USER EQUIPMENT COMMUNICATION WITH ASSISTED DEVICE FOR Uu LINK ENHANCEMENT

Abstract

Aspects of the present disclosure provide apparatus, methods, processing systems, and computer-readable media for user equipment (UE) management of a secondary device for Uu link relays, such as, for example, a vehicle equipped with a reconfigurable smart surface (RIS) or a UE-controlled repeater. In some aspects of the disclosure, a secondary device may use sensor-based perception and machine learning capabilities to enhance control of a transmit mode configuration of the secondary device.

Description

[0001] Cross-references

[0002] This patent application claims priority to U.S. patent application No. 18 / 170,761, filed by Dutta et al. on February 17, 2023, entitled “USER EQUIPMENT COMMUNICATION WITH ASSISTING DEVICES FOR UU LINK ENHANCEMENT,” which is assigned to the assignee of this application and is expressly incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] Some aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communications, and more particularly to techniques for communicating with a user equipment (UE) for Uu link relaying with a secondary device, such as, for example, a vehicle equipped with a reconfigurable smart surface (RIS) or a UE-managed repeater. In some aspects of the present disclosure, the secondary device may utilize sensor-based perception and machine learning capabilities to enhance control over the secondary device's transmission mode configuration. Background Art

[0004] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, and broadcasts. These wireless communication systems may employ multiple-access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, etc.). Examples of such multiple-access systems include, for example, the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, the LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) system, the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, the Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) system, the Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) system, the Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) system, the Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) system, and the Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA) system, to name a few.

[0005] In some examples, a wireless multiple access communication system may include several base stations (BSs), each of which is capable of simultaneously supporting wireless communications for multiple communication devices (which may be referred to as user equipment (UE)). In an LTE or LTE-A network, a set of one or more BSs may define an eNodeB (eNB). In other examples (e.g., in next-generation, new radio (NR) or 5G networks), a base station (BS) of a wireless multiple access communication system may include several distributed units (DUs) (e.g., edge units (EUs), edge nodes (ENs), radio heads (RHs), smart radio heads (SRHs), transmit / receive points (TRPs), etc.) in communication with several central units (CUs) (e.g., central nodes (CNs), access node controllers (ANCs), etc.), wherein a set of one or more DUs in communication with a CU may define an access node (e.g., 5GNB, next-generation NodeB (gNB or gNodeB), transmit / receive point (TRP), etc.). The BS may communicate with a set of UEs on a downlink channel (e.g., for transmission from the BS to the UE) and an uplink channel (e.g., for transmission from the UE to the BS).

[0006] These multiple access technologies have been adopted in various telecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enables different wireless devices to communicate at a city, country, region, and even global level. NR (e.g., New Radio or 5G) is an example of an emerging telecommunication standard. NR is a set of enhancements to the LTE mobile standard released by 3GPP. NR is designed to better support mobile broadband Internet access by using OFDMA with a cyclic prefix (CP) on the downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) to improve spectrum efficiency, reduce costs, improve services, utilize new spectrum, and better integrate with other open standards. To this end, NR supports beamforming, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology, and carrier aggregation.

[0007] However, as demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, further improvements to NR and LTE technologies are needed. Preferably, these improvements should also be applicable to other multiple access technologies and the telecommunication standards that employ them. Summary of the Invention

[0008] Various aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for user equipment (UE) communication with a secondary device that relays a wireless communication link (denoted as a Uu link) connecting the UE and a base station (BS) over the air. The secondary device provides different transmission modes for relaying radio signals between the UE and the base station in the uplink and downlink directions. A local communication link between the UE and the secondary device facilitates communication to support management or control of the configuration of the secondary device for relaying Uu link signals. In some aspects, enhanced services are provided by leveraging the sensor-based perception and machine learning capabilities of the secondary device.

[0009] The systems, methods, and devices of the present disclosure each have several aspects, no single one of which is solely responsible for its desirable attributes. Without limiting the scope of the disclosure as expressed by the claims that follow, some features will now be briefly discussed. After considering this discussion, and particularly after reading the section entitled "Detailed Description," one will understand how the features of the present disclosure provide the advantages of desired communications that may include auxiliary devices using relaying of radio signals associated with a Uu link.

[0010] Certain aspects provide a method for wireless communication by a UE, the UE being configured to communicate with a secondary device that provides different transmission modes for relaying radio signals associated with a Uu link between the UE and a base station. The method includes establishing a local communication link between the UE and the secondary device; receiving transmission mode set information associated with a set of one or more active transmission modes for the secondary device; and communicating with the secondary device via the local link to select a transmission mode for the secondary device. The method also includes communicating with the base station via the Uu link relayed by the secondary device based on the selected transmission mode.

[0011] Certain aspects provide an apparatus for wireless communication. In some aspects, the apparatus is a user equipment (UE). The apparatus may include a memory and at least one processor. The at least one processor and the memory may be configured to communicate with an auxiliary device that provides different transmission modes for relaying radio signals associated with a Uu link between the apparatus and a base station. The at least one processor and the memory may be further configured to: establish a local communication link between the apparatus and the auxiliary device; receive transmission mode set information associated with a set of one or more active transmission modes of the auxiliary device; and communicate with the auxiliary device via the local link to select the transmission mode of the auxiliary device. The at least one processor and the memory may be further configured to: communicate with the base station via the Uu link relayed by the auxiliary device based on the selected transmission mode.

[0012] Certain aspects provide an apparatus for wireless communication. In some aspects, the apparatus is a user equipment (UE) apparatus. The apparatus may be configured to communicate with an auxiliary device that provides different transmission modes for relaying radio signals associated with a Uu link between the apparatus and a base station. The apparatus may include: a component for establishing a local communication link between the apparatus and the auxiliary device; a component for receiving transmission mode set information associated with a set of one or more active transmission modes of the auxiliary device; and a component for communicating with the auxiliary device via the local link to select a transmission mode for the auxiliary device. The apparatus may also include: a component for communicating with the base station via the Uu link relayed by the auxiliary device based on the selected transmission mode.

[0013] Certain aspects provide a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication. The code may include instructions executable by a processor associated with an apparatus configured to communicate with a secondary device, the secondary device providing different transmission modes for relaying radio signals associated with a Uu link between a UE and a base station. Furthermore, the code may include instructions executable by the processor to: establish a local communication link between the apparatus and the secondary device; receive transmission mode set information associated with a set of one or more active transmission modes for the secondary device; and communicate with the secondary device via the local link to select a transmission mode for the secondary device. Furthermore, the code may include instructions executable by the processor to: communicate with the base station via the Uu link relayed by the secondary device based on the selected transmission mode.

[0014] Certain aspects provide a method for wireless communication by a secondary device that provides different transmission modes for relaying radio signals associated with a Uu link between a user equipment (UE) and a base station, the method comprising: establishing a local communication link between the secondary device and the UE; transmitting transmission mode set information associated with a set of one or more active transmission modes of the secondary device; and communicating with the UE via the local link to select a transmission mode for the secondary device. The method also includes relaying signals associated with the Uu link between the UE and the base station based on the selected transmission mode.

[0015] Certain aspects provide an apparatus for wireless communication. In some aspects, the apparatus may be an auxiliary device that provides different transmission modes for relaying radio signals associated with a Uu link between a user equipment (UE) and a base station. The apparatus may include a memory and at least one processor. The at least one processor and the memory may be configured to: establish a local communication link between the apparatus and the UE; transmit transmission mode set information associated with a set of one or more active transmission modes of the apparatus; communicate with the UE via the local link; and select a transmission mode for the apparatus. The at least one processor and the memory may be further configured to: relay signals associated with the Uu link between the UE and the base station based on the selected transmission mode.

[0016] Certain aspects provide an apparatus for wireless communication. In some aspects, the apparatus may be an auxiliary device that provides different transmission modes for relaying radio signals associated with a Uu link between a user equipment (UE) and a base station. The apparatus may include: a component for establishing a local communication link between the apparatus and the UE; a component for transmitting transmission mode set information associated with a set of one or more active transmission modes of the apparatus; and a component for communicating with the UE via the local link to select a transmission mode for the apparatus. The apparatus may also include: a component for relaying signals associated with the Uu link between the UE and the base station based on the selected transmission mode.

[0017] Certain aspects provide a non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores code for wireless communication. The code may include instructions that can be executed by a processor associated with an apparatus for wireless communication. In some aspects, the apparatus may be an auxiliary device that provides different transmission modes for relaying radio signals associated with a Uu link between a user equipment (UE) and a base station. In addition, the code may include instructions that can be executed by a processor to perform the following operations: establish a local communication link between the apparatus and the UE; send transmission mode set information associated with a set of one or more active transmission modes of the apparatus; and communicate with the UE via the local link to select the transmission mode of the apparatus. The code may also include instructions that can be executed by a processor to perform the following operations: relay signals associated with the Uu link between the UE and the base station based on the selected transmission mode.

[0018] To achieve the foregoing and related ends, the one or more aspects include the features fully described below and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the accompanying drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative features of the one or more aspects. However, these features are indicative of only some of the various ways in which the principles of the various aspects can be employed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] In order that the above-mentioned features of the present disclosure may be understood in detail, a more particular description, briefly summarized above, may be obtained by reference to some aspects thereof illustrated in the accompanying drawings. It should be noted, however, that the drawings illustrate only certain typical aspects of the present disclosure and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, as the description may admit to other equally effective aspects.

[0020] Figure 1 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example wireless system in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0021] Figure 2 An example application of a reconfigurable smart surface (RIS) based auxiliary device in an automotive use case according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0022] Figure 3 An example application is illustrated of how a layer 1 (L1) repeater, such as a smart transponder, can be used to help improve coverage by overcoming obstructions in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0023] Figure 4 An example architecture of an L1 relay according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0024] Figure 5 Example applications of smart forwarder-based auxiliary devices according to aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated.

[0025] Figure 6 Illustrated are example operations that may be performed by a UE configured to communicate with a secondary device in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0026] Figure 7 Example operations that may be performed by a secondary device in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated.

[0027] To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures. It is contemplated that elements disclosed in one aspect may be beneficially utilized on other aspects without specific recitation. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] Figure 1An example of a wireless communication system 100 that supports methods according to various aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. The wireless communication system 100 may include a base station 105, a UE 115, and a core network 130. In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 may be a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, an Advanced LTE (LTE-A) network, an LTE-A Pro network, or a New Radio (NR) network. In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 may support enhanced broadband communication, ultra-reliable (e.g., mission-critical) communication, low-latency communication, communication with low-cost and low-complexity devices, or any combination thereof.

[0029] Each base station 105 can be dispersed throughout a geographical area to form the wireless communication system 100 and can be a device of different forms or with different capabilities. In some aspects, the terms "base station" (e.g., base station 105) or "network node" or "network entity" can be used interchangeably and can refer to an aggregated base station, a decomposed base station, an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, a relay node and / or one or more components thereof. For example, in some aspects, a "base station," "network node," or "network entity" can refer to a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a radio unit (RU), a near real-time (near RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC), or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC, or a combination thereof. In some aspects, the terms "base station," "network node," or "network entity" can refer to a device configured to perform one or more functions, such as those described herein in conjunction with the base station 105. In some aspects, the terms "base station," "network node," or "network entity" can refer to a plurality of devices configured to perform one or more functions. For example, in some distributed systems, each of several different devices (which may be located in the same geographical location or different geographical locations) may be configured to perform at least a portion of a function, or to repeat the execution of at least a portion of the function, and the terms "base station," "network node," or "network entity" may refer to any one or more of these different devices. In some aspects, the terms "base station," "network node," or "network entity" may refer to one or more virtual base stations and / or one or more virtual base station functions. For example, in some aspects, two or more base station functions may be instantiated on a single device. In some aspects, the terms "base station," "network node," or "network entity" may refer to one of the base station functions, rather than another base station function. In this way, a single device may include more than one base station.

[0030] Base station 105 and UE 115 can communicate wirelessly via one or more communication links 125. For NR systems, an NR-Uu interface connects UE 115 (e.g., a 5G NR-capable UE) to a base station (such as a gNB) over the air. In some examples, communication link 125 can therefore be a Uu link, such as an NR-Uu link. For LTE systems, an LTE-Uu interface connects UE 115 (e.g., an LTE-capable UE) to a base station. In some examples, communication link 125 can therefore be a Uu link, such as an LTE-Uu link. Each base station 105 can provide a coverage area 110 over which UE 115 and base station 105 can establish a communication link 125. Coverage area 110 can be an example of a geographic area over which base station 105 and UE 115 support signal communication according to one or more radio access technologies. In some examples, base station 105 can be mobile and, therefore, provide communication coverage for a mobile geographic coverage area 110. In some examples, different geographic coverage areas 110 associated with different technologies may overlap, but the different geographic coverage areas 110 may be supported by the same base station 105. In other examples, overlapping geographic coverage areas 110 associated with different technologies may be supported by different base stations 105. The wireless communication system 100 may include, for example, a heterogeneous network in which different types of base stations 105 provide coverage for various geographic coverage areas 110 using the same or different radio access technologies.

[0031] Each base station 105 can provide communication coverage via one or more cells (e.g., macro cells, small cells, hot spots, or other types of cells, or various combinations thereof). The term "cell" can refer to a logical communication entity used to communicate with the base station 105 (e.g., via a carrier) and can be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCID), a virtual cell identifier (VCID), or other) used to distinguish adjacent cells. In some examples, a cell can also refer to a geographic coverage area 110 or a portion of a geographic coverage area 110 (e.g., a sector) on which the logical communication entity operates. The range of such a cell can range from a smaller area (e.g., a structure, a subset of a structure) to a larger area depending on various factors (such as the capabilities of the base station 105). For example, a cell can be or include a building, a subset of a building, an external space between or overlapping the geographic coverage area 110, and the like.

