Apparatus and method for use in non-terrestrial network

Abstract

The invention relates to an apparatus and a method for use in a non-terrestrial network. A method for a user equipment in a non-terrestrial network is described. The non-terrestrial network includes a network device capable of communicating with a user equipment, a satellite, and a plurality of smart metasurfaces. The method may include: receiving system-related information of a non-terrestrial network from a network device, the system-related information including at least ephemeris information of a satellite, and identifiers and locations of one or more smart metasurfaces associated with the satellite among a plurality of smart metasurfaces; determining a communication path between the user equipment and the network equipment at least based on the received system related information, the determined path passing through one intelligent metasurface in the one or more intelligent metasurfaces; and communicating with the network device via the determined path.

Description

Device and method for use in non-terrestrial networks

[0001] Priority Declaration

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed on November 11, 2022, with application number 202211408918.0 and invention name “Apparatus and Method for Non-terrestrial Networks”, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] The present disclosure relates generally to devices and methods for use in non-terrestrial networks (NTNs), and particularly to techniques for path selection in non-terrestrial networks using smart metasurfaces. Background Art

[0004] Wireless communication systems can use a variety of protocols and standards for data transmission between devices. These protocols and standards have undergone long-term development, including but not limited to the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) (for example, 4G communication), and 3GPP New Radio (NR) (for example, 5G communication) and even 6G communication. Compared with traditional wireless communication systems, new wireless communication systems (such as 5G NR communication systems and 6G communication systems) have significantly improved wireless transmission speed, latency, capacity, flexibility, and reliability, providing more possibilities for new usage models.

[0005] High-frequency band communication technology (such as millimeter wave communication) has been introduced into new wireless communication systems. This type of communication is greatly affected by obstructions such as houses, human bodies, or walls. To this end, smart metasurfaces (also known as smart reflective surfaces / antennas) can be deployed between devices to act as relay nodes. For example, a smart reflective surface can be composed of a large number of low-cost micro-reflective elements, each of which can be independently induced to change the amplitude and / or phase of the signal using software programming, thereby precisely controlling the formation of the reflected beam. Therefore, the use of smart metasurfaces can significantly improve the performance of wireless communication networks at a lower cost.

[0006] On the other hand, new wireless communication systems are introducing non-terrestrial networks involving high-altitude communication stations such as satellites to complement the performance of terrestrial networks. For example, mobile operators can use non-terrestrial networks to provide wireless communication services to areas lacking infrastructure. They can also provide wireless communication services to users even when terrestrial networks are disrupted (such as on battlefields, during earthquakes or floods, or in the wild).

[0007] Non-terrestrial network communications and smart metasurface technology are both relatively new technologies being introduced in 5G NR systems and even 6G systems. Compared to using either technology independently, combining them can further improve the coverage and data transmission performance of non-terrestrial network communications in situations where obstructions such as mountains or tall buildings are present. Therefore, it is desirable to develop systems and methods that can effectively utilize appropriate smart metasurface antennas in non-terrestrial network communications to transmit and receive signals, thereby improving communication performance.

[0008] Summary of the Invention

[0009] The present disclosure provides devices and methods for use in non-terrestrial networks. More specifically, the present disclosure provides a method for path selection in non-terrestrial networks using smart metasurfaces, wherein appropriate smart metasurfaces are selected as relays for non-terrestrial communications between devices in various scenarios, thereby improving the accuracy and reliability of data transmission.

[0010] According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, an electronic device for a user device in a non-terrestrial network is provided, wherein the non-terrestrial network further includes a network device, a satellite, and a plurality of smart metasurfaces capable of communicating with the user device, the electronic device including a processing circuit, wherein the processing circuit is configured to enable the user device to perform the following operations: receiving system-related information of the non-terrestrial network from the network device, the system-related information including at least ephemeris information of the satellite, and an identifier and position of one or more smart metasurfaces associated with the satellite among the plurality of smart metasurfaces; determining a path for the user device to communicate with the network device based at least on the received system-related information, the determined path passing through one of the one or more smart metasurfaces; and communicating with the network device via the determined path.

[0011] Correspondingly, according to the first aspect of the present disclosure, a method for a user device in a non-terrestrial network is provided, wherein the non-terrestrial network also includes a network device, a satellite and a plurality of smart metasurfaces capable of communicating with the user device, the method comprising: receiving system-related information of the non-terrestrial network from the network device, the system-related information including at least ephemeris information of the satellite, and an identifier and position of one or more smart metasurfaces associated with the satellite among the plurality of smart metasurfaces; determining a path for the user device to communicate with the network device based at least on the received system-related information, the determined path passing through one of the one or more smart metasurfaces; and communicating with the network device via the determined path.

[0012] According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, an electronic device for a network device in a non-terrestrial network is provided, wherein the non-terrestrial network further includes a user device, a satellite and a plurality of smart metasurfaces capable of communicating with the network device, the electronic device including a processing circuit, the processing circuit being configured to enable the network device to perform the following operations: obtaining system-related information of the non-terrestrial network, the system-related information including at least ephemeris information of the satellite, and an identifier and position of one or more smart metasurfaces associated with the satellite among the plurality of smart metasurfaces, wherein the one or more smart metasurfaces are determined by the network device based at least on the position of the satellite and the positions of the plurality of smart metasurfaces; communicating with the user device via a determined path, wherein the path is determined based at least on the system-related information, and the determined path passes through one of the one or more smart metasurfaces.

[0013] Correspondingly, according to the second aspect of the present disclosure, a method for a network device in a non-terrestrial network is also provided, wherein the non-terrestrial network also includes a user device, a satellite and a plurality of smart metasurfaces capable of communicating with the network device, the method including: obtaining system-related information of the non-terrestrial network, the system-related information including at least ephemeris information of the satellite, and an identifier and position of one or more smart metasurfaces associated with the satellite among the plurality of smart metasurfaces, wherein the one or more smart metasurfaces are determined by the network device based at least on the position of the satellite and the positions of the plurality of smart metasurfaces; communicating with the user device via a determined path, wherein the path is determined based at least on the system-related information, and the determined path passes through one of the one or more smart metasurfaces.

[0014] According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium having one or more instructions stored thereon is provided, which, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, causes the electronic device to perform methods according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0015] According to a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, a computer program product is provided, comprising program instructions, which, when executed by one or more processors of a computer, cause the computer to perform the methods according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0016] The above summary is provided to summarize some exemplary embodiments in order to provide a basic understanding of various aspects of the subject matter described herein. Therefore, the above features are merely examples and should not be construed as narrowing the scope or spirit of the subject matter described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparent from the detailed description described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] A better understanding of the present disclosure may be obtained when the following detailed description of the embodiments is considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The same or similar reference numerals are used in the various drawings to represent the same or similar components. The accompanying drawings, together with the following detailed description, are incorporated into and form a part of this specification and are used to illustrate the embodiments of the present disclosure and to explain the principles and advantages of the present disclosure. In particular:

[0018] Figure 1 shows the application scenario of smart metasurface.

[0019] FIG2 shows an example scenario diagram of a non-terrestrial network using a smart metasurface according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0020] FIG3 illustrates an exemplary electronic device for a user device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0021] FIG4 illustrates an exemplary electronic device for a network device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0022] FIG5 shows an information interaction diagram for path selection in a non-terrestrial network using a smart metasurface according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0023] FIG6 shows a schematic diagram of a first embodiment of path selection in a non-terrestrial network using a smart metasurface according to the present disclosure.

[0024] 7 shows an example diagram of a system information block in a first implementation for path selection in a non-terrestrial network using a smart metasurface according to the present disclosure.

[0025] FIG8 shows an information interaction diagram of a first embodiment for path selection in a non-terrestrial network using a smart metasurface according to the present disclosure.

[0026] FIG9 shows a schematic diagram of a second embodiment of path selection in a non-terrestrial network using a smart metasurface according to the present disclosure.

[0027] 10 and 11 illustrate information interaction diagrams for a second embodiment of path selection in a non-terrestrial network using a smart metasurface according to the present disclosure.

[0028] FIG12 shows a schematic diagram of a third embodiment of path selection in a non-terrestrial network using a smart metasurface according to the present disclosure.

[0029] FIG13 shows a flowchart of an example method for a user equipment in a non-terrestrial network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0030] FIG14 illustrates a flow chart of an example method for a network device in a non-terrestrial network according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0031] 15 is a block diagram of an example structure of a personal computer as an information processing device that can be employed in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0032] FIG16 is a block diagram showing a first example of a schematic configuration of a base station to which the technology of the present disclosure can be applied;

[0033] FIG17 is a block diagram showing a second example of a schematic configuration of a base station to which the technology of the present disclosure can be applied;

[0034] FIG. 18 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a smartphone to which the technology of the present disclosure can be applied.

[0035] FIG. 19 is a block diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a car navigation device to which the technology of the present disclosure can be applied.

[0036] While the embodiments described in this disclosure may be susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. However, it should be understood that the drawings and detailed description thereof are not intended to limit the embodiments to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intent is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the claims. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0037] The following describes representative applications of various aspects of the apparatus and method of the present disclosure. The description of these examples is only to add context and help understand the described embodiments. Therefore, it is clear to those skilled in the art that the embodiments described below can be implemented without some or all of the specific details. In other cases, well-known process steps are not described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the described embodiments. Other applications are also possible, and the solutions of the present disclosure are not limited to these examples.

[0038] Typically, a wireless communication system includes at least a network device and a user device. The network device can provide communication services for one or more user devices.

[0039] In this disclosure, the term "network device" (or "base station") has the full breadth of its usual meaning and includes at least a wireless communication station that is part of a wireless communication system or radio system to facilitate communication. As an example, the network device can be, for example, an eNB of the 4G communication standard, a gNB of the 5G communication standard, a remote radio head, a wireless access point, a drone control tower, or a communication device that performs similar functions. In this disclosure, "network device" and "base station" can be used interchangeably, or "network device" can be implemented as part of a "base station". The following application examples will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings using the network device as an example.

[0040] In the present disclosure, the term "user equipment (UE)" or "terminal device" has the full breadth of its usual meaning and includes at least a terminal device that is part of a wireless communication system or radio system to facilitate communication. As an example, a user device may be a terminal device or an element thereof such as a mobile phone, a laptop, a tablet computer, an in-vehicle communication device, a wearable device, a sensor, etc. In the present disclosure, "user equipment" (hereinafter referred to as "UE") and "terminal device" may be used interchangeably, or a "user equipment" may be implemented as a part of a "terminal device".

[0041] In this disclosure, the term "network device side" / "base station side" has the full breadth of its usual meaning, and generally refers to the side that transmits data in a downlink of a communication system, or the side that receives data in an uplink of a communication system. Similarly, the term "user equipment side" / "terminal equipment side" has the full breadth of its usual meaning, and can accordingly refer to the side that receives data in a downlink of a communication system, or the side that transmits data in an uplink of a communication system.

[0042] It should be noted that although the following description of the embodiments of the present disclosure is primarily based on a communication system including a network device and a user device, the description can be extended to the case of a communication system including any other type of network device side and user device side. For example, the operation on the network device side can correspond to the operation of a base station, and the operation on the user device side can correspond to the operation of a terminal device.

