Communication device and beam management method

Abstract

The invention provides a communication apparatus and a beam management method. The method is applicable to a communication device including an entity and a function, where the entity communicates with a network over a first link, and the function forwards a signal over a second link, where the first link is associated with a first transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state. The method includes receiving, by an entity, a channel state information (CSI) report configuration; transmitting, by the entity, the CSI report according to the CSI report configuration; and receiving, by the entity, the TCI state list configuration.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a communication device and a beam management method. Background Art

[0002] Network-controlled repeaters (NCRs) can be used to cover coverage holes between next-generation Node Bs (gNBs) and user equipment (UEs). Due to the limited amplification power of NCRs, operators must deploy multiple NCRs to cover different areas. However, multiple independent NCRs may introduce some problems, such as control signal overhead due to multiple NCRs in the same frequency band, or limited uplink (UL) scheduling flexibility due to fixed uplink power control. For example, UL resources may not be scheduled together with general UEs. Therefore, a cooperation mechanism for multiple NCRs with different operating modes is required. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The present disclosure relates to a communication device and a beam management method.

[0004] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a communication device is provided. The communication device includes an entity and a function, wherein the entity communicates with a network via a first link, and the function forwards a signal via a second link, wherein the first link is associated with a first transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state, and wherein the entity is configured to: receive a channel state information (CSI) report configuration; transmit a CSI report according to the CSI report configuration; and receive a TCI state list configuration.

[0005] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a beam management method is provided. The beam management method is applicable to a communication device comprising an entity and a function, wherein the entity communicates with a network via a first link, and the function forwards signals via a second link, wherein the first link is associated with a first transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state. The method comprises: receiving, by the entity, a channel state information (CSI) report configuration; transmitting, by the entity, a CSI report according to the CSI report configuration; and receiving, by the entity, a TCI state list configuration.

[0006] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a communication device is provided. The communication device includes a transceiver and a processor. The processor is coupled to the transceiver, wherein the processor is configured to: transmit a channel state information (CSI) report configuration; receive a CSI report according to the CSI report configuration; and transmit a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state list configuration.

[0007] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a beam management method is provided. The beam management method is applicable to a communication device, wherein the method includes: transmitting a channel state information (CSI) report configuration; receiving a CSI report according to the CSI report configuration; and transmitting a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state list configuration.

[0008] To make the above content easier to understand, several embodiments are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure and constitute a part of this specification. These drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments of the disclosure and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.

[0010] Figure 1 A schematic diagram illustrating a gNB, NCR, and UE according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0011] Figure 2 A schematic diagram illustrating multiple NCRs according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0012] Figure 3 A schematic diagram illustrating an NCR according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0013] Figure 4 A schematic diagram illustrating C-link beam management according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0014] Figure 5 A schematic diagram illustrating a beam (or CSI) measurement and beam (or CSI) reporting procedure according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0015] Figure 6 A diagram illustrating a C-link beam maintenance / update procedure according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0016] Figure 7 A schematic diagram illustrating a BH-link beam application according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0017] Figure 8 A schematic diagram illustrating simultaneous downlink / uplink transmission according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0018] Figure 9 A schematic diagram illustrating a CORESET and SS according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0019] Figure 10 A schematic diagram illustrating a standalone NCR deployment according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0020] Figure 11 A schematic diagram illustrating an advanced NCR group according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0021] Figure 12 A schematic diagram illustrating operation mode A of an NCR group according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0022] Figure 13 Schematic diagram illustrating operation modes B and C of an NCR group according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0023] Figure 14 A schematic diagram illustrating an NCR group capability report according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0024] Figure 15 A schematic diagram illustrating beam application ambiguity according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0025] Figure 16 A schematic diagram illustrating beam management of a C-link through an NCR node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0026] Figure 17 A schematic diagram illustrating determining a beam index of a C-link by an MT according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0027] Figure 18 A schematic diagram illustrating reporting restriction using one beam index in a CSI report according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0028] Figure 19 A schematic diagram illustrating implicit NCR node reception through NCR priority rules according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0029] Figure 20 A schematic diagram illustrating a control signaling transmission timeline corresponding to reception by a hidden NCR node according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0030] Figure 21 A schematic diagram illustrating NCR node reception by indicating an NCR ID related to a TCI state according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0031] Figure 22 A schematic diagram illustrating a sub-list of each NCR in a TCI status list according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0032] Figure 23 A schematic diagram illustrating configuring a sub-list for each NCR based on a bitmap according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0033] Figure 24 A schematic diagram illustrating configuring a sub-list for each NCR based on a bitmap according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0034] Figure 25 A schematic diagram illustrating configuring a sub-list for each NCR based on list segmentation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0035] Figure 26 A schematic diagram illustrating configuring a sub-list for each NCR based on list segmentation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0036] Figure 27 A schematic diagram illustrating configuring a TCI state with an NCR ID according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0037] Figure 28 A schematic diagram illustrating a marked TCI status list of an NCR according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0038] Figure 29 A schematic diagram illustrating beam reporting for each NCR according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0039] Figure 30 A schematic diagram illustrating beam reporting based on CSI compression of an NCR group according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0040] Figure 31 A schematic diagram illustrating an NCR report according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0041] Figure 32 A schematic diagram illustrating enabling simultaneous reception according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0042] Figure 33 A schematic diagram illustrating association of a beam index with a limited number of NCR nodes in a CSI report according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is provided.

[0043] Figure 34 A schematic diagram illustrating hidden NCR node reception based on beam reporting according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0044] Figure 35 A schematic diagram illustrating hidden NCR node reception based on beam reporting according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0045] Figure 36 A schematic diagram illustrating NCR node reception by indicating an NCR ID related to a TCI state according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0046] Figure 37 A schematic diagram illustrating a sub-list of each NCR in a TCI status list according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0047] Figure 38 A schematic diagram illustrating configuring a sub-list for each NCR based on a bitmap according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0048] Figure 39 A schematic diagram illustrating configuring a sub-list for each NCR based on a bitmap according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0049] Figure 40 A schematic diagram illustrating configuring a sub-list for each NCR based on list segmentation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0050] Figure 41 A schematic diagram illustrating configuring a sub-list for each NCR based on list segmentation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0051] Figure 42 A schematic diagram illustrating a sub-list of each NCR in a TCI status list according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0052] Figure 43 A schematic diagram illustrating configuring a sub-list for each NCR based on a bitmap according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0053] Figure 44 A schematic diagram illustrating a TCI state configured with an NCR ID according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0054] Figure 45 A schematic diagram illustrating a marked TCI status list of an NCR according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0055] Figure 46 A schematic diagram illustrating enabling simultaneous reception according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0056] Figure 47 A schematic diagram illustrating NCR reception based on a time pattern bitmap according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is provided.

[0057] Figure 48 A schematic diagram illustrating NCR reception based on a time pattern bitmap according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is provided.

[0058] Figure 49 A schematic diagram illustrating time resource configuration according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0059] Figure 50 A schematic diagram illustrating determining the association between a time pattern and an NCR node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0060] Figure 51 A schematic diagram illustrating limiting beam reporting according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0061] Figure 52 A schematic diagram illustrating NCR hopping with a common TCI state according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0062] Figure 53 A schematic diagram illustrating a hidden NCR node receiving signal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is provided.

[0063] Figure 54 A schematic diagram illustrating an NCR ID associated with a TCI status according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0064] Figure 55 A schematic diagram illustrating a sub-list of each NCR in a TCI status list according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0065] Figure 56 A schematic diagram illustrating a sub-list of each NCR in a TCI status list according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0066] Figure 57 A schematic diagram illustrating a TCI state configured with an NCR ID according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0067] Figure 58 A schematic diagram illustrating a TCI status list of an NCR according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0068] Figure 59 A schematic diagram illustrating determining an association between a time pattern and an NCR node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0069] Figure 60 A schematic diagram illustrating NCR hopping of multiple TCI states according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0070] Figure 61 A schematic diagram illustrating NCR hopping of multiple TCI states according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0071] Figure 62 A schematic diagram illustrating SS set monitoring according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0072] Figure 63 A schematic diagram illustrating SS set monitoring according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0073] Figure 64 A schematic diagram illustrating CORESET group monitoring according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0074] Figure 65 A schematic diagram illustrating NCR capabilities according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0075] Figure 66 A schematic diagram illustrating operation mode switching according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0076] Figure 67A schematic diagram illustrating operation mode switching according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0077] Figure 68 A schematic diagram illustrating a restricted beam reporting scheme for an NCR-MT with capability 1 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0078] Figure 69 A schematic diagram illustrating a restricted beam reporting scheme for an NCR-MT with capability 3 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0079] Figure 70 A schematic diagram illustrating an NCR-MT restricted beam reporting scheme with capability 2 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0080] Figure 71 A schematic diagram illustrating a hidden NCR node receiving solution of an NCR-MT with capability 1 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0081] Figure 72 A schematic diagram illustrating a hidden NCR node receiving solution of an NCR-MT with capability 3 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0082] Figure 73 A schematic diagram illustrating a hidden NCR node receiving solution of an NCR-MT with capability 2 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0083] Figure 74 A schematic diagram illustrating NCR node reception based on NCR ID by an NCR-MT with capability 1 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0084] Figure 75 A schematic diagram illustrating NCR node reception based on NCR ID by an NCR-MT with capability 3 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0085] Figure 76 A schematic diagram illustrating NCR node reception based on NCR ID by an NCR-MT with capability 2 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0086] Figure 77 A schematic diagram of time resource configuration according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is described.

[0087] Figure 78 The following is a flow chart illustrating a beam management method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0088] Figure 79 The following is a flow chart illustrating a beam management method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0089] Figure 80A schematic diagram illustrating a communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is provided. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0090] Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Whenever possible, the same reference numerals are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.

[0091] The abbreviations used in this disclosure are defined as follows:

[0092] Abbreviated full name

[0093] AL (Aggregation level)

[0094] CC (component carrier)

[0095] CRI (CSI-RS resource indicator) CSI (Channel state information) CSI-RS (CSI reference signal) CSS (Common search space) CORESET (Control Resource Set) DCI (Downlink control information) DL (Downlink)

[0096] DM-RS Demodulation RS Demodulation Reference Signal gNodeB (next Generation Node B, gNB) Next Generation Node B ID (identity)

[0097] L1 (layer 1)

[0098] MAC (medium access control)

[0099] MAC CE (MAC control element) Medium Access Control Element

[0100] MSG (message)

[0101] NCR (Network-controlled Repeater) Network-controlled Repeater

[0102] OM (operation mode)

[0103] PDCCH (Physical downlink control entity downlink control channel

[0104] channel)

[0105] PDSCH (Physical downlink shared physical downlink shared channel

[0106] channel)

[0107] PUCCH (physical uplink control channel)

[0108] PUSCH (physical unlink shared channel) physical uplink shared channel

[0109] QCL (quasi co-located)

[0110] RF (radio frequency)

[0111] RRC (Radio Resource Control)

[0112] RS (reference signal)

[0113] RSRP (Reference signal receiving power)

[0114] RSRQ (Reference signal receiving quality)

[0115] Rx (received beam)

[0116] SINR (signal to interference noise ratio)

[0117] SRI (SRS resource indicator) SRS resource indicator

[0118] SRS (Sounding reference signal)

[0119] SS (search space) search space

[0120] SSB (Synchronization Signal Block) SSBRI (SSB Resource Indicator) TCI (Transmission Configuration Indicator) TRP (Transmission Reception Point) Tx (Transmitted Beam)

[0121] TXRU (transceiver unit) UE (user equipment)

[0122] UL (uplink) uplink

[0123] USS (UE-specific search space) User equipment specific search space UCI (Uplink control information) Uplink control information

[0124] A cell may be a serving cell, a carrier or a CC (component carrier), a serving cell, an MCG (master cell group) or an SCG (second cell group), but is not limited thereto.

[0125] "Configured" may mean preset, predefined, fixed, configured, enabled, or indicated, but is not limited thereto.

[0126] RRC can be MAC CE or DCI, but is not limited thereto.

[0127] The uplink transmission may be PUSCH, PUCCH, physical random access channel (PRACH), SRS or RS, but is not limited thereto.

[0128] NCR can be NCR group, UE, TRP, gNB or panel, but is not limited to these.

[0129] The RS may be a DL RS and / or a UL RS.