[0032] A macro cell typically covers a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and may allow unrestricted access to UEs 115 that have a service subscription with a network provider that supports the macro cell. A small cell may be associated with a lower power base station 105 (compared to a macro cell), and the small cell may operate in the same or different (e.g., licensed, unlicensed) spectrum band as the macro cell. A small cell may provide unrestricted access to UEs 115 that have a service subscription with the network provider, or may provide restricted access to UEs 115 associated with the small cell (e.g., UEs 115 in a closed subscriber group (CSG), UEs 115 associated with users in a home or office, etc.). A base station 105 may support one or more cells and may also use one or more component carriers to support communications on one or more cells.

[0033] One or more of base stations 105 may include or may be referred to by one of ordinary skill in the art as a base transceiver station, a radio base station, an access point, a radio transceiver, a NodeB, an eNodeB (eNB), a next-generation NodeB, or a gigabit NodeB (any of which may be referred to as a gNB), a Home NodeB, a Home eNodeB, or other appropriate terminology. A gNB may include a gNB Central Unit (gNB-CU) and one or more gNB Distributed Units (gNB-DUs). The gNB-CU terminates the F1 interface with the gNB-DU. Operation of the gNB-DU is controlled in part by the gNB-CU. A gNB-DU may support one or more cells. A cell may be supported by a gNB-DU.

[0034] The UEs 115 may be dispersed throughout the coverage area 110 of the wireless communication system 100, and each UE 115 may be stationary or mobile, or stationary and mobile at different times. The UEs 115 may be devices in different forms or with different capabilities. Figure 1 Some example UEs 115 are illustrated. The UEs 115 may be capable of communicating with various types of devices, such as other UEs 115, base stations 105, or network equipment (e.g., core network nodes, relays, integrated access and backhaul (IAB) nodes, or other network equipment), as described with reference to FIG. Figure 1 shown.

[0035] Base stations 105 can communicate with core network 130, with each other, or both. For example, base stations 105 can interface with core network 130 via backhaul links 120 (e.g., via S1, N2, N3, or other interfaces). Base stations 105 can communicate with each other directly (e.g., directly between base stations 105), indirectly (e.g., via core network 130), or both directly and indirectly via backbone links 120 (e.g., via X2, Xn, or other interfaces). In some examples, backhaul links 120 can be or include one or more wireless links.

[0036] UE 115 may include or may be referred to as a mobile device, a wireless device, a remote device, a handheld device, or a subscriber device, or some other suitable terminology, where "device" may also be referred to as a unit, a station, a terminal, or a client, etc. UE 115 may also include or may be referred to as a personal electronic device, such as a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, or a personal computer. In some examples, UE 115 may include or may be referred to as a wireless local loop (WLL) station, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, an Internet of Everything (IoE) device, or a machine type communication (MTC) device, etc., which may be implemented in various objects such as appliances or vehicles, meters, etc.

[0037] UE 115 may be able to communicate with various types of devices, such as other UEs 115, which may sometimes act as relays, as well as base stations 105 and network equipment, including macro eNBs or gNBs, small cell eNBs or gNBs, or relay base stations, etc., as described in reference Figure 1As shown. The UE 115 and the base station 105 can communicate wirelessly with each other via one or more communication links 125 on one or more carriers. In some examples, the carrier can support multiple cells, and different cells can be configured according to different protocol types that can provide access to different types of devices (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or other protocol types). The term "carrier" can refer to a set of radio frequency spectrum resources that has a defined physical layer structure for supporting the communication link 125. For example, a carrier for the communication link 125 can include a portion of a radio spectrum band that operates according to a physical layer channel for a given radio access technology (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR). Each physical layer channel can carry acquisition signaling (e.g., synchronization signals, system information), control signaling to coordinate carrier operation, user data, or other signaling. In some examples, the receive and transmit bands of the UE 115 may not need to be as large as the bandwidth of the cell and may be adjusted in a process that may be referred to as bandwidth adaptation (BA), i.e., the width may be commanded to change (e.g., shrink during periods of low activity to save power), the location may be moved in the frequency domain (e.g., to increase scheduling flexibility), and the subcarrier spacing may be commanded to change (e.g., to allow different services). A subset of the total cell bandwidth of a cell may be referred to as a bandwidth part (BWP), and BA may be implemented by configuring the UE with a BWP and informing the UE which of the configured BWPs is currently the active BWP.

[0038] The wireless communication system 100 may support the use of carrier aggregation or multi-carrier operation to communicate with the UE 115. Depending on the carrier aggregation configuration, the UE 115 may be configured with multiple downlink component carriers and one or more uplink component carriers. Carrier aggregation may be used for both frequency division duplex (FDD) and time division duplex (TDD) component carriers.

[0039] In some examples (e.g., in a carrier aggregation configuration), a carrier may also have acquisition signaling or control signaling that coordinates the operation of other carriers. A carrier may be associated with a frequency channel (e.g., an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number (EARFCN)) and may be positioned according to a channel grid for discovery by a UE 115. A carrier may operate in a standalone mode in which initial acquisition and connection may be made by a UE 115 via the carrier, or a carrier may operate in a non-standalone mode in which connections are anchored using different carriers (e.g., different carriers of the same or different radio access technologies).

[0040] The communication link 125 shown in the wireless communication system 100 may include uplink transmissions from the UE 115 to the base station 105, or downlink transmissions from the base station 105 to the UE 115. A carrier may carry downlink or uplink communications (e.g., in FDD mode) or may be configured to carry both downlink and uplink communications (e.g., in TDD mode).

[0041] A carrier can be associated with a particular bandwidth of radio frequency spectrum, and in some examples, the carrier bandwidth can be referred to as the "system bandwidth" of the carrier or wireless communication system 100. For example, the carrier bandwidth can be one of a determined number of bandwidths (e.g., 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 40, or 80 megahertz (MHz)) of a carrier for a particular radio access technology. Devices of the wireless communication system 100 (e.g., base station 105, UE 115, or both) can have a hardware configuration that supports communication on a particular carrier bandwidth, or can be configurable to support communication on one of a set of carrier bandwidths. In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 can include base stations 105 and UEs 115 that support simultaneous communication via carriers associated with multiple carrier bandwidths. In some examples, each served UE 115 can be configured to operate on a portion (e.g., subband, BWP) or all of the carrier bandwidth.

[0042] The signal waveform transmitted on the carrier may be composed of multiple subcarriers (e.g., using a multicarrier modulation (MCM) technique such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) or discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM)). In a system employing MCM techniques, a resource element may be composed of one symbol period (e.g., the duration of one modulation symbol) and one subcarrier, where the symbol period and subcarrier spacing are inversely related. The number of bits carried by each resource element may depend on the modulation scheme (e.g., the order of the modulation scheme, the coding rate of the modulation scheme, or both). Therefore, the more resource elements received by the UE 115 and the higher the order of the modulation scheme, the higher the data rate for the UE 115 may be. Wireless communication resources may refer to a combination of radio frequency spectrum resources, time resources, and spatial resources (e.g., spatial layers or beams), and the use of multiple spatial layers may further improve the data rate or data integrity of communications with the UE 115.

[0043] One or more parameter sets for a carrier may be supported, where the parameter set may include a subcarrier spacing (Δf) and a cyclic prefix. A carrier may be divided into BWPs with the same or different parameter sets. In some examples, a UE 115 may be configured with multiple BWPs. In some examples, a single BWP for a carrier may be active at a given time, and communications to a UE 115 may be restricted to the active BWP. A time interval for a base station 105 or a UE 115 may be expressed in multiples of a base time unit, which may be, for example, a sampling period T. s =1 / (Δf max ·N f ) seconds, where Δf max It can represent the maximum supported subcarrier spacing, and N f The maximum supported discrete Fourier transform (DFT) size may be indicated. Time intervals of communication resources may be organized according to radio frames, each having a specific duration (e.g., 10 milliseconds (ms)). Each radio frame may be identified by a system frame number (SFN) (e.g., ranging from 0 to 1023).

[0044] Each frame may include a plurality of consecutively numbered subframes or time slots, and each subframe or time slot may have the same duration. In some examples, a frame may be divided into subframes (e.g., in the time domain), and each subframe may be further divided into a number of time slots. Alternatively, each frame may include a variable number of time slots, and the number of time slots may depend on the subcarrier spacing. Each time slot may include a number of symbol periods (e.g., depending on the length of a cyclic prefix added before each symbol period). In some wireless communication systems 100, a time slot may be further divided into a plurality of mini-time slots containing one or more symbols. Excluding the cyclic prefix, each symbol period may contain one or more (e.g., N f The duration of a symbol period may depend on the subcarrier spacing or the operating spectrum band.

[0045] A subframe, slot, mini-slot, or symbol may be the smallest scheduling unit (e.g., in the time domain) of the wireless communication system 100 and may be referred to as a Transmit Time Interval (TTI). In some examples, the TTI duration (e.g., the number of symbol periods in a TTI) may be variable. Additionally or alternatively, the smallest scheduling unit of the wireless communication system 100 may be dynamically selected (e.g., in the form of bursts of shortened TTIs (sTTIs)).

[0046] Physical channels can be multiplexed on a carrier according to various techniques. Physical control channels and physical data channels can be multiplexed on a downlink carrier using, for example, time division multiplexing (TDM), frequency division multiplexing (FDM), or a hybrid TDM-FDM technique. A control region (e.g., a control resource set (CORESET)) for a physical control channel can be defined by a number of symbol periods and can extend across the system bandwidth or a subset of the system bandwidth of a carrier. One or more control regions (e.g., CORESETs) can be configured for a set of UEs 115. For example, a UE 115 can monitor or search a control region for control information according to one or more search space sets, and each search space set can include one or more control channel candidates in one or more aggregation levels arranged in a cascaded manner. The aggregation level for a control channel candidate can refer to the number of control channel resources (e.g., control channel elements (CCEs)) associated with the encoded information for a control information format with a given payload size. A search space set can include a common search space set configured for transmitting control information to multiple UEs 115 and a UE-specific search space set for transmitting control information to a specific UE 115.

[0047] The wireless communication system 100 can support synchronous or asynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, the base stations 105 can have similar frame timing, and transmissions from different base stations 105 can be approximately aligned in time. For asynchronous operation, the base stations 105 can have different frame timing, and in some examples, transmissions from different base stations 105 can not be aligned in time. These techniques can be used for synchronous operation or asynchronous operation.

[0048] Some UEs 115, such as MTC devices or IoT devices, may be low-cost or low-complexity devices and may provide automated communication between machines (e.g., via machine-to-machine (M2M) communication). M2M communication or MTC may refer to data communication technology that allows devices to communicate with each other or with a base station 105 without human intervention. In some examples, M2M communication or MTC may include communication from devices that integrate sensors or meters to measure or capture information and relay such information to a central server or application that utilizes the information or presents it to a person interacting with the application. Some UEs 115 may be designed to collect information or enable automated behavior of machines or other equipment. Examples of applications for MTC devices include smart metering, inventory monitoring, water level monitoring, equipment monitoring, healthcare monitoring, wildlife monitoring, weather and geological event monitoring, fleet management and tracking, remote security sensing, physical access control, and transaction-based business charging.

[0049] Some UEs 115 may be configured to employ an operating mode for reducing power consumption, such as half-duplex communication (e.g., a mode that supports unidirectional communication via transmission or reception but not simultaneous transmission and reception). In some examples, half-duplex communication may be performed at a reduced peak rate. Other power saving techniques for UEs 115 include entering a power-saving deep sleep mode when not engaged in active communication, operating over a limited bandwidth (e.g., according to narrowband communication), or a combination of these techniques. For example, some UEs 115 may be configured to operate using a narrowband protocol type that is associated with a defined portion or range (e.g., a subcarrier or resource block (RB) set) within a carrier, within a guard band of a carrier, or outside a carrier.

[0050] The wireless communication system 100 can be configured to support ultra-reliable communication or low-latency communication or various combinations thereof. For example, the wireless communication system 100 can be configured to support ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) or mission-critical communication. UE 115 can be designed to support ultra-reliable, low-latency or critical functions (e.g., mission-critical functions). Ultra-reliable communication can include private communication or group communication and can be supported by one or more mission-critical services, such as mission-critical push-to-talk (MCPTT), mission-critical video (MCVideo), or mission-critical data (MCData). Support for mission-critical functions can include prioritization of services, and mission-critical services can be used for public safety or general commercial applications. The terms ultra-reliable, low-latency, mission-critical, and ultra-reliable low-latency can be used interchangeably in this article.

[0051] In some examples, UEs (such as UEs 112, 114, 116, 117, and 118) may also be able to communicate directly with other UEs (e.g., using a peer-to-peer (P2P) protocol or a D2D protocol) via device-to-device (D2D) communication links 132, 135. One or more UEs (such as UE 116 and UE 118) utilizing D2D communication may be within the geographic coverage area 110 of base station 105 to communicate via D2D communication link 135. Other UEs (such as UE 112 and UE 114) may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of base station 105 or otherwise unable to receive transmissions from base station 105 to communicate via D2D communication link 132. In some examples, the group of UEs 112, 114, 116, 118 communicating via D2D communication can utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, where each UE 112, 114, 116, 118 transmits to every other UE in the group. In some examples, base station 105 facilitates scheduling of resources for D2D communication, such as D2D communication between UE 116 and UE 118. In other examples, with respect to D2D communication between UE 112 and UE 114, D2D communication occurs between the UEs without involving base station 105.

