels can be indicated to the UE by using "beam indication". "Beam indication" is used to help the UE find a suitable RX beam for DL ​​reception and / or a suitable Tx beam for UL transmission. In NR, the "beam indication" for DL ​​is communicated to the UE by indicating the transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state to the UE, while in UL, the "beam indication" can be communicated by indicating the DL-RS or UL-RS as a spatial relationship (in NR Rel-15 / 16) or TCI state (in NR Rel-17).

[0030] In this disclosure, unless otherwise specified, the term "repeater node" refers to a network-controlled repeater or a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS), or a node with a similar type of functionality, i.e., receiving a signal and immediately transmitting it in another direction.

[0031] In this disclosure, the term "repeater spatial filter" refers to a repeater node beam or precoder.

[0032] There are currently some or certain challenges. In NR, beam indication is used to help the UE find a suitable Rx beam for DL ​​reception and / or a suitable Tx beam for UL transmission. The beam indication for DL ​​is conveyed to the UE by indicating the TCI state to the UE, while in UL, the beam indication can be conveyed by indicating the DL-RS or UL-RS as a spatial relationship (in NR Rel-15 / 16) or TCI state (in NR Rel-17). The beam mapping between the UL / DL beam index and the DL-RS or UL-RS in the TCI state is left to the implementation of the gNB and the UE. In other words, the gNB and the UE do not need to know the beam arrangement at the other side. In the case of a repeater-assisted network, for example, since the relay node is controlled by the gNB, the gNB will need to know all the relay beams and the geometric relationship between them, for example through the relay beam index. Regarding how to control the relay beam switching during operation, the controller module and the relay module may know the semi-static TDD mode (e.g., from the System Information Block (SIB) 1), i.e., the time slots and symbols used for different signals / channels, but it does not know and will not need to know the instantaneous UE scheduling, e.g.: Whether any UE is scheduled for the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), or Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH); Which UE is scheduled for PDSCH / PUSCH / PUCCH; and Whether relay beam switching will occur when one type of signal / channel is changed to another type of signal / channel, or when different UEs are served in consecutive PDSCH slots, etc.

[0033] Figure 4 An example is given to illustrate the time domain operation at the gNB and relay node for different signals / channels (PDCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, PUCCH, SSB or Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH)) over 10 consecutive time slots (SLs) when serving UE1 and UE2. For example, in SL0 402, the cell-common PDCCH is broadcast to the relay node and both UE1 and UE2; while the PDSCH is scheduled to UE1, the relay node and UE2 in SL0 402, SL1 404 and SL3 406, respectively. The diagonal lines indicate that the time resources are not used for communication, e.g., between the gNB and the relay node, or between the relay node and UE1, etc. The diagonal striped pattern (in the last row) represents the time resources that are being used by the relay module, i.e., where relay beam switching (in the access link) may occur.

[0034] Generally speaking, the temporal location of a certain type of signal or channel is carefully designed according to the specification. For a periodic signal / channel, the associated beam to be used will also be fairly static and periodic over time. Therefore, it is preferred that periodic signals / channels can be configured semi-statically. On the other hand, signals / channels that rely on dynamic scheduling (i.e., which UE to serve) will require dynamic beam indication, which can adapt to real-time propagation and traffic conditions. In NR, different signals / channels have different priorities depending on their purpose and importance. Since relay nodes are not expected to have signal / channel awareness, a method is needed to develop overhead efficient signaling used by the gNB to provide periodic and aperiodic beam configurations in an efficient manner, which also takes into account the priorities of different signals / channels. Summary of the invention

[0035] The present disclosure relates to a method for enabling a network node to effectively control beam switching of a set of periodic and / or non-periodic signals / channels at an auxiliary repeater. The method at the repeater node includes: receiving one or more periodic beam configurations and receiving one or more dynamic beam indications. The method also includes: based on a priority order, selecting a periodic beam configuration or a dynamic beam indication for a time interval, and then applying the periodic beam configuration or the dynamic beam indication to a transmitted beam. The method at the network node includes: determining a priority list for multiple repeater spatial filters for a repeater node, and based on the priority list, providing one or more periodic beam configurations to the repeater node, and providing one or more dynamic beam indications to the repeater node.

[0036] In an embodiment, a method for configuring a spatial filter for a repeater forwarding function performed by a repeater node may be provided. The method may include receiving one or more periodic beam configurations from a network node. The method may also include receiving one or more dynamic beam indications from the network node. The method may also include: based on a priority order, selecting a periodic beam configuration from one or more periodic beam configurations or selecting a dynamic beam indication from one or more dynamic beam indications for a time interval. The method may also include applying the periodic beam configuration or the dynamic beam indication to a beam for transmission.

[0037] In another embodiment, a repeater node for configuring a spatial filter of a repeater forwarding function may be provided, wherein the repeater node includes a processing circuit, and the processing circuit is configured to receive one or more periodic beam configurations from a network node. The processing circuit may also be configured to receive one or more dynamic beam indications from the network node. The processing circuit may also be configured to select a periodic beam configuration from the one or more periodic beam configurations or a dynamic beam indication from the one or more dynamic beam indications for a time interval based on a priority order. The processing circuit may also be configured to apply the periodic beam configuration or the dynamic beam indication to a beam for transmission.

[0038] In another embodiment, a method for configuring a spatial filter of a repeater forwarding function by a network node may be provided. The method may include the network node determining a priority list for a plurality of repeater spatial filters for a repeater node. The method may also include providing one or more periodic beam configurations to the repeater node based on the priority list. The method may also include providing one or more dynamic beam indications to the repeater node.

[0039] A network node for configuring a spatial filter of a repeater forwarding function may be provided, wherein the network node includes a processing circuit configured to determine a priority list for a plurality of repeater spatial filters for the repeater node. The processing circuit may also provide one or more periodic beam configurations to the repeater node based on the priority list, and provide one or more dynamic beam indications to the repeater node.

[0040] Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantages. The present disclosure provides a method for configuring the periodic behavior of the spatial filter configuration of a repeater node at a network node, thereby facilitating the network node to control the repeater node beam. The proposed method does not require the repeater node to understand the signal / channel. In particular, in order to enable flexible configuration / signaling to forward different signals / channels, the present disclosure proposes to introduce priority signaling, and thereby allow the repeater node to apply an appropriate beam based on the received beam configuration / indication priority.

[0041] In particular, the proposed scheme enables the integration of network-controlled repeaters or reconfigurable smart surfaces (RIS) into the network and improves coverage. In this way, network-controlled repeaters help to effectively, for example, bypass blockages and avoid performance degradation (beam link failure) of user equipment (UE). BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0042] The accompanying drawings incorporated in and forming a part of this specification illustrate several aspects of the disclosure and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.

[0043] Figure 1 is a diagram showing a network-controlled repeater in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0044] Figure 2 is a block diagram of a network controlled repeater according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0045] Figure 3 is an example of a beam management process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0046] Figure 4 is a diagram of time domain operations at a network node and a relay node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0047] Figure 5 is a block diagram of a repeater-assisted network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0048] Figure 6 A flow chart depicting a method performed by a repeater node for configuring a spatial filter for repeater forwarding functionality according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0049] Figure 7 A flow chart depicting a method performed by a network node for configuring a spatial filter of a repeater forwarding function of a repeater node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0050] Figure 8 An example of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0051] Fig. 9 A user device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0052] Fig.10 A network node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0053] Fig.11 is a block diagram of a host according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0054] Fig.12 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 1200 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

[0055] Fig.13 A communication diagram is shown in which a host communicates with a UE on a partial wireless connection via a network node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0056] The embodiments set forth below represent information that enables those skilled in the art to practice the embodiments and illustrate the best way to practice the embodiments. After reading the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art will understand the concepts of the present disclosure and will recognize the applications of these concepts not specifically addressed herein. It should be understood that these concepts and applications fall within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0057] In this disclosure, the term "repeater node" refers to a network-controlled repeater or a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS), or a node having a similar type of functionality, unless otherwise specified.

[0058] Certain aspects of the present disclosure and embodiments thereof may provide solutions to the above challenges. A signaling method is disclosed that enables a network node to effectively control beam switching of a set of periodic and / or aperiodic signals / channels at an auxiliary relay node using, for example, a relay beam index or a reference signal in a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) configuration.

[0059] Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantages. The present disclosure provides a method for configuring the periodic behavior of the spatial filter configuration of a repeater node at a network node, thereby facilitating the control of the repeater node beam by the network node. The proposed method does not require the repeater node to understand the signal / channel. In particular, in order to enable flexible configuration / signaling to forward different signals / channels, the present disclosure proposes to introduce priority signaling, thereby allowing the repeater node to apply an appropriate beam based on the received beam configuration / indication priority.

[0060] In particular, the proposed solution enables the integration of network controlled relays / RIS into the network and improves the coverage. In this way, the network controlled relays help to efficiently, for example, bypass blockages and avoid performance degradation of UEs (beam link failures).

[0061] like Figure 5 As shown in , the system model considers that a network node 502 (e.g., a gNB) communicates with one or more destination nodes 506-1, 506-2, and 506-3 (e.g., one or more user equipment (UE)) in a wireless communication link, and the wireless communication link is relayed by a relay node 504 (e.g., a network-controlled relay or a reconfigurable smart surface, etc.). The destination nodes 506-1, 506-2, and 506-3 may also be directly linked to the network node 502 in addition or alternatively.