[0043] Figure 1 shows an application scenario diagram of a smart metasurface. As mentioned above, a smart metasurface can be composed of a large number of micro-reflective elements, each of which can independently adjust the amplitude and / or phase changes of the signal, thereby precisely controlling the formation of the reflected beam. Generally speaking, the smart metasurface can be a two-dimensional plane, thereby forming a three-dimensional reflected beam. It should be understood that examples of smart metasurfaces include large intelligent surface antennas (LISA), reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS), or other smart surfaces with similar structures and functions.

[0044] The application scenarios of smart metasurfaces can be divided into typical and atypical scenarios. As shown in Figure 1(a), in a typical application scenario, a network device (such as a gNB) and a user equipment (UE) have a line-of-sight (LOS) link connection, and the two can also be connected via a reflective link on a smart metasurface (such as LISA). As shown in Figure 1(b), in an atypical application scenario, the network device and the UE do not have a LOS link connection due to occlusion and other reasons, and the two need to be connected via a reflective link on the smart metasurface.

[0045] Smart metasurfaces can include two types: passive and active. The reflective units of a passive smart metasurface have no amplifying effect on the incident signal, while the individual reflective units of an active smart metasurface have an amplifying effect on the incident signal. Studies have shown that in typical application scenarios, since the received signal strength of the LOS link connection is much higher than the received signal strength of the reflective link, the use of a passive smart metasurface has limited effect on improving the overall channel capacity. However, in atypical application scenarios, since the LOS link is blocked, the reflective link connection becomes the main connection, so the use of a passive smart metasurface can bring about a 65% channel capacity gain, which is a very significant effect. When using an active smart metasurface, the channel capacity gain for typical application scenarios can reach 129%, and the channel capacity gain for atypical application scenarios can even reach 1325%.

[0046] Since non-terrestrial network communications (e.g., satellite communications) typically use high-frequency bands (e.g., millimeter-wave bands), obstruction by large obstacles such as tall buildings and mountains can affect the communication quality of non-terrestrial networks. Deploying smart metasurfaces to provide reflective links can expand the coverage and service areas of non-terrestrial networks.

[0047] Figure 2 shows an example scenario diagram of a non-terrestrial network using a smart metasurface according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. It should be understood that Figure 2 only illustrates an example of a non-terrestrial communication system, and its specific implementation may have a wider variety of types and possible arrangements. For example, an actual non-terrestrial communication system may have more or fewer types of devices or a greater or lesser number of devices. The features of the present disclosure can be implemented in any of a variety of systems as needed.

[0048] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a non-terrestrial network may include network equipment (such as gNB), user equipment (UE), satellites (such as high orbit satellites (GEO), medium orbit satellites (MEO), or low orbit satellites (LEO)), and smart metasurfaces (such as LISA, RIS). These devices can be configured to communicate through a wireless transmission medium. Generally speaking, non-terrestrial networks can be divided into non-terrestrial networks using transparent satellites and non-terrestrial networks using non-transparent satellites. As shown in Figure 2(a), in a non-terrestrial network using a transparent satellite, the network equipment is located on the ground, and the satellite can forward signals from the network equipment to the user equipment or forward signals from the user equipment to the network equipment; as shown in Figure 2(b), in a non-terrestrial network using a non-transparent satellite, the network equipment is located on the satellite and can communicate with the user equipment from the satellite.

[0049] On the one hand, satellite communications cannot guarantee full coverage of communication services for user devices on the ground. Satellite communications often use high-frequency band communications such as millimeter wave band communications. Obstacles such as tall buildings and mountains block some user devices on the ground, destroying the visual link between these user devices and the satellite, making their connection quality unable to meet the requirements of normal communication (for example, similar to the atypical scenario shown in Figure (1)b). In this regard, multiple smart reflective surfaces can be deployed to enable the use of reflective links to increase the communication area covered by non-ground networks. On the other hand, when low-orbit satellites (LEO) or medium-orbit satellites (GEO) are used in non-ground networks, these satellites move rapidly relative to the ground, so that their projections on the ground will also move rapidly (the speed can be close to 10 kilometers per second). In this way, when the diameter of a satellite's ground projection is, for example, around 100 kilometers, the satellite's coverage time for user devices is only a few seconds. In this regard, using smart metasurfaces to increase reflective links can extend the satellite service time when the satellite is far away from the user devices it serves. In summary, regardless of the type of non-terrestrial network, smart metasurfaces need to be deployed between satellites and user devices to increase service coverage and extend service time.

[0050] Unlike traditional terrestrial cellular networks, in non-terrestrial networks, satellites are far from the ground, typically ranging from hundreds to tens of thousands of kilometers. In this case, multiple smart metasurfaces can be deployed at locations far from the user device, such as the tops of many high mountains, high-altitude platforms, aircraft, or even low-orbit satellites. The distance between the smart metasurface and the user device can be several kilometers, tens of kilometers, or even hundreds of kilometers. For a user device, there may be multiple smart metasurfaces covering it, and the distance between different smart metasurfaces can reach tens or even hundreds of kilometers. Since the path loss of a link is inversely proportional to the square of the link length, the distance of the reflection link of different smart metasurfaces varies greatly, resulting in a large difference in path loss. In addition, at certain moments, some smart metasurfaces may be deployed in the direction of the satellite gradually moving away, while others may be deployed in the direction of the satellite gradually approaching. Therefore, based on the actual scenarios of non-terrestrial networks, selecting the appropriate smart metasurface as a relay is crucial to achieving better communication quality between the user device and the network equipment (located on the satellite or forwarding signals via the satellite).

[0051] The present invention provides a method for path selection in the non-terrestrial network using a smart metasurface, as shown in Figure 2. Using the selected path, a user device can communicate with a network device located on a satellite via the smart reflective surface (e.g., a non-transparent satellite system), or communicate with a network device located on the ground via the smart reflective surface and then forwarded via the satellite (e.g., a transparent satellite system), thereby improving the reliability and accuracy of data transmission.

[0052] Figure 3 shows an exemplary electronic device 300 for a user equipment in a non-terrestrial network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The electronic device 300 shown in Figure 3 may include various units to implement the various embodiments of the present disclosure. In this example, the electronic device 300 includes a communication unit 302 and a control unit 304. In one embodiment, the electronic device 300 is implemented as the user equipment itself or a part thereof, or is implemented as a device for controlling the user equipment or otherwise related to the user equipment or a part of the device. The various operations described below in conjunction with the user equipment may be implemented by units 302, 304 or other possible units of the electronic device 300. It should be understood that units 302 and 304 may be included in or integrated into the processing circuit of the user equipment.

[0053] In an embodiment, the non-terrestrial network includes a user device and a network device that can communicate with the user device, a satellite, and a plurality of smart metasurfaces. The communication unit 302 may be configured to receive system relevant information (system relevant information) of the non-terrestrial network from the network device. The system relevant information may include at least the ephemeris information of the satellite, and the identifier and position of one or more smart metasurfaces associated with the satellite in the plurality of smart metasurfaces. Optionally, in the case where the smart metasurface is an active smart metasurface, the system relevant information may also include the gain of one or more smart metasurfaces associated with the satellite. Thereafter, the control unit 304 may be configured to determine the path for the user device to communicate with the network device based at least on the received system relevant information. The determined path passes through one of the one or more smart metasurfaces mentioned above. Via the determined path, the communication unit 302 may be configured to communicate with the network device.

[0054] Figure 4 shows an exemplary electronic device 400 for a network device in a non-terrestrial network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The electronic device 400 shown in Figure 4 may include various units to implement the various embodiments of the present disclosure. In this example, the electronic device 400 includes an acquisition unit 402, a communication unit 404, and optionally a control unit 406. In one embodiment, the electronic device 400 is implemented as the network device itself or a part thereof, or as a device related to the network device or a part of the device. The various operations described below in conjunction with the network device can be implemented by units 402, 404, 406 of the electronic device 400 or other possible units. It should be understood that units 402, 404 and 406 can be included in or integrated into the processing circuit of the network device.

[0055] In an embodiment, the non-terrestrial network includes a network device and a user device that can communicate with the network device, a satellite, and a plurality of smart metasurfaces. The acquisition unit 402 may be configured to acquire system-related information of the non-terrestrial network. The system-related information may include at least the ephemeris information of the satellite, and the identifier and position of one or more smart metasurfaces associated with the satellite in the plurality of smart metasurfaces. The one or more smart metasurfaces may be determined by the network device (e.g., by the control unit 406) based at least on the position of the satellite and the position of the plurality of smart metasurfaces. Optionally, in the case where the smart metasurface is an active smart metasurface, the system-related information may also include the gain of one or more smart metasurfaces associated with the satellite. Thereafter, the communication unit 404 may be configured to communicate with the user device via a determined path. The path is determined based at least on the system-related information, and the determined path is via one of the one or more smart metasurfaces. It should be understood that the above-mentioned path may be determined by the user device through its control unit 304, or by the network device through its control unit 406.

[0056] In some embodiments, electronic devices 300 and 400 may be implemented at the chip level, or may be implemented at the device level by including other external components (eg, radio links, antennas, etc.). For example, each electronic device may function as a communication device as a whole.

[0057] It should be noted that the above-mentioned units are only logical modules divided according to the specific functions implemented by them, rather than being used to limit the specific implementation mode. For example, they can be implemented in software, hardware or a combination of software and hardware. In actual implementation, the above-mentioned units can be implemented as independent physical entities, or can also be implemented by a single entity (for example, a processor (CPU or DSP, etc.), an integrated circuit, etc.). Among them, the processing circuit can refer to various implementations of a digital circuit system, an analog circuit system or a mixed signal (a combination of analog and digital) circuit system that performs functions in a computing system. The processing circuit may include, for example, circuits such as an integrated circuit (IC), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), part or circuit of a separate processor core, an entire processor core, a separate processor, a programmable hardware device such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA), and / or a system including multiple processors.

[0058] The schematic configuration of the user equipment and network equipment according to the embodiment of the present disclosure has been described above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The information interaction diagram for path selection in a non-terrestrial network using a smart metasurface according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to FIG5. The non-terrestrial network includes a user device, a network device, a satellite, and a plurality of smart metasurfaces. The user device can communicate with a network device located on a satellite via a smart metasurface (for example, a non-transparent satellite system), or can communicate with a network device located on the ground via a smart metasurface and then forwarded via a satellite (for example, a transparent satellite system).

[0059] It should be understood that although the gain improvement provided by the smart metasurface is limited when there is a line-of-sight link connection between the user device and the satellite in the non-terrestrial network, the present disclosure is intended to address problems such as poor service quality or short service time provided to users due to high building obstruction between the satellite and the user device or excessive satellite movement. Therefore, the embodiments of the present disclosure focus on discussing the use of smart metasurfaces to assist in providing improved non-terrestrial network communication service quality with the assistance of reflective links. In other words, in practical applications, if a line-of-sight link connection with good communication quality is detected between the user device and the satellite in the non-terrestrial network, the link can be used directly for communication; if it is detected that there is no line-of-sight link connection between the user device and the satellite in the non-terrestrial network or the line-of-sight link connection provides poor service quality, the method of providing a reflective link using a smart metasurface proposed in the present disclosure can be combined to select a path via an appropriate smart metasurface for communication. It should also be understood that whether it is a transparent satellite system or a non-transparent satellite system, it is necessary to find an appropriate smart metasurface as a relay between the satellite and the user device to improve the quality of non-terrestrial network communication services.