[0052] In some aspects, the D2D communication link 135 may be an example of a sidelink communication channel. Unlike a Uu link, which is an air link between a UE (such as UE 115) and a base station, a sidelink is associated with a direct air link between UEs 115 (e.g., UEs 112, 114, 116, and 118). Real-world applications of such sidelink communications may include public safety, proximity services, UE-to-network relay, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications, Internet of Everything (IoE) communications, IoT communications, mission-critical mesh networks, and / or various other suitable applications, such as communications with vehicles equipped with reconfigurable smart surfaces (RIS) or UE-managed (or controlled) transponders. Vehicles may signal information related to traffic conditions, signal scheduling, weather, safety, emergency situations, or any other information relevant to the V2X system. In some examples, vehicles in a V2X system can use vehicle-to-network (V2N) communications to communicate with roadside infrastructure (such as a roadside unit), or with the network, or both, via one or more network nodes (e.g., base station 105). Generally speaking, a sidelink can refer to a signal that is communicated from one sidelink device (e.g., UE 112, 116) to another sidelink device (e.g., UE 114, 118) without relaying the communication through a scheduling entity (e.g., UE or base station), even though the scheduling entity can be used for scheduling and / or control purposes. In some examples, licensed spectrum can be used to transmit sidelink signals (unlike wireless local area networks that typically use unlicensed spectrum). While some UEs may be configured only to communicate with a base station on a Uu link, there may be UEs (such as UE 114 and UE 118) that are configured to communicate with a base station on a Uu link and (e.g., simultaneously) also communicate with other devices via a sidelink.

[0053] In some aspects, the UEs 112, 114, 116, 118 may optionally be configured to perform beam management procedures for the sidelink. Thus, one or more of the UEs may serve as a scheduling entity in a device-to-device (D2D), peer-to-peer (P2P), or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) network and / or in a mesh network to initiate and / or schedule certain beam management procedures.

[0054] In some aspects, sidelink communication can be used to provide a local communication link between a UE and an auxiliary device used to relay Uu link radio signals. For example, a repeater (sometimes referred to as a smart repeater) can be configured to amplify and forward signals associated with a Uu link between a UE and a base station (e.g., a gNB), while also being configured to send and receive control signals over the local communication link. The control signals can be used to control the amplification and forwarding processes performed at the repeater by the UE terminating the Uu link. In some examples, the local communication link can be provided by wireless communication technologies such as Bluetooth, ZigBee, or Wi-Fi. In other aspects, a UE (such as UE 117) can employ technologies for communicating with a transmissive or reflective reconfigurable smart surface (RIS). In an example automotive use case, UE 117 located in a vehicle 116 can communicate via a local communication link and a RIS controller. The vehicle's RIS controller can control the front, side, rear, and sunroof screens, which are designed as transmissive RIS, to enhance the signal strength of the communication link 125 (e.g., the Uu link) between UE 117 and the base station.

[0055] The core network 130 may provide user authentication, access authorization, tracking, Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity, and other access, routing, or mobility functions. The core network 130 may be an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC), which may include at least one control plane entity (e.g., a mobility management entity (MME), an access and mobility management function (AMF)) that manages access and mobility, and at least one user plane entity (e.g., a serving gateway (S-GW), a packet data network (PDN) gateway (P-GW), a user plane function (UPF)) that routes packets or interconnects to external networks. The control plane entities may manage non-access stratum (NAS) functions, such as mobility, authentication, and bearer management for UEs 115 served by base stations 105 associated with the core network 130. User IP packets may be transferred through the user plane entities, which may provide IP address allocation and other functions. The user plane entities may be connected to the network operator IP services 150. The operator IP services 150 may include access to the Internet, an intranet, an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), or packet-switched streaming services.

[0056] Some network devices (such as base stations 105) may include subcomponents, such as access network entities 140, which may be examples of access node controllers (ANCs). Each access network entity 140 may communicate with each UE 115 through several other access network transmission entities 145, which may be referred to as radio heads, smart radio heads, or transmit / receive points (TRPs). Each access network transmission entity 145 may include one or more antenna panels. In some configurations, the various functions of each access network entity 140 or base station 105 may be distributed across various network devices (e.g., radio heads and ANCs) or consolidated into a single network device (e.g., base station 105).

[0057] The wireless communication system 100 can typically operate using one or more bands of radio frequency spectrum in the range of 300 megahertz (MHz) to 300 gigahertz (GHz). Generally speaking, the region from 300 MHz to 3 GHz is referred to as the ultra-high frequency (UHF) region or decimeter band because the wavelengths range from about one decimeter to one meter long. UHF waves can be blocked or redirected by buildings and environmental features, but these waves can penetrate various structures sufficiently for macro cells to provide service to UEs 115 located indoors. Transmission of UHF waves can be associated with smaller antennas and a shorter range (e.g., less than 100 kilometers) compared to transmission using smaller frequencies and longer waves in the high frequency (HF) or very high frequency (VHF) portions of the spectrum below 300 MHz.

[0058] The wireless communication system 100 may also operate in a super high frequency (SHF) region using a radio frequency spectrum band from 3 GHz to 30 GHz (also known as a centimeter band), or in an extremely high frequency (EHF) region of the spectrum (e.g., from 30 GHz to 300 GHz) (also known as a millimeter band). In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 may support millimeter wave (mmW) communications between the UE 115 and the base station 105, and the EHF antennas of the respective devices may be smaller and more closely spaced than UHF antennas. In some examples, this may facilitate the use of antenna arrays within the device. However, the propagation of EHF transmissions may be affected by greater atmospheric attenuation and a shorter range than SHF or UHF transmissions. The techniques disclosed herein may be employed across transmissions using one or more different frequency regions, and the frequency band usage specified across these frequency regions may vary by country or regulatory agency.

[0059] The wireless communication system 100 can utilize both licensed radio frequency spectrum bands and unlicensed radio frequency spectrum bands. For example, the wireless communication system 100 can employ license assisted access (LAA), LTE unlicensed (LTE-U) radio access technology, or NR technology in unlicensed bands such as the 5 GHz industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) band. When operating in an unlicensed radio frequency spectrum band, devices (such as base stations 105 and UEs 115) can employ carrier sensing for conflict detection and avoidance. In some examples, operations in unlicensed bands can be based on a carrier aggregation configuration combined with component carriers operating in a licensed band (e.g., LAA). Operations in the unlicensed spectrum can include downlink transmissions, uplink transmissions, P2P transmissions, or D2D transmissions, among others.

[0060] A base station 105 or a UE 115 may be equipped with multiple antennas that may be used to employ techniques such as transmit diversity, receive diversity, multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) communications, or beamforming. The antennas of a base station 105 or a UE 115 may be located within one or more antenna arrays or antenna panels that may support MIMO operations or transmit or receive beamforming. For example, one or more base station antennas or antenna arrays may be co-located at an antenna assembly, such as an antenna tower. In some examples, the antennas or antenna arrays associated with a base station 105 may be located at different geographical locations. The base station 105 may have an antenna array having rows and columns of antenna ports that the base station 105 may use to support beamforming for communications with the UE 115. Similarly, the UE 115 may have one or more antenna arrays that may support various MIMO or beamforming operations. Additionally or alternatively, the antenna panels may support radio frequency beamforming for signals transmitted via the antenna ports.

[0061] The base station 105 or the UE 115 can use MIMO communication to take advantage of multipath signal propagation and improve spectral efficiency by sending or receiving multiple signals via different spatial layers. Such a technique may be referred to as spatial multiplexing. The multiple signals may be sent, for example, by a transmitting device via different antennas or different combinations of antennas. Similarly, the multiple signals may be received by a receiving device via different antennas or different combinations of antennas. Each of these multiple signals may be referred to as a separate spatial stream and may carry bits associated with the same data stream (e.g., the same codeword) or different data streams (e.g., different codewords). Different spatial layers may be associated with different antenna ports for channel measurement and reporting. MIMO technologies include single-user MIMO (SU-MIMO), in which multiple spatial layers are sent to the same receiving device, and multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO), in which multiple spatial layers are sent to multiple devices.

[0062] Beamforming (which may also be referred to as spatial filtering, directional transmission, or directional reception) is a signal processing technique that can be used at a transmitting device or a receiving device (e.g., a base station 105 or a UE 115) to shape, direct, or steer an antenna beam (e.g., a transmit beam, a receive beam) along a spatial path between the transmitting device and the receiving device. Beamforming can be achieved by combining signals conveyed via antenna elements of an antenna array so that some signals propagating at a particular orientation relative to the antenna array experience constructive interference, while other signals experience destructive interference. Adjustments to signals conveyed via antenna elements can include the transmitting device or the receiving device applying an amplitude offset, a phase offset, or both to signals carried via antenna elements associated with the device. The adjustments associated with each antenna element can be defined by a set of beamforming weights associated with a particular orientation (e.g., for the antenna array of the transmitting device or the receiving device, or for some other orientation).

[0063] The base station 105 or the UE 115 may use beam scanning techniques as part of a beamforming operation. For example, the base station 105 may use multiple antennas or antenna arrays (e.g., antenna panels) to perform beamforming operations for directional communication with the UE 115. Some signals (e.g., synchronization signals, reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals) may be transmitted multiple times by the base station 105 in different directions. For example, the base station 105 may transmit signals according to different sets of beamforming weights associated with different transmit directions. Transmissions in different beam directions may be used (e.g., by a transmitting device (such as the base station 105) or a receiving device (such as the UE 115)) to identify a beam direction for subsequent transmission and reception by the base station 105.

[0064] Some signals, such as data signals associated with a particular receiving device, may be transmitted by base station 105 in a single beam direction (e.g., a direction associated with a receiving device, such as UE 115). In some examples, the beam direction associated with transmission along the single beam direction may be determined based on signals transmitted in different beam directions. For example, UE 115 may receive one or more of the signals transmitted by base station 105 in different directions and may report to base station 105 an indication of the signal received by UE 115 with the highest signal quality or other acceptable signal quality.

[0065] In some examples, transmission by a device (e.g., by a base station 105 or a UE 115) may be performed using multiple beam directions, and the device may use a combination of digital precoding or radio frequency beamforming to generate a combined beam for transmission (e.g., from the base station 105 to the UE 115). The UE 115 may report feedback indicating precoding weights used for one or more beam directions, and the feedback may correspond to a configured number of beams across the system bandwidth or one or more subbands. The base station 105 may transmit reference signals (e.g., cell-specific reference signals (CRS), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS)) that may or may not be precoded. The UE 115 may provide feedback for beam selection, which may be a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) or codebook-based feedback (e.g., a multi-panel type codebook, a linear combination type codebook, a port selection type codebook). Although these techniques are described with reference to signals sent by base station 105 in one or more directions, UE 115 may employ similar techniques for sending signals multiple times in different directions (e.g., for determining a beam direction for subsequent transmission or reception by UE 115) or for sending signals in a single direction (e.g., for sending data to a receiving device).

[0066] A receiving device (e.g., UE 115) may attempt multiple reception configurations (e.g., directional listening) when receiving various signals (such as synchronization signals, reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals) from a base station 105. For example, the receiving device may attempt multiple reception directions by receiving via different antenna subarrays, processing received signals according to different antenna subarrays, receiving according to different sets of receive beamforming weights applied to signals received at multiple antenna elements of an antenna array (e.g., different sets of directional listening weights), or processing received signals according to different sets of receive beamforming weights applied to signals received at multiple antenna elements of an antenna array, wherein any of these operations may be referred to as "listening" according to different reception configurations or reception directions. In some examples, the receiving device may use a single reception configuration to receive along a single beam direction (e.g., when receiving a data signal). The single reception configuration may be aligned on a beam direction determined based on listening according to different reception configuration directions (e.g., a beam direction determined to have the highest signal strength, highest signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), or other acceptable signal quality based on listening according to multiple beam directions).

[0067] As part of directional communication, one or more of base stations 105 or UEs 115 can support beam management of one or more downlink receive directional beams corresponding to one or more physical downlink channels or one or more uplink transmit directional beams corresponding to one or more physical uplink channels. In some examples, beam management can include performing beam switching from one or more downlink receive directional beams to one or more alternative downlink receive directional beams, or from one or more uplink transmit directional beams to one or more alternative uplink transmit directional beams to improve communication between one or more of base stations 105 or UEs 115 or between different UEs 115. In some examples, the alternative directional beams can have better (or higher) signal quality, such as one or more of a higher reference signal received power (RSRP), a lower SNR, or a lower signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), than existing directional beams used by one or more of base stations 105 or UEs 115.

[0068] The wireless communication system 100 can be a packet-based network that operates according to a layered protocol stack. In the user plane, communications at the bearer or packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer can be IP-based. The radio link control (RLC) layer can perform packet segmentation and reassembly to communicate over logical channels. The medium access control (MAC) layer can perform priority handling and multiplexing of logical channels to transport channels. The MAC layer can also use error detection technology, error correction technology, or both to support retransmission at the MAC layer to improve link efficiency. In the control plane, the radio resource control (RRC) protocol layer can provide the establishment, configuration, and maintenance of RRC connections for radio bearers supporting user plane data between the UE 115 and the base station 105 or the core network 130. At the physical (PHY) layer, transport channels can be mapped to physical channels.

[0069] UE 115 and base station 105 can support retransmission of data to increase the likelihood that the data is successfully received. Hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback is a technique for increasing the likelihood of correctly receiving data over communication link 125. HARQ may include a combination of error detection (e.g., using a cyclic redundancy check (CRC)), forward error correction (FEC), and retransmission (e.g., automatic repeat request (ARQ)). HARQ can improve the throughput of the MAC layer in poor radio conditions (e.g., low signal-to-noise ratio conditions). In some examples, a device may support same-slot HARQ feedback, wherein the device may provide HARQ feedback in a particular time slot for data received in a previous symbol in the time slot. In other examples, the device may provide HARQ feedback in a subsequent time slot or according to some other time interval.

[0070] One or more of base station 105 or UE 115 may support directional communication in wireless communication system 100. Directional communication may include one or more downlink receive directional beams corresponding to one or more physical downlink channels or one or more uplink transmit directional beams corresponding to one or more physical uplink channels. One or more physical downlink channels may include one or more of physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), or synchronization signal physical broadcast channel (SS / PBCH) block, and one or more physical uplink channels may include one or more of physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). In some examples, one or more of base station 105 or UE 115 may perform a beam scanning process to determine and select one or more downlink receive directional beams and one or more uplink transmit directional beams to establish a connection.