[0130] The DL RS configuration can be a DM-RS group, a DM-RS group index, a DM-RS resource, a DM-RS resource index, a DM-RS port index, a DM-RS port, a CSI-RS resource set index, a CSI-RS resource set, a CSI-RS resource index, a CSI-RS resource, a CSI-RS port index, a CSI-RS port, an SSB resource set index, an SSB resource set, an SSB resource index, an SSB resource, an SSB port index or an SSB port, but is not limited to these.

[0131] The UL RS configuration may be, but is not limited to, a DM-RS group, a DM-RS group index, a demodulation DM-RS resource, a DM-RS resource index, a DM-RS port index, a DM-RS port, a random access channel (RACH) group, a RACH group index, a RACH resource, a RACH resource index, an SRS resource set index, an SRS resource set, an SRS resource index, an SRS resource, an SRS port index, or an SRS port.

[0132] A beam can be represented by, but is not limited to, an antenna, an antenna port, an antenna element, an antenna group, an antenna port group, an antenna element group, a spatial domain filter, a reference signal resource, a QCL assumption, or a TXRU. For example, a first beam can be represented by a first antenna port, a first antenna port group, or a first spatial domain filter. For example, a first beam direction can be represented by a QCL assumption or a spatial domain filter.

[0133] The Rx beam in the configuration may be a spatial Rx parameter, a spatial domain receive filter, or a panel, but is not limited thereto.

[0134] The Tx beam in the configuration can be a spatial Tx parameter, a spatial domain transmission filter, or a panel, but is not limited thereto.

[0135] The index or identification may be CORESETPoolIndex, TRP ID or Panel ID, but is not limited thereto.

[0136] The cell TRP (e.g., transmission reception point) can be a TRP, a serving cell, a gNodeB (i.e., next generation Node B), a panel, an unlicensed cell, an unlicensed serving cell, an unlicensed TRP, a gNodeB, an eNodeB (i.e., evolved Node B), or an eNB, but is not limited thereto.

[0137] The communication device may be represented by a UE or a gNodeB, but is not limited thereto.

[0138] Combinations of the disclosed embodiments are not excluded.

[0139] All steps in the embodiments may not be performed in a step-by-step manner.

[0140] The disclosed embodiments may be applied to an unlicensed band, a licensed band, a non-DRX mode, a DRX mode, or a power saving mode, but are not limited thereto.

[0141] The NCR-MT entity may receive one or more CSI reports from each NCR node within the same NCR group, the NCR-MT entity may generate a new CSI report (or an updated CSI report) based on the CSI report received from each NCR node, and may transmit the new CSI report to the gNB.

[0142] NCR can be configured to cover coverage holes between gNB and UE, such as Figure 1 As shown in Figure 1. Signals between gNB and UE can be forwarded to each other through NCR 10. Since the amplification power of NCR is limited, operators can deploy multiple NCRs to cover different areas. For example, operators can deploy NCR 21, NCR 22 and NCR 23 to cover different areas, such as Figure 2 shown.

[0143] Figure 3 A schematic diagram illustrates an NCR 30 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The NCR 30 may include an NCR-MT entity 31 and an NCR-Fwd entity 32. The NCR-MT entity 31 is a functional entity that communicates with the gNB (or network) via a control link (C-link) to enable control information exchange, where the C-link may be associated with a TCI state. The NCR-Fwd entity 32 is a functional entity that performs uplink / downlink RS signal amplification and forwarding between the gNB (or network) and the UE via a backhaul link (BH-link) and an access link (AC-link). For example, the NCR-Fwd entity 32 may communicate with the gNB via a BH-link and with the UE via an AC-link.

[0144] In one example, the NCR may be a communication device, a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS), a reflector, a repeater, a remote radio head (RRH), a network element, a base station (BS), a transmission reception point (TRP), a smart repeater, or a gNB, but is not limited thereto.

[0145] In one example, the NCR may be a RIS.

[0146] In one example, the NCR may include a RIS.

[0147] In one example, the NCR-Fwd entity may be a RIS.

[0148] In one example, the NCR-Fwd entity may include a RIS.

[0149] In one example, the NCR may include an NCR-MT entity and / or an NCR-Fwd entity.

[0150] In one example, the NCR-MT entity may be activated or deactivated in the NCR.

[0151] In one example, the NCR may not include an NCR-MT entity.

[0152] In one example, the first NCR may include an MT entity (eg, an NCR-MT entity).

[0153] In one example, the second NCR may include an Fwd entity (eg, an NCR-Fwd entity).

[0154] NCR may include NCR-MT entity and NCR-Fwd entity.

[0155] In this document, statements using the term "UE" may also apply to the NCR-MT entity. Statements using the term "NCR" may also apply to the NCR-Fwd entity.

[0156] The procedures for performing cell search, system information acquisition, random access procedure, UCI reporting or PDCCH monitoring by the NCR-MT entity are the same as the corresponding procedures of the UE.

[0157] The procedures of the NCR-MT entity performing PDSCH reception, CSI-RS measurement and CSI determination, PUSCH transmission or SRS transmission may be the same as the corresponding procedures of the UE.

[0158] The NCR-Fwd entity may transmit or receive only after the NCR-MT entity receives on the control link one or more beams indicating that the NCR-Fwd entity is to transmit or receive on the corresponding one or more time resources on the access link. When the NCR-MT entity performs a link recovery procedure, the NCR-Fwd entity may not transmit or receive until the link recovery procedure is completed.

[0159] Figure 4A schematic diagram illustrating C-link beam management according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The beam management procedure of the C-link may include a beam (or CSI) measurement and reporting step, a beam maintenance / update step, and a beam application step of the BH-link, wherein each step may be performed independently. In the beam measurement and reporting step, the gNB may receive a CSI report from the NCR 40, wherein the CSI report may include a measurement value (e.g., SSBRI or RSRP) corresponding to the RS (e.g., RS#n or RS#n+1) transmitted from the gNB to the NCR 40. In the beam maintenance / update step, the NCR 40 may receive a TCI state list configuration, which may be configured by the gNB. The TCI state list may include a TCI state ID (e.g., A n ) and a spatial QCL hypothesis (e.g., a spatial QCL hypothesis corresponding to RS#n). In the beam application step of the BH-link, NCR 40 may or may not perform simultaneous transmission with the gNB.

[0160] Figure 5 A schematic diagram illustrates the beam (or CSI) measurement and beam (or CSI) reporting procedures according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. In step S51, the NCR may receive an RS configuration (or CSI reporting configuration) from the gNB and may configure one or more RSs (e.g., CSI-RS or SSBs, such as RS#1-RS#5) for beam measurement. The NCR may be configured with the number of beams to be reported, where the number may include a beam index (e.g., SSBRI / CRI) or beam quality (e.g., L1-RSRP or L1-SINR). The RS configuration (or CSI reporting configuration) may include a reference signal list, the number of NCRs, or the number of reported RSs for each NCR in the CSI report. In step S52, the NCR may perform beam measurement based on the RS configuration (or CSI reporting configuration). The NCR may generate measurement results accordingly. In step S53, the NCR may report the measurement results to the gNB (e.g., via a CSI report) based on the RS configuration (or CSI reporting configuration), where the measurement results may include one or more beam indices and / or measurement quality. The CSI report may include IDs of one or more reference signals, RSRP values ​​corresponding to the one or more reference signals, or signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) values ​​of the one or more reference signals.

[0161] Figure 6A schematic diagram illustrating a C-link beam maintenance / update procedure according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The NCR 60 may receive a TCI state list configuration. The NCR 60 may be configured with a TCI state list in a high-level parameter (e.g., maxNumberConfiguredTCSIstatesPerCC), wherein the TCI state list may include a maximum of N TCI state configurations, where N is a positive integer, and N may depend on the capabilities of the NCR 60. Each TCI state may include parameters for configuring a quasi-co-location relationship between one or more DL reference signals and a DM-RS port of a PDSCH, a DM-RS port of a PDCCH, or a CSI-RS port of a CSI-RS resource. For example, the TCI state list may include N TCI state configurations, wherein each TCI state configuration may include a TCI state ID (e.g., A1, A2, ..., or A N ) and the corresponding reference signal (eg, RS#1 corresponding to A1, RS#2 corresponding to A2, ... or RS#3 corresponding to A N The relationship between RS#N).

[0162] Figure 7 A schematic diagram illustrating a BH-link beam application according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0163] NCR 70 can be configured for C-link beams via RRC messages from gNB

[0164] TCI state list (eg, TCI state list 71). NCR 70 may select only one beam (eg, select one TCI state ID) from the TCI state list for the BH-link according to a MAC CE (eg, MAC CE 72) received by NCR 70.

[0165] Figure 8 A schematic diagram illustrating simultaneous downlink / uplink transmission according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. If NCR 80 does not support simultaneous transmission on the C-link and the BH-link (e.g., NCR 80 does not simultaneously transmit / receive on the C-link and the BH-link in the same set of symbols), if the NCR-MT of NCR 80 performs transmission on the time resource, the NCR-Fwd entity of NCR 80 may not perform transmission on the time resource. For example, the C-link may be implemented by RS#n+2, while the BH-link is implemented by RS#n, where RS#n and RS#n+2 are different reference signals. When NCR 80 supports simultaneous transmission on the C-link and the BH-link, NCR 80 may transmit or receive signals through the C-link and the BH-link simultaneously in a set of symbols. For example, both the C-link and the BH-link may be implemented by RS#n+2.

[0166] When the NCR 80 receives signals simultaneously over the C-link and the BH-link in a set of symbols, the TCI state used for reception on the BH-link in that set of symbols may be the same as the TCI state used for reception on the C-link. In other words, the NCR 80 may perform reception over the BH-link based on a quasi-co-location relationship, where the quasi-co-location relationship may be determined based on the TCI state indicated to the NCR 80. This TCI state may be included in the DL beam indication in the MAC CE. In other words, the NCR 80 may perform reception simultaneously over the C-link and the BH-link in a set of symbols, where the TCI state used for reception over the BH-link may be the same as the TCI state used for reception over the C-link.

[0167] When the NCR 80 transmits signals simultaneously over the C-link and the BH-link in a group of symbols, the spatial filter of the NCR 80 used for the BH-link transmission in the group of symbols may be the same as the spatial filter of the NCR 80 used for the C-link transmission. In other words, the NCR 80 may perform transmissions simultaneously over the C-link and the BH-link in a group of symbols, wherein the spatial filter used by the NCR 80 for the transmission over the C-link may be the same as the spatial filter used by the NCR 80 for the transmission over the BH-link.

[0168] Assume that the NCR 80 does not receive signals on the C-link and the BH-link simultaneously. That is, the set of symbols received by the NCR 80 from the C-link may be different from the set of symbols received by the NCR 80 from the BH-link. If the NCR 80 does not support determining the TCI state for reception on the BH-link based on an indication of the TCI state from the serving cell, or if the NCR 80 does not receive a TCI state indication for reception on the BH-link (for example, if the NCR 80 does not receive an indication of a unified TCI state for reception via the NCR-MT), reception on the BH-link may use the same QCL parameters as those received on the PDCCH in the CORESET with the lowest controlResourceSetId in the active DL bandwidth part (BWP).

[0169] In one embodiment, the NCR (or NCR-MT) may obtain the TCI status indication for reception on the BH-link from the TCI status list configuration received from the gNB.

[0170] If NCR 80 does not support determining the TCI state for reception on the BH-link based on an indication of the TCI state from the serving cell, but NCR 80 receives an indication of a unified TCI state for reception through NCR-MT, then the reception on the BH-link may use the QCL parameters (e.g., quasi-co-location relationship) provided by the indicated unified TCI state for reception by NCR-MT.

[0171] If NCR 80 supports determining the TCI status of reception on the BH-link based on an indication of the TCI status from the serving cell, and NCR 80 receives an indication of the TCI status for reception on the BH-link, the reception on the BH-link may use the QCL parameters provided by the TCI status in the NCR DL BH-link Beam Indication MAC CE.

[0172] Assume that NCR 80 does not transmit signals on the C-link and the BH-link simultaneously. That is, the set of symbols received by NCR 80 from the C-link may be different from the set of symbols received by NCR 80 from the BH-link. If NCR 80 does not support determining the spatial filter for transmission on the BH-link based on an indication of a unified TCI state or SRI from the serving cell, or if the NCR-MT does not receive an indication of a unified TCI state or SRI for determining the spatial filter for transmission on the BH-link (for example, if NCR 80 does not receive an indication of a unified TCI state for transmission by the NCR-MT), then the transmission on the BH-link may use the same spatial filter as the spatial filter associated with the PUCCH resource with the smallest pucch-ResourceId in the PUCCH-ResourceSet in the active UL BWP.