[0060] As shown in FIG5 , at 501 , the network device obtains system-related information of the non-terrestrial network. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the system-related information may include at least the ephemeris information of the satellite, and the identifier and position of one or more smart metasurfaces associated with the satellite among multiple smart metasurfaces. The ephemeris information of the satellite generally includes, for example, the position of the satellite, the number of the satellite, and the movement trajectory information of the satellite (including the movement speed and movement direction of the satellite). It should be understood that one or more smart metasurfaces associated with the satellite (as shown in FIG5 , numbered as smart metasurface 1, ... smart metasurface N, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 1) can be selected and determined by the network device based on information such as the position of the satellite (for example, the position can be derived from the ephemeris information of the satellite) and the positions of multiple smart metasurfaces. For example, a smart metasurface that is very far away from the satellite and in a direction where the satellite is gradually moving away is unlikely to provide enhanced gain for communication with the non-terrestrial network. Therefore, the network device is likely not to select the smart metasurface as a candidate relay, and thus does not send its information (included in the system-related information) to the user equipment. In addition, the one or more smart metasurfaces associated with the satellite can change over time. It should also be understood that when the smart metasurface is an active smart metasurface, the system-related information may also include the gain of one or more of the above-mentioned smart metasurfaces. When the smart metasurface is in a stationary installation, the smart metasurface can report its geographical location and gain and other information to the network device in advance. When the smart metasurface is installed on a mobile object (e.g., an airplane, a high-altitude platform, a LEO / MEO satellite), the smart metasurface can periodically or non-periodically report its geographical location, gain, and corresponding timestamp and other information to the network device. Optionally, a timer can also be used to control the time when the smart metasurface reports the above-mentioned self-information, that is, when the timer expires, the smart metasurface can report its own information to the network device. Accordingly, the network device can periodically or non-periodically update the system-related information of the non-terrestrial network. For example, the network device can set the update period of the system-related information based on the moving speed of the satellite, wherein the update period set when the satellite moving speed is large is short, and the update period set when the satellite moving speed is small is long.

[0061] At 502, the network device may send system-related information of the non-terrestrial network to the user equipment. At 503, the network device may send a reference signal to the user equipment. Specifically, the network device may send the reference signal to the user equipment through each of the multiple paths (each path passing through one smart metasurface) of some or all of the one or more smart metasurfaces (e.g., smart metasurface 1-smart metasurface N), respectively. Correspondingly, at 504, the user equipment may record the received signal quality of the reference signal corresponding to each path in the multiple paths.

[0062] It should be understood that according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the network device side may use an antenna array including multiple antenna elements to form a directional beam, thereby improving transmission efficiency and system throughput. The user equipment side may use a single antenna or an antenna array including multiple antenna elements. It should also be understood that according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, examples of reference signals include synchronization signal blocks (SSBs), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RSs), and other reference signals sent by network devices known to those skilled in the art. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, received signal quality includes, but is not limited to, reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR), etc.

[0063] Next, at 505, the user equipment may determine a path for communication between the user equipment and the network device based at least on the received system-related information, wherein the determined path passes through one of the one or more smart metasurfaces. More specifically, the user equipment may select a path from multiple paths as the determined path based at least on the system-related information and the received signal quality corresponding to each of the multiple paths recorded at 504. It should be understood that the determined path may be the same as or different from the path with the highest received signal quality for the user equipment to receive the reference signal at 503. In other words, the user equipment does not necessarily directly select the best path in the current measurement result (i.e., the path with the highest received signal quality), but may combine the system-related information to comprehensively judge and select a path that performs better in subsequent non-terrestrial communications. As an example, when the difference between the maximum received signal quality and the received signal quality corresponding to one of the multiple paths is less than a first threshold, and the time the smart metasurface in the path is covered by the satellite is greater than the time the smart metasurface in the path with the highest received signal quality is covered by the satellite and is greater than a second threshold, then the user equipment may select the path as the determined path. It should be understood that the time when the smart metasurface is covered by the satellite can be derived from system-related information. It should be recognized that the first threshold and the second threshold can be pre-set values ​​or values ​​calculated based on prior measurement information.

[0064] At 506, the user device may communicate with the network device via the determined path. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that, since both the satellite and the smart metasurface may move, and the user device may also move. Therefore, the determined smart metasurface path may not maintain better communication quality after a period of time. To this end, the network device may set a specific time window and inform the user device of the time window, or the user device may determine the time window based on information provided by the network device. After the time window expires, the steps in Figure 5 can be repeated to reacquire system-related information and perform path selection. It should be understood that the value of the time window can be a fixed value (e.g., periodically updating the path selection) or a variable value (e.g., non-periodically updating the path selection).

[0065] It should be noted that the information interaction diagram shown in Figure 5 is merely an example and is not intended to be limiting. The diagram may include more or fewer steps, and the steps may be performed in a different order than that depicted in the diagram.

[0066] In one example, when multiple smart metasurfaces are stationarily deployed and the satellite is a synchronous satellite, the system-related information of the non-terrestrial network can be directly pre-stored in the user equipment, so the step of sending the system-related information by the network device to the user equipment at 502 can be omitted. In another example, the order of 502 and 503 can be interchanged. For example, the network device can send system-related information after sending multiple reference signals to the user equipment. In another example, between 505 and 506, the user equipment can report the determined path to the network device, for example, reporting the identifier of the smart metasurface in the determined path to the network device. Among them, the identifier of the smart metasurface can be sent to the user equipment by the smart metasurface when forwarding the reference signal (by means of information scrambling, etc.); or the user equipment can derive the identifier of the smart metasurface through which the reference signal passes based on the angle of arrival of the received reference signal antenna, combined with its own position and the position of the satellite in the system-related information (the position of the satellite can be included in the satellite's ephemeris information) and the identifier and position of one or more smart metasurfaces.

[0067] It should be appreciated that the steps of sending a reference signal and recording the received signal quality of the reference signal may also be omitted in FIG5 . Based on system-related information, the user equipment (or network device) can calculate and derive a preferred communication path based on the location of the satellite and one or more smart metasurfaces (and optionally, the user equipment) and the movement information of the satellite. This process can be applied to scenarios such as emergency recovery after communication interruption.

[0068] It should be understood that the step of determining the path in Figure 5 can also be performed by the network device. Accordingly, the step of the network device sending system-related information to the user equipment at 502 can be omitted, and a step of the user equipment reporting the received signal quality of the reference signal corresponding to each path in multiple paths to the network device can be added between 504 and 505, so that the network device can select a path from the multiple paths as the determined path based on the system-related information and the reported received signal quality.

[0069] According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, the method for path selection in a non-terrestrial network using a smart metasurface proposed herein can be employed in a variety of scenarios. The following will detail and describe the smart metasurface path selection method in three scenarios through three embodiments (including a first embodiment, a second embodiment, and a third embodiment).

[0070] First embodiment: Intelligent metasurface path selection before user equipment joins the network

[0071] In the first embodiment, the user equipment has not yet accessed the non-terrestrial cellular network system and has not yet applied for uplink and downlink time and frequency resources. Therefore, the network equipment and the user equipment cannot exchange information at the scheduled time and frequency. The network equipment and the user equipment may not even know each other's geographic location.

[0072] FIG6 shows a schematic diagram of the first embodiment of the present disclosure. For ease of illustration, FIG6 shows only two examples of smart metasurfaces (e.g., LISA-1 and LISA-2). Actual non-terrestrial networks may include a greater or lesser number of smart metasurfaces. It should be understood that although FIG6 shows only an example of a non-transparent satellite system, the path selection method in the first embodiment is also applicable to transparent satellite systems that forward signals to network devices (e.g., gNBs) via satellite.

[0073] As shown in Figure 6, the network device can continuously send synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) at certain time intervals, that is, perform SSB beam scanning, in which the network device sends an SSB signal in each of multiple beam directions. The user equipment selects the SSB signal in the optimal SSB direction (for example, the direction corresponding to the SSB signal with the best received signal quality) to achieve downlink synchronization. Generally speaking, the reception quality of the reference signal is related to the path loss of the signal, and the path loss PL is related to the distance between the two reflection links through the smart reflector (for example, L a With L b ). Therefore, the longer the link distance, the greater the spatial loss (in addition, if the smart metasurface is an active smart metasurface, the gain also needs to be considered).

[0074] The SSB signal includes the primary synchronization signal (PSS) and the secondary synchronization signal (SSS). Therefore, by receiving the SSB signal, the user equipment can obtain the system information of the cell number (PCI), the frame start bit, and the physical broadcast channel (PBCH), and then obtain the system information block SIB1 message of the system. The SIB1 message includes the time-frequency scheduled transmission message of the subsequent system information block SIBx (for example, x=2...21). After the user equipment decodes SIB1, it can obtain the corresponding SIBx information on the scheduled time-frequency resources. The network equipment can include the system-related information of the non-terrestrial network in the system information block SIBx and transmit it to the user equipment for subsequent path selection of the user equipment.

[0075] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the existing system information block SIBx (e.g., x=2…21) can be extended to include system-related information of non-terrestrial networks. As previously described, the system-related information may include the ephemeris information of the satellite, and the identifier and position (and optionally, the gain of one or more smart metasurfaces) of one or more smart metasurfaces associated with the satellite (the one or more smart metasurfaces can be determined by the network device based at least on the position of the satellite and multiple smart metasurfaces in the non-terrestrial network). Figure 7 shows a code segment of an existing SIB9 message, which includes Global Positioning System (GPS) time and International Coordinated Time (UTC). According to the present disclosure, the existing SIB9 message can be extended to carry system-related information such as the ephemeris information of the satellite and the identifier and position of the smart metasurface. Additionally or alternatively, a new system information block SIBx (e.g., x=22…) can be defined to carry system-related information of non-terrestrial networks.

[0076] After receiving the system information block SIBx including system-related information, the user equipment can determine which smart metasurface path should be selected for random access based on the recorded SSB reception signal quality and system-related information. Generally speaking, the SSB signal in each direction corresponds to a separate access time-frequency resource. Therefore, the user equipment can send a random access preamble on the access time-frequency resource via the determined path according to the access time-frequency resource of the SSB signal in the corresponding direction of the determined path, thereby accessing the non-terrestrial network and communicating with the network device.

[0077] FIG8 shows an information interaction diagram of a first embodiment of path selection in a non-terrestrial network using a smart metasurface according to the present disclosure. As shown in FIG8 , at 801, the network device obtains system-related information of the non-terrestrial network, which may include ephemeris information of a satellite, and identifiers and locations of one or more smart metasurfaces associated with the satellite (and optionally, gains of one or more smart metasurfaces). As shown in FIG8 , one or more smart metasurfaces are numbered as smart metasurface 1, ... smart metasurface N, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 1. As an example, N corresponding to FIG6 is equal to 2. At 802, the network device broadcasts SSB signals in multiple directions to the user equipment, i.e., performs SSB beam scanning. It should be understood that the direction of the SSB is predetermined in advance, and there may not necessarily be a smart metasurface in the direction of each SSB, and the SSB beam scanning process may not necessarily traverse all smart metasurfaces in one or more smart metasurfaces. Correspondingly, the user equipment can receive the SSB signal via some or all of the smart metasurfaces, and record the received signal quality of the SSB signal at 803, and then receive the SIB1 signal in the direction of the SSB signal with the strongest received signal quality. At 804, the user equipment may decode the SIB1 signal to obtain the time-frequency resource scheduling information of its subsequent system information block SIBx message. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, an existing SIBx (e.g., SIB9) message may be extended or a new SIBx message may be defined to carry system-related information. Correspondingly, at 805, the user equipment may receive a system information block message including system-related information from a network device. Furthermore, the user equipment may determine a path for accessing a non-terrestrial network based at least on the system-related information at 806. Specifically, the user equipment may determine, based on the received signal quality of the SSB signal in combination with the system-related information, a path through which smart metasurface to transmit a random access preamble.