[0071] In some examples, one or more of base station 105 or UE 115 may support directional communication in one or more radio frequency bands. In some examples, a radio frequency band may be defined by a radio frequency (f) range within the radio frequency band. For example, a first frequency range (FR1) may have a frequency range between 410 MHz and 7.125 GHz (410 MHz < f < 7.125 GHz), a second frequency range (FR2) may have a different frequency range from FR1, such as between 24.25 GHz and 52.6 GHz (24.25 GHz < f < 52.6 GHz), while a third frequency range (FR3) may have a different frequency range from FR1 and FR2, such as between 7.125 GHz and 24.25 GHz (7.125 GHz < f < 24.25 GHz). In some examples, one or more of FR1, FR2, or FR3 may be referred to as a low radio frequency band. Thus, in some examples, one or more of base station 105 or UE 115 may support directional communication in a low radio frequency band.

[0072] Additionally or alternatively, one or more of the base station 105 or the UE 115 may support directional communication in one or more high radio frequency bands. A high radio frequency band may refer to a radio frequency band greater than or equal to a frequency (f) (e.g., greater than 52.6 GHz). In some examples, a radio frequency band including frequencies between 52.6 GHz and 114.25 GHz (52.6 GHz < f < 114.25 GHz) may be referred to as a fourth frequency range (FR4), and a radio frequency band including frequencies between 114.25 GHz and 275 GHz (1,14.25 GHz < f < 275 GHz) may be referred to as a fifth frequency range (FR5). Thus, FR4 and FR5 may be referred to as high radio frequency bands. <{0000176}><{0000177}>Each radio frequency band (such as FR1, FR2, FR3, FR4, and FR5) may be associated with a transmission parameter set. Table 1 below defines examples of different transmission parameter sets. In some examples, one or more of the base station 105 or the UE 115 may support one or more transmission parameter sets as defined in Table 1. Each parameter set in Table 1 may be labeled as parameter μ. In some examples, the parameter set may be based on an exponentially scalable subcarrier spacing Δf = 2<{0000007}>× 15 kHz, where μ = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4}. As defined in Table 1, the parameter set (μ = 0) represents a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz. Among other examples, as defined in Table l, the parameter set (μ = 1) represents a subcarrier spacing of 30 kHz, the parameter set (μ = 2) represents a subcarrier spacing of 60 kHz, the parameter set (μ = 3) represents a subcarrier spacing of 120 kHz, and the parameter set (μ = 4) represents a subcarrier spacing of 240 kHz. <{0000178}><{0000179}><{0000180}>. <{0000181}><{0000182}><{0000599}><{0000213}><{0000214}>By way of example, radio frequency spectrum band FR1 may involve a transmission parameter set μ={0,1,2}. For example, radio frequency spectrum band FR1 may support subcarrier spacings of 15kHz, 30kHz, and 60kHz, which may correspond to symbol durations of approximately 71 microseconds (μs), 36μs, and 18μs, respectively. The symbol duration (e.g., approximately 71μs, 36μs, and 18μs) may include the duration of a cyclic prefix of the symbol. The base station 105 or UE 115 may append a cyclic prefix to each symbol to improve the transmission of the symbol. The cyclic prefix may represent a guard period at the beginning of each symbol, which may improve the transmission reliability of the symbol by preventing one or more factors in the wireless communication system 100 (such as multipath delay propagation). Among other examples, radio frequency spectrum band FR2 may involve a transmission parameter set μ={2,3,4}. For example, radio frequency spectrum band FR2 may support subcarrier spacings of 60 kHz, 120 kHz, and 240 kHz, which may correspond to symbol durations of approximately 18 μs, 9 μs, and 4.5 μs, respectively. Similarly, a symbol duration (e.g., approximately 18 μs, 9 μs, and 4.5 μs) may include the duration of a cyclic prefix of the symbol.

[0077] In some examples, as shown in Table 1, the duration of the cyclic prefix may depend on the transmit parameter set. That is, based on the transmit parameter set, the length of the cyclic prefix duration may be shorter or longer. For example, the cyclic prefix may have a duration of 4.7 μs for a 15 kHz subcarrier spacing (e.g., parameter set μ=0) and a duration of 0.57 μs for a 120 kHz subcarrier spacing (e.g., parameter set μ=3). In some examples, as defined in Table 1, a regular cyclic prefix may be supported for each subcarrier spacing (e.g., for each transmit parameter set), while an extended cyclic prefix may be supported specifically for parameter set μ=2. The length of the regular cyclic prefix may be shorter than that of the extended cyclic prefix. For example, the regular cyclic prefix may have a duration of 4.7 μs, while the extended cyclic prefix may have a duration of 16.7 μs. As the demand for communication efficiency increases, the wireless communication system 100 may support larger subcarrier spacing for one or more high-frequency spectrum bands (e.g., FR4 and FR5). Some examples of the wireless communication system 100 may support one or more of 480 kHz, 960 kHz, 1.92 MHz, or 3.84 MHz subcarrier spacing for one or more high frequency spectrum bands (e.g., FR4 and FR5). However, the wireless communication system 100 is not limited to the above examples of subcarrier spacing (e.g., 480 kHz, 960 kHz, 1.92 MHz, or 3.84 MHz), as other subcarrier spacings may be supported in the wireless communication system 100.

[0078] In some examples, for radio frequency spectrum band FR2, the base station 105 or UE 115 can support a 240kHz subcarrier spacing specifically for synchronization signal blocks (SSBs). Generally speaking, the term "SSB" can generally refer to synchronization signals and PBCH blocks. The SSB can span four OFDM symbols and can include a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and a PBCH. The PSS and SSS can occupy each OFDM symbol and 127 subcarriers, while the PBCH can span three OFDM symbols and 240 subcarriers, but leaves an unused range of 127 subcarriers in the middle of the SSS in one of the three OFDM symbols. The periodicity of the SSB can be configured by the network, and the time position where the SSB can be transmitted can be determined by the subcarrier spacing. In some examples, multiple SSBs can be sent within the frequency span of the carrier, and the physical cell identifiers (PCIs) of those SSBs do not have to be unique, that is, different SSBs can have different PCIs. However, in some examples, when an SSB is associated with Remaining Minimum System Information (RMSI), the SSB may correspond to an individual cell, which may have a unique NR Cell Global Identifier (NCGI). Thus, such an SSB may be referred to as a Cell-Defined SSB (CD-SSB).

[0079] In related aspects, the term "global channel grid" may refer to a set of radio frequency (RF) reference frequencies that may be used in signaling to identify RF channels, SSB, and positioning of other elements in wireless communication systems, such as NR. Specifically, RF frequencies may be specified by NR Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Numbers (NR-ARFCNs) on a global frequency grid. In some examples, a global frequency grid may be defined for all frequencies from 0 to 100 GHz, with a granularity represented as ΔF. 全局 , which can depend on the frequency range. For example, ΔF 全局 In the frequency range of 0 to 3 GHz, it may be equal to 5 kHz, in the frequency range of 3 GHz to 24.25 GHz, it may be equal to 15 kHz, and in the frequency range of 24.25 GHz to 100 GHz, it may be equal to 60 kHz. In other related aspects, the term "channel grid" may refer to an RF reference frequency F that may be used to identify RF channel locations in uplink and downlink. REF The RF reference frequencies of the RF channels can be mapped to resource elements on the carrier. For each predefined operating band, only a subset of frequencies from the global frequency grid can be applicable to the band and can be formed with a granularity of ΔF 栅格 (which may be equal to or greater than ΔF 全局 ) of the channel grid.

[0080] In some related aspects, the term "synchronization grid" may be used to refer to the frequency location of SSBs that may be used by a UE for system acquisition in the absence of explicit signaling of SSB location. A global synchronization grid may be defined for all frequencies. For example, in a wireless communication system such as NR, the frequency location of an SSB may be defined as the frequency of an SSB with a corresponding global synchronization channel number (GSCN). REF The synchronization grid and subcarrier spacing of the SSB can be defined separately for each operating band and can therefore be considered as multiple different synchronization grids. In some examples, the operating bands may correspond to those defined in Table 2 for NR FR2.

[0081] Table 2: NR operating bands in FR2

[0082]

[0083] In some examples, the synchronization grid for each operating band shown in Table 2 can be defined as indicated in Table 3, where the distance between GSCN entries can be given by <step size>. The SSB pattern can correspond to Case D (SCS: 120 kHz, the first symbol of the candidate SS / PBCH block has an index of {4, 8, 16, 20} + 28·n, where n = 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18 for carrier frequencies within FR2) or Case E (SCS: 240 kHz, the first symbol of the candidate SS / PBCH block (SSB) has an index of {8, 12, 16, 20, 32, 36, 40, 44} + 56·n, where n = 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 for carrier frequencies within FR2).

[0084] Table 3: Applicable SS grid entries for each operating band .

[0085]

[0086] In further related aspects, the term "cell search" may refer to the process by which a UE acquires time and frequency synchronization with a cell and detects the cell ID of the cell. For example, NR cell search may be based on the PSS, SSS, and PBCH demodulation reference signal (PBCH DMRS) located on the synchronization raster. In some examples, a PCell may always be associated with a CD-SSB located on the synchronization raster.

[0087] Figure 2 An example application of a reconfigurable smart surface (RIS)-based auxiliary device in a car use case according to various aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. In this car example, the front screen 222, the left screen 224, the sunroof screen 226, the rear screen 228, and the right screen ( Figure 2The RIS may be designed as a transmissive RIS (not visible in the vehicle). The RIS may be controlled by a vehicle-mounted RIS controller 230. In some aspects, the RIS controller 230 is configured to enhance the signal strength of a communication link (e.g., a Uu link) between a UE 215 located in a vehicle and a base station 205.

[0088] In this regard, the RIS controller 230 may be communicatively coupled to the UE 215 (e.g., through a communication node including a transceiver system) via a local communication link 250. The local communication link may be provided by a wireless communication technology such as sidelink communication as specified in 3GPP specifications, Bluetooth, ZigBee, IEEE 802.11 technology, or other suitable technology.

[0089] The RIS comprises an artificial planar structure with integrated electronic circuitry that can be programmed to manipulate incoming electromagnetic fields in a variety of functionalities. For example, the numerous small active or passive elements forming the RIS metasurface can be configured to modify the incident signal (e.g., by changing the amplitude and / or inducing phase shifts). For example, the RIS elements can interact in such a way that they direct and / or focus the incident signal in a specific direction. The RIS can operate in full-duplex mode, independent of signal direction (e.g., uplink and / or downlink).

[0090] In some examples, RIS elements can be mounted on a transparent substrate, such as glass, to form an optically transparent metasurface, as exemplified, for example, in Kitayama et al., “Transparent dynamic metasurface for a visually unaffected reconfigurable intelligent surface: controlling transmission / reflection and making a window into an RF lens,” Optics Express, Vol. 30, No. 29, August 18, 2021. While transparent to visible light, the RIS elements within the metasurface can be implemented to form RF lenses with different numbers of focal points and focal lengths for certain RF frequency bands.

[0091] In this car example, if Figure 2 As shown, the RIS metasurface can be placed on the screen of a vehicle. In the exemplary embodiment, RIS metasurfaces 222, 224, 226, and 228 can be installed on the front screen, the left screen, the sunroof screen, and the rear screen, respectively. Another RIS metasurface can be installed on the right screen of the vehicle ( Figure 2 (not shown). It should be noted that using a RIS placed on an optically transparent screen is merely an example and should not be considered limiting. As another example, additionally or alternatively, portions of the vehicle body that are opaque to visible light can be designed as RIS surfaces. These areas can be transparent to RF signals (e.g., portions of a polymer body) and / or reflective to RF signals (e.g., the hood).

[0092] The metasurface built into the vehicle 260 can be part of an auxiliary device that facilitates relaying of radio signals associated with a Uu link between a UE (e.g., UE 215 located in the vehicle 260) and a base station (e.g., base station 205) in both uplink and downlink directions. In some aspects, the configuration of the auxiliary device can be controlled by the UE via a wireless local link between the UE and the auxiliary device. In some aspects, this can include the UE utilizing enhanced services based on sensor-based perception and machine learning capabilities provided by the auxiliary device. In this example, the auxiliary device is a vehicle auxiliary device. Other examples of an auxiliary device can include a UE-controlled repeater that performs repeater-side beamforming on the backhaul portion of the Uu link toward a base station that is in communication with the UE connected to the repeater via a wireless link (e.g., a side link).

[0093] Further to this automotive example, the propagation path associated with the Uu link may include a line-of-sight component 212 propagating through a front screen 222 and a reflected component 214 propagating through a roof screen 226. In this example, the vehicle auxiliary device may also include a RIS controller 230 that controls the different RIS states of the metasurface and provides a local communication channel 250 with the UE 215.

[0094] A finite number of amplitude and / or phase shift levels can provide a quantized set of available states per RIS metasurface. In this way, a single control signal with defined control states can be used to control the metasurface of the RIS, rather than requiring a two-dimensional signal to control each of the RIS elements. For example, each of the RIS surfaces (such as metasurfaces 222, 224, 226, 228, and another metasurface placed on the right side of the vehicle, Figure 2 In some examples, the RIS state may be associated with different diffraction angles of the RF signal. Furthermore, one of the RIS states may be associated with blocking incoming RF signals.

[0095] The combination of different quantized states of one or more RIS metasurfaces can form a set of possible transmission modes for vehicle auxiliary devices. Figure 2 In the example given in FIG, each of the front metasurface 222, the left metasurface 224, the roof metasurface 226, the rear metasurface 228, and the right metasurface can be configured with a first RIS state and a second RIS state. Therefore, in this example, the vehicle auxiliary device including five metasurfaces can provide 2 5 = a set of 32 different transmission modes for relaying radio signals. It should be noted that this example is not limited in terms of the number of metasurfaces or the number of RIS states associated with each metasurface.