[0173] If NCR 80 does not support determining the spatial filter for transmission on the BH-link based on an indication of a unified TCI state or SRI from the serving cell, but NCR 80 receives an indication of a unified TCI state for transmission by the NCR-MT, then the transmission on the BH-link may use the spatial filter corresponding to the indicated unified TCI state, where the indicated unified TCI state is for transmission by the NCR-MT.

[0174] If NCR 80 does not support determining the spatial filter for transmission on the BH-link based on an indication of a unified TCI state or SRI from the serving cell, and NCR 80 receives an indication of a unified TCI state or SRI for determining the spatial filter for transmission on the BH-link, the transmission on the BH-link may use the spatial filter corresponding to the unified TCI state or SRI provided in the NCR UL BH-link beam indication MAC CE.

[0175] In one embodiment, the NCR-Fwd entity of the NCR 80 may use the same beam for transmission and reception on the access link during each time resource, where each time resource may be associated with the same beam index.

[0176] The NCR 80 or gNB can support semi-static beam indication for the BH-link. If the unified TCI framework is not used for NCR-MT, the DL beam can be indicated by a MAC CE to select a TCI state ID from the RRC-configured beam list for the C-link, or the UL beam can be indicated by a SRI on the C-link, where the SRI can be included in the MAC CE. If the unified TCI framework is used for NCR-MT, the DL or UL beam can be indicated by a MAC CE to select a TCI state ID from the RRC-configured beam list for the C-link.

[0177] Figure 9 A schematic diagram illustrating a core set and a service group (SS) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The NCR 90 can monitor the SS set used for the PDCCH based on the activated TCI state associated with the corresponding core set. An SS set can be associated with a core set, and a core set can be activated in a TCI state. One or more time resources (e.g., the first time resource or the second time resource in the following embodiments) can be indicated by the core set.

[0178] Figure 10 A schematic diagram illustrating a standalone NCR deployment according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and Figure 11 A schematic diagram illustrating an advanced NCR group according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 10 In this example, NCR 101 and NCR 102 are deployed independently. MT#1 of NCR 101 can communicate with the gNB via C-link C1. Fwd#1 of NCR 101 can communicate with the gNB via BH-link BH1. MT#2 of NCR 102 can communicate with the gNB via C-link C2. Fwd#2 of NCR 102 can communicate with the gNB via BH-link BH2. Issues with independent NCR deployments include control signaling overhead due to multiple NCR nodes in the same frequency band and limited UL scheduling flexibility due to fixed UL power control.

[0179] To improve the efficiency and flexibility of collaboration among multiple NCRs, this disclosure proposes an advanced NCR grouping solution. An NCR group may include at least one NCR-MT entity, which communicates with the gNB via at least one NCR node. For example, the line connecting NCR 101, NCR 102, and MT 103 indicates that MT 103 can communicate with NCR 101 or NCR 102 via a wired or wireless channel, and MT 103 can be shared between NCR 101 and NCR 102. When MT 103 wishes to communicate with the gNB, it can communicate with the gNB via the C-link C between NCR 101 and the gNB. For an NCR group (e.g., a group of NCR 101 and NCR 102), the number of NCR-MT entities used for communication with the gNB can be reduced. Therefore, control signaling overhead can be reduced, UL resource scheduling (e.g., co-scheduling with general UEs) can become more flexible, power consumption of C-link operation can be reduced, and BH-link operation can achieve greater flexibility (e.g., the BH-link does not need to cooperate with the C-link).

[0180] Features of the proposed NCR group may include: multiple NCRs within the NCR group can communicate with the network through one (or more) NCR-MT entities; each NCR in the NCR group can have an NCR-Fwd; or one NCR-MT can be activated to control the behavior of NCR-Fwds in multiple NCRs.

[0181] Figure 12 A schematic diagram illustrating operation mode A of an NCR group according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 13 A schematic diagram illustrating operation modes B and C of an NCR group according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The NCR group may include, for example, NCR 111, NCR 112, and NCR 113. When operation mode A is applied, the NCR group may access the C-link through one NCR node to communicate with the gNB. For example, the NCR group may access C-link C through NCR 111 to communicate with the gNB, wherein the NCR-Fwds of NCR 111, NCR 112, and NCR 113 may access BH-link BH1, BH-link BH2, and BH-link BH3, respectively, to communicate with the gNB, as shown in FIG. Figure 12 shown.

[0182] Compared to operation mode A, operation mode B or operation mode C can improve the reliability, diversity gain and robustness of the communication system. When operation mode B is applied, the NCR group can access the C-link through multiple NCR nodes (e.g., through NCR 111 and NCR 112) at the same time. Figure 13When operating mode C is applied, the NCR group can access the C-link through multiple NCR nodes (for example, through NCR111 and NCR112) using time-division multiplexing (TDM). Figure 13 The data transmission timeline 132 is shown in FIG.

[0183] Figure 14 This diagram illustrates a capability report for NCR group 140 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. NCR group 140 may include NCR#1, NCR#2, and NCR#3, and MTs may be shared among NCR#1, NCR#2, and NCR#3. In step S141, NCR group 140 may transmit a random access channel (RACH) preamble to the gNB via MSG1. In step S142, the gNB may transmit a random access response (RAR) to NCR group 140 via MSG2 in response to the RACH preamble. In step S143, NCR group 140 may transmit an RRC setup request to the gNB via MSG3 in response to the RAR. In step S144, the gNB may transmit an RRC setup message to NCR group 140 via MSG4 in response to the RRC setup request. In step S145, NCR group 140 may transmit an RRC setup complete message to the gNB via MSG5 in response to the RRC setup message. The NCR group 140 (or NCR-MT) may report the capabilities of the NCR group (or relay-related information) to the gNB via an RRC setup complete message, where the capabilities may include: NCRs with advanced functions (e.g., NCR grouping); the number of NCRs in the NCR group (e.g., the number of mutually associated NCRs); or the corresponding NCR ID of the NCR group (or the NCR ID of the NCR in the NCR group).

[0184] Figure 15 Schematic diagram illustrating beam application ambiguity according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. If multiple NCRs communicate with gNB via a single NCR node using C-link (e.g. Figure 12 (as shown in Figure 2), beam application ambiguity may occur. The CSI report may contain the same beam index (e.g., SSBRI) for different NCRs. If the beam index is applied to the channel / RS, it is unclear during the beam application phase which NCR should receive the channel / RS or process the C-link. For example, if NCR 151 and NCR 152 report the same beam index (e.g., SSBRI for RS#n) to the gNB, and this beam index is applied to the channel / RS, the gNB will not know which NCR (e.g., NCR 151 or 152) should process the C-link and receive the channel / RS.

[0185] Figure 16 This diagram illustrates beam management for a C-link by an NCR node according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. Assuming that both NCR 161 and NCR 162 report the same beam index (i.e., the beam index corresponding to RS#n) to the gNB, NCR 161 can use RS#n+1 for BH-link#1, and NCR 162 can use RS#n+2 for BH-link#2. RS#n can be received simultaneously by both NCR 161 and NCR 162 for the C-link. If the C-link is used by NCR 161, the beam for BH-link#1 can mimic the beam for the C-link. That is, NCR 161 can use RS#n to simultaneously transmit data on both the C-link and BH-link#1. NCR 161 may not use RS#n+1 for BH-link#1. On the other hand, if the C-link is used by NCR 162, the beam of BH-link #2 can mimic the beam of the C-link. That is, NCR 162 can use RS #n to simultaneously transmit data on the C-link and BH-link #2. NCR 162 does not need to use RS #n+2 for BH-link #2.

[0186] Figure 17 A diagram illustrating determination of a C-link beam index by a MT according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The MT may determine / report the NCR ID for the C-link in a new field of the CSI report, where the NCR ID may indicate the NCR to which the C-link is applied. For example, if the best beam measured by NCR 171 and NCR 172 is the same (e.g., RS#n), the MT may report the NCR ID to the gNB via the CSI report, where the NCR ID may indicate that one of NCR 171 and NCR 172 is applying the C-link using RS#n. In one embodiment, a fixed / predetermined / configured value in the new field of the CSI report may indicate no NCR ID recommendation.

[0187] Figure 18A schematic diagram illustrating a reporting restriction using one beam index in a CSI report according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. In one embodiment, one beam index in a CSI report may be associated with one NCR. If the beam indexes reported by different NCRs are the same, only the beam index with the highest beam quality may be reported. For example, assuming that NCR 181 and NCR 182 report the same beam index RS#n, if the first RSRP of RS#n measured by NCR 181 is greater than or equal to the second RSRP of RS#n measured by NCR 182, the MT may report a CSI report indicating that the beam index (e.g., SSBRI) of RS#n is associated with NCR 181. If the first RSRP of RS#n measured by NCR 181 is less than the second RSRP of RS#n measured by NCR 182, the MT may report a CSI report indicating that the beam index of RS#n is associated with NCR 182.

[0188] A UE (e.g., NCR-MT) may not expect that the number of RSs configured for CSI reporting is less than the number of NCRs in the NCR group. If the number of RSs configured for CSI reporting is less than the number of NCRs in the NCR group, the CSI report may include null information, where the null information may indicate that the NCR may not select the corresponding beam index. The null information may include the highest CRI / SSBRI value, the lowest CRI / SSBRI value, or the lowest RSRP / SINR value.

[0189] Figure 19 A schematic diagram illustrating concealed NCR node reception through NCR priority rules according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. If the CSI report contains the same index corresponding to different NCRs, the channel / RS corresponding to the beam index can be received by the NCR with a predetermined rule. For example, the channel / RS can be received by the NCR with the lowest NCR ID, the highest NCR ID, or the highest CSI quality among multiple NCRs. For example, assume that the NCR ID of NCR 191 is NCR#1 and the NCR ID of NCR 192 is NCR#2. If NCR 191 and NCR 192 report the same beam index (e.g., RS#n), NCR 191 with the lowest NCR ID (e.g., NCR#1) can process the C-link.

[0190] Figure 20A schematic diagram illustrating a control signaling transmission timeline corresponding to reception by a hidden NCR node according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The NCR-MT can configure an application time, where the application time is used to determine an NCR from multiple NCRs (e.g., the NCR with the lowest NCR ID, the highest NCR ID, or the highest CSI quality) according to a predetermined rule. The application time can start from the minimum symbol of the CSI report in the PUCCH / PUSCH (e.g., the application time can start at time point T0 and stop at time point T1). After the application time, the determined NCR can be used for the latest CSI report.

[0191] Figure 21 A schematic diagram illustrating NCR node reception by indicating an NCR ID associated with a TCI state according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. A CORESET may be enabled in a TCI state, or a CORESET may be associated with an NCR, wherein SS set monitoring associated with the CORESET may be received by the NCR with the enabled TCI state. For example, if the CORESET configuration 210 received by the NCR-MT includes the CORESET ID, the NCR ID of NCR#1, and the TCI state ID of the corresponding RS#n, then SS set monitoring associated with the CORESETID may be received by NCR#1 with the enabled TCI state ID (or RS#n). DL channels may be received by NCR#1 based on the NCR ID.

[0192] Figure 22 A schematic diagram illustrating a sublist for each NCR in a TCI state list according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. A TCI state list may include one or more sublists associated with one or more NCRs, respectively. The TCI state list may indicate the number of configured TCI states associated with each NCR or the total number of configured TCI states in the TCI state list, wherein the number of configured TCI states associated with a specific NCR may be less than or equal to the total number of configured TCI states in the TCI state list. For example, the TCI state list 220 may include a sublist for NCR#1, a sublist for NCR#2, and a sublist for NCR#3. The sublist for NCR#1 may include sublists for TCI state IDs A1, A2, ..., A n The sublist of NCR#2 may contain the TCI status IDs B1, B2, ..., B m The sublist of NCR#3 may contain the TCI status IDs C1, C2, ..., C kThe relevant information may indicate that the number of configured TCI states of NCR#3 is “k”, where “k” is a positive integer. It should be noted that n+m+k≤the maximum number of configured TCI states in the TCI state list 220.