[0078] At 807, the user equipment may send a random access preamble to the network device via the determined path on the time-frequency resources corresponding to the SSB signal in the direction of the path, thereby accessing the non-terrestrial network. It should be appreciated that after the user equipment accesses the non-terrestrial network, the user equipment may be instructed to preferentially perform multiple subsequent operations with the beam directed toward the smart metasurface in the determined path, such as, but not limited to, one or more of the following: beam scanning, data reception, beam recovery, etc.

[0079] It should be understood that the details of some operations in FIG8 have been described in detail in FIG5 and will not be repeated here.

[0080] Referring back to Figure 6, for example, assuming there is obstruction between the satellite and the user device, the signal quality of the SSB received by the user device via LISA-1 and LISA-2 is better. Since the path loss (when using a passive intelligent metasurface) is related to the distance between the two reflection links, the loss on the path transmitting the SSB via LISA-1 is smaller. Therefore, the user device can receive the SIB1 signal in the direction of this SSB signal (i.e., the aforementioned optimal SSB direction) and receive subsequent SIBx messages (e.g., extended SIB9 messages) including system-related information based on the time-frequency resource scheduling information in SIB1. Based on the obtained system-related information, the user device can understand that although the received signal quality on the LISA-1 path (i.e., the path via LISA-1) is slightly better than that on the LISA-2 path (i.e., the path via LISA-2), the satellite is moving away from LISA-1 and closer to LISA-2, meaning that the signal transmitted on the LISA-2 path will have a longer satellite coverage time. For example, when the difference in the received signal quality of the above two paths is within a certain range (for example, the absolute value of the difference is less than the first threshold) and the satellite coverage time of the LISA-2 path is longer than that of the LISA-1 path and is greater than a certain threshold (for example, the second threshold), the LISA-2 path with higher comprehensive communication quality can be selected for accessing the non-terrestrial network, thereby improving the access success rate.

[0081] Additionally or alternatively, in addition to the system information block, the system related information may also be included in other signals that those skilled in the art can imagine and transmitted to the user equipment. In addition, the system related information may also be transmitted from the network device to the user equipment via other wireless communication systems.

[0082] Second embodiment: Intelligent metasurface path selection after user equipment joins the network

[0083] In a second embodiment, the user equipment has accessed the non-terrestrial cellular network system and can perform two-way information exchange with the network equipment. In some examples, the user equipment can notify the network equipment of its geographical location.

[0084] FIG9 shows a schematic diagram of a second embodiment of the present disclosure. Similar to FIG6 , FIG9 shows only two examples of smart metasurfaces (e.g., LISA-1 and LISA-2) for ease of illustration. Actual non-terrestrial networks may include a greater or lesser number of smart metasurfaces. It should be understood that although FIG9 shows only an example of a non-transparent satellite system, the path selection method in the second embodiment is also applicable to transparent satellite systems that forward signals to network devices (e.g., gNBs) via satellite.

[0085] As shown in Figure 9, the network device can perform beam scanning (e.g., CSI-RS beam scanning) in the direction of each smart metasurface, that is, send multiple CSI-RS beams. Each smart metasurface can reflect multiple beams toward the user equipment to measure the quality of the received signal on the path through the smart metasurface. It should be understood that the network device can pre-allocate time-frequency resources for beam measurement for each smart metasurface (e.g., through beam scanning predetermined information) and notify the user equipment. In this way, the user equipment can measure the received beam accordingly according to the predetermined time-frequency resources and record the measurement results of the received signal quality.

[0086] Specifically, as shown in Figure 9(a), the network device has obtained the location information of one or more smart metasurfaces (e.g., LISA-1 and LISA-2) associated with the satellite, and subdivides the direction of LISA-1 into multiple small directions at a predetermined first time and sends CSI-RS beams in sequence. LISA-1 reflects these beams toward the user equipment in sequence so that the user equipment receives the beams in each small direction and measures the quality of its received signal. Similarly, as shown in Figure 9(b), the network device subdivides the direction of LISA-2 into multiple small directions at a predetermined second time and sends CSI-RS beams in sequence. LISA-2 reflects these beams toward the user equipment in sequence so that the user equipment receives the beams in each small direction and measures the quality of its received signal. It should be understood that in this embodiment, since the network device knows the location of each smart metasurface, the measured path can traverse all smart metasurfaces in the one or more smart metasurfaces associated with the satellite. It should also be understood that for each smart metasurface, since the network device can send reference signals to the user device via the smart metasurface in multiple small directions, it can be regarded as the network device can send reference signals to the user device through multiple paths via the smart metasurface.

[0087] Generally speaking, the reception quality of the reference signal is related to the path loss of the signal. The path loss PL is related to the distance between the two reflection links through the smart reflector (for example, L a With L b ). Therefore, the longer the link distance, the greater the spatial loss (in addition, if the smart metasurface is an active smart metasurface, the gain also needs to be considered).

[0088] According to the second embodiment of the present disclosure, after the user equipment performs reference signal measurement, the final communication path can be determined in two ways. One way is for the user equipment to determine the path, and the other way is for the network equipment to determine the path. Figures 10 and 11 respectively illustrate the information interaction diagrams for these two methods.

[0089] Figure 10 shows an information interaction diagram for determining a path by a user device. As shown in Figure 10, at 1001, the network device obtains system-related information of a non-terrestrial network, which may include ephemeris information of a satellite, and an identifier and position (and optionally, the gain of one or more smart metasurfaces) of one or more smart metasurfaces associated with the satellite (the one or more smart metasurfaces may be determined by the network device based at least on the positions of multiple smart metasurfaces in the satellite and the non-terrestrial network (and optionally, the position of the user device)). As shown in Figure 10, one or more smart metasurfaces are numbered as smart metasurface 1, ... smart metasurface N, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 1. As an example, N corresponding to Figure 9 is equal to 2. Before the network device performs beam scanning, the network device may send system-related information to the user device at 1002. As an example, the system-related information may be carried and transmitted in beam scanning reservation information, which also specifies the time-frequency resources for subsequently sending reference signals (e.g., CSI-RS). Correspondingly, at 1003, the network device performs CSI-RS beam scanning on the corresponding time-frequency resources to the user equipment, wherein the network device can send reference signals in multiple subdivided directions in the direction of each smart metasurface. The user equipment can record the received signal quality of the reference signal of each path in each path at 1004, and can determine the path for communication based on the system-related information and the received signal quality of the recorded CSI-RS at 1005. At 1006, the user equipment can communicate with the network device via the determined path (using the beam direction corresponding to the path). Additionally, the user equipment can also report the determined path to the network device (for example, reporting to the network device the identifier of the smart metasurface through which the path passes and the corresponding CSI-RS beam number) so that the network device communicates with the user equipment via the determined path.

[0090] Additionally or alternatively, in addition to the beam scanning predetermined information, the system-related information may also be included in other signals that can be conceived by those skilled in the art and transmitted to the user equipment. In addition, the system-related information may also be transmitted from the network device to the user equipment via other wireless communication systems.

[0091] FIG11 shows an information interaction diagram for determining a path by a network device. As shown in FIG11 , as shown in FIG11 , at 1101, the network device obtains system-related information of a non-terrestrial network, which may include ephemeris information of a satellite, and an identifier and position (and optionally, the gain of one or more smart metasurfaces) of one or more smart metasurfaces associated with the satellite (the one or more smart metasurfaces may be determined by the network device based at least on the positions of multiple smart metasurfaces in the satellite and the non-terrestrial network (and optionally, the position of the user device)). As shown in FIG11 , one or more smart metasurfaces are numbered as smart metasurface 1, ... smart metasurface N, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 1. As an example, N corresponding to FIG9 is equal to 2. Although the network device sends beam scanning reservation information to the user device at 1102, the information only specifies the time-frequency resources for the subsequent transmission of reference signals (e.g., CSI-RS) without including system-related information. At 1103, the network device may perform CSI-RS beam scanning on the corresponding time-frequency resources to the user device, where the network device may send reference signals of multiple subdivided directions in the direction of each smart metasurface. Accordingly, the user equipment may record the received signal quality of the reference signal along each of the paths at 1104. At 1105, the user equipment reports the recorded measurement results (i.e., the received signal quality of the reference signal corresponding to each path) to the network device, so that the network device determines the path for communication based on the system-related information and the received reported CSI-RS received signal quality at 1106. At 1007, the network device may communicate with the user equipment via the determined path (using the beam direction corresponding to the path).

[0092] It should be understood that the details of some operations in FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 have been described in detail in FIG. 5 and will not be repeated here.

[0093] Referring back to Figure 9 , for example, assuming there is an obstruction between the satellite and the user device, the user device receives multiple CSI-RS signals via LISA-1 and LISA-2, respectively. Since the path loss (when using a passive smart metasurface) is related to the distance between the two reflection links, the loss on the path where the CSI-RS is transmitted via LISA-2 is smaller. More specifically, the path loss in the direction of the fourth CSI-RS beam sent toward LISA-2 (as shown by the horizontal striped beam in Figure 9(b)) is the smallest, i.e., the received signal quality measurement result obtained through this path is the largest. Combined with system-related information, it can be seen that the received signal quality on the LISA-2 path (i.e., the path via LISA-2) is better than the LISA-1 path (i.e., the path via LISA-1), and the satellite is moving away from LISA-1 and closer to LISA-2, i.e., the signal transmitted on the LISA-2 path will have a longer satellite coverage time. Therefore, the path selected by the user device or network device is reflected via LISA-2. More specifically, as shown in Figure 9(b), there are multiple paths via LISA-2. As an example, although the received signal quality corresponding to the path in the direction of the fourth CSI-RS beam sent in the direction of LISA-2 is the highest, the difference in received signal quality between it and the path in the direction of the fifth CSI-RS beam (as shown by the vertical stripe beam in Figure 9(b)) is less than a certain threshold (e.g., a first threshold), and the latter path is covered by the satellite for a longer time and is greater than a certain threshold (e.g., a second threshold). Therefore, the latter path (the path via LISA-2 corresponding to the direction of the vertical stripe beam in Figure 9(b)) with higher subsequent comprehensive communication quality can be selected as the determined path for communication.

[0094] Third embodiment: Intelligent metasurface path selection for user equipment switching cells

[0095] In the third embodiment, the user equipment has accessed a non-terrestrial cellular network system, and due to reasons such as the movement of the user equipment or the satellite, the user equipment needs to switch to another cell (for example, switching from communicating with the original gNB to communicating with the target gNB).

[0096] FIG12 shows a schematic diagram of a second embodiment of the present disclosure. Similar to FIG6 and FIG9 , FIG12 illustrates only two examples of smart metasurfaces (e.g., LISA-1 and LISA-2) for ease of illustration. Actual non-terrestrial networks may include a greater or lesser number of smart metasurfaces. It should be understood that while FIG12 illustrates only an example of a non-transparent satellite system, the path selection method of the third embodiment is equally applicable to transparent satellite systems that forward signals to network devices via satellite.