[0096] A UE 215 located within the vehicle 260 may experience a signal quality (e.g., RSRP, SNR, SINR, etc.) that depends on the applied transmit mode. Specifically, when the UE 215 is located within the focus area of ​​one or more of the metasurfaces, the signal quality may be improved compared to a conventional surface that does not direct or focus the signal in a configurable manner. Thus, the signal quality depends on the location of the UE 215 within the vehicle and on the propagation path between the vehicle and the base station 205. Thus, in certain propagation scenarios, a particular transmit mode may be optimal, while in other scenarios (e.g., different propagation paths between the UE and the base station and / or different locations of the UE within the vehicle), a different transmit mode may be optimal.

[0097] In with Figure 2 In the associated automotive example, the transmission mode to be used by the RIS controller 230 can be managed by the UE 215 via the local communication link 250. For example, the UE 215 can use the wireless local communication link 250 to configure a measurement interval for the vehicle RIS controller 230 of the vehicle auxiliary device for measurements to be performed on the Uu link between the UE 215 and the base station 205. The UE 215 can perform signal quality measurements on the Uu downlink based on the measurement signal sent from the base station. Additionally or alternatively, the base station 205 can perform signal quality measurements based on the uplink signal sent by the UE 215. To perform such measurements, the vehicle auxiliary device can switch (or scan) through different transmission modes during the configured measurement interval.

[0098] It should be noted that from the perspective of the communication network, the connection with auxiliary equipment (such as Figure 2A UE (such as UE 215) combined with a vehicle auxiliary device (such as the vehicle auxiliary device illustrated in FIG) can use the same procedures (e.g., P1, P2, and P3 procedures) known to those skilled in the art for UE management of UE-side beams. However, unlike managing its UE-side beam, a UE according to the present disclosure can manage switching or scanning of transmission modes of auxiliary devices used to relay radio signals associated with a Uu link between the UE and a base station.

[0099] For example, during the P1 procedure, the UE can initially find the TX beam at the base station and the appropriate transmit mode for the secondary device. To this end, the UE can listen to the SSB bursts transmitted by the base station while scanning through a set of transmit modes. The UE thus configures the secondary device to scan through the transmit modes and measure the SSB bursts transmitted by the base station in the corresponding time interval. In this way, the UE can identify the preferred transmit mode for the secondary device and the preferred SSB beam transmitted by the base station. The UE can then communicate the transmit mode to the secondary device via the local link and perform a RACH procedure on the Uu link.

[0100] During the P2 process, the UE may receive the configuration of TX beam scanning for multiple base station beams from the base station. This may include the configuration of the channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) used on the corresponding beam. The UE measures the configured CSI-RS and reports the layer 1 reference signal received power (L1-RSPS) to the base station. This process may be transparent to the secondary device.

[0101] The UE may also utilize the P3 procedure to adapt or refine the transmission mode of the auxiliary device. To this end, the UE may optionally request the configuration of a beam that is repeatedly (e.g., periodically) transmitted from the base station from the base station. The base station may trigger measurements on one or more TX beams, wherein for each TX beam, a corresponding reference signal is repeatedly transmitted from the base station. The UE may determine the corresponding measurement interval and transmission mode to be measured, and configure the auxiliary device to use the determined transmission mode during the determined measurement interval. The UE may perform measurements on signals transmitted by the base station while scanning different transmission modes of the auxiliary device.

[0102] It should be noted that by performing measurements on the channel between the UE and the base station, the RIS metasurface in its corresponding configuration is part of the measured channel. Therefore, using the measurement process according to the present disclosure, it is not necessary to measure or model the propagation characteristics of the RIS, or to consider the base station-RIS channel and the RIS-UE channel separately.

[0103] Re-reference Figure 2 As mentioned, the vehicle auxiliary device including five metasurfaces can provide 2 5= a set of 32 different transmission modes for relaying radio signals. However, in Figure 2 In the scenario of RIS, the signal quality may depend specifically on the combination of the propagation states of metasurface 222 and metasurface 226, while the propagation states of other metasurfaces may have only a small impact. Therefore, determining the optimal RIS setting may have a high overhead.

[0104] To reduce overhead, it may not be useful to consider all possible transmission modes of the vehicle auxiliary device, but only a subset of the possible transmission modes. In the example, the number of possible transmission modes (in Figure 2 It may be useful to reduce the number of transition modes (32 in the example) to the number that is relevant to the current propagation scenario. In this automotive example, only the RIS states associated with the front screen 222 and the sunroof screen 226 may be relevant. The other RIS metasurfaces of the vehicle may be less relevant and may be set to default values.

[0105] Thus, in some aspects of the present disclosure, the secondary device may determine a set of one or more active transmission modes for the secondary device. The set of one or more active transmission modes may include all possible transmission modes (i.e., Figure 2 In the example of 32). However, in some specific aspects, the set of one or more active transmission modes may include a (true) subset of all possible transmission modes. In some aspects, the auxiliary device (such as Figure 2In some examples, the auxiliary device may also send transmission mode set information associated with the auxiliary device's set of one or more active transmission modes to the UE. For example, the transmission mode set information may be sent by the RIS controller 230 to the UE 215 via the local communication link 250. In other aspects, the transmission mode set information may be updated by the auxiliary device, where the updated set may be different from the previous set. In some examples, the update to the transmission mode set may be triggered by the UE. In these cases, the UE sends a request to update the set of one or more active transmission modes to the UE via the local communication link. Furthermore, the auxiliary device may additionally or alternatively trigger the update of the transmission mode set. In such cases, the auxiliary device may send a notification to the UE, notifying that an alternative set of active transmission modes is appropriate. In some examples, the auxiliary device may provide forecasts associated with certain transmission modes based on a lookup on a coverage map or based on a machine learning algorithm, where the auxiliary device anticipates, for example, that a first one or more transmission modes may deteriorate or become irrelevant, while a second one or more transmission modes may improve signal quality at a future time or location of the UE. In such cases, the UE may determine to use a different set of active transmission patterns, e.g., at least in part, to use the announced alternative set at the forecasted time instance or location, and transmit a notification or confirmation to the secondary device regarding the use of the different set of active transmission patterns.

[0106] Auxiliary equipment (such as Figure 2 A vehicle auxiliary device (e.g., a vehicle auxiliary device in a scenario involving a vehicle) can use various methods to determine the set of active transmit modes. In some aspects, the auxiliary device may be able to determine the characteristics of the current propagation scenario. For example, when the auxiliary device includes a RIS metasurface, it can determine a subset of all of its metasurfaces through which significant components of the propagating signal may propagate. In this automotive example, significant propagation paths may include line-of-sight component 212 propagating through front screen 222 and reflected component 214 propagating through sunroof screen 226. Thus, the vehicle auxiliary device can (e.g., based on a power threshold) determine as part of the active set of transmit modes those transmit modes that include some or all RIS states of metasurfaces (e.g., front screen 222 and sunroof screen 226) through which significant components or portions of the received power are expected to propagate. In some examples, the states of RIS metasurfaces not involved in the propagation components of interest can be set to arbitrary or default values. In this manner, the number of transmit modes to be considered for the set of active transmit modes can be significantly reduced.

[0107] In order to determine the characteristics of the propagation channel, such as parameters of the relevant propagation component (e.g., a vector indicating the direction of the incident component of the base station's signal, the azimuth and elevation angles of the incident component and / or the relative or absolute received power of the incident component, an indicator of the associated base station or other descriptors), the auxiliary device may utilize information collected from sensors associated with itself and / or additional cell- and link-specific information known from the UE, where the UE sends the relevant cell-specific and link-specific information to the auxiliary device via the local communication link.

[0108] The sensor may include, for example, at least one of a camera, a radar, an ultrasonic sensor, a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver, a transceiver of a communication system to which a Uu link is established, a gyroscope, etc. In an example, an auxiliary device (such as Figure 2 The vehicle auxiliary device (as exemplified in FIG) can maintain a coverage map that includes descriptors of relevant propagation components as a function of geographic location. In some examples, the coverage map can be predefined (e.g., downloaded from a server) or based on historical data of measurements performed by the UE and fed back to the auxiliary device. Additionally or alternatively, the auxiliary device can maintain a geographic map that includes the locations of base stations, wherein the auxiliary device can perform a ray tracing algorithm to determine the relevant propagation components at a specific geographic location.

[0109] In some examples, vehicle auxiliary equipment (such as Figure 2 A vehicle auxiliary device (such as the one illustrated in FIG) may determine the position and orientation of a vehicle (such as vehicle 260) based on sensor data associated with the vehicle and / or a UE (such as UE 215). In some examples, the determination is made based on data received from a GNSS receiver and a gyroscope. To determine the position and orientation of the vehicle, the GNSS receiver and / or the gyroscope may be built-in components of the vehicle auxiliary device. In other examples, a UE (such as UE 215) may provide positioning and orientation data based on a GNSS receiver included in the UE. In some examples, assuming that the vehicle is in forward motion, the orientation of the vehicle may be determined based on different samples of the position data. A vehicle auxiliary device (such as FIG) may determine the position and orientation of the vehicle based on sensor data associated with the vehicle and / or a UE (such as UE 215). In some examples, the position and orientation of the vehicle may be determined based on different samples of the position data. Figure 2A vehicle auxiliary device (such as the one illustrated in FIG. 2 ) can determine significant propagation paths based on the UE's location and a lookup in a coverage map. Furthermore, relevant RIS components (e.g., metasurfaces) associated with relevant transmission components (e.g., transmission paths) can be determined based on orientation data. Relevant RIS components can be those RIS components that are penetrated by the relevant propagation paths. For example, a vehicle auxiliary device associated with vehicle 260 can determine transmission path 212 and transmission path 214 for a particular geographic location. Furthermore, based on the orientation of vehicle 260, the vehicle auxiliary device can determine that the relevant transmission paths propagate through front screen 222 and sunroof screen 226. Based on this latter determination, the auxiliary device can determine a set of active transmission modes that includes all different RIS states (i.e., 4 of 32 possible transmission modes) for the metasurfaces associated only with front screen 222 and sunroof screen 226, while the RIS states of left screen 224, rear screen 228, and right screen of vehicle 260 are set to arbitrary values ​​or defined default values ​​(e.g., a default value that blocks RF signal transmission). Therefore, the auxiliary device can determine a reduced set of transmit states based on the determined RIS metasurfaces. In an example, the reduced set of active transmit states includes all transmit states of metasurfaces determined to be relevant, while the RIS states of irrelevant metasurfaces are discarded (e.g., set to a default value or arbitrary value). In an example, a 5-bit bitmap can be defined for 32 possible transmit modes associated with vehicle 260. Specific bits in the bitmap can be associated with the state of the corresponding RIS surface. In the reduced set of active transmit states, all bits associated with RIS surfaces that are not illuminated or propagated by relevant signal components (e.g., transmit paths) are set to "0." On the other hand, the reduced set of active transmit modes can include all combinations of bit values ​​associated with RIS surfaces that are illuminated by relevant signal components. In this way, the UE can select an appropriate transmit mode from among the transmit modes in the reduced set of active transmit modes (e.g., by performing measurements).

[0110] The vehicle assistance device may send transmission mode set information associated with the determined set of active transmission modes to the UE. In some aspects, the transmission mode set information may include a transmission mode data set associated with the determined active transmission mode (such as Figure 222 and sunroof screen 226). In some aspects, the data set associated with the transmit mode set information may include, in addition to the configuration associated with each transmit mode (e.g., RIS state), a signal quality prediction provided by the vehicle auxiliary device. The signal quality prediction may relate to a relative or absolute received power at the location of the vehicle 260 based on a lookup in a coverage map. In some examples, the prediction may relate to an instantaneous relative or absolute received power at the location of the vehicle 260 based on a lookup in a coverage map. Figure 2 In this automotive example, the vehicle assistance device can use the relative or absolute power associated with transmit path 212 from the coverage map of the RIS state associated with the front screen 222 and the relative or absolute power associated with transmit path 214 from the coverage map of the RIS state associated with the sunroof screen 226. Furthermore, the data set associated with the transmit pattern set information can include cell or base station identifiers associated with signal quality predictions. This can be useful when the transmit pattern set information includes data sets associated with different base stations. For example, the UE can use this information to perform cell selection or send a handover request to a base station.

[0111] Additionally or alternatively, an auxiliary device, such as a vehicle auxiliary device associated with vehicle 260, can use perception and / or machine learning (ML)-based control algorithms to determine or refine the set of active transmit patterns. In an example, camera-based perception can be used, supported by an ML-based control algorithm, to identify obstacles in the propagation path. For example, the auxiliary device associated with vehicle 260 can be equipped with a camera as well as a perception and machine learning engine. In an example, the vehicle auxiliary device can perceive a truck traveling ahead that obscures direct path 212. In response, the set of active transmit patterns can be reduced to those that include all RIS states associated with sunroof screen 226, while removing transmit patterns of different RIS states associated with front screen 222 from the set of active transmit patterns.

[0112] Based on perception and / or ML-based control algorithms, the vehicle assistance device can also predict future propagation components. For example, the algorithm may determine that a propagation path may appear or disappear in the near future due to a determination that vehicle 260 is approaching or moving away from a truck traveling ahead. For such situations, the data set of transmission mode set information provided by the vehicle assistance device may include a signal quality forecast associated with the expected signal quality at a future time and a corresponding time associated with the signal quality forecast (e.g., the forecast time will be in 5 seconds). Based on this information, the UE may be able to preemptively reselect the transmission mode of the assistance device.