[0193] Figure 23 A schematic diagram illustrating configuring a sublist for each NCR based on a bitmap according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The NCR-MT can be configured with a TCI state list and one or more bitstreams corresponding to different NCRs. The size of the TCI state list can be determined based on the parameter maxNumberConfiguredTCIstates. The size of the bitstream can be equal to the size of the TCI state list, where the mth bitstream can be associated with the mth NCR, and the nth configured TCI state in the TCI state list can correspond to the nth bit of the bitstream. If the nth bit of the mth bitstream is set to "1", the corresponding nth configured TCI state can be associated with the mth NCR. If the nth bit of the mth bitstream is set to "0", the corresponding nth configured TCI state may not be associated with the mth NCR. For example, if the bit corresponding to TCI state A1 in bitstream 231 is set to "1", the NCR can determine that TCI state A1 is associated with NCR#1. If the bit corresponding to TCI state B1 in bitstream 232 is set to "1", the NCR can determine that TCI state B1 is associated with NCR#2. If the bit corresponding to TCI state C1 in bitstream 233 is set to "1", the NCR can determine that TCI state C1 is associated with NCR#3.

[0194] Figure 24 This diagram illustrates configuring each NCR sublist based on a bitmap according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The NCR-MT can be configured with a TCI state list and at least one bitstream. The size of the TCI state list can be determined by the parameter maxNumberConfiguredTCIstates. The size of the bitstream can be equal to the size of the TCI state list. The nth configured TCI state in the TCI state list can correspond to the nth bit of the bitstream. If the nth bit of the bitstream is set to "1," the corresponding nth configured TCI state can be associated with the first NCR ID (e.g., NCR#1). If the nth bit of the bitstream is set to "0," the corresponding nth configured TCI state can be associated with the second NCR ID (e.g., NCR#2). For example, since the first bit of bitstream 240 is set to "1," the NCR-MT can determine that TCI state A1 corresponding to the first bit is associated with NCR#1. Since the second bit of bitstream 240 is set to "0," the NCR-MT can determine that TCI state B1 corresponding to the second bit is associated with NCR#2.

[0195] Figure 25 A schematic diagram illustrating configuring a sub-list for each NCR based on list segmentation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The NCR-MT can be configured with a TCI status list or a size list of one or more NCRs. The multiple sizes in the size list can respectively correspond to multiple NCRs (or multiple NCR IDs) in the NCR list. For example, assume that the size of the TCI status list is N+M, where N and M are positive integers. If the NCR is configured with a size list, and the size list indicates that the size of the TCI status list (or sub-list) of NCR#1 is equal to N, the NCR-MT can determine that the first N bits of the bit stream 250 of the TCI status list are related to NCR#1, and the remaining M bits of the bit stream 250 are related to NCR#2.

[0196] Figure 26 A schematic diagram illustrating configuring a sub-list for each NCR based on list segmentation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The NCR-MT can be configured with a TCI status list, the size of the TCI status list of one or more NCRs, or the starting position of one or more NCRs. For example, if the size of the TCI status list of NCR#1 is equal to N and the starting position of NCR#1 is the first bit, the NCR-MT can determine that N bits in the bit stream 260 of the TCI status list are associated with NCR#1, where the starting position of the N bits is the first bit of the bit stream 260. If the size of the TCI status list of NCR#2 is equal to M and the starting position of NCR#2 is the (N+1)th bit, the NCR-MT can determine that M bits in the bit stream 260 are associated with NCR#2, where the starting position of the M bits is the (N+1)th bit of the bit stream 260.

[0197] Figure 27 A schematic diagram illustrating configuring a TCI state with an NCR ID according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. An NCR-MT may be configured with one or more TCI state configurations, wherein each TCI state configuration may include a mapping relationship between a TCI state ID, a spatial QCL hypothesis, and an NCR ID. The NCR-MT may receive a downlink channel based on the NCR ID. For example, if the TCI state list 270 configured for the NCR-MT includes a corresponding TCI state ID A n and TCI status configuration of ID NCR1, then NCR-MT can use the NCR corresponding to ID NCR1 to correspond to TCI status ID A n The PDCCH is received in the activated TCI state.

[0198] Figure 28A schematic diagram illustrating a TCI state list for an NCR according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. An NCR-MT may be configured with one or more TCI state lists, wherein each TCI state list may be associated with an NCR or may be configured with an NCR. A CORESET may be enabled in a TCI state. A CORESET may be associated with a TCI state list ID, wherein SS set monitoring associated with the CORESET may be received by the corresponding NCR in an enabled TCI state. For example, an NCR-MT may be configured with a TCI state list 281 with a tag ID NCR#1 or a TCI state list 282 with a tag ID NCR#2. A CORESET may indicate that a control resource should be controlled by a TCI state list ID and that TCI state A has been enabled. n The corresponding NCR is used.

[0199] Figure 29 A schematic diagram illustrating beam reporting for each NCR according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The NCR-MT can be configured with the number of reporting beams for each NCR. For example, a CSI report can include two reporting beams for each NCR. Assume that the NCR group includes NCR#1, NCR#2, NCR#3, and NCR#4. The 1st CRI or SSBRI and 2nd CRI or SSBRI of NCR#1, the 3rd CRI or SSBRI and 4th CRI or SSBRI of NCR#2, the 5th CRI or SSBRI and 6th CRI or SSBRI of NCR#3, and the 7th CRI or SSBRI and 8th CRI or SSBRI of NCR#4 can be included in CSI report 290.

[0200] The number of RSs in the CSI report can be determined based on the number of reported RSs per cell and the number of cells. If the number of reported RSs per cell or the number of cells is greater than 1, the NCR-MT can use a report based on differential L1-RSRP. Specifically, the NCR-MT can include the maximum RSRP (or SINR) and the differential L1-RSRP (or SINR) in the CSI report, where the maximum RSRP can be quantized as a first value and the differential L1-RSRP can be quantized as a second value. The differential L1-RSRP value is based on the maximum measured RSRP.

[0201] Reference Figure 29 For NCR#1, the NCR-MT may include the first RSRP corresponding to the first CRI and the second differential RSRP corresponding to the second CRI in CSI report 290. The RSRP corresponding to the second CRI may be determined based on the second differential RSRP with reference to the first RSRP. For example, the RSRP corresponding to the second CRI may be equal to the sum of the first RSRP and the second differential RSRP.

[0202] In one example, the bit width of the RSRP / SINR field of a CSI report (e.g., CSI report 290) may be 7 bits. The bit width of the differential RSRP / SINR field of a CSI report may be 4 bits. The number of NCRs within an NCR group (e.g., the NCR group corresponding to CSI report 290) may be 4. The total bit width of the quality measurement (i.e., the total bit width of CSI report 290) may be (7+4)*4=44 bits.

[0203] Figure 30 A schematic diagram illustrating beam reporting based on CSI compression for NCR groups according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The NCR-MT can be configured with the number of reporting beams for each NCR within an NCR group. For example, a CSI report can include two reporting beams for each NCR. The CSI report can further include an NCR index sorting field for the corresponding NCR group. The NCR associated with a field in the CSI report can be determined based on the NCR index sorting.

[0204] For example, assuming an NCR group includes NCR#1, NCR#2, NCR#3, and NCR#4, the CSI report 300 corresponding to this NCR group may include: a first sublist including the 1st CRI, 2nd CRI, 1st RSRP, and 2nd differential RSRP; a second sublist including the 3rd CRI, 4th CRI, 3rd differential RSRP, and 4th differential RSRP; a third sublist including the 5th CRI, 6th CRI, 5th differential RSRP, and 6th differential RSRP; and a fourth sublist including the 7th CRI, 8th CRI, 7th differential RSRP, and 8th differential RSRP. A value of "00" in the NCR Index Order field indicates the order {NCR#1, NCR#2, NCR#3, NCR#4}. A value of "01" in the NCR Index Order field indicates the order {NCR#2, NCR#1, NCR#3, NCR#4}. A value of "10" in the NCR Index Order field indicates the order {NCR#3, NCR#1, NCR#2, NCR#4}. A value of "11" in the NCR Index Order field indicates the order {NCR#4, NCR#1, NCR#2, NCR#3}. If the value of the NCR Index Order field is "01," the first, second, third, and fourth sublists of the CSI report 300 may be associated with NCR#2, NCR#1, NCR#3, and NCR#4, respectively.

[0205] In one example, the bit width of the NCR index sorting field of the CSI report may be equal to where K NCRis the number of NCRs in the NCR group. The bit width of the RSRP / SINR field of a CSI report (e.g., CSI report 300) may be equal to 7 bits. The bit width of the differential RSRP / SINR field of a CSI report may be equal to 4 bits. The number of NCRs K in an NCR group (e.g., the NCR group corresponding to CSI report 300) NCR It may be equal to 4. The total bit width of the quality measurement (ie, the total bit width of the CSI report 300) may be equal to 2+7+7*4=37 bits.

[0206] Figure 31 A schematic diagram illustrating NCR reporting according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The NCR-MT may be configured with the number of reporting beams for each NCR within an NCR group. For example, a CSI report may include a reporting beam for one or more NCRs. The CSI report may further include one or more differential RSRPs (or SINRs) for each NCR, where the RSRP for each NCR may be determined based on the corresponding differential RSRP reference reporting beam. The CSI report may further include an NCR index sorting field for the corresponding NCR group. The NCR associated with the field in the CSI report may be determined based on the NCR index sorting.

[0207] For example, assuming an NCR group includes CRI / SSBRI index #1, CRI / SSBRI index #2, CRI / SSBRI index #3, and CRI / SSBRI index #4, and the CSI report 310 corresponding to the NCR group may include: a first sublist including the first NCR index, the second NCR index, the first RSRP, and the second differential RSRP; a second sublist including the third NCR index, the fourth NCR index, the third differential RSRP, and the fourth differential RSRP; a third sublist including the fifth NCR index, the sixth NCR index, the fifth differential RSRP, and the sixth differential RSRP; and a fourth sublist including the seventh NCR index, the eighth NCR index, the seventh differential RSRP, and the eighth differential RSRP. A value of "00" in the CRI / SSBRI index sorting field indicates the sorting of {CRI / SSBRI index #1, CRI / SSBRI index #2, CRI / SSBRI index #3, CRI / SSBRI index #4}. The value "01" of the CRI / SSBRI index sorting field indicates the sorting {CRI / SSBRI index #2, CRI / SSBRI index #1, CRI / SSBRI index #3, CRI / SSBRI index #4}. The value "10" of the CRI / SSBRI index sorting field indicates the sorting {CRI / SSBRI index #3, CRI / SSBRI index #1, CRI / SSBRI index #2, CRI / SSBRI index #4}. The value "11" of the CRI / SSBRI index sorting field indicates the sorting {CRI / SSBRI index #4, CRI / SSBRI index #1, CRI / SSBRI index #2, CRI / SSBRI index #3}. If the value of the NCR index sorting field is "00", the first sublist, second sublist, third sublist and fourth sublist of the CSI report 310 may be associated with NCR#1, NCR#2, NCR#3 and NCR#4, respectively.

[0208] Regarding CRI / SSBRI index #1, the RSRP corresponding to the second NCR index may be determined based on the second differential RSRP with reference to the first RSRP. For example, the RSRP corresponding to the second NCR index may be equal to the sum of the first RSRP and the second differential RSRP. Similarly, the RSRP corresponding to the third NCR index may be determined based on the third differential RSRP with reference to the first RSRP. For example, the RSRP corresponding to the third NCR index may be equal to the sum of the first RSRP and the third differential RSRP.

[0209] about Figures 1 to 31 If none of these schemes are configured for the UE, the UE can Figure 19 The scheme disclosed in the application is the default scheme.

[0210] Beam management of the C-link of an NCR group can be applied through multiple NCR nodes. Figure 32 Schematic diagram illustrating enabling simultaneous reception according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The same index (e.g., SSBRI) corresponding to different NCRs in an NCR group can be included in one CSI report. If the beam index is applied to the channel / RS (e.g., Figure 13 In the illustrated operation mode B), it is unclear how simultaneous reception is enabled. For example, if NCR 321, NCR 322, and NCR 323 report the same beam index (e.g., SSBRI of RS#n) to the gNB, and the beam index is applied to the channel / RS, the gNB will not know which two NCRs (e.g., NCR 321, NCR 322, or NCR 323) should handle the C-link and receive the channel / RS.

[0211] Figure 33 A schematic diagram illustrating the association of a beam index with a limited number of NCR nodes in a CSI report according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. If the same index (e.g., SSBRI) corresponding to different NCRs is included in a CSI report, a beam index may be associated with a limited number of NCR nodes in the CSI report, where the limited number is less than or equal to the total number of NCR nodes in the NCR group. An NCR group may be configured to include multiple NCR nodes in a CSI report, where the number of these NCR nodes may be associated with a beam index having the highest beam quality.