[0097] Generally speaking, if a user equipment (UE) discovers that communication quality is poor even across a handover path, it can measure the received signal quality of a neighboring cell and, when appropriate conditions are triggered, switch to a neighboring cell that offers better communication quality. As shown in Figure 12, in this example, the UE can communicate with the original gNB in ​​the original cell via a path via LISA-2 (which was the previously preferred path). Because LISA-1 is far from the original gNB, the original gNB does not consider LISA-1 as a candidate smart metasurface, and therefore, information about LISA-1 may not be provided in the system-related information. Similarly, because LISA-2 is far from the target gNB, the target gNB may not consider LISA-2 as a candidate smart metasurface for UEs in its cell, and therefore, information about LISA-2 may not be provided in the system-related information. According to this embodiment, after the UE switches to the cell where the target gNB resides, both LISA-1 and LISA-2 can be used as candidate smart metasurfaces to provide a reflection link, thereby improving communication quality in non-terrestrial networks.

[0098] As shown in Figure 12 , after handing over to the target gNB, the user equipment may send information about the smart metasurface (e.g., LISA-2) in the preferred path previously determined in the original cell to the target gNB. This information may include at least the identifier and location of the LISA-2. Based at least on this information, the network device may select a post-handover path for communication or instruct the user equipment to select a post-handover path. A method similar to that described in the second embodiment may be used to select the post-handover path.

[0099] It should be understood that each network device can determine one or more smart metasurfaces (sometimes referred to herein as one or more smart metasurfaces associated with a satellite) based at least on information such as the location of the satellite and multiple smart metasurfaces, and include information about the one or more smart metasurfaces (as a candidate smart metasurface set) in system-related information for path selection in non-terrestrial networks. Due to the different locations and environments of different network devices, the candidate smart metasurface sets they determine are also different. For example, during the handover process of a user equipment, the smart metasurface in the preferred path provided by the original gNB can be included in the candidate smart metasurface set determined by the target gNB, thereby increasing the path selection range in the target cell and helping the target gNB to more quickly and accurately determine the path after the handover.

[0100] It should be recognized that the specific example descriptions in the above embodiments (including the first embodiment, the second embodiment, and the third embodiment) are merely exemplary and are not intended to be limiting. In practice, there may be a greater number of user devices and network devices. For each user device and each network device, the above method provided in the present disclosure can be used to select a non-terrestrial network communication path in various examples. It is understood that when the network device is a gNB and the gNB includes multiple transmit and receive points (TRPs), the above method can be used to select and determine the non-terrestrial network communication path between each user device and each TRP.

[0101] Technical effects of the present disclosure

[0102] According to the method for path selection in a non-terrestrial network (NTN) using smart metasurfaces proposed in this disclosure, a user device or network device can determine a preferred path based at least on NTN system-related information (e.g., including at least satellite ephemeris information and the identifiers and locations of one or more smart metasurfaces associated with the satellite). This preferred path can provide a reflection link for NTN communications between the network device and the user device via an appropriate smart metasurface, thereby improving channel capacity gains in scenarios where the visual link communication quality is poor.

[0103] Before a user device accesses the NTN cellular network, by extending existing or defining new messages (e.g., SIB messages) to transmit NTN system-related information, the user device can determine the preferred path for random access, significantly improving the access success rate. After the user device accesses the NTN cellular network, the network device or the user device determines the preferred path based on at least system-related information (and reference signal measurement results), which can effectively increase channel capacity and improve the overall transmission efficiency of the system. In the scenario where the user device performs a cell handover, the target network device can determine the preferred path after the handover more quickly and accurately based on information such as the intelligent metasurface in the original preferred path provided by the original network device.

[0104] Exemplary Methods

[0105] Figure 13 shows a flowchart of an example method 1300 for a user device (or more specifically, an electronic device 300) in a non-terrestrial network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 13, the method 1300 may include a user device receiving system-related information of a non-terrestrial network from a network device (box S1301). The system-related information may include at least ephemeris information of a satellite, and an identifier and position of one or more smart super surfaces associated with the satellite in a plurality of smart super surfaces. At box S1302, the user device may determine a path for the user device to communicate with the network device based at least on the received system-related information. In this method, the determined path passes through one of the one or more smart super surfaces mentioned above. Thereafter, the user device may communicate with the network device via the determined path (box 1303). The detailed example operation of the method can refer to the above description of the operation of the user device (or more specifically, the electronic device 300), which will not be repeated here.

[0106] Figure 14 shows a flowchart of an example method 1400 for a network device (or more specifically, an electronic device 400) in a non-terrestrial network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 14, the method 1400 may include a network device obtaining system-related information of a non-terrestrial network (box 1401). The system-related information includes at least ephemeris information of a satellite, and an identifier and position of one or more smart super surfaces associated with the satellite in a plurality of smart super surfaces. In this method, the one or more smart super surfaces are determined by the network device based at least on the position of the satellite and the positions of the plurality of smart super surfaces. Thereafter, at box 1402, the network device may communicate with the user device via a determined path. In this method, the above-mentioned path is determined (by the network device or user device) at least based on the system-related information, and the determined path passes through one of the one or more smart super surfaces. The detailed example operation of the method can refer to the above description of the operation of the network device (or more specifically, the electronic device 400), which will not be repeated here.

[0107] The solution of the present disclosure can be implemented in the following exemplary manner.

[0108] Clause 1. An electronic device for a user device in a non-terrestrial network, the non-terrestrial network further comprising a network device capable of communicating with the user device, a satellite, and a plurality of smart metasurfaces, the electronic device comprising processing circuitry configured to cause the user device to perform the following operations:

[0109] receiving, from the network device, system-related information of a non-terrestrial network, the system-related information including at least ephemeris information of the satellite, and identifiers and locations of one or more smart metasurfaces associated with the satellite among the plurality of smart metasurfaces;

[0110] Determining a path for communication between the user equipment and the network device based at least on the received system-related information, wherein the determined path passes through one of the one or more smart metasurfaces; and

[0111] Communicate with the network device via the determined path.

[0112] Clause 2. The electronic device according to clause 1, wherein the determined path is different from a path where the user equipment receives the reference signal with the highest received signal quality.

[0113] Clause 3. The electronic device according to clause 1, wherein the determined path is the same as a path where the received signal quality of the reference signal received by the user equipment is the highest.

[0114] Clause 4. The electronic device according to clause 2 or 3, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to cause the user equipment to perform the following operations:

[0115] receiving a reference signal from the network device via each of a plurality of paths respectively passing through some or all of the one or more smart metasurfaces; and

[0116] Record the received signal quality of the reference signal corresponding to each path in the multiple paths.

[0117] Clause 5. An electronic device according to Clause 4, wherein determining the path for communication between the user device and the network device based at least on the received system-related information includes: selecting a path from the multiple paths as the determined path based at least on the system-related information and the recorded received signal quality corresponding to each of the multiple paths.

[0118] Clause 6. The electronic device according to clause 5, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to cause the user equipment to perform the following operations:

[0119] deriving the time when the one or more smart metasurfaces are covered by satellites based on the system-related information;

[0120] In response to determining that the difference between the maximum received signal quality and the received signal quality corresponding to the first path among the multiple paths is less than a first threshold, and the time during which the smart metasurface in the first path is covered by the satellite is greater than the time during which the smart metasurface in the path with the maximum received signal quality is covered by the satellite and is greater than a second threshold, the first path is selected as the determined path.

[0121] Clause 7. The electronic device of clause 1, wherein the system-related information is included in a system information block (SIB).

[0122] Clause 8. The electronic device of clause 1, wherein determining the path for communication between the user equipment and the network device is performed before the user equipment accesses the non-terrestrial network, and the processing circuit is further configured to cause the user equipment to perform the following operations:

[0123] After the user equipment accesses the non-terrestrial network, it preferentially performs one or more of the following with a beam directed toward the one smart metasurface: beam scanning, data reception, or beam recovery.

[0124] Clause 9. The electronic device of clause 4, wherein:

[0125] The system related information is included in the beam scanning reservation information; and

[0126] The time-frequency resources corresponding to the reference signal are specified by beam scanning predetermined information.

[0127] Clause 10. The electronic device of clause 4, wherein the reference signal comprises a synchronization signal block (SSB) or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

[0128] Clause 11. The electronic device according to clause 1, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to cause the user equipment to perform the following operations:

[0129] Switching from the network device to another network device; and

[0130] Sending information of the smart metasurface in the determined path to the other network device, the information including at least an identifier and a location of the smart metasurface, so that the other network device selects a switched path for communication based at least on the information, or instructs the user equipment to select the switched path.

[0131] Clause 12. The electronic device of clause 1, wherein the smart metasurface comprises a large smart surface antenna (LISA) or a reconfigurable smart surface (RIS).

[0132] Clause 13. An electronic device according to clause 1, wherein the system-related information further includes: a gain of the one or more smart metasurfaces.

[0133] Clause 14. The electronic device of clause 1, wherein:

[0134] The one or more smart metasurfaces are determined by the network device based on at least a position of the satellite and positions of the multiple smart metasurfaces.

[0135] Clause 15. An electronic device for a network device in a non-terrestrial network, the non-terrestrial network further comprising a user device capable of communicating with the network device, a satellite, and a plurality of smart metasurfaces, the electronic device comprising processing circuitry configured to cause the network device to:

[0136] Acquiring system-related information of a non-terrestrial network, the system-related information including at least ephemeris information of the satellite, and identifiers and positions of one or more smart metasurfaces associated with the satellite among the plurality of smart metasurfaces, wherein the one or more smart metasurfaces are determined by the network device based at least on the position of the satellite and the positions of the plurality of smart metasurfaces;

[0137] Communicate with the user equipment via a determined path, wherein the path is determined based on at least the system-related information, and the determined path passes through one of the one or more smart metasurfaces.

[0138] Clause 16. The electronic device of clause 15, wherein the determined path is different from a path where the user equipment receives a reference signal from the network device with the highest received signal quality.

[0139] Clause 17. The electronic device of clause 15, wherein the determined path is the same as a path where the user equipment receives the reference signal from the network device with the highest received signal quality.

[0140] Clause 18. The electronic device according to clause 16 or 17, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to cause the network device to perform the following operations:

[0141] A reference signal is sent to the user equipment by respectively passing through each of the multiple paths of some or all of the one or more smart metasurfaces, wherein the user equipment records the received signal quality corresponding to each of the multiple paths.

[0142] Clause 19. The electronic device of clause 18, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to cause the network device to perform the following operations:

[0143] receiving, from the user equipment, a report on received signal quality of a reference signal corresponding to each of the plurality of paths; and

[0144] A path is selected from the plurality of paths as the determined path based at least on the system-related information and the reported received signal quality.

[0145] Clause 20. The electronic device of clause 19, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to cause the network device to perform the following operations:

[0146] Deriving the time when the one or more smart metasurfaces are covered by satellites using the system related information; and

[0147] In response to determining that the difference between the maximum received signal quality and the received signal quality corresponding to the first path among the multiple paths is less than a first threshold, and the time during which the smart metasurface in the first path is covered by the satellite is greater than the time during which the smart metasurface in the path with the maximum received signal quality is covered by the satellite and is greater than a second threshold, the first path is selected as the determined path.