[0062] The method enables the network node 502 to configure the periodic and / or aperiodic behavior of the spatial filter configuration of the repeater forwarding function of the relay node 504 with different priorities. Although targeted at spatial filtering (beamforming), in a wider range this may also include disabling repeater operation (null beam).

[0063] Figure 6 A flowchart 600 is depicted of a method performed by a repeater node (eg, repeater node 504) for configuring a spatial filter for repeater forwarding functionality. Figure 6 and 7 In the figure, boxes with dashed lines may be optional steps.

[0064] The method may start with an optional first step (at step 602), where the method includes providing a capability report to the network node 502. The capability report may include a relay beam deployment report containing relay beam capabilities and beam information for each type of relay beam, regarding one or more of the following: The size of the antenna plane (X by Y) and / or the number of elementary (discrete Fourier transform (DFT)) beams (X by Y); The beam hierarchy, e.g., the beam constellation (horizontal X-axis by vertical Y-axis, or relative position to boresight, etc.) for a beam hierarchy level, and / or the beam configuration for a lower beam hierarchy level, e.g., a set of M x N beams for each beam of a higher beam hierarchy; The number of beams of each type (e.g., different types of beams have different beamwidths). The number of beams may be reported as the number of vertical beams and the number of horizontal beams; Beam direction relationships between different beams for a beam type (adjacent and non-adjacent beam directions); The polarization of the beam; The maximum number of beams that a repeater node 504 can be configured with; Beam switching delay / latency information; Information on the number of repeater beam switches per time slot; Beam extension capabilities, including possible limitations in beam extension capabilities; The frequency band in which the repeater can operate; The sub-band properties of the repeater for the frequency band, including, for example, the number of sub-bands within the frequency band; Repeater on / off capability, i.e. the ability to disable the relay function; and Semi-static configuration capability, that is, the ability to receive semi-static configuration.

[0065] The signaling of the capability report may be, for example, via Radio Resource Control (RRC), Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (MAC-CE), etc. Note that a "Beam Arrangement Report" may include several different parts, where each part may contain different information, as listed, for example, above.

[0066] In a detailed embodiment, the repeater beam is indicated in the beam placement report using, for example, a beam index, or a beam identification (ID), or a beam index of a parent beam index in a beam hierarchy, or a reference signal in a TCI configuration, etc. In another detailed embodiment, the repeater indicates the beam extension capability and its antenna array or plane properties, such as the number of antenna elements in the X and Y dimensions, or its basic (FFT) phased array beam properties, i.e., how many different narrow beams the repeater can form in the X and Y dimensions.

[0067] In one embodiment, the relay node 504 may include the capability of the relay node to decode / process beam indication control side information regarding one or more of the following: Semi-static beam configuration; Semi-persistent beam configuration; and Dynamic beam configuration.

[0068] Note that the semi-persistent beam configuration is a periodic beam configuration that is activated over a certain period; therefore, it can be treated in a similar manner to the periodic beam configuration in the present disclosure.

[0069] In another embodiment, the relay node 504 may report its latency capabilities to the network node 502, regarding, for example, the processing time required to decode the side control information, and / or the maximum / minimum beam switching time for uplink (UL) / downlink (DL), etc.

[0070] In one embodiment, the repeater node 504 may report its ability to disable the relay function, including a delay for disabling / enabling the repeater node 504 .

[0071] In one embodiment, the relay node 504 may report its capabilities in which frequency bands it can relay, including the repeater bandwidth and the associated capabilities of relaying in sub-bands, so that different sub-bands may be configured differently.

[0072] In step 604 , the relay node 504 receives one or more periodic beam configurations from the network node 502 .

[0073] In one embodiment, one or more of the periodic relay beam configurations are communicated in, for example, RRC, MAC-CE signaling, or the like.

[0074] In one embodiment, the relay node 504 may be provided with a common periodic beam configuration that contains all periodic signals / channels to be forwarded between the network node 502 and the UE 506. In a detailed embodiment, the common periodic beam indication is associated with the longest period of the periodic signals / channels to be forwarded, for example, the period of a periodic channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource.

[0075] In one embodiment, the relay node 504 may be provided with a plurality of periodic beam configurations, wherein each configuration is semi-static and associated with a period that is repeated with a periodic signal / channel or a group of periodic signals / channels to be forwarded. In a detailed embodiment, for example, according to the RRC parameter TDD-UL-DL-configurationCommon, the period of a beam configuration may be the same as, shorter than, or longer than the period of the time division duplex (TDD) mode.

[0076] In step 606 , the relay node 504 receives one or more dynamic beam indications (or aperiodic beam configurations) from the network node 502 .

[0077] In one embodiment, the dynamic beam indication is transmitted in, for example, downlink control information (DCI).

[0078] In one embodiment, the network node 502 indicates the set of relay beams to be used based on the information in the relay beam arrangement report using one or more of the following: Repeater beam index / identification (ID); Repeater beam index / ID + repeater beam type index / ID; Repeater beam polarization index / ID; and Reference signal in TCI configuration.

[0079] In one embodiment, the configuration of the beam time domain state includes one or more of the following: System frame number; Subframe number; Time slot number; Time slot period; · Duration in number of time slots; Symbol number; The starting orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol in the time slot; The ending OFDM symbol in the slot; and Duration in number of OFDM symbols in a slot.

[0080] It should be noted that the periodic beam configuration may include the periodic beam time domain state and the periodic beam to be used, while the dynamic beam indication may include the periodic beam time domain state and the non-periodic beam to be used, or the non-periodic beam time domain state and the non-periodic beam to be used.

[0081] In one embodiment, the beam configuration / indication may be related to other relay node configurations, such as: • Repeater forwarding (FWD) off configuration, in which case the repeater access side is not expected to be operational and only the repeater modem module is actually active. In one embodiment, the off configuration may be or result from a certain beam index outside the range of actual beam indices. Repeater inactivity or idle, in which case the entire repeater is deactivated at all levels. This could be the case outside of shopping mall opening hours, for example. • Beam amplification level, i.e. which amplification should be applied to the beam. o In one embodiment, the beam magnification factor varies depending on the beamwidth of the spatial filter of the repeater node. In one example, the larger the beamwidth used, the higher the magnification factor (to compensate for the lower antenna gain when applying a spatial filter with a larger beamwidth).

[0082] In step 608, the relay node 504 selects which periodic beam configuration or dynamic beam indication (beam time domain state) to use for the time interval, and thereby selects which beam (beam time domain state) to use for the time interval.

[0083] In one embodiment, each time domain state in the periodic beam configuration and / or dynamic beam indication is configured with a priority order based on the importance of the underlying signal / channel to be forwarded and / or based on which carrier / serving cell the signal / channel is scheduled on.

[0084] In an alternative embodiment, each periodic beam configuration and / or dynamic beam indication is provided with a priority order as configured by the network node 502 .

[0085] In an alternative embodiment, the priority is defined by a priority flag, which has two states: can be overridden and cannot be overridden. In the case where the beam configuration / indication can be overridden, the later received beam configuration / indication will overwrite the earlier received beam configuration / indication. In an alternative embodiment, only periodic beam configurations are provided with a priority flag.

[0086] In yet another embodiment, the dynamic beam indication is associated with a reference to a periodic beam configuration, for example, a dedicated beam index of the dynamic beam indication (eg, DCI) is used to indicate application of the periodic beam configuration over the dynamic beam indication.

[0087] In step 610 , the relay node 504 applies an appropriate beam to the transmission to one of the UEs 506 based on the periodic beam configuration received in step 604 and / or the dynamic beam indication in step 606 and the determination in step 608 .

[0088] Figure 7 A flow chart 700 of a method for a network node 502 to configure a spatial filter of a repeater function of a repeater node 504 is shown.

[0089] In an optional first step 702, the network node 502 receives a capability report from the relay node 504, including a relay beam arrangement report, the report containing relay beam capabilities and beam information for each type of relay beam, regarding one or more of: • The size of the antenna plane (X by Y) and / or the number of basic (DFT) beams (X by Y). Beam hierarchy, e.g., beam constellation (horizontal X-axis times vertical Y-axis, or relative position to boresight, etc.) for a beam hierarchy level, and / or beam configuration for a lower beam hierarchy level, e.g., a set of M x N beams for each beam of a higher beam hierarchy. • The number of beams of each beam type (eg, different types of beams have different beam widths). The number of beams may be reported as the number of vertical beams and the number of horizontal beams. • Beam direction relationships between different beams for a beam type (adjacent and non-adjacent beam directions). Polarization of the beam. The maximum number of beams that a repeater node can be configured with. Beam switching delay / latency information. Information on the number of repeater beam switches per time slot. Beam extension capabilities, including possible limitations in beam extension capabilities. The frequency band in which the repeater can operate. • The sub-band properties of the repeater for the frequency band, including for example the number of sub-bands within the frequency band. Repeater on / off capability, i.e. the ability to disable the repeater function. Semi-static configuration capability, that is, the ability to receive semi-static configuration.

[0090] The signaling of the capability report may be, for example, via RRC, MAC-CE, etc. Note that the "beam placement report" may include several different parts, where each part may contain different information, as listed, for example, above.

[0091] In one embodiment, the repeater beam is indicated in the beam placement report using, for example, a beam index, or a beam ID, or a beam index of a parent beam index in a beam hierarchy, or a reference signal in a TCI configuration, etc. In another embodiment, the repeater node 504 indicates the beam extension capability and its antenna array or plane properties, such as the number of antenna elements in the X and Y dimensions, or its basic (FFT) phased array beam properties, i.e., how many different narrow beams the repeater node 504 can form in the X and Y dimensions.