[0212] In one embodiment, the limited number of NCR nodes associated with a beam index may be determined based on measurement results (e.g., RSRP). If a first NCR node's measurement result for a particular beam index is greater than a second NCR node's measurement result for the same beam index, associating the particular beam index with the first NCR node may be prioritized over associating the particular beam index with the second NCR node. For example, assuming that an NCR group allows associating a beam index with a maximum of two NCR nodes in a CSI report, if NCR 331, NCR 332, and NCR 333 report the same SSBRI RS#n, the NCR-MT may need to select two NCR nodes from among NCR 331, NCR 332, and NCR 333. Since the RSRP of RS#n measured by NCR 331 and the RSRP of RS#n measured by NCR 332 are both greater than the RSRP of RS#n measured by NCR 333 , NCR-MT may associate SSBRI RS#n with NCR 331 and NCR 332 in the CSI report.

[0213] In one embodiment, the CSI report may include null information, which indicates that the corresponding NCR does not select a beam index. The null information may include the highest CRI / SSBRI value, the lowest CRI / SSBRI value, or the lowest RSRP / SINR value.

[0214] Figure 34 A schematic diagram illustrating hidden NCR node reception based on beam reporting according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. If the same index corresponding to different NCRs is included in the CSI report, the channel / RS corresponding to the beam index may be received by one or more NCRs according to a predetermined rule. The NCR-MT may be configured to select N NCR nodes (where N is a positive integer greater than one) from the M NCR nodes in the NCR group for simultaneous C-link reception / transmission, where M is a positive integer greater than or equal to N. The NCR-MT may select N NCR nodes with the lowest N NCR IDs (or the highest N NCR IDs, the lowest N CSI qualities, the highest N CSI qualities) from the NCR group. For example, assume that the NCR ID of NCR 341 is NCR#1, the NCR ID of NCR 342 is NCR#2, and the NCR ID of NCR 343 is NCR#3. If NCR 341, NCR 342, and NCR 343 report the same beam index (eg, RS#n), NCR 341 and NCR 342 having the lowest two NCR IDs (eg, NCR#1 and NCR#2) may process the C-link.

[0215] Figure 35 A schematic diagram illustrating hidden NCR node reception based on beam reporting according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. If the same index corresponding to N different NCR nodes (where N is a positive integer) is included in the CSI report, the NCR-MT can be configured to use the N NCR nodes for simultaneous C-link reception / transmission. The channel / RS can be received by the NCR nodes reporting the same beam index. For example, assume that the NCR ID of NCR 351 is NCR#1 and the NCR ID of NCR 352 is NCR#2. If NCR 351 and NCR 352 report the same beam index (e.g., RS#n), the channel / RS can be received by both NCR 351 and NCR 352.

[0216] Figure 36A schematic diagram illustrating NCR node reception by indicating an NCR ID associated with a TCI state according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. A CORESET may be enabled in a TCI state or may be associated with one or more NCRs, wherein SS set monitoring associated with the CORESET may be received by one or more NCRs with the enabled TCI state. For example, if the CORESET configuration 360 received by the NCR-MT includes the CORESET ID, the NCR ID of NCR#1, the NCR ID of NCR#2, and the TCI state ID of the corresponding RS#n, the SS set monitoring associated with the CORESET ID may be received by NCR#1 and NCR#2 with the enabled TCI state corresponding to the TCI state ID (or RS#n).

[0217] Figure 37 A schematic diagram illustrating a sublist for each NCR in a TCI state list according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Considering that a small number of beams cover one or more NCRs, a TCI state list may include multiple sublists associated with multiple NCRs, respectively. The number of configured TCI states associated with multiple NCRs or the total number of configured TCI states in the TCI state list may be indicated by the TCI state list, where the number of configured TCI states associated with multiple NCRs may be less than or equal to the total number of configured TCI states in the TCI state list. For example, the TCI state list 370 may include a sublist for NCR#1, a sublist for NCR#2, and a sublist for NCR#3.

[0218] The sublist of NCR#1 may contain the sublists of the TCI status IDs A1, A2, ..., A n The sublist of NCR#2 may contain the TCI status IDs B1, B2, ..., B m The sublist of NCR#3 may contain the TCI status IDs C1, C2, ..., C k The relevant information may indicate that the number of configured TCI states of NCR#3 is “k”, where “k” is a positive integer. It should be noted that n+m+k≤the maximum number of configured TCI states in the TCI state list 370.

[0219] Figure 38A schematic diagram illustrating configuring a sublist for each NCR based on a bitmap according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. An NCR-MT can be configured with a TCI state list and one or more bitstreams corresponding to different NCRs. The size of the TCI state list can be determined based on the parameter maxNumberConfiguredTCIstates. The size of the bitstream can be equal to the size of the TCI state list, where the mth bitstream can be associated with the mth NCR, and the nth configured TCI state in the TCI state list can correspond to the nth bit of the bitstream. If the nth bit of the mth bitstream is set to "1", the corresponding nth configured TCI state is associated with the mth NCR. For example, if the bit corresponding to TCI state A1 in bitstream 381 is set to "1", the NCR can determine that TCI state A1 is associated with NCR#1. If the bit corresponding to TCI state B1 in bitstream 382 is set to "1", the NCR can determine that TCI state B1 is associated with NCR#2. If the bit corresponding to TCI state C1 in the bitstream 383 is set to "1", the NCR may determine that TCI state C1 is associated with NCR#3.

[0220] Figure 39 This diagram illustrates configuring a sublist for each NCR based on a bitmap according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The NCR-MT can be configured with a TCI state list and at least one bitstream. The size of the TCI state list can be determined by the parameter maxNumberConfiguredTCIstates. The size of the bitstream can be equal to the size of the TCI state list. The nth configured TCI state in the TCI state list can correspond to the nth bit of the bitstream. If the nth bit of the bitstream is set to "1," the corresponding nth configured TCI state can be associated with the first NCR ID (e.g., NCR#1). If the nth bit of the bitstream is set to "0," the corresponding nth configured TCI state can be associated with the second NCR ID (e.g., NCR#2). For example, since the first bit of bitstream 390 is set to "1," the NCR-MT can determine that TCI state A1 corresponding to the first bit is associated with NCR#1. Since the second bit of bitstream 390 is set to "0," the NCR-MT can determine that TCI state B1 corresponding to the second bit is associated with NCR#2.

[0221] Figure 40A schematic diagram illustrating configuring a sub-list for each NCR based on list segmentation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The NCR-MT can be configured with a TCI status list or a size list of one or more NCRs. The multiple sizes in the size list can correspond to multiple NCRs (or multiple NCR IDs) in the NCR list. For example, assume that the size of the TCI status list is N+M, where N and M are positive integers. If the NCR is configured with a size list, and the size list indicates that the size of the TCI status list (or sub-list) of NCR#1 is equal to N, the NCR-MT can determine that the first N bits of the bit stream 400 of the TCI status list are related to NCR#1, and the remaining M bits of the bit stream 400 are related to NCR#2.

[0222] Figure 41 A schematic diagram illustrating configuring a sub-list for each NCR based on list segmentation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The NCR-MT can be configured with a TCI status list, the TCI status list size of one or more NCRs, or the starting position of one or more NCRs. For example, if the TCI status list size of NCR#1 is equal to N and the starting position of NCR#1 is the first bit, the NCR-MT can determine that N bits of the bit stream 410 of the TCI status list are associated with NCR#1, where the starting position of the N bits is the first bit of the bit stream 410. If the TCI status list size of NCR#2 is equal to M and the starting position of NCR#2 is the (N+1)th bit, the NCR-MT can determine that M bits of the bit stream 410 are associated with NCR#2, where the starting position of the M bits is the (N+1)th bit of the bit stream 410.

[0223] Figure 42 A schematic diagram illustrating a sublist for each NCR in a TCI state list according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. Considering that a small number of beams cover one or more NCRs, a TCI state list may include one or more sublists related to multiple NCRs. The number of configured TCI states related to multiple NCRs or the total number of configured TCI states in the TCI state list may be indicated by the TCI state list, where the number of configured TCI states related to multiple NCRs may be less than or equal to the total number of configured TCI states in the TCI state list. For example, TCI state list 420 may include sublists for NCR#1 and NCR#2.

[0224] The sublists of NCR#1 and NCR#2 may contain the sublists corresponding to TCI status IDs A1, A2, ..., A n The relevant information may indicate that the number of configured TCI states for both NCR#1 and NCR#2 is “n”, where “n” is a positive integer. It should be noted that n≤the maximum number of configured TCI states in the TCI state list 420.

[0225] Figure 43 A schematic diagram illustrating configuring a sublist for each NCR based on a bitmap according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The NCR-MT may be configured with a TCI state list and one or more bitstreams corresponding to different NCRs. The size of the TCI state list may be determined according to the parameter maxNumberConfiguredTCIstates. The size of the bitstream may be equal to the size of the TCI state list, where the mth bitstream may be associated with the mth NCR, and the nth configured TCI state of the TCI state list may correspond to the nth bit of the bitstream. If the nth bit of the mth bitstream is set to "1", the corresponding nth configured TCI state is associated with the mth NCR. For example, if the bitstream 431 corresponds to TCI state A n If the bit is set to "1", the NCR can determine the TCI status A n Related to NCR#1. If the bitstream 432 corresponds to TCI state A n The bit is also set to "1", then NCR can determine the TCI status A n Also related to NCR#2.

[0226] Figure 44 A schematic diagram illustrating TCI states configured with NCR IDs according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. An NCR-MT may be configured with one or more TCI state configurations, wherein each TCI state configuration may include a mapping relationship between a TCI state ID, a spatial QCL hypothesis, and an NCR ID. The NCR-MT may receive downlink channels based on the NCR ID. For example, if the TCI state list 440 configured for the NCR-MT includes a corresponding TCI state ID A n and TCI status configuration of ID NCR1, then NCR-MT can use the NCR corresponding to IDNCR1 to correspond to TCI status ID A n (or corresponding spatial QCL hypothesis RS#n) starts TCI state to receive PDCCH. If the TCI state list 440 configured for NCR-MT contains the corresponding TCI state ID A n' and TCI status configuration of ID NCR2, then NCR-MT can use the NCR corresponding to ID NCR2 to correspond to TCI status ID A n' (or corresponding spatial QCL hypothesis RS#n) receives PDCCH in the activated TCI state.

[0227] Figure 45A schematic diagram illustrating a marked TCI state list of an NCR according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. An NCR-MT may be configured with one or more TCI state lists, wherein each TCI state list may be associated with an NCR or may be configured with an NCR. A CORESET may be enabled with one or more TCI states. A CORESET may be associated with one or more TCI state list IDs, wherein SS set monitoring associated with the CORESET may be received by the corresponding NCR with the TCI state enabled. For example, an NCR-MT may be configured with a TCI state list 451 marked with ID NCR#1 or a TCI state list 452 marked with ID NCR#2. The CORESET may indicate that control resources should be received by NCR#1 corresponding to TCI state list ID#1 (i.e., NCR#1) with the TCI state enabled. n Application, or NCR#2 corresponding to TCI state list ID#2 (ie NCR#2) to start TCI state B n application.

[0228] Beam management of the C-link of an NCR group can be applied across multiple NCR nodes via TDM. Figure 46 Schematic diagram illustrating enabling simultaneous reception according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The same index (e.g., SSBRI) corresponding to different NCRs within an NCR group can be included in one CSI report. If the beam index is applied to the channel / RS via TDM (e.g., Figure 13 In the illustrated operation mode C), it is unclear how to enable simultaneous reception. For example, if NCR 461, NCR 462, and NCR 46M report the same beam index, and NCR 461 and NCR 462 are selected to handle the C-link, the gNB will not know how to allocate the first time resource and the second time resource to NCR 461 and NCR 462.

[0229] Figure 47A schematic diagram illustrating NCR reception based on a time pattern bitmap according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is provided. The NCR-MT may be configured with a periodic resource configuration, wherein the periodic resource configuration may include a periodicity (e.g., frame, half-frame, time slot, time slot group containing one or more time slots, symbol, symbol group containing one or more symbols, or ns), a periodic resource identifier, a symbol offset, a duration in symbols, or a beam index. The NCR-MT may further be configured with one or more bit streams. The size of the bit stream may be equal to the size of the periodicity. The mth bit stream may be associated with the mth time resource of the mth NCR. The nth time unit of the periodicity (e.g., time slot, symbol group, or half-frame) may correspond to the nth bit of the mth bit stream. If the nth bit of the mth bit stream is set to "1", the corresponding nth time unit may be associated with the mth NCR. If the nth bit of the mth bit stream is set to "0", the corresponding nth time unit may not be associated with the mth NCR. For example, if the bit corresponding to the 1st time slot in bit stream 471 is set to "1", the 1st time slot can be allocated to the first time resource. If the bit corresponding to the Nth time slot in bit stream 472 is set to "1", the Nth time slot can be allocated to the second time resource.