[0148] Clause 21. The electronic device of clause 18, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to cause the network device to perform the following operations:

[0149] The system-related information is sent to the user equipment, so that the user equipment selects a path from the multiple paths as the determined path based at least on the system-related information and the recorded received signal quality corresponding to each path in the multiple paths.

[0150] Clause 22. The electronic device of clause 15, wherein the system-related information is included in a system information block (SIB).

[0151] Clause 23. The electronic device of clause 18, wherein:

[0152] The system related information is included in the beam scanning reservation information; and

[0153] The time-frequency resources corresponding to the reference signal are specified by beam scanning predetermined information.

[0154] Clause 24. The electronic device of clause 18, wherein the reference signal comprises a synchronization signal block (SSB) or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

[0155] Clause 25. The electronic device of clause 15, wherein another user device switches to the network device, and the processing circuit is further configured to cause the network device to perform the following operations:

[0156] receiving, from the other user equipment, information about a smart metasurface in its previous path, the information including at least an identifier and a location of the smart metasurface;

[0157] A path after switching is selected based at least on the information, or the other user equipment is instructed to select a path after switching.

[0158] Clause 26. The electronic device of clause 15, wherein the smart metasurface comprises a large smart surface antenna (LISA) or a reconfigurable smart surface (RIS).

[0159] Clause 27. An electronic device according to clause 15, wherein the system-related information further includes: a gain of the one or more smart metasurfaces.

[0160] Clause 28. A method for a user device in a non-terrestrial network, the non-terrestrial network further comprising a network device capable of communicating with the user device, a satellite, and a plurality of smart metasurfaces, the method comprising:

[0161] receiving, from the network device, system-related information of a non-terrestrial network, the system-related information including at least ephemeris information of the satellite, and identifiers and locations of one or more smart metasurfaces associated with the satellite among the plurality of smart metasurfaces;

[0162] Determining a path for communication between the user equipment and the network device based at least on the received system-related information, wherein the determined path passes through one of the one or more smart metasurfaces; and

[0163] Communicate with the network device via the determined path.

[0164] Clause 29. A method for a network device in a non-terrestrial network, the non-terrestrial network further comprising a user device capable of communicating with the network device, a satellite, and a plurality of smart metasurfaces, the method comprising:

[0165] Acquiring system-related information of a non-terrestrial network, the system-related information including at least ephemeris information of the satellite, and identifiers and positions of one or more smart metasurfaces associated with the satellite among the plurality of smart metasurfaces, wherein the one or more smart metasurfaces are determined by the network device based at least on the position of the satellite and the positions of the plurality of smart metasurfaces;

[0166] Communicate with the user equipment via a determined path, wherein the path is determined based on at least the system-related information, and the determined path passes through one of the one or more smart metasurfaces.

[0167] Clause 30. A computer-readable storage medium having one or more instructions stored thereon that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform the method of clause 28 or 29.

[0168] Clause 31. A computer program product comprising program instructions which, when executed by one or more processors of a computer, cause the computer to perform the method according to clause 28 or 29.

[0169] It should be noted that the above application examples are merely illustrative. The embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented in any other appropriate manner in the above application examples, while still achieving the advantageous effects obtained by the embodiments of the present disclosure. Moreover, the embodiments of the present disclosure may also be applied to other similar application examples, while still achieving the advantageous effects obtained by the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0170] It should be understood that the machine-executable instructions in the machine-readable storage medium or program product according to the embodiments of the present disclosure can be configured to perform operations corresponding to the above-mentioned device and method embodiments. When referring to the above-mentioned device and method embodiments, the embodiments of the machine-readable storage medium or program product are clear to those skilled in the art and are therefore not described again. Machine-readable storage media and program products for carrying or including the above-mentioned machine-executable instructions also fall within the scope of the present disclosure. Such storage media may include, but are not limited to, floppy disks, optical disks, magneto-optical disks, memory cards, memory sticks, and the like.

[0171] In addition, it should be understood that the above series of processes and devices can also be implemented by software and / or firmware. In the case of implementation by software and / or firmware, the program constituting the software is installed from a storage medium or a network to a computer with a dedicated hardware structure, such as the general-purpose personal computer 1100 shown in Figure 15. When various programs are installed, the computer can perform various functions, etc. Figure 15 is a block diagram showing an example structure of a personal computer as an information processing device that can be used in an embodiment of the present disclosure. In one example, the personal computer can correspond to the above-mentioned exemplary terminal device according to the present disclosure.

[0172] 15 , a central processing unit (CPU) 1101 executes various processes according to a program stored in a read-only memory (ROM) 1102 or a program loaded from a storage section 1108 to a random access memory (RAM) 1103. In the RAM 1103, data required when the CPU 1101 executes various processes and the like is also stored as needed.

[0173] The CPU 1101, the ROM 1102, and the RAM 1103 are connected to one another via a bus 1104. An input / output interface 1105 is also connected to the bus 1104.

[0174] The following components are connected to the input / output interface 1105: an input section 1106 including a keyboard, a mouse, etc.; an output section 1107 including a display such as a cathode ray tube (CRT), a liquid crystal display (LCD), etc., and a speaker, etc.; a storage section 1108 including a hard disk, etc.; and a communication section 1109 including a network interface card such as a LAN card, a modem, etc. The communication section 1109 performs communication processing via a network such as the Internet.

[0175] A drive 1110 is also connected to the input / output interface 1105 as needed. A removable medium 1111 such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a semiconductor memory, etc. is mounted on the drive 1110 as needed so that a computer program read therefrom is installed in the storage section 1108 as needed.

[0176] In the case of realizing the above-described series of processing by software, a program constituting the software is installed from a network such as the Internet or a storage medium such as the removable medium 1111 .

[0177] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that such storage media are not limited to the removable media 1111 shown in FIG15 , which stores programs therein and is distributed separately from the device to provide the programs to users. Examples of the removable media 1111 include magnetic disks (including floppy disks (registered trademark)), optical disks (including compact disk read-only memories (CD-ROMs) and digital versatile disks (DVDs)), magneto-optical disks (including minidiscs (MDs) (registered trademark)), and semiconductor memories. Alternatively, the storage medium may be a ROM 1102, a hard disk included in the storage section 1108, or the like, in which the programs are stored and distributed to users together with the device containing them.

[0178] The technology disclosed herein can be applied to various products.

[0179] For example, the electronic device 400 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented as various network devices / base stations or included in various network devices / base stations, and the method shown in FIG14 may also be implemented by various network devices / base stations. For example, the electronic device 300 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented as various user devices / terminal devices or included in various user devices / terminal devices, and the method shown in FIG13 may also be implemented by various user devices / terminal devices.

[0180] For example, the network devices / base stations mentioned in this disclosure may be implemented as any type of base station, such as an evolved NodeB (gNB). A gNB may include one or more transmit and receive points (TRPs). A user device may be connected to one or more TRPs within one or more gNBs. For example, a user device may be able to receive transmissions from multiple gNBs (and / or multiple TRPs provided by the same gNB). For example, a gNB may include a macro gNB and a small gNB. A small gNB may be a gNB that covers a cell smaller than a macro cell, such as a pico gNB, a micro gNB, and a home (femto) gNB. Alternatively, a base station may be implemented as any other type of base station, such as a NodeB and a base transceiver station (BTS). A base station may include: a main body (also referred to as a base station device) configured to control wireless communications; and one or more remote radio heads (RRHs) located at a location separate from the main body. In addition, the various types of terminals described below may each function as a base station by temporarily or semi-permanently performing base station functions.

[0181] For example, the user equipment mentioned in the present disclosure is also referred to as a terminal device in some examples, and can be implemented as a mobile terminal (such as a smart phone, a tablet personal computer (PC), a notebook PC, a portable game terminal, a portable / dongle-type mobile router, and a digital camera) or a vehicle-mounted terminal (such as a car navigation device). The user equipment can also be implemented as a terminal that performs machine-to-machine (M2M) communication (also referred to as a machine type communication (MTC) terminal). In addition, the user equipment can be a wireless communication module (such as an integrated circuit module including a single chip) installed on each of the above-mentioned terminals. In some cases, the user equipment can use multiple wireless communication technologies for communication. For example, the user equipment can be configured to communicate using two or more of GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, WiMAX, LTE, LTE-A, WLAN, NR, Bluetooth, etc. In some cases, the user equipment can also be configured to communicate using only one wireless communication technology.

[0182] An example according to the present disclosure will be described below with reference to FIG. 16 to FIG. 19 .

[0183] Base station example

[0184] It should be understood that the term "base station" in the present disclosure has the full breadth of its usual meaning and at least includes a wireless communication station used as part of a wireless communication system or radio system to facilitate communication. Examples of base stations may include, but are not limited to, the following: a base station may be one or both of a base transceiver station (BTS) and a base station controller (BSC) in a GSM system, one or both of a radio network controller (RNC) and a Node B in a WCDMA system, an eNB in ​​an LTE and LTE-Advanced system, or a corresponding network node in a future communication system (such as a gNB, eLTE eNB, etc. that may appear in a 5G communication system). Some of the functions in the base station of the present disclosure may also be implemented as an entity that has a control function for communication in D2D, M2M, and V2V communication scenarios, or as an entity that plays a spectrum coordination role in a cognitive radio communication scenario.

[0185] First example

[0186] Figure 16 is a block diagram illustrating a first example of a schematic configuration of a base station (gNB is used as an example in this figure) to which the techniques of this disclosure can be applied. gNB 1200 includes multiple antennas 1210 and base station equipment 1220. Base station equipment 1220 and each antenna 1210 can be connected to each other via an RF cable. In one implementation, gNB 1200 (or base station equipment 1220) herein may correspond to the aforementioned network device (or more specifically, electronic device 400).

[0187] Each antenna 1210 includes a single or multiple antenna elements (such as multiple antenna elements included in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna) and is used for base station device 1220 to transmit and receive wireless signals. As shown in Figure 16, gNB 1200 may include multiple antennas 1210. For example, multiple antennas 1210 may be compatible with multiple frequency bands used by gNB 1200.

[0188] The base station device 1220 includes a controller 1221 , a memory 1222 , a network interface 1223 , and a wireless communication interface 1225 .

[0189] The controller 1221 may be, for example, a CPU or DSP, and operates various higher-layer functions of the base station device 1220. For example, the controller 1221 generates data packets based on data in the signal processed by the wireless communication interface 1225 and transmits the generated packets via the network interface 1223. The controller 1221 may bundle data from multiple baseband processors to generate bundled packets and transmit the generated bundled packets. The controller 1221 may have logic functions for performing control such as radio resource control, radio bearer control, mobility management, admission control, and scheduling. This control may be performed in conjunction with a nearby gNB or core network node. The memory 1222 includes RAM and ROM and stores programs executed by the controller 1221 and various types of control data (such as terminal lists, transmission power data, and scheduling data).

[0190] The network interface 1223 is a communication interface for connecting the base station device 1220 to the core network 1224. The controller 1221 can communicate with a core network node or another gNB via the network interface 1223. In this case, the gNB 1200 and the core network node or other gNB can be connected to each other via a logical interface (such as an S1 interface and an X2 interface). The network interface 1223 can also be a wired communication interface or a wireless communication interface for wireless backhaul. If the network interface 1223 is a wireless communication interface, the network interface 1223 can use a higher frequency band for wireless communication than the frequency band used by the wireless communication interface 1225.