[0092] In one embodiment, the relay node 504 may include the capability of the relay node to decode / process beam indication control side information, involving one or more of the following: Semi-static beam configuration; Semi-persistent beam configuration; and Dynamic beam configuration.

[0093] Note that the semi-persistent beam configuration is a periodic beam configuration that is activated within a certain periodicity, so it can be processed in a similar manner to the periodic beam configuration in the present disclosure.

[0094] In step 704, the method includes determining a priority list for a plurality of repeater spatial filters for the repeater node. In some embodiments, the network node 502 may determine and configure a priority for one or more of the periodic beam configurations, while in other embodiments, the network node 502 determines and configures a priority for one or more of the dynamic beam indications.

[0095] In an embodiment, the beam time domain state may be associated with different priority rules based on the importance of the underlying signal / channel to be forwarded and / or on which carrier / serving cell the signal / channel is scheduled. The relay node 504 configuration may, for example, result in: Periodic cell common signals / channels take precedence over aperiodic UE specific signals / channels; Periodic cell common signals / channels take precedence over periodic reference signals; Certain aperiodic UE-specific signals / channels take precedence over periodic reference signals; and • The priority order is determined based on which carrier / serving cell the signal / channel to be forwarded is scheduled on (eg, a signal / channel scheduled on a primary cell may have a higher priority than a signal / channel scheduled on a secondary cell).

[0096] In one embodiment, each time domain state in the periodic beam configuration and / or dynamic beam indication is configured with a priority order based on the importance of the underlying signal / channel to be forwarded and / or on which carrier / serving cell the signal / channel is scheduled.

[0097] In an alternative embodiment, each periodic beam configuration and / or dynamic beam indication is configured with a priority order based on the importance of the underlying signal / channel to be forwarded and / or on which carrier / serving cell the signal / channel is scheduled. In a detailed embodiment, the number of priorities is determined by the network node 502 or operations, administration and maintenance (OAM), etc. In another detailed embodiment, the number of priorities is specified in the specification.

[0098] In an alternative embodiment, the priority is defined by a priority flag, which has two states: can be overridden and cannot be overridden. In the case where the beam configuration / indication can be overridden, the later received beam configuration / indication will overwrite the previously received beam configuration / indication. In an alternative embodiment, only periodic beam configurations are provided with a priority flag.

[0099] In one embodiment, the dynamic beam indication is associated with a reference to a periodic beam configuration, for example, a dedicated beam index of the dynamic beam indication (eg, DCI) is used to indicate that the periodic beam configuration applies preferentially over the dynamic beam indication.

[0100] In one embodiment, the network node 502 may indicate the DL / UL direction associated with the indicated beam to the relay node 504. In one example, the DL / UL direction may be dynamically provided by, for example, DCI or those upper layer parameters.

[0101] In step 706 , the method includes the network node 502 providing one or more periodic beam configurations to the relay node 504 based on the priority list.

[0102] In one embodiment, one or more of the periodic relay beam configurations are transmitted, for example, in RRC, MAC-CE signaling, etc. In one embodiment, certain parts of the periodic beam configuration can be dynamically updated using DCI and / or MAC-CE, for example, the spatial filters (beams) associated with the periodic beam configuration can be dynamically updated. For example, if the UE is configured with UE / network controlled relay (NCR)-mobile terminal (MT) specific periodic sounding reference signal (SRS) / CSI-RS transmissions, and the UE moves within the cell, resulting in the relay node needing to update its spatial filters to the UE, then this may be useful. Since the time domain behavior of the SRS transmission will be the same, it will be overhead and latency efficient if only the spatial filter settings associated with the periodic beam configuration can be dynamically updated.

[0103] In one embodiment, the relay node 504 may be provided with a common periodic beam configuration that contains all periodic signals / channels to be forwarded between the network node 502 and the UE 506. In a detailed embodiment, the common periodic beam indication is associated with the longest period of the periodic signals / channels to be forwarded, for example, the period of the periodic CSI-RS resources.

[0104] In one embodiment, the relay node 504 may be provided with a plurality of periodic beam configurations, wherein each configuration is semi-static and associated with a period that is repeated with a periodic signal / channel or a group of periodic signals / channels to be forwarded. In a detailed embodiment, for example, according to the RRC parameter TDD-UL-DL-configurationCommon, the period of a beam configuration may be the same as, shorter than, or longer than the period of the time division duplex (TDD) mode.

[0105] In one embodiment, the periodic repeater beam configuration is associated with forwarding different types of periodic cell common signals / channels, such as synchronization signal blocks (SSBs), system information blocks (SIBs), tracking resource signals (TRSs), Coreset0, paging, physical random access channels (PRACHs), etc. In one example, each periodic beam configuration is associated with forwarding one type of periodic signal / channel. In another example, a periodic beam configuration is associated with forwarding a group of periodic signals / channels. Although the relay node 504 may not be aware of a specific signal or channel, the association is highly relevant for the network node 502 in configuring the relay node 504, so that it configures the relay node 504 according to the properties of the above-mentioned signals and channels.

[0106] In another embodiment, the periodic repeater beam configuration is associated with forwarding a periodic reference signal for UE measurements in beam / radio link monitoring or cell reselection, etc. The reference signal may be a UE / NCR-MT specific CSI-RS, SRS, etc.

[0107] In another embodiment, the periodic repeater beam configuration is associated with a forwarding slot / symbol configured for semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) in DL or configuration grant (CG) in UL.

[0108] In one embodiment, the network node 502 may update the periodic beam configuration by selecting one or more of the following: TDD mode is reconfigured; Some cell common signals / channels are reconfigured; and Certain periodic reference signals are reconfigured.

[0109] At step 708 , the method includes providing one or more dynamic beam indications to the relay node 504 .

[0110] In one embodiment, the dynamic beam indication is configured based on real-time UE scheduling of one or more of: Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) / Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) / Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) or Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH); and Aperiodic activation measurements of reference signals (e.g. SSB / CSI-RS / SRS)

[0111] In one embodiment, the dynamic beam indication is transmitted in, for example, a DCI.

[0112] In one embodiment, the network node 502 indicates the set of relay beams to be used based on the information in the relay beam arrangement report using one or more of the following: Repeater beam index / ID; Repeater beam index / ID + repeater beam type index / ID; Repeater beam polarization index / ID; Reference signals in TCI configuration; A bit field, wherein each bit in the bit field is associated with a beam according to a repeater beam placement report; a bit field by beam type, wherein each bit in the bit field is associated with a beam of that beam type according to the repeater beam arrangement report; and • One or more initial prototype beams and / or one or more prototype beam antenna sizes and / or prototype beam indices.

[0113] In one embodiment, the configuration of the beam time domain state includes one or more of the following: System frame number; Subframe number; Time slot number; Time slot period; · Duration in number of time slots; Symbol number; The starting orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol in the time slot; The ending OFDM symbol in the slot; and Duration in number of OFDM symbols in a slot.

[0114] It should be noted that the periodic beam configuration may include the periodic beam time domain state and the periodic beam to be used, while the dynamic beam indication may include the periodic beam time domain state and the non-periodic beam to be used, or the non-periodic beam time domain state and the non-periodic beam to be used.

[0115] In one embodiment, the beam configuration / indication may be related to other relay node configurations, such as: • Repeater FWD off configuration, in which case the repeater access side is not operational and only the repeater modem module is actually active. In one embodiment, the off configuration may be or result from a certain beam index outside the range of actual beam indices. Repeater inactivity or idle, in which case the entire repeater is deactivated at all levels. This could be the case outside of shopping mall opening hours, for example. • Beam amplification level, i.e. which amplification should be applied to the beam. o In one embodiment, the beam magnification factor is different depending on the beamwidth of the spatial filter of the repeater node. In one example, the larger the beamwidth used, the higher the amplification factor (to compensate for the lower antenna gain when applying a spatial filter with a larger beamwidth).

[0116] Figure 8 An example of a communication system 800 is shown in accordance with some embodiments.

[0117] In this example, the communication system 800 includes a telecommunications network 802, which includes an access network 804 (e.g., a radio access network (RAN)) and a core network 806 (which includes one or more core network nodes 808). The access network 804 includes one or more access network nodes (e.g., network node 502), such as network nodes 810A and 810B (wherein one or more network nodes may be generally referred to as network nodes 810), or any other similar third generation partnership project (3GPP) access nodes (APs) or non-3GPP access points. The network node 810 facilitates direct or indirect connection of UEs, such as connecting UEs 812A, 812B, 812C, and 812D (wherein one or more UEs may be generally referred to as UE 812) to the core network 806 via one or more wireless connections. In various embodiments as disclosed herein, the network node 810 may also configure a spatial filter for a relay forwarding function of a relay node (e.g., relay node 504).

[0118] Example wireless communications over wireless connections include sending and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. In addition, in various embodiments, the communication system 800 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals, whether via a wired or wireless connection. The communication system 800 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar types of systems.

[0119] UE 812 may be any of a variety of communication devices, including wireless devices that are arranged, configured and / or operable to wirelessly communicate with network node 810 and other communication devices. Similarly, network node 810 is arranged, capable, configured and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with UE 812 and / or other network nodes or devices in telecommunication network 802 to enable and / or provide network access (e.g., wireless network access) and / or perform other functions (e.g., management in telecommunication network 802).