[0230] Figure 48 A schematic diagram illustrating NCR reception based on a time pattern bitmap according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is provided. If the bit corresponding to a specific time slot in a single bit stream is set to "1", the specific time slot may be associated with a single NCR corresponding to the bit stream. If the bits corresponding to a specific time slot in multiple bit streams are set to "1", the specific time slot may be associated with multiple NCRs corresponding to the multiple bit streams, respectively. For example, if the bit corresponding to the first time slot is set to "1" in bit stream 481 and is set to "0" in bit stream 482, the first time slot may be allocated only to the first time resource corresponding to bit stream 481. If the bit corresponding to the first time slot is set to "1" in both bit stream 481 and bit stream 482, the first time slot may be allocated to the first time resource corresponding to bit stream 481 and the second time resource corresponding to bit stream 482.

[0231] Figure 49A schematic diagram illustrating time resource configuration according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. An NCR can configure a time resource configuration, where the time resource configuration may include the periodicity of the time pattern received by the NCR node, a time resource ID, an NCR ID, a time offset (e.g., symbol, time slot, or ns), or a duration (e.g., symbol, time slot, or ns). For example, time resource configuration 490 may include a mapping relationship between time resource ID 1, symbol offset O1, and duration D1, and a mapping relationship between time resource ID 2, symbol offset O2, and duration D2. Time resource #1 corresponding to time resource ID 1 may be determined based on symbol offset O1 and duration D1, where the start time of time resource #1 may be determined based on offset O1. Time resource #2 corresponding to time resource ID 2 may be determined based on symbol offset O2 and duration D2, where the start time of time resource #2 may be determined based on offset O2.

[0232] In one embodiment, the NCR may be provided by periodicFwdRsrcSetToAddModList, which is a list of resource sets used for transmission or reception on the access link.

[0233] In one embodiment, a set of resources from a resource set list may be provided by NCR-PeriodicFwdResourceSet and may appear at a periodicity provided by periodicityAndOffset-r18.

[0234] In one embodiment, resources from a resource set may be provided by NCR-PeriodicFwdResource and may include pairs of time resources provided by periodicTimeRsrc and beams with indices provided by beamIndex.

[0235] In one embodiment, a time resource at the start of a slot may be offset from the start of the resource set period by the number of slots provided by periodicityAndOffset-r18. A time resource at the start of a symbol may be offset from the start of the slot by symbolOffset. A time resource may have a duration provided by durationInSymbols for the subcarrier spacing (SCS), where the SCS may be provided by referenceSCS and the cyclicPrefix of the active DL BWP.

[0236] In one embodiment, the NCR may be provided by semiPersistentFwdRsrcSetToAddModList, which is a list of resource sets used for transmission or reception on the access link. The NCR Access Link Beam Indication MAC CE command may indicate the resource sets to be used or stopped by the NCR based on the corresponding identification provided by semiPersistentFwdRsrcSetId.

[0237] In one embodiment, the resource set may be provided by NCR-SemiPersistentFwdResourceSet and may appear with a periodicity provided by periodicityAndOffset-r18.

[0238] In one embodiment, resources from the resource set may be provided by NCR-SemiPersistentFwdResource, which may include pairs of time resources provided by semiPersistentTimeRsrc and beams indexed by beamIndex, where beamIndex may be updated by NCR access link beam indication MAC CE command.

[0239] In one embodiment, a time resource at the start of a slot may be offset from the start of the resource set period by the number of slots provided by periodicityAndOffset-r18. A time resource at the start of a symbol may be offset from the start of the slot by symbolOffset. A time resource may have a duration provided by durationInSymbols for an SCS, where the SCS may be provided by referenceSCS and the cyclicPrefix of the active DL BWP.

[0240] In one embodiment, the NCR does not expect overlapping time resources provided by NCR-PeriodicFwdResourceSet or NCR-SemiPersistentFwdResourceSet to be associated with different beam indices.

[0241] Figure 50 A schematic diagram illustrating the association between a time pattern and an NCR node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 13In the illustrated operation mode C, if the CSI report includes the same beam index (e.g., RS#n) corresponding to different NCRs (e.g., NCR 501, 502, or 503), it is unclear how to schedule time resources for each NCR (e.g., time resources for RS#n). If the CSI report includes different beam indexes (e.g., RS#n, RS#n+1, or RS#n+2) corresponding to different NCRs (e.g., NCR 501, 502, or 503), it is unclear how to schedule time resources for each NCR (e.g., time resources for RS#n, RS#n+1, or RS#n+2).

[0242] Figure 51 A schematic diagram illustrating restricted beam reporting according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. If a CSI report includes the same index (e.g., SSBRI) corresponding to different NCRs, a beam index may be associated with a limited number of NCR nodes in the CSI report, where the limited number is less than or equal to the total number of NCR nodes in the NCR group. An NCR group may be configured to include multiple NCR nodes in the CSI report, where the number of NCR nodes may be associated with a beam index with the highest beam quality.

[0243] In one embodiment, the limited number of NCR nodes associated with a beam index may be determined based on measurement results (e.g., RSRP). If a first NCR node's measurement result for a particular beam index is greater than a second NCR node's measurement result for the same beam index, associating the particular beam index with the first NCR node may be prioritized over associating the particular beam index with the second NCR node. For example, assuming that an NCR group allows associating a beam index with a maximum of two NCR nodes in a CSI report, if NCR 511, NCR 512, and NCR 513 report the same SSBRI RS#n, the NCR-MT may need to select two NCR nodes from among NCR 511, NCR 512, and NCR 513. Since the RSRP of RS#n measured by NCR 511 and the RSRP of RS#n measured by NCR 512 are both greater than the RSRP of RS#n measured by NCR 513 , NCR-MT may associate SSBRI RS#n with NCR 511 and NCR 512 in the CSI report.

[0244] Figure 52A schematic diagram illustrating NCR hopping with a common TCI state according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is provided. The NCR group can configure a time resource configuration, where the time resource configuration can indicate one or more time resources in the time domain. If M NCR nodes can receive channels / RSs (where M is a positive integer greater than 1), the channel / RS received by the mth lowest NCR ID can apply to the mth time resource in the time domain, the channel / RS received by the mth highest NCR ID can apply to the mth time resource in the time domain, the channel / RS received by the NCR with the mth lowest CSI quality can apply to the mth time resource in the time domain, or the channel / RS received by the NCR with the mth highest CSI quality can apply to the mth time resource in the time domain, where 1≤m≤M. For example, assume that two NCR nodes can receive channels / RSs. The channel / RS received by NCR 521 with the lowest ID NCR#1 can apply to the first time resource, and the channel / RS received by NCR 522 with the second lowest ID NCR#2 can apply to the second time resource.

[0245] Figure 53 A schematic diagram illustrating hidden NCR node reception according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. If the CSI report contains the same index corresponding to different NCRs, the channel / RS corresponding to the beam index can be received by one or more NCRs according to one or more configured time resources. The NCR-MT can be configured to select N NCR nodes (where N is a positive integer greater than one) from the M NCR nodes in the NCR group for simultaneous C-link reception / transmission, where M is a positive integer greater than or equal to N. The channel / RS received by the mth low NCR ID can apply the mth time resource in the time domain, the channel / RS received by the mth high NCR ID can apply the mth time resource in the time domain, the channel / RS received by the NCR with the mth low CSI quality can apply the mth time resource in the time domain, or the channel / RS received by the NCR with the mth high CSI quality can apply the mth time resource in the time domain, where 1≤m≤M.

[0246] For example, assume that the NCR ID of NCR 531 is NCR#1, the NCR ID of NCR 532 is NCR#2, and the NCR ID of NCR 533 is NCR#3. If NCR 531, NCR 532, and NCR 533 report the same beam index (e.g., RS#n), NCR 531 and NCR 532 with the two lowest NCR IDs (e.g., NCR#1 and NCR#2) can handle the C-link. The channel / RS received by NCR 531 with the lowest NCR ID (i.e., NCR#1) can use the first time resource, and the channel / RS received by NCR 532 with the second lowest NCR ID (i.e., NCR#2) can use the second time resource.

[0247] Figure 54 A schematic diagram illustrating an NCR ID associated with a TCI state according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is provided. Assume that a CSI report includes the same beam index (e.g., RS#n) corresponding to different NCRs. If the beam index is applied to a channel / RS, the channel / RS received by the mth NCR (e.g., the NCR with the mth lowest NCR ID or the NCR with the mth highest NCR ID) may apply to the mth time resource in the time domain, where the channel / RS may indicate / enable / configure a TCI state. The TCI state may be associated with one or more NCR IDs. For example, if the CORESET configuration 540 received by the NCR-MT includes the CORESET ID, the NCR ID of NCR#1, the NCR ID of NCR#2, and the TCI state ID of the corresponding RS#n, then the SS set monitoring associated with the CORESET ID can be received by NCR#1 and NCR#2 in the enabled TCI state of the corresponding TCI state ID (or RS#n), where the first time resource can be allocated to NCR#1 with the lowest NCR ID, and the second time resource can be allocated to NCR#2 with the second lowest NCR ID.

[0248] Figure 55 A schematic diagram illustrating a sublist for each NCR in a TCI state list according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Considering that a small number of beams cover one or more NCRs, a TCI state list may contain multiple sublists respectively related to multiple NCRs. The number of configured TCI states related to multiple NCRs or the total number of configured TCI states in the TCI state list may be indicated by the TCI state list, wherein the number of configured TCI states related to multiple NCRs may be less than or equal to the total number of configured TCI states in the TCI state list. For example, TCI state list 550 may contain a sublist for NCR#1, a sublist for NCR#2, and a sublist for NCR#3.

[0249] The sublist of NCR#1 may contain the sublists of the TCI status IDs A1, A2, ..., A n The sublist of NCR#2 may contain the TCI status IDs B1, B2, ..., B m The sublist of NCR#3 may contain the TCI status IDs C1, C2, ..., C k The relevant information may indicate that the number of configured TCI states of NCR#3 is “k”, where “k” is a positive integer. It should be noted that n+m+k≤the maximum number of configured TCI states in the TCI state list 550.

[0250] Figure 56 Schematic diagram illustrating a sublist of each NCR in a TCI state list according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. A CORESET can be enabled or configured in one or more TCI states. The mth enabled / configured TCI state can be associated with the mth time resource. For example, if the CORESET configuration 560 received by the NCR-MT includes a CORESETID, a TCI state corresponding to RS#n, n TCI state ID, and corresponding to TCI state B for RS#n n The TCI state ID of RS#n is the TCI state A. n , and the second time resource of RS#n can apply TCI state B n .

[0251] Figure 57 A schematic diagram illustrating a TCI state configured with an NCR ID according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The NCR-MT may be configured with one or more TCI state configurations, wherein each TCI state configuration may include a mapping relationship between a TCI state ID, a spatial QCL hypothesis, and an NCR ID. The NCR-MT may receive a downlink channel based on the NCR ID. For example, if the TCI state list 571 configured for the NCR-MT includes a TCI state ID corresponding to TCI state ID A, the NCR-MT may receive a downlink channel based on the NCR ID. n and TCI status configuration of ID NCR1, then NCR-MT can use NCR corresponding to ID NCR1 to correspond to TCI status ID A n (or corresponding to spatial QCL hypothesis RS#n) in active TCI state to receive PDCCH. If the TCI state list 571 configured for NCR-MT contains the TCI state ID A corresponding to n' and TCI status configuration of ID NCR2, then NCR-MT can use NCR corresponding to ID NCR2 to correspond to TCI status ID A n' (or corresponding to spatial QCL hypothesis RS#n) in active TCI state to receive PDCCH.

[0252] A CORESET may be enabled or configured in one or more TCI states. The mth enabled / configured TCI state may be associated with the mth time resource. For example, if the CORESET configuration 572 received by the NCR-MT contains the CORESET ID, the TCI state A corresponding to RS#n, n TCI state ID and TCI state A corresponding to RS#n n' The TCI state ID of RS#n of NCR1 can apply TCI state A.n , the second time resource of RS#n of NCR2 can apply TCI state A n' .