[0191] The wireless communication interface 1225 supports any cellular communication scheme, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced, and provides wireless connectivity to terminals located in the cell of the gNB 1200 via the antenna 1210. The wireless communication interface 1225 may typically include, for example, a baseband (BB) processor 1226 and RF circuitry 1227. The BB processor 1226 can perform various signal processing functions, such as encoding / decoding, modulation / demodulation, and multiplexing / demultiplexing, and performs various types of signal processing for layers such as Layer 1 (L1), Medium Access Control (MAC), Radio Link Control (RLC), and Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP). In place of the controller 1221, the BB processor 1226 may perform some or all of the aforementioned logical functions. The BB processor 1226 may be a memory storing communication control programs, or a module including a processor configured to execute programs and associated circuitry. Program updates can modify the functionality of the BB processor 1226. This module may be a card or blade inserted into a slot in the base station device 1220. Alternatively, it may be a chip mounted on the card or blade. Meanwhile, the RF circuit 1227 may include, for example, a mixer, a filter, and an amplifier, and transmits and receives wireless signals via the antenna 1210. Although FIG16 shows an example in which one RF circuit 1227 is connected to one antenna 1210, the present disclosure is not limited to this illustration, and one RF circuit 1227 may be connected to multiple antennas 1210 at the same time.

[0192] As shown in Figure 16 , the wireless communication interface 1225 may include multiple BB processors 1226. For example, multiple BB processors 1226 may be compatible with multiple frequency bands used by the gNB 1200. As shown in Figure 16 , the wireless communication interface 1225 may include multiple RF circuits 1227. For example, multiple RF circuits 1227 may be compatible with multiple antenna elements. While Figure 16 illustrates an example in which the wireless communication interface 1225 includes multiple BB processors 1226 and multiple RF circuits 1227, the wireless communication interface 1225 may also include a single BB processor 1226 or a single RF circuit 1227.

[0193] Second example

[0194] FIG17 is a block diagram illustrating a second example of a schematic configuration of a base station (gNB is used as an example in this figure) to which the techniques of this disclosure can be applied. gNB 1330 includes multiple antennas 1340, base station equipment 1350, and RRHs 1360. RRHs 1360 and each antenna 1340 can be connected to each other via an RF cable. Base station equipment 1350 and RRHs 1360 can be connected to each other via a high-speed line such as an optical fiber cable. In one implementation, gNB 1330 (or base station equipment 1350) herein may correspond to the aforementioned network device (or more specifically, electronic device 400).

[0195] Each antenna 1340 includes a single or multiple antenna elements (such as multiple antenna elements included in a MIMO antenna) and is used for RRH 1360 to transmit and receive wireless signals. As shown in Figure 17, gNB 1330 may include multiple antennas 1340. For example, multiple antennas 1340 may be compatible with multiple frequency bands used by gNB 1330.

[0196] Base station device 1350 includes a controller 1351, a memory 1352, a network interface 1353, a wireless communication interface 1355, and a connection interface 1357. Controller 1351, memory 1352, and network interface 1353 are the same as controller 1221, memory 1222, and network interface 1223 described with reference to FIG.

[0197] The wireless communication interface 1355 supports any cellular communication scheme (such as LTE and LTE-Advanced) and provides wireless communication to terminals located in the sector corresponding to the RRH 1360 via the RRH 1360 and the antenna 1340. The wireless communication interface 1355 may generally include, for example, a BB processor 1356. The BB processor 1356 is identical to the BB processor 1226 described with reference to FIG. 16 , except that the BB processor 1356 is connected to the RF circuit 1364 of the RRH 1360 via the connection interface 1357. As shown in FIG. 17 , the wireless communication interface 1355 may include multiple BB processors 1356. For example, multiple BB processors 1356 may be compatible with multiple frequency bands used by the gNB 1330. Although FIG. 17 illustrates an example in which the wireless communication interface 1355 includes multiple BB processors 1356, the wireless communication interface 1355 may also include a single BB processor 1356.

[0198] The connection interface 1357 is an interface for connecting the base station device 1350 (wireless communication interface 1355) to the RRH 1360. The connection interface 1357 may also be a communication module for connecting the base station device 1350 (wireless communication interface 1355) to the RRH 1360 for communication in the high-speed line.

[0199] The RRH 1360 includes a connection interface 1361 and a wireless communication interface 1363 .

[0200] The connection interface 1361 is an interface for connecting the RRH 1360 (wireless communication interface 1363) to the base station device 1350. The connection interface 1361 may also be a communication module for communication in the above-mentioned high-speed line.

[0201] The wireless communication interface 1363 transmits and receives wireless signals via the antenna 1340. The wireless communication interface 1363 may generally include, for example, an RF circuit 1364. The RF circuit 1364 may include, for example, a mixer, a filter, and an amplifier, and transmits and receives wireless signals via the antenna 1340. Although FIG17 illustrates an example in which one RF circuit 1364 is connected to one antenna 1340, the present disclosure is not limited to this illustration, and one RF circuit 1364 may be connected to multiple antennas 1340 simultaneously.

[0202] As shown in FIG17 , the wireless communication interface 1363 may include multiple RF circuits 1364. For example, the multiple RF circuits 1364 may support multiple antenna elements. Although FIG17 shows an example in which the wireless communication interface 1363 includes multiple RF circuits 1364, the wireless communication interface 1363 may also include a single RF circuit 1364.

[0203] Example of a user device

[0204] First example

[0205] 18 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a smartphone 1400 to which the techniques of the present disclosure may be applied. The smartphone 1400 includes a processor 1401, a memory 1402, a storage device 1403, an external connection interface 1404, a camera 1406, a sensor 1407, a microphone 1408, an input device 1409, a display 1410, a speaker 1411, a wireless communication interface 1412, one or more antenna switches 1415, one or more antennas 1416, a bus 1417, a battery 1418, and an auxiliary controller 1419. In one implementation, the smartphone 1400 (or processor 1401) herein may correspond to the aforementioned user device (or more specifically, the electronic device 300).

[0206] The processor 1401 may be, for example, a CPU or a system on a chip (SoC), and controls the functions of the application layer and other layers of the smartphone 1400. The memory 1402 includes RAM and ROM, and stores data and programs executed by the processor 1401. The storage device 1403 may include storage media such as semiconductor memories and hard disks. The external connection interface 1404 is an interface for connecting external devices (such as memory cards and universal serial bus (USB) devices) to the smartphone 1400.

[0207] The camera 1406 includes an image sensor (such as a charge coupled device (CCD) and a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS)) and generates a captured image. The sensor 1407 may include a group of sensors such as a measurement sensor, a gyroscope sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, and an acceleration sensor. The microphone 1408 converts the sound input to the smartphone 1400 into an audio signal. The input device 1409 includes, for example, a touch sensor, a keypad, a keyboard, a button, or a switch configured to detect a touch on the screen of the display device 1410, and receives an operation or information input from the user. The display device 1410 includes a screen (such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) and an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display) and displays an output image of the smartphone 1400. The speaker 1411 converts the audio signal output from the smartphone 1400 into sound.

[0208] The wireless communication interface 1412 supports any cellular communication scheme (such as LTE and LTE-Advanced) and performs wireless communication. The wireless communication interface 1412 may generally include, for example, a BB processor 1413 and an RF circuit 1414. The BB processor 1413 may perform, for example, encoding / decoding, modulation / demodulation, and multiplexing / demultiplexing, and perform various types of signal processing for wireless communication. Meanwhile, the RF circuit 1414 may include, for example, a mixer, a filter, and an amplifier, and transmit and receive wireless signals via an antenna 1416. The wireless communication interface 1412 may be a chip module on which the BB processor 1413 and the RF circuit 1414 are integrated. As shown in FIG. 18 , the wireless communication interface 1412 may include multiple BB processors 1413 and multiple RF circuits 1414. Although FIG. 18 shows an example in which the wireless communication interface 1412 includes multiple BB processors 1413 and multiple RF circuits 1414, the wireless communication interface 1412 may also include a single BB processor 1413 or a single RF circuit 1414.

[0209] In addition, in addition to the cellular communication scheme, the wireless communication interface 1412 can support other types of wireless communication schemes, such as a short-range wireless communication scheme, a near-field communication scheme, and a wireless local area network (LAN) scheme. In this case, the wireless communication interface 1412 can include a BB processor 1413 and an RF circuit 1414 for each wireless communication scheme.

[0210] Each of the antenna switches 1415 switches the connection destination of the antenna 1416 between a plurality of circuits (eg, circuits for different wireless communication schemes) included in the wireless communication interface 1412 .

[0211] Each of the antennas 1416 includes a single or multiple antenna elements (such as multiple antenna elements included in a MIMO antenna) and is used for transmitting and receiving wireless signals via the wireless communication interface 1412. As shown in FIG18 , the smartphone 1400 may include multiple antennas 1416. Although FIG18 shows an example in which the smartphone 1400 includes multiple antennas 1416, the smartphone 1400 may also include a single antenna 1416.

[0212] In addition, the smartphone 1400 may include an antenna 1416 for each wireless communication scheme. In this case, the antenna switch 1415 may be omitted from the configuration of the smartphone 1400.

[0213] The bus 1417 connects the processor 1401, the memory 1402, the storage device 1403, the external connection interface 1404, the camera 1406, the sensor 1407, the microphone 1408, the input device 1409, the display device 1410, the speaker 1411, the wireless communication interface 1412, and the auxiliary controller 1419. The battery 1418 supplies power to the various blocks of the smartphone 1400 shown in FIG18 via feeders, which are partially shown as dashed lines in the figure. The auxiliary controller 1419 operates the minimum necessary functions of the smartphone 1400, for example, in sleep mode.

[0214] Second example

[0215] 19 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a car navigation device 1520 to which the techniques of the present disclosure may be applied. The car navigation device 1520 includes a processor 1521, a memory 1522, a global positioning system (GPS) module 1524, a sensor 1525, a data interface 1526, a content player 1527, a storage medium interface 1528, an input device 1529, a display device 1530, a speaker 1531, a wireless communication interface 1533, one or more antenna switches 1536, one or more antennas 1537, and a battery 1538. In one implementation, the car navigation device 1520 (or processor 1521) herein may correspond to the user device (or more specifically, the electronic device 300) described above.

[0216] The processor 1521 may be, for example, a CPU or an SoC, and controls a navigation function and other functions of the car navigation device 1520. The memory 1522 includes a RAM and a ROM, and stores data and programs executed by the processor 1521.

[0217] The GPS module 1524 uses GPS signals received from GPS satellites to measure the position (such as latitude, longitude, and altitude) of the car navigation device 1520. The sensor 1525 may include a group of sensors such as a gyroscope sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, and an air pressure sensor. The data interface 1526 is connected to, for example, the vehicle network 1541 via a terminal not shown, and acquires data generated by the vehicle (such as vehicle speed data).

[0218] The content player 1527 reproduces content stored in a storage medium (such as a CD or DVD) inserted into the storage medium interface 1528. The input device 1529 includes, for example, a touch sensor, button, or switch configured to detect a touch on the screen of the display device 1530, and receives operations or information input from the user. The display device 1530 includes a screen such as an LCD or OLED display and displays images of the navigation function or reproduced content. The speaker 1531 outputs sounds of the navigation function or reproduced content.