[0120] In the illustrated example, the core network 806 connects the network node 810 to one or more hosts (e.g., host 816). These connections can be direct or indirect via one or more intermediate networks or devices. In other examples, the network node can be directly coupled to the host. The core network 806 includes one or more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 808), which are composed of hardware and software components. The features of these components can be substantially similar to the features described for the UE, network node and / or host, so that their description is generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node 808. The example core network node includes one or more functions of the following: mobile switching center (MSC), mobility management entity (MME), home subscriber server (HSS), access and mobility management function (AMF), session management function (SMF), authentication server function (AUSF), subscription identifier decryption function (SIDF), unified data management (UDM), security edge protection proxy (SEPP), network open function (NEF) and / or user plane function (UPF).

[0121] The host 816 may be owned or controlled by a service provider other than the operator or provider of the access network 804 and / or the telecommunications network 802, and may be operated by or on behalf of the service provider. The host 816 may host various applications to provide one or more services. Examples of such applications include real-time and pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services (e.g., retrieval and compilation of data of various environmental conditions detected by multiple UEs), analytical functions, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for alarm and monitoring centers, or any other such functions performed by a server.

[0122] Overall, Figure 8 The communication system 800 enables connections between UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In this sense, the communication system 800 can be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as, but not limited to, specific standards such as: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable second, third, fourth, or fifth generation (2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G) standards, or any applicable future generation standards (e.g., sixth generation (6G)); Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard (WiFi); and / or any other suitable wireless communication standards, such as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, LiFi, and / or any Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) standards, such as LoRa and Sigfox.

[0123] In some examples, telecommunication network 802 is a cellular network implementing 3GPP standardized features. Thus, telecommunication network 802 can support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices connected to telecommunication network 802. For example, telecommunication network 802 can provide ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) services to some UEs while providing enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or provide massive machine type communication (mMTC) / massive Internet of Things (IoT) services to other UEs.

[0124] In some examples, UE 812 is configured to send and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For example, the UE can be designed to send information to access network 804 according to a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to a request from access network 804. In addition, the UE can be configured to operate in a single radio access technology (RAT) or in a multi-RAT or multi-standard mode. For example, the UE can operate using any one or any combination of Wi-Fi, new radio (NR), and LTE, i.e., configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as evolved UMTS terrestrial RAN (E-UTRAN) NR-dual connectivity (EN-DC).

[0125] In this example, the hub 814 communicates with the access network 804 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 812C and / or 812D) and a network node (e.g., network node 810B). In some examples, the hub 814 can be a controller, a router, a content source and analysis, or any other communication device described herein with respect to the UE. For example, the hub 814 can be a broadband router that enables the UE to access the core network 806. As another example, the hub 814 can be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UE. The command or instruction can be received from the UE, the network node 810, or received by an executable code, script, process or other instruction in the hub 814. As another example, the hub 814 can be a data collector that acts as a temporary storage of UE data, and in some embodiments, analysis or other processing of the data can be performed. As another example, the hub 814 can be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, speaker, or other media delivery device, the hub 814 can retrieve virtual reality (VR) assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, and then provide it directly to the UE after performing local processing and / or adding additional local content. In another example, the hub 814 acts as a proxy server or coordinator for the UE, especially if one or more of the UEs are low-energy IoT devices.

[0126] The hub 814 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection with the network node 810B. The hub 814 may also allow different communication schemes and / or scheduling between the hub 814 and the UE (e.g., UE 812C and / or 812D) and between the hub 814 and the core network 806. In other examples, the hub 814 is connected to the core network 806 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. In addition, the hub 814 may be configured to be connected to a machine-to-machine (M2M) service provider and / or to another UE via a direct connection via the access network 804. In some cases, the UE may establish a wireless connection with the network node 810, while still being connected via the hub 814 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 814 may be a dedicated hub, i.e., a hub whose main function is to route communication from the network node 810B to the UE, or from the UE to the network node 810B. In other embodiments, the hub 814 may be a non-dedicated hub, ie, a device operable to route communications between the UE and the network node 810B, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communications origin and / or endpoint for certain data channels.

[0127] Fig. 9UE 900 according to some embodiments is shown. As used herein, UE refers to a device capable of, configured, arranged and / or operable to wirelessly communicate with a network node and / or other UEs. Examples of UEs include, but are not limited to, smartphones, mobile phones, cellular phones, voice over Internet Protocol (IP) (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, desktop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless cameras, game consoles or devices, music storage devices, playback devices, wearable terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, tablet computers, laptops, notebook embedded devices (LEEs), notebook mounted devices (LMEs), smart devices, wireless client equipment (CPEs), in-vehicle or vehicle embedded / integrated wireless devices, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by 3GPP, including narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) UEs, machine type communications (MTC) UEs, and / or enhanced MTC (eMTC) UEs.

[0128] The UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communications, for example, by implementing 3GPP standards for: sidelink communications, dedicated short-range communications (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). In other examples, a UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the associated device. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended to be sold to or operated by a human user, but may not be associated with a specific human user, or may not initially be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended to be sold to or operated by an end user, but may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart meter).

[0129] UE 900 includes processing circuitry 902, which is operatively coupled to input / output interface 906, power supply 908, memory 910, communication interface 912, and / or any other components, or any combination thereof, via bus 904. Some UEs may use Fig. 9 All or part of the components shown in . The degree of integration between components may vary from UE to UE. In addition, some UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0130] The processing circuit 902 is configured to process instructions and data, and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine that is operable to execute instructions stored in the memory 910 as a machine-readable computer program. The processing circuit 902 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general-purpose processors (e.g., microprocessors or digital signal processors (DSPs)) together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuit 902 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0131] In this example, the input / output interface 906 can be configured to provide one or more interfaces to an input device, an output device, or one or more input and / or output devices. Examples of output devices include speakers, sound cards, video cards, displays, monitors, printers, actuators, transmitters, smart cards, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device can allow a user to capture information into the UE 900. Examples of input devices include touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive displays, cameras (e.g., digital cameras, digital video cameras, web cameras, etc.), microphones, sensors, mice, trackballs, directional keys, trackpads, scroll wheels, smart cards, etc. A presence-sensitive display can include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. The sensor can be, for example, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biosensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device can use an interface port of the same type as an input device. For example, a universal serial bus (USB) port can be used to provide input devices and output devices.

[0132] In some embodiments, the power supply 908 is configured as a battery or a battery pack. Other types of power supplies may be used, such as an external power supply (e.g., a power outlet), a photovoltaic device, or a battery. The power supply 908 may also include a power supply circuit for delivering power from the power supply 908 itself and / or an external power supply to various parts of the UE 900 through an input circuit or interface (e.g., a power cable). The delivered power may be used, for example, to charge the power supply 908. The power supply circuit may perform any formatting, conversion, or other modification on the power from the power supply 908 so that the power is suitable for supplying power to various components of the UE 900.

[0133] The memory 910 may be or be configured to include a memory such as a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), an erasable PROM (EPROM), an electrically EPROM (EEPROM), a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a hard disk, a removable cassette, a flash drive, etc. In one example, the memory 910 includes one or more application programs 914, such as an operating system, a web browser application, a widget, a gadget engine, or other applications, and corresponding data 916. The memory 910 may store any one of a variety of operating systems or a combination of operating systems for use by the UE 900.

[0134] The memory 910 may be configured to include a plurality of physical drive units, such as a redundant array of independent disks (RAID), a flash memory, a USB flash drive, an external hard drive, a thumb drive, a pen drive, a key drive, a high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical drive, an internal hard drive, a Blu-ray optical drive, a holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical drive, an external micro dual in-line memory module (DIMM), a synchronous dynamic random access memory (RAM) (SDRAM), an external micro DIMM SDRAM, a smart card memory (e.g., a tamper-proof module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC), including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as a universal SIM (USIM) and / or an Internet Protocol Multimedia Service Identity Module (ISIM)), other memories, or any combination thereof. The UICC may be an embedded UICC (eUICC), an integrated UICC (iUICC), or a removable UICC commonly referred to as a “SIM card”. The memory 910 may allow the UE 900 to access instructions, applications, etc. stored on a temporary or non-temporary memory medium to offload data or upload data. An article of manufacture (eg, an article of manufacture utilizing a communication system) may be tangibly embodied as or in memory 910, which may be or include a device-readable storage medium.

[0135] The processing circuit 902 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using a communication interface 912. The communication interface 912 may include one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 922. The communication interface 912 may include one or more transceivers for communication, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another UE or network node in the access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 918 and / or a receiver 920 suitable for providing network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocation, etc.). In addition, the transmitter 918 and the receiver 920 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 922) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or may be implemented separately.

[0136] In the illustrated embodiment, the communication functions of the communication interface 912 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communication (e.g., Bluetooth), NFC, location-based communication (e.g., using a global positioning system (GPS) to determine location), other similar communication functions, or any combination thereof. Communication may be implemented according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, code division multiple access (CDMA), wideband CDMA (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, NR, UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol / Internet protocol (TCP / IP), synchronous optical network (SONET), asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), fast user datagram protocol Internet connection (QUIC), hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), etc.

[0137] Regardless of the sensor type, the UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors to a network node through its communication interface 912 or via a wireless connection. The data captured by the UE's sensors may be transmitted to the network node via another UE over a wireless connection. The output may be periodic (e.g., every 15 minutes if it reports a sensed temperature), random (e.g., to balance the reporting load from multiple sensors), in response to a trigger event (e.g., sending an alarm when moisture is detected), in response to a request (e.g., a user-initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

[0138] As another example, the UE includes an actuator, motor, or switch associated with a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input, the state of the actuator, motor, or switch can change. For example, the UE can include a motor that adjusts a control surface or rotor of a drone in flight based on the received input, or adjusts a robotic arm performing a medical procedure based on the received input.