[0113] In some examples, the auxiliary device may include a transceiver to establish a Uu link with at least one base station of the same communication system as UE 215. In an example, vehicle 260 may be equipped with a transceiver that can support the same or different transmit bands as the UE. For example, the auxiliary device may support the FR1 transmit band, while UE 215 may use a FR2 Uu link. In such cases, the auxiliary device may use information measured via SSB or specific CSI-RS from the base station to select or update the transmit mode set information. For example, the auxiliary device may determine the physical cell identifiers of one or more neighboring base stations in the FR1 transmit band and determine the quasi-co-location (QCL) relationship associated with one or more base stations in the FR2 band received from the system information of the corresponding base station. For example, the signal quality prediction provided by the vehicle auxiliary device may be based on SSB and / or CSI-RS measurements in FR1, while UE 215 uses the prediction for the Uu link in FR2. Therefore, the auxiliary device may determine and / or update the active transmit mode set based on signals from the transceiver of the communication system that establishes the Uu link with UE 215.

[0114] Certain aspects of the present disclosure relate to Layer 1 (L1) repeaters. L1 repeaters can have many advantageous features. For example, such L1 repeaters are relatively simple, low-cost, low-power, and can be wirelessly connected to a base station (such as a gNB) or another repeater. An advantage of L1 repeaters is that they do not increase latency because they simply amplify and forward the signal. Some L1 repeaters can use full-duplex mode (e.g., for FDD mode), i.e., one frequency band is used for downlink and another frequency band is used for uplink. Some L1 repeaters (e.g., TDD mode) can switch between uplink and downlink. New technologies such as 5G NR can gain considerable benefits from L1 repeater deployments, especially when they are used in conjunction with mmW communications, where signal attenuation and blockages can create coverage holes.

[0115] In some cases, L1 repeaters are deployed as part of the network infrastructure. While deploying an L1 repeater that receives a signal on one port, amplifies it, and forwards it to a second port may be relatively simple, extending this to a multi-antenna L1 repeater may require architectural enhancements and additional protocol and interface design for control. There may also be an impact on network planning, as the network may need to handle different sets of beams at the gNB (e.g., donor gNB) and the associated L1 repeater. Aspects of the present disclosure may relate to coverage enhancement using L1 repeaters for mmW bands, independent of such network planning aspects, such as smart repeaters acting as auxiliary devices managed by UEs.

[0116] Figure 3An example application of how L1 repeaters (such as smart transponders) can be used to help improve coverage by overcoming obstructions (e.g., RF signals being blocked by objects) in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. It is generally understood that obstruction is a major issue in millimeter wave (mmW) transmissions, where beamforming is used to transmit directional RF signals. In the illustrated example, L1 repeaters (e.g., REP1 302 and REP2 304) can allow gNB 308 to serve UEs (e.g., UE1 310 and UE2 312) even if an object blocks the gNB's directional RF signals from reaching the UEs.

[0117] As illustrated, because REP1 302 is not blocked by an object, REP1 302 can receive RF signals from gNB 308 and relay or forward these RF signals to reach UE1 310 (even though UE1 310 is blocked by a first object 314 and cannot directly receive RF signals from gNB 308). Similarly, because REP2 304 is not blocked by an object, REP2 304 can receive RF signals from gNB 308 and relay these RF signals to reach UE2 312 (even though UE2 312 is blocked by a second object 316 and cannot directly receive RF signals from gNB 308). As demonstrated by this example, an L1 repeater can be used as a relatively simple and inexpensive solution to provide protection against being blocked by objects, extend the coverage of mmW cells, and fill coverage holes.

[0118] Figure 4 1 shows a method for L1 repeaters (eg, smart repeaters, or simply "repeaters," such as Figure 4 1 or REP2). As illustrated, a smart repeater may have additional components compared to a basic L1 (Layer 1) relay architecture, in which a repeater simply amplifies received RF signals and forwards them to become transmitted RF signals (amplify and forward). The additional components may allow the smart repeater to, for example, perform beamforming for received and / or transmitted RF signals. In some aspects, the smart repeater is an auxiliary device according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0119] As exemplified, Figure 4 The smart forwarder may have components that may allow the smart forwarder to perform at least limited baseband processing. Such components may include components for a local communication link (such as a forwarder and another side link device (such as UE 115, specifically Figure 1 114, 116, or 118) and optionally for a UE (such as UE 115, specifically Figure 1 A baseband (BB) processor 440 for a Uu link between a UE 112, 114, 116, or 118 (e.g., a sidelink device, UE, or base station) and a base station (e.g., having at least limited baseband capabilities relative to the sidelink device, UE, or base station). While the sidelink is an example of a local communication link, in other examples, the local communication link may be provided by a wireless communication technology such as Bluetooth, ZigBee, or Wi-Fi.

[0120] Components of the smart repeater may also include intermediate frequency (IF) stages (e.g., first IF stage 402, second IF stage 404, third IF stage 406, and fourth IF stage 408) (which include mixers, filters, analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), digital-to-analog converters (DACs), etc.). These IF stages are designed to convert received RF signals into IF signals, acquire and store digital (IQ) samples, and generate RF signals from the stored digital samples. To this end, the smart repeater may include at least sufficient storage to implement a buffer for storing the IQ samples.

[0121] Figure 4 The smart forwarder may also include a control interface 408 to receive, demodulate and decode control signaling. In various aspects of the present disclosure, the digital baseband (BB) processor 420 for the side link may be used to extract data from the side link device (such as UE 115, specifically Figure 1 The control information flow is in the Figure 4 In an optional aspect, the control interface can be configured to receive, demodulate, and decode the signals of the Uu link via the digital BB processor 440 for the Uu link. In some aspects, the smart repeater does not include the digital BB processor 440 for the Uu link.

[0122] In one aspect, the smart repeater may include at least one phased array antenna for receiving directional signals (e.g., a receive beam) and a phased array for sending directional signals (e.g., a transmit beam). The configuration may include a frequency band, bandwidth portion (BWP), or frequency range in which the smart repeater can receive, amplify, and transmit (i.e., forward) signals associated with the Uu link; a frequency band, bandwidth portion (BWP), or frequency range in which the smart repeater can receive and transmit signals associated with the side link, wherein the side link signal and the Uu link signal can be on different frequency bands or bandwidth portions within the same frequency range. Thus, the repeater can amplify and forward uplink and downlink signals of the Uu link. In addition, the repeater can receive signals (such as control signals) on the side link and send signals (such as feedback signals or sequences) on the side link. The smart repeater may not have a specific implementation of a complete communication stack. Specifically, for simplicity, the repeater may not implement upper layer protocol stacks such as MAC, PLC, PDCP, or application layers. In aspects, the repeater may be configured to decode sequences and signals (such as control signals) on a physical layer associated with the sidelink via the IF stage 402 in order to perform functionality as described herein.

[0123] In some implementations, the digital BB processor 420 or the digital BB processor 440 can generate an output to an IF stage (e.g., to the second IF stage 404 or to the fourth IF stage 408) that is summed via branches having corresponding analog transmit paths. These branches can be used to sum signals from the gNB (and destined for the UE) with any locally generated signals that the smart forwarder must transmit concurrently to the UE. In various aspects, the smart forwarder can transmit sidelink signals (such as feedback signals or sequences) concurrently with Uu signals originating from the gNB that are forwarded on the downlink toward the UE. In other aspects, the smart forwarder can receive sidelink signals (e.g., including communications for selecting a transmit mode for the forwarder) via the IF stage 402 and forward the Uu link signals concurrently toward the gNB. The time duplexing for sending and receiving signals on the Uu link and the time duplexing for sending and receiving signals on the sidelink can be managed by the UE. In some aspects, the gNB can be Figure 1 The base station 105, and the UE may be UE 115, for example, according to Figure 1 UEs 112, 114, 116, and 118.

[0124] Figure 5 The following illustrates an example application of an auxiliary device based on a smart forwarder according to various aspects of the present disclosure. The smart forwarder REP may be based on Figure 4 REP1 402 or REP2 404 (eg, corresponding to the Figure 4In one aspect, the REP may send and receive data to / from a UE 515 (which may correspond to a UE 115, specifically Figure 1 UEs 112, 114, 116, 118) forwarding data from / to gNB 505 (which may correspond to Figure 1 On the one hand, as Figure 3 As illustrated, UE 515 may be represented by first side link device 312, and REP 510 may be represented by second side link device 314. Figure 5 In FIG, the Uu link can be forwarded via a backhaul link 530 between the gNB 505 and the REP 510 and via an access link 540 between the REP 510 and the UE 515 to mitigate obstruction by an obstacle 520. The backhaul link 530 can be formed by a gNB beam 532 and a repeater backhaul link beam 534. Different beams steerable as repeater backhaul link beams 534 can constitute a transmission pattern associated with the smart repeater assist device 510 for relaying radio signals associated with the Uu link between the UE 515 and the gNB 505. The access link 540 can be formed by a repeater access link beam 544 and a UE beam 542. The backhaul link 530 and the access link 540 can refer to downlink transmissions and uplink transmissions between the gNB 505 and the UE 515. Repeater 510 may be used with both frequency division duplexing (FDD) and time division duplexing (TDD) for the side link and Uu link.

[0125] Repeater REP 510 can be controlled via side link 550. Although the side link is an example of a local communication link, in other examples, the local communication link can be provided by a wireless communication technology (such as Bluetooth, ZigBee, or Wi-Fi). The side link signal and the Uu link signal can be on different frequency bands or bandwidth portions within the same frequency range. In some aspects, even though separated from the Uu link in frequency, the side link 550 can utilize the same beam as the access link at the repeater 510 and UE 515. Therefore, a quasi-co-located relationship (QCL) can exist between the repeater access link beam 544 and the corresponding repeater side link beam 554. In addition, a QCL can exist between the UE access link beam 542 and the corresponding UE side link beam 552. In such cases, side link beam management can be used to manage the access link beam. The repeater 510 can, for example, have one or more antenna arrays for transmission and another one or more antenna arrays for reception. Thus, in these examples, antenna arrays may be shared for transmitting on backhaul link 530, access link 540, and side link 550. In other configurations, repeater 510 may include one or more antenna arrays for transmitting on backhaul link 530 and another one or more antenna arrays for transmitting on access link 540 and / or side link 550. In such configurations, for example, a switching mechanism within repeater 510 may direct signals between antenna arrays and amplifier inputs / outputs for transmission / reception on links 530, 540, and 550, respectively.

[0126] Controlling the repeater 510 via the sidelink by a sidelink-capable UE 515 decouples the repeater from network planning. Thus, the repeater 510 may be transparent to the gNB 505 and appear to the gNB 505 as a signal reflection point (e.g., a wall or physical scatterer) for Uu link related signals. In some aspects, the repeater may not be considered part of the network-side equipment. An example of deploying an intelligent repeater such as the repeater 510 may include mitigating coverage holes at a user's residence. As another example, the repeater 510 may be deployed in a vehicle for communication between the base station 505 and a UE located inside. Many other deployment examples are contemplated. In various aspects, in addition to the line-of-sight path (LOS) between the UE 515 and the gNB 505, the repeater 510 may be configured to provide a secure connection to the gNB 505. Figure 5In addition to providing a radio propagation path via a reflection point (not shown), the repeater 510 may also provide additional reliability and / or diversity enhancement for the Uu link. In some aspects, the number of repeater backhaul link beams and the number of repeater access link beams may be the same or different. In a non-limiting example, the smart repeater assist device 510 supports a single access link (or side link) beam (or fixed directional antenna pattern) of relatively large width (e.g., omnidirectional configuration, 360 degrees or less, 180 degrees, 120 degrees, etc.). For deployments where the distance between the UE 515 and the repeater 510 is relatively short compared to the distance between the repeater 510 and the gNB 505, this may be sufficient to enhance network coverage.

[0127] Figure 6 Example operations that may be performed by a UE configured to communicate with a secondary device in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated. In some aspects, the UE may be Figure 1 A UE 115 configured to manage auxiliary devices, such as a vehicle auxiliary device located in a vehicle 260 including a RIS metasurface and a RIS controller 230, an auxiliary device based on a smart repeater (such as the smart repeater 510), etc. The auxiliary device can provide different transmission modes for relaying radio signals associated with the Uu link between the UE and the base station. As described above, the relaying of radio signals can include redirection, amplification, and focusing. In some aspects, the UE can be configured to communicate with the auxiliary device via a local link provided by a wireless communication technology (such as 3GPP sidelink communication, Bluetooth, ZigBee, or Wi-Fi, to name a few). In some aspects, the UE can be Figure 2 UE 215 in a vehicle or Figure 5 UE 515. The base station can be base station 205 or base station 505.

[0128] Operation 600 begins at 602 by establishing a local communication link between the UE and the auxiliary device. At 604, the UE may receive transmission mode set information associated with a set of one or more active transmission modes of the auxiliary device. At 606, the UE may communicate with the auxiliary device via the local link to select a transmission mode for the auxiliary device. At 608, the UE may communicate with the base station via a Uu link relayed by the auxiliary device based on the selected transmission mode. By establishing a local communication link between the UE and the auxiliary device for relaying the Uu link, the UE may use the local communication link to control or manage the auxiliary device. Thus, from a network perspective, the auxiliary device may become part of the UE. In some aspects, the processes for measuring the channel (including beam management) may rely on processes existing in the network. Therefore, network support for the auxiliary device for integrated UE control may be minimal or may not be required at all.