[0219] The wireless communication interface 1533 supports any cellular communication scheme (such as LTE and LTE-Advanced) and performs wireless communication. The wireless communication interface 1533 may generally include, for example, a BB processor 1534 and an RF circuit 1535. The BB processor 1534 may perform, for example, encoding / decoding, modulation / demodulation, and multiplexing / demultiplexing, and perform various types of signal processing for wireless communication. Meanwhile, the RF circuit 1535 may include, for example, a mixer, a filter, and an amplifier, and transmit and receive wireless signals via an antenna 1537. The wireless communication interface 1533 may also be a chip module on which the BB processor 1534 and the RF circuit 1535 are integrated. As shown in Figure 19, the wireless communication interface 1533 may include multiple BB processors 1534 and multiple RF circuits 1535. Although Figure 19 shows an example in which the wireless communication interface 1533 includes multiple BB processors 1534 and multiple RF circuits 1535, the wireless communication interface 1533 may also include a single BB processor 1534 or a single RF circuit 1535.

[0220] In addition, in addition to the cellular communication scheme, the wireless communication interface 1533 can support other types of wireless communication schemes, such as short-range wireless communication schemes, near field communication schemes, and wireless LAN schemes. In this case, for each wireless communication scheme, the wireless communication interface 1533 can include a BB processor 1534 and an RF circuit 1535.

[0221] Each of the antenna switches 1536 switches a connection destination of the antenna 1537 between a plurality of circuits included in the wireless communication interface 1533 , such as circuits for different wireless communication schemes.

[0222] Each of the antennas 1537 includes a single or multiple antenna elements (such as multiple antenna elements included in a MIMO antenna) and is used for transmitting and receiving wireless signals via the wireless communication interface 1533. As shown in FIG19, the car navigation device 1520 may include multiple antennas 1537. Although FIG19 shows an example in which the car navigation device 1520 includes multiple antennas 1537, the car navigation device 1520 may also include a single antenna 1537.

[0223] In addition, the car navigation device 1520 may include an antenna 1537 for each wireless communication scheme. In this case, the antenna switch 1536 may be omitted from the configuration of the car navigation device 1520.

[0224] The battery 1538 supplies power to the respective blocks of the car navigation device 1520 shown in Fig. 19 via a feeder line, which is partially shown as a dotted line in the figure. The battery 1538 accumulates the power supplied from the vehicle.

[0225] The technology of the present disclosure may also be implemented as an in-vehicle system (or vehicle) 1540 including a car navigation device 1520, an in-vehicle network 1541, and one or more blocks of a vehicle module 1542. The vehicle module 1542 generates vehicle data (such as vehicle speed, engine speed, and fault information) and outputs the generated data to the in-vehicle network 1541.

[0226] The exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present disclosure is certainly not limited to the above examples. Those skilled in the art may obtain various changes and modifications within the scope of the appended claims, and it should be understood that these changes and modifications will naturally fall within the technical scope of the present disclosure.

[0227] For example, a plurality of functions included in one unit in the above embodiments may be implemented by separate devices. Alternatively, a plurality of functions implemented by a plurality of units in the above embodiments may be implemented by separate devices, respectively. In addition, one of the above functions may be implemented by a plurality of units. Needless to say, such a configuration is included in the technical scope of the present disclosure.

[0228] In this specification, the steps described in the flowchart include not only processing executed in time series in the order described, but also processing executed in parallel or individually rather than necessarily in time series. In addition, even in the steps processed in time series, it goes without saying that the order can be changed as appropriate.

[0229] Although the present disclosure and its advantages have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and transformations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. Moreover, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variations thereof in the embodiments of the present disclosure are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions, such that a process, method, article, or device comprising a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article, or device. In the absence of further restrictions, an element defined by the statement "comprising a ..." does not exclude the presence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or device comprising the element.

Claims

1. An electronic device for a user device in a non-terrestrial network, the non-terrestrial network further comprising a network device capable of communicating with the user device, a satellite, and a plurality of smart metasurfaces, the electronic device comprising a processing circuit configured to cause the user device to perform the following operations: receiving, from the network device, system-related information of a non-terrestrial network, the system-related information including at least ephemeris information of the satellite, and identifiers and locations of one or more smart metasurfaces associated with the satellite among the plurality of smart metasurfaces; Determining, based at least on the received system-related information, a path for communication between the user equipment and the network device, wherein the determined path passes through one of the one or more smart metasurfaces; as well as Communicate with the network device via the determined path. 2 . The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the determined path is different from a path where the user equipment receives the reference signal with the highest received signal quality. 3 . The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the determined path is the same as a path where the user equipment receives the reference signal with the highest received signal quality.

4. The electronic device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to cause the user equipment to perform the following operations: receiving a reference signal from the network device via each of a plurality of paths respectively passing through some or all of the one or more smart metasurfaces; and Record the received signal quality of the reference signal corresponding to each path in the multiple paths.

5. The electronic device according to claim 4, wherein determining a communication path between the user equipment and the network device based at least on the received system-related information comprises: Based at least on the system-related information and the recorded received signal quality corresponding to each of the multiple paths, a path is selected from the multiple paths as the determined path.

6. The electronic device according to claim 5, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to cause the user equipment to perform the following operations: deriving the time when the one or more smart metasurfaces are covered by satellites based on the system-related information; In response to determining that the difference between the maximum received signal quality and the received signal quality corresponding to the first path among the multiple paths is less than a first threshold, and the time during which the smart metasurface in the first path is covered by the satellite is greater than the time during which the smart metasurface in the path with the maximum received signal quality is covered by the satellite and is greater than a second threshold, the first path is selected as the determined path. 7 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the system-related information is included in a system information block (SIB).

8. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein determining the communication path between the user equipment and the network device is performed before the user equipment accesses the non-terrestrial network, and the processing circuit is further configured to cause the user equipment to perform the following operations: After the user equipment accesses the non-terrestrial network, it preferentially performs one or more of the following with a beam directed toward the one smart metasurface: beam scanning, data reception, or beam recovery.

9. The electronic device according to claim 4, wherein: The system related information is included in the beam scanning reservation information; and The time-frequency resources corresponding to the reference signal are specified by beam scanning predetermined information.

10. The electronic device of claim 4, wherein the reference signal comprises a synchronization signal block (SSB) or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

11. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to cause the user device to perform the following operations: Switching from the network device to another network device; and Sending information of the smart metasurface in the determined path to the other network device, the information including at least an identifier and a location of the smart metasurface, so that the other network device selects a switched path for communication based at least on the information, or instructs the user equipment to select the switched path.

12. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the smart metasurface comprises a large smart surface antenna (LISA) or a reconfigurable smart surface (RIS).

13. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the system-related information further comprises: Gain of the one or more smart metasurfaces.

14. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein: The one or more smart metasurfaces are determined by the network device based on at least a position of the satellite and positions of the multiple smart metasurfaces.

15. An electronic device for a network device in a non-terrestrial network, the non-terrestrial network further comprising a user device capable of communicating with the network device, a satellite, and a plurality of smart metasurfaces, the electronic device comprising a processing circuit configured to cause the network device to perform the following operations: Acquiring system-related information of a non-terrestrial network, the system-related information including at least ephemeris information of the satellite, and identifiers and positions of one or more smart metasurfaces associated with the satellite among the plurality of smart metasurfaces, wherein the one or more smart metasurfaces are determined by the network device based at least on the position of the satellite and the positions of the plurality of smart metasurfaces; Communicate with the user equipment via a determined path, wherein the path is determined based on at least the system-related information, and the determined path passes through one of the one or more smart metasurfaces. 16 . The electronic device according to claim 15 , wherein the determined path is different from a path having the highest received signal quality for the user equipment to receive the reference signal from the network device. 17 . The electronic device according to claim 15 , wherein the determined path is the same as a path with the highest received signal quality for the user equipment to receive the reference signal from the network device.

18. The electronic device according to claim 16 or 17, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to cause the network device to perform the following operations: By respectively passing through a plurality of paths of part or all of the one or more smart metasurfaces For each path of the plurality of paths, a reference signal is sent to the user equipment, wherein the user equipment records the received signal quality corresponding to each path in the plurality of paths.

19. The electronic device according to claim 18, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to cause the network device to perform the following operations: receiving, from the user equipment, a report on received signal quality of a reference signal corresponding to each of the plurality of paths; and A path is selected from the plurality of paths as the determined path based at least on the system-related information and the reported received signal quality.

20. The electronic device according to claim 19, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to cause the network device to perform the following operations: Deriving the time when the one or more smart metasurfaces are covered by satellites using the system related information; and In response to determining that the difference between the maximum received signal quality and the received signal quality corresponding to the first path among the multiple paths is less than a first threshold, and the time during which the smart metasurface in the first path is covered by the satellite is greater than the time during which the smart metasurface in the path with the maximum received signal quality is covered by the satellite and is greater than a second threshold, the first path is selected as the determined path.

21. The electronic device according to claim 18, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to cause the network device to perform the following operations: The system-related information is sent to the user equipment, so that the user equipment selects a path from the multiple paths as the determined path based at least on the system-related information and the recorded received signal quality corresponding to each path in the multiple paths.

22. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein the system-related information is included in a system information block (SIB).

23. The electronic device according to claim 18, wherein: The system related information is included in the beam scanning reservation information; and The time-frequency resources corresponding to the reference signal are specified by beam scanning predetermined information.

24. The electronic device of claim 18, wherein the reference signal comprises a synchronization signal block (SSB) or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

25. The electronic device according to claim 15, wherein when another user device switches to the network device, the processing circuit is further configured to cause the network device to perform the following operations: receiving, from the other user equipment, information about a smart metasurface in its previous path, the information including at least an identifier and a location of the smart metasurface; A path after switching is selected based at least on the information, or the other user equipment is instructed to select a path after switching.

26. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein the smart metasurface comprises a large smart surface antenna (LISA) or a reconfigurable smart surface (RIS).

27. The electronic device according to claim 15, wherein the system-related information further comprises: Gain of the one or more smart metasurfaces.

28. A method for a user device in a non-terrestrial network, the non-terrestrial network further comprising a network device capable of communicating with the user device, a satellite, and a plurality of smart metasurfaces, the method comprising: receiving, from the network device, system-related information of a non-terrestrial network, the system-related information including at least ephemeris information of the satellite, and identifiers and locations of one or more smart metasurfaces associated with the satellite among the plurality of smart metasurfaces; Determining, based at least on the received system-related information, a path for communication between the user equipment and the network device, wherein the determined path passes through one of the one or more smart metasurfaces; as well as Communicate with the network device via the determined path.

29. A method for a network device in a non-terrestrial network, the non-terrestrial network further comprising a user device capable of communicating with the network device, a satellite, and a plurality of smart metasurfaces, the method comprising: Acquire system-related information of a non-terrestrial network, wherein the system-related information includes at least ephemeris information of the satellite, and identifiers and locations of one or more smart metasurfaces associated with the satellite among the multiple smart metasurfaces. wherein the one or more smart metasurfaces are determined by the network device based at least on a position of the satellite and positions of the plurality of smart metasurfaces; Communicate with the user equipment via a determined path, wherein the path is determined based on at least the system-related information, and the determined path passes through one of the one or more smart metasurfaces.

30. A computer-readable storage medium having one or more instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform the method of claim 28 or 29.

31. A computer program product comprising program instructions which, when executed by one or more processors of a computer, cause the computer to perform the method according to claim 28 or 29.

Images