[0139] When the UE is in the form of an IoT device, the UE may be a device for one or more application areas including, but not limited to, urban wearable technology, extended industrial applications, and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such IoT devices include the following devices or devices embedded in the following devices: connected refrigerators or freezers, televisions, connected lighting devices, electricity meters, robotic vacuum cleaners, voice-controlled smart speakers, home security cameras, motion detectors, thermostats, smoke detectors, door / window sensors, flood / humidity sensors, electric door locks, connected doorbells, air conditioning systems (such as heat pumps), self-driving cars, surveillance systems, weather monitoring devices, vehicle parking monitoring devices, electric vehicle charging stations, smart watches, fitness trackers, head-mounted displays for augmented reality (AR) or VR, wearable devices for tactile enhancement or sensory enhancement, sprinklers, animal or item tracking devices, sensors for monitoring plants or animals, industrial robots, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and any type of medical equipment (such as heart rate monitors or teleoperated surgical robots). UEs in the form of IoT devices include, in addition to devices related to Fig. 9 In addition to the other components described in relation to the UE 900 shown in FIG. 9 , the UE 900 further includes circuits and / or software depending on the intended application of the IoT device.

[0140] As another specific example, in an IoT scenario, a UE may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurements and sends the results of such monitoring and / or measurements to another UE and / or a network node. In this case, the UE may be an M2M device, which may be referred to as an MTC device in the 3GPP context. As a specific example, a UE may implement the 3GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, bus, truck, ship, airplane, or other device capable of monitoring and / or reporting its operating status or other functions related to its operation.

[0141] In practice, any number of UEs may be used together for a single use case. For example, a first UE may be a drone or integrated into a drone and provide the drone's speed information (obtained via a speed sensor) to a second UE, which is a remote controller that operates the drone. When a user makes changes from the remote controller, the first UE may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g., by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone's speed. The first UE and / or the second UE may also include more than one of the above-described functionalities. For example, a UE may include sensors and actuators, and handle communications for data for both the speed sensor and the actuator.

[0142] Fig.10A network node 1000 according to some embodiments is shown. As used herein, a network node refers to a device capable of, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or with other network nodes or devices in a telecommunications network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, APs (e.g., radio APs), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio BSs, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs), and NR Node Bs (gNBs)).

[0143] A BS may be classified according to the amount of coverage it provides (or in other words, its transmit power level), and therefore may be referred to as a femto BS, pico BS, micro BS, or macro BS, depending on the amount of coverage provided. A BS may be a relay node or a relay donor node that controls a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio BS, such as a centralized digital unit and / or a remote radio unit (RRU), sometimes referred to as a remote radio head (RRH). Such a remote radio unit may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna-integrated radio. The parts of a distributed radio BS may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

[0144] Other examples of network nodes include multi-transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment (e.g., MSR BS), network controllers (e.g., radio network controllers (RNC) or BS controllers (BSC)), base transceiver stations (BTS), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell / multicast coordination entities (MCEs), operations and maintenance (O&M) nodes, operations support system (OSS) nodes, self-organizing network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., evolved serving mobile positioning center (E-SMLC) and / or minimization of drive tests (MDT)).

[0145] The network node 1000 includes a processing circuit 1002, a memory 1004, a communication interface 1006, and a power supply 1008. The network node 1000 may be composed of multiple physically independent components (e.g., a NodeB component and an RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), each of which may have its own components. In certain scenarios where the network node 1000 includes multiple independent components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the independent components may be shared between multiple network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In this case, each unique NodeB and RNC pair may be considered a single independent network node in some cases. In some embodiments, the network node 1000 may be configured to support multiple RATs. In such embodiments, some components may be repeated (e.g., separate memories 1004 for different RATs), and some components may be reused (e.g., the same antenna 1010 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 1000 may also include multiple sets of various illustrated components for different wireless technologies, such as GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, Long Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), or Bluetooth wireless technologies, integrated into the network node 1000. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or chipsets and other components within the network node 1000.

[0146] The processing circuit 1002 may include a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, CPU, DSP, ASIC, FPGA, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and / or encoded logic that is operable to provide network node 1000 functionality alone or in combination with other network node 1000 components (e.g., memory 1004).

[0147] In some embodiments, the processing circuit 1002 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuit 1002 includes one or more of a radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuit 1012 and a baseband processing circuit 1014. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuit 1012 and the baseband processing circuit 1014 may be located on separate chips (or chipsets), boards, or units, such as a radio unit and a digital unit. In alternative embodiments, part or all of the RF transceiver circuit 1012 and the baseband processing circuit 1014 may be located on the same chip or chipset, board, or unit.

[0148] The memory 1004 may include any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory, including but not limited to persistent memory, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, RAM, ROM, mass storage media (e.g., hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., flash drive, compact disk (CD) or digital video disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable memory device that stores information, data and / or instructions that can be used by the processing circuit 1002. The memory 1004 may store any suitable instructions, data or information, including computer programs, software, applications, applications (including one or more of logic, rules, codes, tables) and / or other instructions that can be executed by the processing circuit 1002 and used by the network node 1000. The memory 1004 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuit 1002 and / or any data received via the communication interface 1006. In some embodiments, the processing circuit 1002 and the memory 1004 are integrated.

[0149] The communication interface 1006 is used for wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between network nodes, access networks and / or UEs. As shown, the communication interface 1006 includes a port / terminal 1016, for example, to send data to the network and receive data from the network via a wired connection. The communication interface 1006 further includes a radio front-end circuit 1018, which may be coupled to the antenna 1010, or in some embodiments is a part of the antenna 1010. The radio front-end circuit 1018 includes a filter 1020 and an amplifier 1022. The radio front-end circuit 1018 may be connected to the antenna 1010 and the processing circuit 1002. The radio front-end circuit may be configured to adjust the signal transmitted between the antenna 1010 and the processing circuit 1002. The radio front-end circuit 1018 may receive digital data to be sent to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuit 1018 may use a combination of a filter 1020 and / or an amplifier 1022 to convert the digital data into a radio signal with appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters. The radio signal may then be sent via the antenna 1010. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 1010 may collect radio signals, which may then be converted to digital data by radio front end circuit 1018. The digital data may be passed to processing circuit 1002. In other embodiments, the communication interface may include different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0150] In some alternative embodiments, the network node 1000 does not include a separate radio front end circuit 1018, but rather, the processing circuit 1002 includes the radio front end circuit and is connected to the antenna 1010. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or part of the RF transceiver circuit 1012 is part of the communication interface 1006. In other embodiments, the communication interface 1006 includes one or more ports or terminals 1016, the radio front end circuit 1018, and the RF transceiver circuit 1012 as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 1006 communicates with the baseband processing circuit 1014, which is part of the digital unit (not shown).

[0151] Antenna 1010 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. Antenna 1010 may be coupled to radio front end circuit 1018 and may be any type of antenna capable of wirelessly sending and receiving data and / or signals. In some embodiments, antenna 1010 is separate from network node 1000 and may be connected to network node 1000 via an interface or port.

[0152] The antenna 1010, the communication interface 1006, and / or the processing circuit 1002 may be configured to perform any receiving operation and / or certain obtaining operations performed by the network node 1000 as described herein. Any information, data, and / or signal may be received from a UE, another network node, and / or any other network device. Similarly, the antenna 1010, the communication interface 1006, and / or the processing circuit 1002 may be configured to perform any sending operation performed by the network node 1000 as described herein. Any information, data, and / or signal may be sent to a UE, another network node, and / or any other network device.

[0153] The power supply 1008 provides power to the various components of the network node 1000 in a form suitable for the various components (e.g., at the voltage and current levels required by each component). The power supply 1008 may also include or be coupled to a power management circuit to provide power to the components of the network node 1000 for performing the functions described herein. For example, the network node 1000 may be connected to an external power source (e.g., an electrical grid, or an electrical outlet) via an input circuit or interface (e.g., a cable), so that the external power source supplies power to the power circuit of the power supply 1008. As a further example, the power supply 1008 may include a power source in the form of a battery or battery pack, which is connected to the power circuit or is integrated in the power circuit. If the external power source fails, the battery can provide backup power.

[0154] Embodiments of the network node 1000 may include Fig.101000 to provide certain aspects of the functionality of the network node, including any functionality described herein and / or any functionality required to support the subject matter described herein. For example, the network node 1000 may include a user interface device to allow information to be input into the network node 1000 and to allow information to be output from the network node 1000. This may allow a user to perform diagnostics, maintenance, repair, and other management functions on the network node 1000.

[0155] Fig.11 is a block diagram of a host 1100 according to various aspects described herein, which may be Figure 8 100 is an embodiment of a host 816 of the present invention. As used herein, the host 1100 can be or include various combinations of hardware and / or software, including processing resources in a standalone server, a blade server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, a virtual machine, a container, or a server farm. The host 1100 can provide one or more services to one or more UEs.

[0156] Host 1100 includes processing circuitry 1102, which is operably coupled to input / output interface 1106, network interface 1108, power supply 1110, and memory 1112 via bus 1104. Other components may be included in other embodiments. The features of these components may be similar to those described with respect to previous figures (e.g., Fig. 9 and 10 ) have substantially similar features, such that their descriptions are generally applicable to corresponding components of the host 1100.