[0253] Figure 58 A schematic diagram illustrating a labeled TCI state list for an NCR according to one embodiment of the present disclosure is provided. An NCR-MT can be configured with one or more TCI state lists, each of which can be associated with or configured by an NCR. A CORESET can be enabled in one or more TCI states. A CORESET can be associated with one or more TCI state list IDs, wherein SS set monitoring associated with the CORESET can be received by the corresponding NCR in an active TCI state, and the mth TCI state list can be associated with the mth time resource.

[0254] For example, the NCR-MT may be configured with a TCI state list 581 marked with ID NCR#1 or a TCI state list 582 marked with ID NCR#2. The CORESET may indicate that the control resource should be controlled in a TDM manner by NCR#1 corresponding to TCI state list ID#1 (i.e., NCR#1) in active TCI state A. n Application, and by the NCR#2 corresponding to the TCI state list ID#2 (ie NCR#2) in the active TCI state A n Application, wherein the first time resource can be allocated to NCR#1 corresponding to TCI status list 581, and the second time resource can be allocated to NCR#2 corresponding to TCI status list 582.

[0255] Figure 59 A schematic diagram illustrating the association between a time pattern and an NCR node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 13 In the operating mode C shown, if the CSI report contains different beam indices (e.g., RS#n, RS#n+1, or RS#n+2) corresponding to different NCRs (e.g., NCR 591, 592, or 593), it is unclear how to schedule time resources for each NCR (e.g., time resources for RS#n, RS#n+1, or RS#n+2).

[0256] Figure 60A schematic diagram illustrating NCR hopping for multiple TCI states according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. A CORESET can be enabled in multiple TCI states. It is assumed that the CSI report contains different beam indices corresponding to different NCRs. If more than one beam index is applied to a channel / RS, the channel / RS can indicate / enable / configure more than one TCI state, where each TCI state can be associated with one or more NCR IDs. A CORESET can have N TCI states configured / enabled, where N is a positive integer, and one of the N TCI states can be mapped to one NCR. The mth enabled / configured TCI state can be associated with the mth time resource. The channel / RS can be received by those NCRs according to a pre-configured time pattern.

[0257] For example, assume that the CSI report 600 contains the beam index RS#n of NCR#1, the beam index RS#n+1 of NCR#2, and the beam index RS#n+2 of NCR#3. If the CORESET is started / configured with two TCI states, the TCI state corresponding to RS#n is included. n and TCI state #A corresponding to RS#n+1 n+1 , the first time resource can be allocated to the state corresponding to the started TCI#A n RS#n, and the second time resource can be allocated to the RS#n corresponding to the activated TCI state#A n+1 RS#n+1.

[0258] Figure 61 A schematic diagram illustrating NCR hopping for multiple TCI states according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. A CORESET can be enabled in multiple TCI states. It is assumed that the CSI report contains different beam indices corresponding to different NCRs. If more than one beam index applies to a channel / RS, the channel / RS can be indicated / enabled / configured with more than one TCI state, where each TCI state can be associated with one or more NCR IDs. A CORESET can be configured / enabled with one TCI state, which can be mapped to one NCR. The CORESET can be configured with / associated with one of the configured time resources. The channel / RS can be received by those NCRs according to a pre-configured time pattern.

[0259] For example, assume that the CSI report 610 contains the beam index RS#n of NCR#1, the beam index RS#n+1 of NCR#2, and the beam index RS#n+2 of NCR#3. If CORESET#1 is in TCI state #A corresponding to RS#n n Startup / configuration, and CORESET#2 is in TCI state #A corresponding to RS#n+1 n+1Startup / Configuration, the first time resources can be allocated to the state corresponding to the started TCI#A n and RS#n of CORESET#1, the second time resource can be allocated to the RS#n corresponding to the activated TCI state#A n+1 and RS#n+1 of CORESET#2.

[0260] Figure 62 A schematic diagram illustrating SS set monitoring according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. A CORESET can be enabled in a TCI state. An SS set can be associated with more than one CORESET. An NCR-MT can configure an SS set, where an SS set can be configured with more than one CORESET. SS set monitoring associated with a CORESET can be received by the corresponding NCR in the enabled TCI state. For example, assume that CORESET #1 is configured with TCI state #A of RS #n. n , CORESET#2 is configured with TCI state #A of RS#n+1 n+1 , and CORESET#1 and CORESET#2 are configured to SS set 620 (ie, SS set #B). The SS set monitoring associated with CORESET#1 can be performed by the state corresponding to the activated TCI state #A. n NCR is received, and the SS set monitoring related to CORESET#2 can be performed by the corresponding SS set corresponding to the activated TCI state #A n+1 NCR received, where the first time resource can be allocated to TCI state #A n , and the second time resource can be allocated to TCI state #A n+1 .

[0261] Figure 63 A schematic diagram illustrating SS set monitoring according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. A CORESET can be enabled in a TCI state. Each SS set associated with the CORESET can be linked to a TCI state according to a time pattern. An NCR-MT can be configured with one or more SS sets, each of which can be linked to other SS sets through configuration. The two linked SS sets for each AL can be of the same SS set type (USS / CSS), have the same DCI format to be monitored, or have the same number of candidates. SS set monitoring associated with the CORESET can be received by the corresponding NCR in the enabled TCI state.

[0262] For example, assume that CORESET#1 is configured with RS#n's TCI state #A n And configured to SS set 631 (ie SS set #A), and CORESET #2 is configured with TCI state #A of RS #n+1 n+1And configured to SS set 632 (ie SS set #B). SS set monitoring of SS set #A related to CORESET #1 can be performed by the state corresponding to the started TCI #A n NCR reception, SS set monitoring of SS set #B related to CORESET#2 can be performed by the corresponding TCI state #A that has been started n+1 NCR received, where the first time resource can be allocated to TCI state #A n , and the second time resource can be allocated to TCI state #A n+1 .

[0263] Figure 64 A schematic diagram illustrating core set group monitoring according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. A core set can be started in a TCI state. A core set group can be configured with one or more core sets. An NCR-MT can be configured with one or more core sets, each of which can be configured with a core set group ID. The core set group ID can be configured with a time resource ID. Channels / RSs can be received by the hosted NCR according to a predetermined time pattern.

[0264] For example, assume that beam indices RS#n and RS#m reported by NCR#1 and beam indices RS#n+1 and RS#m+1 reported by NCR#2 are included in CSI report 640, where CORESET#1 and CORESET#3 are configured to CORESET group #1, and CORESET#2 and CORESET#4 are configured to CORESET group #2. A first time resource may be allocated to CORESET group #1, where TCI state #A n Applicable to first-time resources, TCI status #A n+1 Applicable to second time resources.

[0265] Figure 65 A diagram illustrating NCR capabilities according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The NCR can report one or more capabilities to the gNB, where the capabilities may include capability 0, capability 1, capability 2, and capability 3. Reporting capability 0 indicates that the NCR can operate in operating mode A (i.e., the operating mode corresponding to control signaling transmission timeline 651). Reporting capability 1 indicates that the NCR can switch between operating modes A and B (i.e., the operating modes corresponding to control signaling transmission timeline 652). Reporting capability 2 indicates that the NCR can switch between operating modes A and C (i.e., the operating modes corresponding to control signaling transmission timeline 653). Reporting capability 3 indicates that the NCR can switch between operating modes A, B, and C.

[0266] In one embodiment, the NCR may be configured with one or more operating modes according to the capabilities of the NCR.

[0267] In one embodiment, the NCR may be configured / activated / indicated in configuration of one or more operation modes via RRC, MAC CE, or DCI.

[0268] In one embodiment, the NCR may predetermine / configure a default operation mode (or default time resource configuration), for example, operation mode A.

[0269] If the NCR is not configured / enabled / indicated with one or more configurations of the operation mode, the NCR may apply OM to the C-link to communicate with the gNB.

[0270] Figure 66 A schematic diagram illustrating operating mode switching according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. For example, an NCR supporting capability 3 can switch between operating mode A (e.g., the operating mode corresponding to control signaling transmission timeline 661), operating mode B (e.g., the operating mode corresponding to control signaling transmission timeline 662), or operating mode C (e.g., the operating mode corresponding to control signaling transmission timeline 663) based on RRC messages. Furthermore, the NCR can switch between operating modes B and C based on MAC CEs.

[0271] Figure 67 A schematic diagram illustrating operation mode switching according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The NCR can switch between operation mode A (e.g., the operation mode corresponding to control signaling transmission timeline 671) and operation mode D (e.g., the operation mode corresponding to control signaling transmission timeline 672) based on MAC CE. When the NCR group applies operation mode D, the NCR group can access the C-link through more than one NCR node at the same time. In addition, the NCR group can access the C-link through multiple NCR nodes in a TDM manner. For example, NCR#1 and NCR#2 can perform control signaling transmission at the same time. In addition, NCR#1 and NCR#3 can perform control signaling transmission at the same time. Furthermore, NCR#2 and NCR#3 can perform control signaling transmission in a TDM manner, as shown in control signaling transmission timeline 672.

[0272] Figure 68A schematic diagram illustrating a restricted beam reporting scheme for an NCR-MT with capability 1 (e.g., the ability to switch between operating modes A and B) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The NCR-MT may be configured with one or more NCR nodes associated with a beam index in a CSI report. The NCR-MT may determine the number of NCR nodes associated with a beam index in the CSI report. If the number of NCR nodes associated with a beam index in the CSI report is equal to one, the NCR-MT may apply operating mode A (e.g., the operating mode corresponding to control signaling transmission timeline 681). If the number of NCR nodes associated with a beam index in the CSI report is greater than one, the NCR-MT may apply operating mode B (e.g., the operating mode corresponding to control signaling transmission timeline 682).

[0273] Figure 69 A diagram illustrating a restricted beam reporting scheme for an NCR-MT with capability 3 (e.g., the ability to switch between operating modes A, B, and C) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is provided. The NCR-MT may be configured with one or more NCR nodes associated with a beam index in a CSI report. The NCR-MT may determine the number of NCR nodes associated with a beam index in the CSI report. If the number of NCR nodes associated with a beam index in the CSI report is equal to one, the NCR-MT may apply operating mode A (e.g., the operating mode corresponding to control signaling transmission timeline 691). If the number of NCR nodes associated with a beam index in the CSI report is greater than one, the NCR-MT may determine whether a time mode for TDM-based NCR reception is configured for the NCR-MT. If a time mode is not configured for the NCR-MT, the NCR-MT may apply operating mode B (e.g., the operating mode corresponding to control signaling transmission timeline 692). If a time mode is configured for the NCR-MT, the NCR-MT may apply operating mode C (e.g., the operating mode corresponding to control signaling transmission timeline 693).

[0274] Figure 70A schematic diagram illustrating a restricted beam reporting scheme for an NCR-MT with capability 2 (e.g., the ability to switch between operating modes A and C) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The NCR-MT may be configured with one or more NCR nodes associated with a beam index in a CSI report. The NCR-MT may determine the number of NCR nodes associated with a beam index in the CSI report. If the number of NCR nodes associated with a beam index in the CSI report is equal to one, the NCR-MT may apply operating mode A (e.g., the operating mode corresponding to control signaling transmission timeline 701). If the number of NCR nodes associated with a beam index in the CSI report is greater than one, the NCR-MT may apply operating mode C (e.g., the operating mode corresponding to control signaling transmission timeline 702).

[0275] Figure 71 A schematic diagram illustrating a hidden NCR node reception scheme for an NCR-MT with capability 1 (e.g., the ability to switch between operating modes A and B) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The NCR-MT can be configured with one or more preset NCR nodes for C-link transmission / reception. The NCR-MT can determine the number of NCR node IDs (e.g., the lowest N NCR node IDs, where N is a positive integer) of the preset NCR nodes configured for C-link transmission / reception. If the number of NCR node IDs is equal to one, the NCR-MT can apply operating mode A (e.g., the operating mode corresponding to control signaling transmission timeline 711). If the number of NCR node IDs is greater than one, the NCR-MT can apply operating mode B (e.g., the operating mode corresponding to control signaling transmission timeline 712).

[0276] Figure 72A schematic diagram illustrating a hidden NCR node reception scheme for an NCR-MT with capability 3 (e.g., the ability to switch between operating modes A, B, and C) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The NCR-MT can be configured with one or more preset NCR nodes for C-link transmission / reception. The NCR-MT can determine the number of NCR node IDs (e.g., the lowest N NCR node IDs, where N is a positive integer) of the preset NCR nodes configured for C-link transmission / reception. If the number of NCR node IDs is equal to one, the NCR-MT can apply operating mode A (e.g., the operating mode corresponding to the control signaling transmission timeline 721). If the number of NCR node IDs is greater than one, the NCR-MT can determine whether a time mode for TDM-based NCR reception is configured for the NCR-MT. If a time mode is not configured for the NCR-MT, the NCR-MT can apply operating mode B (e.g., the operating mode corresponding to the control signaling transmission timeline 722). If a time mode is configured for the NCR-MT, the NCR-MT may apply operation mode C (eg, the operation mode corresponding to the control signaling transmission timeline 723).