[0129] By receiving transmission mode set information associated with a set of one or more active transmission modes of the secondary device, the UE becomes aware of the transmission mode provided by the secondary device. In some examples, the UE may communicate with the secondary device via a local link to select a transmission mode for the secondary device. For example, the UE may select or reselect a transmission mode for the secondary device from a set of one or more active transmission modes. Thus, the communication with the secondary device may include an indication of the transmission mode selected by the UE. In some cases, the UE may communicate with the secondary device via a local link to trigger measurements on the Uu link. This communication may include the setting of the transmission mode to be measured to support the selection of an appropriate transmission mode from the set of one or more active transmission modes. In some cases, the UE may send additional information, such as signal quality measured by the UE at a certain location using a certain cell. This information can be used at the secondary device to update or improve the coverage map. Additionally, the UE may send a request for an update to the transmission mode set information from the secondary device. This update request may be used when the UE's location has changed, or when the UE notifies a significant decrease in signal quality on the Uu link. In some cases, the UE may receive updates to the transmission mode set information. Such updates may be triggered by a request from the UE or by the secondary device itself (e.g., based on sensor-based perception and machine learning capabilities of the secondary device). Based on the selected transmission mode, the UE may communicate with the base station via a Uu link relayed by the secondary device. This communication may include the transmission and reception of Uu link data and control signals.

[0130] Additionally or alternatively, the operations may also include: sending a configuration of one or more measurement intervals to the secondary device via a local link, wherein each of the one or more measurement intervals is associated with a transmission mode in a set of one or more active transmission modes of the secondary device; performing corresponding one or more measurements of received signal quality on the Uu link during the one or more measurement intervals; selecting a transmission mode based on the one or more measurements of received signal quality; and sending an indication of the selected transmission mode via the local link.

[0131] In these aspects, the UE may transmit one or more measurement interval configurations to the secondary device to facilitate measurements on the Uu link. In some examples, these measurements may be used to select an appropriate transmission mode for the secondary device. In some examples, a first transmission mode in a set of one or more active transmission modes is associated with a first measurement interval, while a second transmission mode may be associated with a second measurement interval. In this manner, the secondary device is configured to set the corresponding transmission mode during the corresponding associated measurement interval. In some examples, the measurement intervals may be sequentially followed one after another, in some cases with a guard interval to allow the secondary device to switch from one transmission mode to the next. In other examples, each measurement interval may be individually configured by the UE at irregular time instances. After configuring one or more measurement intervals, the UE may perform the corresponding one or more measurements on the Uu link. In some examples, the one or more measurements include received signal quality. For example, the measurements may include at least one SSB configured by the base station. In other examples, the measurements may be based on reference signals, such as CSI-RS transmitted by the base station. In other examples, the one or more measurements may include the transmission of one or more signals on the Uu uplink, where the base station receives the signals and performs corresponding measurements on the transmission channel. The transmission mode may be selected based on the one or more measurements. In some examples, the transmission mode may be a set of one or more active transmission modes of the secondary device. The measurements may include received signal quality, such as reference signal received power (RSRP), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), channel quality indicator (CQI), etc. For measurements performed on the Uu uplink, the UE may receive associated feedback performed by the base station on the Uu link. In some examples, the base station may direct the UE to use a specific transmission mode. It should be noted that the measurements are end-to-end measurements, i.e., the measurements include the entire Uu link. In some cases, the UE may select a transmission mode based on the measurements and send an indication of the selected transmission mode to the secondary device via a local link to perform communication via the Uu link.

[0132] Additionally or alternatively, the operations may further include: determining that received signal quality on the Uu link has degraded; selecting a different transmission mode for the secondary device; and transmitting an indication of the selected different transmission mode via the local link. In this manner, when channel conditions are subject to time-varying changes, the UE can react to improve link quality. In an example, the selected transmission mode can be associated with a measurement of signal quality obtained from a previous measurement. In some other examples, as described above, the UE can configure one or more measurement intervals and perform measurements in the configured measurement intervals.

[0133] Additionally or alternatively, the operations may further include: receiving an indication of one or more measurement intervals via a Uu link; and determining the configuration of the one or more measurement intervals based on the indication. In some cases, the measurement involves interaction with the base station. For example, the base station may need to configure the corresponding measurement interval to send CSI-RS. In some examples, the UE may send a request to the base station to configure one or more measurement intervals. Thus, the existing measurement process (e.g., P1, P2, or P3 process) can be reused to select an appropriate transmission mode. In some aspects, the indication may be associated with a beam that is repeatedly (e.g., periodically) sent by the base station. Such a situation may allow, for example, the use of the P3 process to adapt or refine the transmission mode of the auxiliary device.

[0134] Additionally or alternatively, the transmission mode set information includes information about at least one transmission mode data set associated with the transmission mode of the secondary device. Thus, each transmission mode can be associated with a transmission mode data set to exchange information about the transmission mode between the UE and the secondary device. The data set can be used to notify the UE of the transmission mode of the secondary device. For example, the secondary device can notify the UE how many active transmission modes are configured in a set of one or more active transmission modes. In other examples, the data set can be used to provide the secondary device with information about certain transmission modes from the UE (e.g., feedback). Each transmission mode data set associated with the transmission mode of the secondary device may include one or more information elements. Some information elements supported by the transmission mode set may optionally be included.

[0135] As an example, the transmit mode dataset may include an indication of the configuration of the transmit mode at the secondary device. This may, for example, include an indication of the type of transmit mode. For example, for transmit modes based on RIS, each transmit mode in the set may be independent of another transmit mode in the set. On the other hand, when the transmit mode is based on a transmit or receive beam at the secondary device, a certain proximity relationship may exist between different transmit modes, because the first transmit mode and the second transmit mode address adjacent beams within a beam sweep, for example. In such cases, measurements regarding the transmit mode can be accelerated, for example, by selecting a reduced set of adjacent transmit modes. In an example, the indication of the configuration of the transmit mode may include RIS state information. In an example, the indication of the configuration of the transmit mode may include beamforming information, such as the beamwidth or direction of the beam associated with the transmit mode.

[0136] As another example, the transmit pattern dataset may include signal quality measured by the UE, a cell identifier associated with the measured signal quality, and / or a UE location determined by the UE. For example, such information may be used at the secondary device to update or improve a coverage map using measurements performed by the UE. Furthermore, this data may be used to improve a machine learning algorithm implemented at the secondary device for selecting an appropriate set of one or more active transmit patterns associated with a particular UE location.

[0137] As another example, the transmit mode dataset may include a signal quality prediction provided by the auxiliary device and / or a cell identifier associated with the signal quality prediction. The signal quality prediction and / or the cell identifier associated with the signal quality prediction may relate to, for example, an instantaneous signal quality prediction expected at the UE's instantaneous location and / or an instantaneous cell identifier. For example, when the UE determines that the received signal quality on the Uu link has degraded, such data may be used at the UE, for example, to select an appropriate transmit mode from a set of active transmit modes. In such a case, the UE may select one of other transmit modes for which acceptable signal quality is expected, for example, based on a signal quality prediction provided by the auxiliary device based on coverage map lookup or based on the machine learning capabilities of the auxiliary device. Additionally or alternatively, the transmit mode dataset may include a signal quality forecast provided by the auxiliary device. The signal quality forecast may be associated with the signal quality expected at a future time or location of the UE. Additionally or alternatively, the transmit mode dataset may include a signal quality forecast time indicating a time associated with the signal quality forecast. Based on the forecast, the UE may select or schedule a change in the transmit mode. For example, a forecast associated with certain transmission modes may be based on a lookup on a coverage map, where the auxiliary device anticipates, for example, that a first one or more transmission modes may deteriorate, while a second one or more transmission modes may improve signal quality at a future moment or future location of the UE. In an example, the signal quality forecast and the corresponding moment may be based on results obtained using a perception and machine learning engine. For example, a sensor (e.g., a camera and corresponding signaling processing) may perceive a truck traveling in front of a vehicle including the auxiliary device. The machine learning engine may predict that the direct path may disappear after the expiration of a predicted time interval. In this case, a different transmission mode may be more appropriate. Accordingly, the auxiliary device may send transmission mode set information including signal quality forecasts for a first one or more transmission modes (e.g., active) used by the auxiliary device and / or a second one or more transmission modes that may provide better signal quality after the predicted time interval. Based on this information, the UE may schedule a change in the transmission mode after the expiration of the predicted time interval.

[0138] Additionally or alternatively, these operations may further include receiving an update to the transmit mode set information from the secondary device. In some examples, the update may indicate a modification to one or more active transmit modes of the secondary device. The update may include the entire transmit mode set information. In some examples, only a portion of the active transmit mode set of the secondary device may be updated. For example, the update may include only the one or more information elements that have been modified. By receiving the update, the UE may be notified of changes or modifications to the propagation environment as determined by the secondary device, for example, by looking up the information in a coverage map or through the results of a perception-based technique as described above. Additionally or alternatively, these operations may further include sending a request for an update to the transmit mode set information to the secondary device. In some examples, the request for an update to the transmit mode set information may include at least one of the following: a UE location determined by the UE; a signal quality measured by the UE; or a cell identifier associated with the measured signal quality. While it is possible for the sending of the update to the transmit mode set information to be triggered by the secondary device, it may also be useful for such an update to be triggered by the UE. In the latter case, for example, when the UE determines that the received signal quality on the Uu link has degraded, the UE may send a request for an update of the transmit pattern set information to the secondary device. The request for an update of the transmit pattern set information may include the UE position determined by the UE (e.g., by means of GNSS). Such information may be used by the secondary device to determine the UE positioning. In addition, the request for an update may include the signal quality measured by the UE and / or a cell identifier associated with the signal quality measured at the UE. Such information may be used by the secondary device to provide appropriate updates to the transmit pattern set information. In an example, the secondary device may determine the updated transmit pattern set information based on an identifier of a cell serving the UE.

[0139] In some examples, the auxiliary device associated with operation 600 may be a vehicle-mounted device (such as a vehicle mounted on a vehicle). Figure 2 The auxiliary device described in the present invention comprises one or more transparent and / or reflective reconfigurable smart surfaces (RIS) for relaying the radio signals associated with the Uu link between the UE and at least one base station, a transceiver for communicating with the UE via a local link, and a RIS controller for controlling different transmission modes, wherein the transmission mode comprises a transmission, focusing and / or reflection mode of the one or more RIS, wherein the local communication link between the UE and the auxiliary device comprises one of a wireless link, an IEEE 802.11 link, a Bluetooth link or a 3GPP side link.

[0140] In other examples, the auxiliary device with respect to operation 600 may be a repeater (such as a Figure 3 、 Figure 4 and Figure 5 A forwarder as described herein is adapted to perform forwarder-side beamforming on a backhaul portion of a Uu link towards a base station, wherein a transmit pattern is associated with one or more forwarder backhaul link beams, wherein a local communication link between the UE and the auxiliary device comprises one of a wireless link, an IEEE 802.11 link, a Bluetooth link, or a 3GPP side link.

[0141] In some examples, the auxiliary device associated with operation 600 may be a vehicle-mounted device (such as a vehicle mounted on a vehicle). Figure 2 The auxiliary device described in the present invention comprises: one or more sensors, the one or more sensors including a camera, a radar or a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver, a transceiver to establish a Uu link with at least one base station; a coverage map including base station coverage information and / or one of a perception and machine learning (ML) engine for processing signals of the one or more sensors to determine a set of one or more active transmission patterns of the auxiliary device.

[0142] Figure 7 Example operations that may be performed by a secondary device according to certain aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated. The secondary device may provide different transmission modes for relaying radio signals associated with a Uu link between a user equipment (UE) and a base station. In some aspects, according to aspects of the present disclosure, the secondary device may be based on a reconfigurable smart surface (RIS). In some examples, the secondary device may include forming a corresponding metasurface (such as, for example, Figure 2 One or more RISs of the metasurfaces 222, 224, 226, and 228 shown and a RIS controller (such as Figure 2 RIS controller 230 shown). In some examples, the auxiliary device may include a RIS controller located at Figure 2 Vehicle auxiliary equipment is shown in the vehicle 260. In some examples, the auxiliary equipment may include a UE controlled repeater (such as Figure 5 In some cases, the secondary device may provide different transmission modes for relaying radio signals associated with the Uu link between the UE and the base station. In some aspects, the UE may be configured to communicate with the secondary device via a local link provided by a wireless communication technology such as 3GPP sidelink communication, Bluetooth, ZigBee, or Wi-Fi, to name a few. In some aspects, the UE may be Figure 2 UE 215 in a vehicle or Figure 5 UE 515. The base station can be, for example, base station 205 or base station 505.

[0143] Operations 700 may begin at 702 by establishing a local communication link between a secondary device and a UE. At 704, the secondary device may transmit transmission mode set information associated with a set of one or more active transmission modes of the secondary device. At 706, the secondary device may communicate with the UE via the local link to select a transmission mode for the secondary device. At 708, the secondary device may relay signals associated with a Uu link between the UE and a base station based on the selected transmission mode.

[0144] By establishing a local communication link between the UE and the secondary device, the UE can utilize services provided by the secondary device. By transmitting transmission mode set information associated with a set of one or more active transmission modes of the secondary device, the UE becomes aware of the active transmission modes associated with the secondary device. In an example, the transmission modes may be associated with different transmission states of a RIS metasurface of a RIS-based secondary device. In another example, the transmission modes may be associated with different beams oriented toward the backhaul link between the base station and the secondary device. Thus, by using the active transmission mode set, known procedures (such as beam management procedures) can be reused for the RIS-based secondary device. Furthermore, different numbers of transmission modes supported by different types of secondary devices (RIS-based secondary devices, UE-controlled transponders, etc.) can be handled in the same manner. Furthermore, the number of active transmission modes may be less than or equal to the number of transmission modes supported by the secondary device. In some optional examples, the secondary device may support determining or selecting a set of one or more active transmission modes, which may be less than the total number of supported transmission modes. For example, the secondary device may (pre-)select a transmission mode based on the expected signal quality (such as RSRP) on the Uu link. In this way, complexity is reduced because the number of transmission modes that the UE needs to handle can be limited. In some examples, the auxiliary device may be able to determine the characteristics of the propagation scenario associated with the current location. In an example, the auxiliary device may maintain a coverage map that includes descriptors of relevant propagation components that vary with geographical location. In some examples, the coverage map may be predefined (e.g., downloaded from a server) or based on historical data obtained from measurements performed by the UE and reported to the auxiliary device. The auxiliary device may also include a sensor for environmental awareness that facilitates, for example, determining the position and geometric orientation of the auxiliary device relative to the environment. In this way, for example, the main propagation path between the base station and the auxiliary device can be determined relative to the orientation of the auxiliary device within the environment. In addition, the auxiliary device may select a set of one or more active transmission modes based on the determination of the main propagation path. In some examples, the auxiliary device may select or determine a set of one or more active transmission modes based on environmental awareness.