[0157] The memory 1112 may include one or more computer programs, including one or more host applications 1114 and data 1116, which may include user data, such as data generated by the UE for the host 1100 or data generated by the host 1100 for the UE. An embodiment of the host 1100 may utilize only a subset or all of the components shown. The host application 1114 may be implemented in a container-based architecture and may provide support for video codecs (e.g., Versatile Video Coding (VVC), High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), Advanced Video Coding (AVC), Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG), VP9) and audio codecs (e.g., Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC), Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), MPEG, G.711), including transcoding for a variety of different categories, types or implementations of UE (e.g., mobile phones, desktop computers, wearable display systems, and head-up display systems). The host application 1114 may also provide user authentication and license checks, and may periodically report health status, routing, and content availability to a central node (e.g., a device in a core network or on the edge). Thus, the host 1100 can select and / or instruct different hosts for over-the-top (OTT) services for the UE. The host application 1114 can support various protocols, such as HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol, Real-time Messaging Protocol (RTMP), Real-time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH or MPEG-DASH), etc.

[0158] Fig.12 1 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualized environment 1200 in which the functionality implemented in certain embodiments may be virtualized. In this context, virtualization means creating a virtual version of an apparatus or device, which may include virtualized hardware platforms, storage devices, and network resources. As used herein, virtualization may be applied to any device or component thereof described herein, and involves the implementation of at least a portion of the functionality as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functionality described herein may be implemented as virtual components performed by one or more virtual machines (VMs), which are implemented in one or more virtual environments 1200 hosted by one or more hardware nodes (e.g., hardware computing devices operating as network nodes, UEs, core network nodes, or hosts). In addition, in embodiments where a virtual node does not require a radio connection (e.g., a core network node or host), the node may be fully virtualized.

[0159] An application 1202 (which may be alternatively referred to as a software instance, a virtual device, a network function, a virtual node, a virtual network function, etc.) runs in a virtualized environment 1200 to implement some features, functions and / or advantages of some embodiments disclosed herein.

[0160] The hardware 1204 includes processing circuits, memory, etc., and the memory stores software and / or instructions that can be executed by the hardware processing circuits and / or other hardware devices (e.g., network interfaces, input / output interfaces, etc.) as described herein. The processing circuits can execute software to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 1206 (also referred to as hypervisors or VM monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 1208A and 1208B (one or more of which may be collectively referred to as VMs 1208), and / or perform any functions, features, and / or advantages associated with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 1206 can present a virtual operating platform to the VMs 1208 that looks like network hardware.

[0161] VM 1208 includes virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual network or interface and virtual storage, and can be operated by corresponding virtualization layer 1206. Different embodiments of instances of virtual device 1202 can be implemented on one or more VM 1208, and can be implemented in different ways. Virtualization of hardware is sometimes referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV can be used to integrate many network device types onto industry-standard high-capacity server hardware, physical switches and physical storage, which can be located in data centers and client devices.

[0162] In the context of NFV, a VM 1208 can be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were running on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each VM 1208 and a portion of the hardware 1204 on which the VM runs (whether dedicated to the VM or shared with other VMs) form a separate virtual network element. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling a specific network function running in one or more VMs 1208 on top of the hardware 1204 and corresponds to an application 1202.

[0163] Hardware 1204 may be implemented in a standalone network node with general or specific components. Hardware 1204 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 1204 may be part of a larger hardware cluster (e.g., in a data center or CPE), where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration 1210, which, among other things, oversees the lifecycle management of application 1202. In some embodiments, hardware 1204 is coupled to one or more radio units, each of which includes one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas. The radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces, and may be used in conjunction with virtual components to provide radio functions, such as a RAN or BS, to virtual nodes. In some embodiments, a control system 1212 may be used to provide some signaling, which may be used alternatively for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0164] Fig.13 A communication diagram is shown in which a host 1302 communicates with a UE 1306 via a network node 1304 over a partial wireless connection according to some embodiments. According to various embodiments, reference will now be made to Fig.13 Describe the UE discussed in the previous paragraphs (e.g. Figure 8 UE 812A and / or Fig. 9 UE 900), network node (e.g. Figure 8 The network node 810A and / or Fig.10 network node 1000) and a host (eg Figure 8 Host 816 and / or Fig.11 An example implementation of host 1100).

[0165] As with the host 1100, embodiments of the host 1302 include hardware, such as a communication interface, a processing circuit, and a memory. The host 1302 further includes software that is stored in or accessible by the host 1302 and that is executable by the processing circuit. The software includes a host application that is operable to provide services to a remote user, such as a UE 1306 connected via an OTT connection 1350 extending between the UE 1306 and the host 1302. In providing services to the remote user, the host application can provide user data sent using the OTT connection 1350.

[0166] The network node 1304 includes hardware that enables it to communicate with the host 1302 and the UE 1306 via a connection 1360. The connection 1360 may be direct or through a core network (such as Figure 8The core network 806 of the present invention) and / or one or more other intermediate networks (e.g., one or more public, private, or managed networks). For example, the intermediate network can be a backbone network or the Internet.

[0167] UE 1306 includes hardware and software, which is stored in or accessible by UE 1306 and can be executed by the processing circuit of UE. The software includes a client application, such as a web browser or an operator-specific "application", which is operable to provide services to human or non-human users via UE 1306 with the support of host 1302. In host 1302, the running host application can communicate with the running client application through an OTT connection 1350 terminated at UE 1306 and host 1302. In providing services to users, the client application of the UE can receive request data from the host application of the host and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 1350 can transmit the request data and the user data. The client application of the UE can interact with the user to generate user data, which is provided to the host application through the OTT connection 1350.

[0168] The OTT connection 1350 may extend via a connection 1360 between the host 1302 and the network node 1304 and via a wireless connection 1370 between the network node 1304 and the UE 1306 to provide connectivity between the host 1302 and the UE 1306. The connection 1360 and the wireless connection 1370 through which the OTT connection 1350 may be provided have been drawn abstractly to illustrate communications between the host 1302 and the UE 1306 via the network node 1304, without explicit reference to any intermediate devices and the precise routing of messages via those devices.

[0169] As an example of sending data via OTT connection 1350, in step 1308, host 1302 provides user data, which can be performed by running a host application. In some embodiments, the user data is associated with a specific human user interacting with UE 1306. In other embodiments, the user data is associated with UE 1306 that shares data with host 1302 without explicit human interaction. In step 1310, host 1302 initiates a transmission carrying user data to UE 1306. Host 1302 may initiate the transmission in response to a request sent by UE 1306. The request may be caused by human interaction with UE 1306, or by the operation of a client application running on UE 1306. According to the teachings of the embodiments described in the present disclosure, the transmission may pass through network node 1304. Therefore, in step 1312, according to the teachings of the embodiments described in the present disclosure, network node 1304 sends the user data carried in the transmission initiated by host 1302 to UE 1306. In step 1314 , UE 1306 receives user data carried in a transmission, which may be performed by a client application running on UE 1306 that is associated with a host application running on host 1302 .

[0170] In some examples, UE 1306 runs a client application that provides user data to host 1302. The user data may be provided as a reaction or response to data received from host 1302. Thus, in step 1316, UE 1306 may provide the user data, which may be performed by running the client application. In providing the user data, the client application may also take into account user input received from a user via an input / output interface of UE 1306. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data is provided, UE 1306 initiates transmission of the user data to host 1302 via network node 1304 in step 1318. In step 1320, network node 1304 receives user data from UE 1306 and initiates transmission of the received user data to host 1302 in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described in the present disclosure. In step 1322, host 1302 receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by UE 1306.

[0171] One or more of the various embodiments improves the performance of OTT services provided to UE 1306 using OTT connection 1350, where wireless connection 1370 forms the last leg. More specifically, the teachings of these embodiments can improve the ability of a network node to configure a spatial filter of a relay node, which enables the relay node to not need to understand signals / channels, such as PDCCH, PUCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, SSB, PRACH, etc., which can easily and cheaply enable the deployment of relay nodes.

[0172] In an example scenario, host 1302 may collect and analyze plant status information. As another example, host 1302 may process audio and video data that may have been retrieved from a UE for use in creating a map. As another example, host 1302 may collect and analyze real-time data to assist in controlling vehicle congestion (e.g., controlling traffic lights). As another example, host 1302 may store surveillance videos uploaded by a UE. As another example, host 1302 may store or control access to media content (e.g., video, audio, VR, or AR) that may be broadcast, multicast, or unicast to a UE. As other examples, host 1302 may be used for energy pricing, remote control of non-time-critical electrical loads to balance power generation demand, location services, presentation services (e.g., compiling charts from data collected from remote devices, etc.), or any other function that collects, retrieves, stores, analyzes, and / or transmits data.

[0173] In some examples, a measurement process may be provided for monitoring data rates, latency, and other factors improved by one or more embodiments. There may also be an optional network function for reconfiguring the OTT connection 1350 between the host 1302 and the UE 1306 in response to changes in the measurement results. The measurement process and / or the network function for reconfiguring the OTT connection may be implemented in the software and hardware of the host 1302 and / or the UE 1306. In some embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or associated with other devices through which the OTT connection 1350 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement process by providing the values ​​of the monitoring quantities exemplified above or by providing the values ​​of other physical quantities, and the software may calculate or estimate the monitoring quantities from other physical quantities. The reconfiguration of the OTT connection 1350 may include message formats, retransmission settings, preferred routes, etc.; the reconfiguration does not require direct changes to the operation of the network node 1304. Such processes and functions may be known and practiced in the art. In some embodiments, the measurement may involve proprietary UE signaling, which facilitates the host 1302 to measure throughput, propagation time, latency, etc. Measurements may be implemented in that the software sends a message, in particular an empty message or a "dummy" message, using the OTT connection 1350 while monitoring propagation time, errors, etc.