[0277] Figure 73 A schematic diagram illustrating a hidden NCR node reception scheme for an NCR-MT with capability 2 (e.g., the ability to switch between operating modes A and C) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The NCR-MT can be configured with one or more preset NCR nodes for C-link transmission / reception. The NCR-MT can determine the number of NCR node IDs (e.g., the lowest N NCR node IDs, where N is a positive integer) of the preset NCR nodes configured for C-link transmission / reception. If the number of NCR node IDs is equal to one, the NCR-MT can apply operating mode A (e.g., the operating mode corresponding to control signaling transmission timeline 731). If the number of NCR node IDs is greater than one, the NCR-MT can apply operating mode C (e.g., the operating mode corresponding to control signaling transmission timeline 732).

[0278] Figure 74A schematic diagram illustrating NCR node reception based on NCR ID by an NCR-MT with capability 1 (e.g., the ability to switch between operating modes A and B) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The NCR-MT can configure one or more NCR nodes corresponding to TCI states and / or TCI state lists. The NCR-MT can determine the number of NCR nodes corresponding to the TCI states and / or TCI state lists based on one or more high-level configurations. If the number of NCR nodes corresponding to the TCI states and / or TCI state lists is equal to one, the NCR-MT can apply operating mode A (e.g., the operating mode corresponding to the control signaling transmission timeline 741). If the number of NCR nodes corresponding to the TCI states and / or TCI state lists is greater than one, the NCR-MT can apply operating mode B (e.g., the operating mode corresponding to the control signaling transmission timeline 742).

[0279] Figure 75 A schematic diagram illustrating NCR node reception based on NCR ID for an NCR-MT with capability 3 (e.g., the ability to switch between operating modes A, B, and C) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is provided. The NCR-MT may be configured with one or more NCR nodes corresponding to TCI states and / or TCI state lists. The NCR-MT may determine the number of NCR nodes corresponding to the TCI states and / or TCI state lists based on one or more high-level configurations. If the number of NCR nodes corresponding to the TCI states and / or TCI state lists is equal to one, the NCR-MT may apply operating mode A (e.g., the operating mode corresponding to the control signaling transmission timeline 751). If the number of NCR node IDs is greater than one, the NCR-MT may determine whether a time mode for TDM-based NCR reception is configured for the NCR-MT. If no time mode is configured for the NCR-MT, the NCR-MT may apply operating mode B (e.g., the operating mode corresponding to the control signaling transmission timeline 752). If a time mode is configured for the NCR-MT, the NCR-MT may apply operation mode C (eg, the operation mode corresponding to the control signaling transmission timeline 753).

[0280] Figure 76A schematic diagram illustrating NCR node reception based on NCR ID for an NCR-MT with capability 2 (e.g., the capability to switch between operating modes A and C) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The NCR-MT may be configured with one or more NCR nodes corresponding to TCI states and / or TCI state lists. The NCR-MT may determine the number of NCR nodes corresponding to the TCI states and / or TCI state lists based on one or more high-level configurations. If the number of NCR nodes corresponding to the TCI states and / or TCI state lists is equal to one, the NCR-MT may apply operating mode A (e.g., the operating mode corresponding to the control signaling transmission timeline 761). If the number of NCR nodes corresponding to the TCI states and / or TCI state lists is greater than one, the NCR-MT may apply operating mode C (e.g., the operating mode corresponding to the control signaling transmission timeline 762).

[0281] Figure 77 This diagram illustrates a time resource configuration according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. An NCR can be configured with one or more time resource configurations. A first time resource configuration 771 corresponding to a first OM (e.g., operating mode A) can be configured for the NCR to achieve power conservation. First time resource configuration 771 can include a mapping between time resource ID 1, symbol offset O1, and duration D1. Time resource #1 corresponding to time resource ID 1 can be determined based on symbol offset O1 and duration D1, where the start time of time resource #1 can be determined based on offset O1.

[0282] A second time resource configuration 772 corresponding to a second OM (e.g., operating mode B) can be configured for the NCR to improve reliability / diversity gain. The second time resource configuration 772 can include a mapping relationship between time resource ID 1, symbol offset O1, and duration D1, and a mapping relationship between time resource ID 2, symbol offset O2, and duration D2. Time resource #1 corresponding to time resource ID 1 can be determined based on symbol offset O1 and duration D1, where the start time of time resource #1 can be determined based on offset O1. Time resource #2 corresponding to time resource ID 2 can be determined based on symbol offset O2 and duration D2, where the start time of time resource #2 can be determined based on offset O2. NCR #1 and NCR #2 can access time resource #1 and time resource #2 simultaneously, respectively.

[0283] A third time resource configuration 773 corresponding to a third OM (e.g., operating mode C) can be configured for the NCR to improve robustness. The third time resource configuration 773 may include a mapping relationship between time resource ID 1, symbol offset O1, and duration D1, as well as a mapping relationship between time resource ID 2, symbol offset O2, and duration D2. Time resource #1 corresponding to time resource ID 1 can be determined based on symbol offset O1 and duration D1, where the start time of time resource #1 can be determined based on offset O1. Time resource #2 corresponding to time resource ID 2 can be determined based on symbol offset O2 and duration D2, where the start time of time resource #2 can be determined based on offset O2. NCR #1 and NCR #2 can access time resource #1 and time resource #2, respectively, in a TDM manner.

[0284] In one embodiment, the NCR may predetermine / configure a preset OM (or preset time resource configuration), such as operation mode A. If the NCR does not configure / activate / instruct one of the at least one time resource configuration, the NCR may apply the preset OM to the C-link to communicate with the gNB.

[0285] Figure 78 The following is a flow chart illustrating a beam management method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The method may be applicable to a communication device (e.g., a UE or NCR-MT) comprising an entity and a function, wherein the entity communicates with a network via a first link and the function forwards signals via a second link, wherein the first link is associated with a first transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state. In step S781, the entity receives a channel state information (CSI) report configuration. In step S782, the entity transmits a CSI report according to the CSI report configuration. In step S783, the entity receives a TCI state list configuration.

[0286] Figure 79 The following is a flow chart illustrating a beam management method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. This method is applicable to a communications device (e.g., a base station or gNB). In step S791, a channel state information (CSI) report configuration is transmitted. In step S792, a CSI report is received according to the CSI report configuration. In step S793, a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state list configuration is transmitted.

[0287] Figure 80 The following is a schematic diagram illustrating a communications device 800 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The communications device 800 may be, but is not limited to, an NCR, an NCR group, a UE, a cell TRP, a gNB, or a panel as described in the above embodiments. The communications device 800 may include a processor 801, a storage medium 802, and a transceiver 803. The processor 801 is coupled to the storage medium 802 and the transceiver 803 and is configured to access and execute multiple modules stored in the storage medium 802.

[0288] The processor 801 may be implemented using a programmable unit, such as a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a DSP chip, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), etc.

[0289] The storage medium 802 may be, for example, any type of fixed or removable random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), or the like, or a combination thereof, configured to record a plurality of modules or various applications executable by the processor 801. In one embodiment, the plurality of modules may include an NCR-MT entity or an NCR-Fwd entity.

[0290] The transceiver 803 can be configured to transmit or receive signals. The transceiver 803 can also perform operations such as low-noise amplification, impedance matching, frequency mixing, up- or down-frequency conversion, filtering, and amplification. The transceiver 803 can include one or more digital-to-analog (D / A) converters or analog-to-digital (A / D) converters configured to convert from an analog signal format to a digital signal format during uplink signal processing, and from a digital signal format to an analog signal format during downlink signal processing.

[0291] In summary, this disclosure provides a method for enabling cooperation among multiple NCRs. For an NCR group, the number of NCR-MTs communicating with the gNB can be reduced. Consequently, control signaling overhead can be reduced, uplink resource scheduling (e.g., co-scheduling with regular UEs) can be more flexible, C-link operation power consumption can be reduced, and greater flexibility in BH-link operation can be achieved (e.g., the BH-link does not need to cooperate with the C-link).

[0292] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, rather than to limit it. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the above embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the above embodiments, or replace some or all of the technical features therein with equivalents. However, these modifications or replacements do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A communication device comprising an entity and a function, wherein the entity communicates with a network via a first link, and the function forwards a signal via a second link, wherein the first link is associated with a first transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state, characterized in that: The entity is configured to perform: Receive channel state information (CSI) reporting configuration; transmitting a CSI report according to the CSI reporting configuration; and Receive TCI status list configuration. The communication device according to claim 1 , wherein the CSI reporting configuration comprises a reference signal list.

3. The communication device of claim 1, wherein the CSI report comprises at least one of: an identification of a reference signal, a reference signal received power (RSRP) value corresponding to the reference signal, or a signal-to-noise ratio corresponding to the reference signal.

4. The communication device of claim 1 , wherein the TCI state in the TCI state list configuration includes parameters for configuring a quasi-co-location relationship between a downlink reference signal and a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) port, wherein the DM-RS port corresponds to at least one of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), or a CSI reference signal (CSI-RS) port of a CSI-RS resource.

5. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the communication device is configured to: Reception is performed over the second link according to a quasi-colocation relationship, wherein the quasi-colocation relationship is determined according to a TCI state, wherein the TCI state is included in a downlink beam indication in a medium access control control element (MAC CE).

6. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the communication device is configured to: Reception is performed simultaneously over the first link and the second link in a group of symbols, wherein a second TCI state for reception over the second link is the same as a first TCI state for reception over the first link.

7. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the communication device is configured to: Transmission is performed simultaneously over the first link and the second link in a set of symbols, wherein a first spatial filter used for transmission over the first link is the same as a second spatial filter used for transmission over the second link.

8. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the communication device is configured to: Receiving is performed in a first set of symbols over the first link and in a second set of symbols over the second link, respectively, wherein the second set of symbols is different from the first set of symbols.

9. The communication device according to claim 8, wherein the reception through the second link is performed based on a quasi-co-location relationship, wherein the quasi-co-location relationship is determined according to a TCI state.

10. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the communication device is configured to: Transmissions are performed in a first set of symbols over the first link and in a second set of symbols over the second link, respectively, wherein the second set of symbols is different from the first set of symbols.

11. The communication device of claim 10, wherein transmission over the second link is performed using a spatial filter corresponding to a uniform TCI state.

12. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the communication device is configured to: Access the network as a repeater; and Transmit relay related information to the serving base station.

13. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the communication device is configured to: A periodic resource configuration is received, wherein the periodic resource configuration includes the following: periodicity, a periodic resource identifier, a symbol offset, a symbol duration, or a beam index.

14. The communication apparatus of claim 1, wherein the CSI report comprises at least one identification of at least one reference signal, wherein a number of the at least one reference signal is determined based on a number of reference signals reported per cell and a number of cells.

15. The communication device according to claim 14, wherein the communication device is configured to perform: In response to at least one of the number of reference signals reported by each cell and the number of cells being greater than one, differential reference signal received power (RSRP) is included in the CSI report. 16 . The communication device of claim 15 , wherein the CSI report further comprises a maximum measured RSRP, wherein the maximum measured RSRP is quantized as a first value and the differential RSRP is quantized as a second value. 17 . The communication device of claim 15 , wherein the CSI report further comprises a maximum measured RSRP, wherein the differential RSRP is referenced to the maximum measured RSRP.

18. A beam management method, applicable to a communication device comprising an entity and a function, wherein the entity communicates with a network via a first link, and the function forwards signals via a second link, wherein the first link is associated with a first transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state, characterized in that: The method comprises: receiving, by the entity, a channel state information (CSI) reporting configuration; transmitting, by the entity, a CSI report according to the CSI reporting configuration; and A TCI status list configuration is received by the entity.

19. A communication device, characterized in that: include: transceiver; as well as a processor coupled to the transceiver, wherein the processor is configured to perform: Transmit channel state information (CSI) reporting configuration; receiving a CSI report according to the CSI reporting configuration; as well as Transport Configuration Indicator (TCI) status list configuration.

20. A beam management method, applicable to a communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises: Transmit channel state information (CSI) reporting configuration; receiving a CSI report according to the CSI reporting configuration; and Transport Configuration Indicator (TCI) status list configuration.

Images