[0174] Although the computing devices (e.g., UE, network node, host) described herein may include a combination of the hardware components shown, other embodiments may include computing devices with different combinations of components. It should be understood that these computing devices may include any suitable combination of hardware and / or software required to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. The determination, calculation, acquisition or similar operations described herein may be performed by a processing circuit, which may process information by, for example, converting the acquired information into other information, comparing the acquired information or the converted information with the information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the acquired information or the converted information, and making a determination based on the result of the processing. In addition, although the components are depicted as a single box located within a larger box or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, a computing device may include multiple different physical components constituting a single illustrated component, and functions may be divided between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and / or the functions of the components may be divided between a processing circuit and a communication interface. In another example, the non-computationally intensive functions of any such component may be implemented in software or firmware, while the computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0175] In some embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by a processing circuit executing instructions stored in a memory, which in some embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-temporary computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by a processing circuit (e.g., in a hardwired manner) without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium. In any of these particular embodiments, the processing circuit may be configured to perform the described functionality, regardless of whether instructions stored on a non-temporary computer-readable storage medium are executed. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuits or other components of a computing device, but are generally enjoyed by the entire computing device and / or end users and wireless networks.

[0176] Embodiment 1: A method for configuring a spatial filter for a repeater forwarding function performed by a repeater node (504), the method comprising receiving (604) one or more periodic beam configurations from a network node (502). The method may also include receiving (606) one or more dynamic beam indications from the network node (502). The method may also include selecting (608) a periodic beam configuration from one or more periodic beam configurations or selecting (608) a dynamic beam indication from one or more dynamic beam indications for a time interval based on a priority order. The method may also include applying (610) the periodic beam configuration or the dynamic beam indication to a beam for transmission.

[0177] Embodiment 2: The method of embodiment 1 further includes, before receiving one or more periodic beam configurations, providing (602) a capability report to a network node (502), the capability report including at least one or more of the following capabilities: functioning as a repeater, receiving dynamic beam indications, beam placement reports, beam capability reports, latency requirements for dynamic indications, and enabling / disabling capabilities.

[0178] Embodiment 3: The method of any of the preceding embodiments, wherein each of the one or more periodic beam configurations and the one or more dynamic beam indications has a corresponding priority.

[0179] Embodiment 4: The method of embodiment 3, wherein one or more periodic beam configurations and dynamic beam indications having the highest priority level are selected.

[0180] Embodiment 5: The method of any of the preceding embodiments, wherein the one or more periodic beam configurations include one or more beam configurations for all periodic signals and / or channels to be forwarded.

[0181] Embodiment 6: The method of any of the preceding embodiments, wherein the one or more periodic beam configurations are semi-static, and each of the one or more periodic beam configurations is associated with a corresponding period.

[0182] Embodiment 7: The method of any of the preceding embodiments, wherein one or more periodic beam configurations are repeated together with periodic signals and / or channels to be forwarded.

[0183] Embodiment 8: The method of any one of embodiments 1-2, wherein at least one periodic beam configuration among one or more periodic beam configurations is associated with a priority flag.

[0184] Embodiment 9: The method of any one of Embodiment 8, wherein a periodic beam configuration having a priority flag is selected.

[0185] Embodiment 10: The method of any one of embodiments 1-9, wherein the dynamic beam indication is associated with a reference to an associated periodic beam configuration.

[0186] Embodiment 11: The method of any one of Embodiment 10, wherein an associated periodic beam configuration is selected.

[0187] Embodiment 12: A method according to any one of embodiments 1-11, wherein the beam to be used for transmission is indicated based on a beam arrangement report using information, the information comprising one or more of: a beam index / identifier, a beam index / identifier and a beam type index / identifier, a reference signal of a transmission configuration indicator state, a polarization index / identifier, a bit field (wherein, according to the beam arrangement report, each bit in the bit field is associated with a beam), a bit field by beam type (wherein, according to the beam arrangement report, each bit in the bit field is associated with a beam of that beam type), a beam expansion factor and a beam index, and a closed beam for disabling repeater operation.

[0188] Embodiment 13: The method of any one of embodiments 1-12, wherein one or more periodic beam configurations and one or more dynamic beam indications include corresponding beam time domain states, and the beam time domain states include one or more of the following: system frame number, subframe number, time slot number, time slot period, duration using the number of time slots, starting OFDM symbol in the time slot, ending OFDM symbol in the time slot, and duration using the number of OFDM symbols.

[0189] Embodiment 14: The method of embodiment 12, wherein the beam to be used is associated with a periodic beam configuration that can be dynamically updated.

[0190] Embodiment 15: The method of embodiment 14, wherein the beam to be used can be updated using downlink control information DCI or media access control MAC control element MAC-CE.

[0191] Embodiment 16: The method of any one of Embodiments 1-15, wherein the one or more periodic beam configurations are received via radio resource control (RRC) or MAC-CE signaling.

[0192] Embodiment 17: The method of any one of Embodiments 1-16, wherein the one or more dynamic beam indications are received via DCI.

[0193] Embodiment 18: The method of any one of Embodiments 1-17, wherein the repeater node (504) is at least one of a network-controlled repeater device or a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) device.

[0194] Embodiment 19: A repeater node (504) for configuring a spatial filter for repeater forwarding function, the repeater node (504) comprising a processing circuit configured to perform the steps of any one of embodiments 1-18, and a power supply circuit configured to supply power to the processing circuit.

[0195] Embodiment 20: A method for configuring a spatial filter for a repeater forwarding function performed by a network node (502), the method comprising determining (704) a priority list for multiple repeater spatial filters for a repeater node (504), providing (706) one or more periodic beam configurations to the repeater node (504) based on the priority list, and providing (708) one or more dynamic beam indications to the repeater node (504).

[0196] Embodiment 21: The method of embodiment 20 further includes receiving (702) a capability report from a repeater node (504) before determining the priority list, wherein the capability report includes at least one or more of the following capabilities: functioning as a repeater, receiving dynamic beam indication, beam placement report, beam capability report, delay requirements for dynamic indication, and turning on / off capability.

[0197] Embodiment 22: The method of any one of Embodiments 20-21, wherein each of the one or more periodic beam configurations and the one or more dynamic beam indications has a corresponding priority.

[0198] Embodiment 23: The method of any one of Embodiments 20-21, wherein at least one periodic beam configuration among the one or more periodic beam configurations is associated with a priority flag.

[0199] Embodiment 24: The method of Embodiment 20, wherein at least one of the one or more dynamic beam indications is associated with a reference to a periodic beam configuration.

[0200] Embodiment 25: The method of any one of Embodiments 20-24, wherein the priority list for multiple repeater spatial filters is based on the importance of the signal / channel to be forwarded.

[0201] Embodiment 26: The method of any one of Embodiments 20-24, wherein the priority list for multiple repeater spatial filters is based on the carrier / serving cell on which the signal / channel to be forwarded is scheduled.

[0202] Embodiment 27: The method of any one of Embodiments 20-26, wherein the one or more periodic beam configurations include one or more beam configurations for all periodic signals / channels to be forwarded.

[0203] Embodiment 28: The method of any one of Embodiments 20-27, wherein at least one periodic beam configuration among the one or more periodic beam configurations is associated with a forwarding slot / symbol configured for a cell common signal / channel.

[0204] Embodiment 29: A method according to any one of embodiments 20-28, wherein at least one of the one or more periodic beam configurations is associated with a forwarding slot / symbol for forwarding a network-controlled repeater mobile terminal (NCR-MT) configured for a user equipment (UE) or a specific periodic reference signal, wherein the specific periodic reference signal includes at least one of a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) or a sounding reference signal (SRS).

[0205] Embodiment 30: A method according to any one of embodiments 20-28, wherein at least one periodic beam configuration among one or more periodic beam configurations is associated with a forwarding slot / symbol configured for semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) in a downlink channel or a configuration grant (CG) in an uplink channel.

[0206] Embodiment 31: A method according to any one of Embodiments 20-30, wherein one or more of the periodic beam configurations are semi-static, and each of the one or more periodic beam configurations is associated with a period.

[0207] Embodiment 32: The method of any one of Embodiments 20-30, wherein one or more of the periodic beam configurations are repeated together with a periodic signal / channel to be forwarded.

[0208] Embodiment 33: The method of any one of Embodiments 20-32, wherein the one or more dynamic beam indications are associated with a forwarding slot / symbol configured for a dynamically scheduled signal / channel.

[0209] Embodiment 34: The method of any one of Embodiments 20-32, wherein the one or more dynamic beam indications are associated with a forwarding slot / symbol configured for an aperiodic reference signal.

[0210] Embodiment 35: A method according to any one of embodiments 20-34, wherein the beam to be used for transmission is indicated based on information indicated by a beam arrangement report, the information comprising one or more of: a beam index / identifier, a beam index / identifier and a beam type index / identifier, a reference signal of a transmission configuration indicator state, a polarization index / identifier, a bit field (wherein, according to the beam arrangement report, each bit in the bit field is associated with a beam), a bit field by beam type (wherein, according to the beam arrangement report, each bit in the bit field is associated with a beam of that beam type), a beam expansion factor and a beam index, and a closed beam for disabling repeater operation.

[0211] Embodiment 36: The method of any one of Embodiments 20-35, wherein one or more periodic beam configurations and one or more dynamic beam indications comprise corresponding beam time domain states, and the corresponding beam time domain states include one or more of the following: system frame number, subframe number, time slot number, time slot period, duration using the number of time slots, starting OFDM symbol in the time slot, ending OFDM symbol in the time slot, and duration using the number of OFDM symbols.

[0212] Embodiment 37: The method of Embodiment 35, wherein the beam to be used is associated with a periodic beam configuration that can be dynamically updated.

[0213] Embodiment 38: The method of embodiment 37, wherein the beam to be used can be updated using downlink control information DCI or media access control MAC control element MAC-CE.

[0214] Embodiment 39: The method of any one of Embodiments 20-38, wherein one or more periodic beam configurations are provided via radio resource control (RRC) or MAC-CE signaling.

[0215] Embodiment 40: The method of any one of Embodiments 20-39, wherein one or more dynamic beam indications are provided via DCI.

[0216] Embodiment 41: A network node (502) for configuring a spatial filter for a repeater forwarding function, the network node (502) comprising a processing circuit configured to perform the steps of any one of embodiments 20-38, and a power supply circuit configured to supply power to the processing circuit.

[0217] Those skilled in the art will recognize improvements and modifications to the embodiments of the present disclosure. All such improvements and modifications are considered to be within the scope of the concepts disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A method for configuring a spatial filter of a repeater forwarding function performed by a repeater node (504), the method include: receiving (604) one or more periodic beam configurations from a network node (502); receiving (606) one or more dynamic beam indications from the network node (502); Based on the priority order, selecting (608) a periodic beam configuration from the one or more periodic beam configurations or selecting (608) a dynamic beam indication from the one or more dynamic beam indications for a time interval; as well as The periodic beam configuration or the dynamic beam indication is applied (610) to a transmitted beam.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: include: Prior to receiving the one or more periodic beam configurations, providing (602) a capability report to the network node (502), the capability report comprising at least one or more of the following capabilities: Function as a repeater; Receive dynamic beam indication; Beam placement report; Beam Capability Report; Latency requirements for dynamic indications; and On / off capability.

3. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 2, in, Each of the one or more periodic beam configurations and the one or more dynamic beam indications has a corresponding priority.

4. The method according to claim 3, in, The one or more periodic beam configurations and the dynamic beam indication having the highest priority level are selected.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, in, The one or more periodic beam configurations include one or more beam configurations for all periodic signals and / or channels to be forwarded.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, in, The one or more periodic beam configurations are semi-static or semi-persistent, and each of the one or more periodic beam configurations is associated with a corresponding period.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, in, The one or more periodic beam configurations are repeated along with periodic signals and / or channels to be forwarded.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 2, in, At least one periodic beam configuration of the one or more periodic beam configurations is associated with a priority flag.

9. The method according to claim 8, in, The periodic beam configuration having the priority flag is selected.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, in, The beam to be used for transmission is indicated based on the beam arrangement report using information, the information including one or more of the following: Beam index / identification; Beam index / identification and beam type index / identification; a reference signal for the state of a transmission configuration indicator; Polarization index / identification; a bit field, wherein each bit in the bit field is associated with a beam according to the beam placement report; a bit field of beam type, wherein each bit in the bit field is associated with a beam of the beam type according to the beam arrangement report; beam expansion factor and beam index; and Off beam for disabled repeater operation.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, in, The one or more periodic beam configurations and the one or more dynamic beam indications include corresponding beam time domain states, and the beam time domain states include one or more of the following: System frame number; Subframe number; Time slot number; Time slot cycle; Duration of the number of time slots used; The starting OFDM symbol in the time slot; The ending OFDM symbol in a time slot; as well as Duration in number of OFDM symbols.

12. The method according to claim 10, in, The beam to be used is associated with a periodic beam configuration that can be dynamically updated.

13. The method according to claim 12, in, The beam to be used can be updated using downlink control information DCI or medium access control MAC control element MAC-CE.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, in, The one or more periodic beam configurations are received via radio resource control RRC or MAC-CE signaling.

15. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, in, The one or more dynamic beam indications are received via a DCI.

16. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, in, The repeater node (504) is at least one of a network controlled repeater device or a reconfigurable smart surface RIS device.

17. A repeater node (504) for configuring a spatial filter of a repeater forwarding function, the repeater node (504) comprising a processing circuit, the processing circuit being configured to: receiving (604) one or more periodic beam configurations from a network node (502); receiving (606) one or more dynamic beam indications from the network node (502); Based on the priority order, selecting (608) a periodic beam configuration from the one or more periodic beam configurations or selecting (608) a dynamic beam indication from the one or more dynamic beam indications for a time interval; as well as The periodic beam configuration or the dynamic beam indication is applied (610) to a transmitted beam.

18. The repeater node according to claim 17, in, The processing circuit is further configured to perform any of the steps of claims 2 to 16.

19. A method for configuring a spatial filter of a repeater forwarding function, performed by a network node (502), the method include: determining (704) a priority list for a plurality of repeater spatial filters for the repeater node (504); providing (706) one or more periodic beam configurations to the relay node (504) based on the priority list; as well as One or more dynamic beam indications are provided (708) to the relay node (504).

20. The method according to claim 19, further comprising: include: Prior to determining the priority list, receiving (702) a capability report from the relay node (504), the capability report including at least one or more of the following capabilities: Function as a repeater; Receive dynamic beam indication; Beam placement report; Beam Capability Report; Latency requirements for dynamic indications; and On / off capability.

21. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 20, in, Each of the one or more periodic beam configurations and the one or more dynamic beam indications has a corresponding priority.

22. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 20, in, At least one periodic beam configuration of the one or more periodic beam configurations is associated with a priority flag.

23. The method according to claim 19, in, At least one of the one or more dynamic beam indications is associated with a reference to a periodic beam configuration.

24. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 23, in, The priority list for multiple repeater spatial filters is based on the importance of the signal / channel to be forwarded.

25. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 23, in, The priority list for multiple repeater spatial filters is based on the carrier / serving cell on which the signal / channel to be forwarded is scheduled.

26. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 25, in, The one or more periodic beam configurations include one or more beam configurations for all periodic signals / channels to be forwarded.

27. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 26, in, At least one of the one or more periodic beam configurations is associated with a forwarding slot / symbol configured for a cell common signal / channel.

28. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 27, in, At least one of the one or more periodic beam configurations is associated with a forwarding time slot / symbol of a repeater mobile terminal NCR-MT configured for network control of a user equipment UE or a specific periodic reference signal, and the specific periodic reference signal includes at least one of a channel state information reference signal CSI-RS or a sounding reference signal SRS.

29. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 27, in, At least one of the one or more periodic beam configurations is associated with a forwarding slot / symbol configured for a semi-persistent scheduling SPS in a downlink channel or a configuration grant CG in an uplink channel.

30. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 29, in, The one or more of the periodic beam configurations are semi-static, and each of the one or more periodic beam configurations is associated with a period.

31. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 29, in, The one or more periodic beam configurations in the periodic beam configuration are repeated together with the periodic signal / channel to be forwarded.

32. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 31, in, The one or more dynamic beam indications are associated with a forwarding slot / symbol configured to a dynamically scheduled signal / channel.

33. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 31, in, The one or more dynamic beam indications are associated with a forwarding slot / symbol configured for an aperiodic reference signal.

34. A method according to any one of claims 19 to 33, in, The beam to be used for transmission is indicated based on the beam arrangement report using information, the information including one or more of the following: Beam index / identification; Beam index / identification and beam type index / identification; a reference signal for the state of the transmission configuration indicator; Polarization index / identification; a bit field, wherein each bit in the bit field is associated with a beam according to the beam placement report; a bit field of beam type, wherein each bit in the bit field is associated with a beam of the beam type according to the beam arrangement report; beam expansion factor and beam index; and Off beam for disabled repeater operation.

35. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 34, in, The one or more periodic beam configurations and the one or more dynamic beam indications include corresponding beam time domain states, and the beam time domain states include one or more of the following: System frame number; Subframe number; Time slot number; Time slot cycle; Duration of the number of time slots used; The starting OFDM symbol in the time slot; The ending OFDM symbol in a time slot; as well as Duration in number of OFDM symbols.

36. The method according to claim 34, in, The beam to be used is associated with a periodic beam configuration that can be dynamically updated.

37. The method according to claim 36, in, The beam to be used can be updated using downlink control information DCI or medium access control MAC control element MAC-CE.

38. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 37, in, The one or more periodic beam configurations are provided via radio resource control RRC or MAC-CE signaling.

39. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 38, in, The one or more dynamic beam indications are provided via DCI.

40. A network node (502) for configuring a spatial filter of a repeater forwarding function, the network node (502) comprising a processing circuit, the processing circuit being configured to: determining (704) a priority list for a plurality of repeater spatial filters for a repeater node (504); providing (706) one or more periodic beam configurations to the relay node (504) based on the priority list; and One or more dynamic beam indications are provided (708) to the relay node (504).

41. The network node (502) according to claim 40, in, The processing circuit is further configured to perform any of the steps of claims 20 to 39.

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