[0145] In some examples, environmental awareness can be enhanced through machine learning algorithms. For example, an auxiliary device may include a camera that indicates that some propagation paths may be obstructed by objects. In some examples, a machine learning algorithm can be used to determine the dynamic behavior of a set of one or more active transmission patterns. For example, a machine learning algorithm can anticipate or predict when certain transmission paths may appear or disappear, thereby updating the set of active transmission patterns. Thus, the transmission pattern set information can be time-varying and constantly updated.

[0146] The local link can also be used to communicate with the UE to select the transmission mode of the auxiliary device. In some cases, the auxiliary device can receive a selection of the transmission mode for Uu link transmission from the UE, as explained above. In addition, the communication can include the setting of the transmission mode for measurement to support the selection of an appropriate transmission mode from a set of one or more active transmission modes. However, the auxiliary device can also receive additional information, such as the signal quality measured by the UE using a certain cell at a certain location. This information can be used at the auxiliary device to update or improve the coverage map. Additionally, the auxiliary device can receive a request for an update of the transmission mode set information. When the UE's location has changed, such an update may be useful when the UE notifies a significant reduction in signal quality on the Uu link. In this case, the auxiliary device can send an update to the transmission mode set information. Based on the selected transmission mode, the auxiliary device can relay signals associated with the Uu link.

[0147] Additionally or alternatively, the operations may further include: receiving a configuration of one or more measurement intervals from the UE via the local link, wherein each of the one or more measurement intervals is associated with a transmission mode from a set of one or more active transmission modes of the secondary device; setting the corresponding one or more transmission modes during the one or more measurement intervals; receiving an indication of the selected transmission mode via the local link; and setting the selected transmission mode for relaying signals associated with the Uu link. In this manner, as described above, the secondary device can support measurement of different transmission modes on the Uu link under the control of the UE to select an appropriate transmission mode for the Uu link.

[0148] Additionally or alternatively, the operations may further include: receiving an indication of the selected different transmission mode via the local link; and setting the different transmission mode for relaying signals associated with the Uu link. In this way, the auxiliary device can be managed by the UE to react to time-varying changes in channel conditions experienced on the Uu link.

[0149] Additionally or alternatively, as described above, the transmission mode set information may include information about at least one transmission mode data set associated with the transmission mode of the auxiliary device, the transmission mode data set including an indication of at least one of: the configuration of the transmission mode at the auxiliary device; the signal quality measured by the UE; a cell identifier associated with the measured signal quality; the UE position determined by the UE; a signal quality prediction provided by the auxiliary device; a cell identifier associated with the signal quality prediction; a signal quality forecast provided by the auxiliary device, the signal quality forecast being associated with the signal quality expected at a future moment; or a signal quality forecast moment indicating a moment associated with the signal quality forecast, so as to exchange information about the transmission mode between the UE and the auxiliary device.

[0150] Additionally or alternatively, the operations may further include: sending an update to the transmit mode set information to the UE. The update may indicate a modification to one or more active transmit modes of the secondary device. In some examples, the update may be triggered by a location update determined by a GNSS receiver of the secondary device. In some other examples, the update may be triggered by a location update received from the UE. In some examples, the secondary device may receive a request for an update to the transmit mode set information from the UE. As discussed above, the request for an update to the transmit mode set information may include at least one of: a UE location determined by the UE; a signal quality measured by the UE; or a cell identifier associated with the measured signal quality.

[0151] In some examples, the auxiliary device associated with operation 700 may be a vehicle-mounted device (such as a vehicle mounted on a vehicle). Figure 2 The auxiliary device described in the present invention comprises one or more transparent and / or reflective reconfigurable smart surfaces (RIS) for relaying the radio signals associated with the Uu link between the UE and at least one base station, a transceiver for communicating with the UE via a local link, and a RIS controller for controlling different transmission modes, wherein the transmission mode comprises a transmission and / or reflection mode of the one or more RIS, wherein the local communication link between the UE and the auxiliary device comprises one of a wireless link, an IEEE 802.11 link, a Bluetooth link, or a 3GPP side link.

[0152] In other examples, the auxiliary device with respect to operation 700 may be a repeater (such as a Figure 3 、 Figure 4 and Figure 5A forwarder as described herein is adapted to perform forwarder-side beamforming on a backhaul portion of a Uu link towards a base station, wherein a transmit pattern is associated with one or more forwarder backhaul link beams, wherein a local communication link between the UE and the auxiliary device comprises one of a wireless link, an IEEE 802.11 link, a Bluetooth link, or a 3GPP side link.

[0153] In some examples, the auxiliary device associated with operation 700 may be a vehicle-mounted device (such as a vehicle mounted on a vehicle). Figure 2 The auxiliary device described in the present invention comprises: one or more sensors, the one or more sensors including a camera, a radar or a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver, a transceiver to establish a Uu link with at least one base station; a coverage map including base station coverage information and / or one of a perception and machine learning (ML) engine for processing signals of the one or more sensors to determine a set of one or more active transmission patterns of the auxiliary device.

[0154] The foregoing description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. Accordingly, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but are to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language of the claims, wherein reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean "one and only one" unless specifically so stated, but rather "one or more." Unless otherwise specified, the term "some" refers to one or more. All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure that are or later become known to one of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be covered by the claims. Furthermore, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public, regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims. No element of a claim should be construed under 35 U.S.C. §112, sixth paragraph, unless the element is explicitly recited using the phrase "means for..." or, in the case of a method claim, the element is recited using the phrase "step for..."

[0155] The various operations of the methods described above may be performed by any suitable component capable of performing the corresponding functions. The component may include various hardware and / or software components and / or modules, including but not limited to circuits, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or processors. Generally speaking, where there are operations illustrated in the accompanying drawings, these operations may have corresponding corresponding components plus functional components.

[0156] As used herein, the term "determining" encompasses a wide variety of actions. For example, "determining" may include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, searching (e.g., searching in a table, database, or another data structure), ascertaining, and the like. Furthermore, "determining" may include receiving (e.g., receiving information) and accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory), and the like. Furthermore, "determining" may include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, and the like.

[0157] As used herein, a phrase referring to "at least one of" a list of items refers to any combination of those items (including individual members). As an example, "at least one of a, b, or c" is intended to cover a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, and abc, as well as combinations including multiples of one or more members (aa, bb, and / or cc).

[0158] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with this disclosure may be implemented or executed using a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device (PLD), discrete gate or transistor logic components, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof, designed to perform the functions described herein. Although a general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, in an alternative embodiment, the processor may be any commercially available processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors combined with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0159] The steps or algorithms of the methods described in conjunction with the present disclosure may be directly embodied in hardware, a software module executed by a processor, or a combination of the two. The software module may reside in any form of storage medium known in the art. Some examples of storage media that can be used include random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disks, removable disks, CD-ROMs, and the like. A software module may include a single instruction, perhaps multiple instructions, and may be distributed over several different code segments, between different programs, and across multiple storage media. A storage medium may be coupled to a processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. In an alternative, the storage medium may be integral with the processor.

[0160] The methods disclosed herein include one or more steps or actions for implementing the described methods. The steps and / or actions of the methods may be interchangeable with each other without departing from the scope of the claims. In other words, unless a specific order of steps or actions is specified, the order and / or use of specific steps and / or actions may be modified without departing from the scope of the claims.

[0161] The means for receiving or the means for obtaining may comprise a receiver or one or more antennas. The means for sending or the means for outputting may comprise a transmitter or one or more antennas. The means for associating, the means for determining, the means for monitoring, the means for deciding, the means for providing, the means for detecting, the means for executing and / or the means for setting may comprise a processing system, which may comprise one or more processors. Such a processor may be a base station (such as Figure 1 Base station 105, Figure 2 Base station 205, Figure 5 Base station 308 and / or Figure 5 Furthermore, such a processor may be a secondary device or a component thereof (such as a Figure 2 RIS controller 230, Figure 3 302, 304, L1 relay 400 and / or forwarder (REP) 510). In addition, such a processor may also be a part of a UE (such as Figure 1 UE 117, Figure 2 UE 215, Figure 3 UE 310 and UE 312 and / or Figure 5 part of UE 515).

[0162] In some cases, a device may have an interface (a component for outputting) for outputting frames for transmission, rather than actually transmitting the frames. For example, a processor may output frames to a radio frequency (RF) front end via a bus interface for transmission. Similarly, a device may have an interface (a component for obtaining) for obtaining frames received from another device, rather than actually receiving the frames. For example, a processor may obtain (or receive) frames from a receiving RF front end via a bus interface.

[0163] The functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in hardware, an example hardware configuration may include a processing system in a wireless node. The processing system may be implemented using a bus architecture. Depending on the specific application and overall design constraints of the processing system, the bus may include any number of interconnecting buses and bridges. The bus may link various circuits together, including processors, machine-readable media, and bus interfaces. The bus interface may be used to connect a network adapter, etc., to the processing system via the bus. The network adapter may be used to implement signal processing functions at the PHY layer. In the user terminal 115 (see Figure 1 ), a user interface (e.g., a keypad, display, mouse, joystick, etc.) may also be connected to the bus. The bus may also link various other circuits, such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, etc., which are well known in the art and therefore will not be described further.

[0164] The processor may be responsible for managing the bus and general processing, including executing software stored on a machine-readable medium. The processor may be implemented using one or more general-purpose processors and / or special-purpose processors. Examples include microprocessors, microcontrollers, DSP processors, and other circuits that can execute software. Software should be broadly interpreted to mean instructions, data, or any combination thereof, whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise. For example, a machine-readable medium may include RAM (random access memory), flash memory, ROM (read-only memory), PROM (programmable read-only memory), EPROM (erasable programmable read-only memory), EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory), registers, magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, or any other suitable storage medium, or any combination thereof. The machine-readable medium may be embodied in a computer program product. The computer program product may include packaging materials.

[0165] In a hardware implementation, the machine-readable medium may be part of a processing system separate from the processor. However, as will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art, the machine-readable medium or any portion thereof may be external to the processing system. As an example, the machine-readable medium may include a transmission line, a carrier wave modulated by data, and / or a computer product separated from the wireless node, all of which may be accessed by the processor via a bus interface. Alternatively or in addition, the machine-readable medium or any portion thereof may be integrated into the processor, such as in the case of a cache and / or general register file.

[0166] The processing system can be configured as a general processing system with one or more microprocessors providing processor functionality and an external memory providing at least a portion of a machine-readable medium, all of which are linked together with other support circuit systems via an external bus architecture. Alternatively, the processing system can be implemented using an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) with a processor, a bus interface, a user interface (in the case of an access terminal), support circuits, and at least a portion of a machine-readable medium integrated into a single chip, or implemented using one or more FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays), PLDs (programmable logic devices), controllers, state machines, gated logic components, discrete hardware components, or any other appropriate circuits or circuits capable of performing the various functionalities described throughout this disclosure. Those skilled in the art will recognize how best to implement the described functionality of the processing system depending on the specific application and the overall design constraints imposed on the entire system.

[0167] The machine-readable medium may include several software modules. These software modules include instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause a processing system to perform various functions. The software modules may include a sending module and a receiving module. Each software module may reside in a single storage device or be distributed across multiple storage devices. By way of example, when a triggering event occurs, a software module may be loaded from a hard drive into RAM. During execution of the software module, the processor may load some of the instructions into a cache to increase access speed. One or more cache lines may then be loaded into a general register file for execution by the processor. When reference is made to the functionality of a software module below, it will be understood that such functionality is implemented by the processor when executing instructions from the software module.

[0168] If implemented in software, each function can be stored as one or more instructions or codes on or sent through a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media, including any media that facilitates the transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Storage media can be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage devices, magnetic disk storage devices or other magnetic storage devices, or any other media that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. In addition, any connection is appropriately referred to as a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is sent from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, optical cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared (IR), radio, and microwaves, the coaxial cable, optical cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwaves are included in the definition of medium. As used herein, disks and optical disks include compact discs (CDs), laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs (DVDs), floppy disks, and optical disks. Optical disks, where magnetic disks typically reproduce data magnetically, and optical disks, which use lasers to reproduce data optically. Thus, in some aspects, computer-readable media may include non-transitory computer-readable media (e.g., tangible media). Furthermore, for other aspects, computer-readable media may include transient computer-readable media (e.g., signals). Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0169] Thus, certain aspects may include a computer program product for performing the operations presented herein. For example, such a computer program product may include a computer-readable medium having instructions stored (and / or encoded) thereon, the instructions being executable by one or more processors to perform the operations described herein. For some aspects, the computer program product may include packaging materials.

[0170] In addition, it should be appreciated that the modules and / or other appropriate components for executing the methods and techniques described herein can be downloaded and / or otherwise obtained by a user terminal and / or access point where applicable. For example, such a device can be coupled to a server to facilitate the transfer of components for executing the methods described herein. Alternatively, the various methods described herein can be provided via a storage component (e.g., RAM, ROM, a physical storage medium such as a compact disc (CD) or a floppy disk, etc.) so that once the storage component is coupled to or provided to a user terminal and / or access point, the device can obtain the various methods. In addition, any other appropriate technology for providing the methods and techniques described herein to a device can be used.

[0171] It is to be understood that the claims are not limited to the precise configuration and components illustrated above. Various modifications, changes and variations may be made in the arrangement, operation and details of the methods and apparatus described above without departing from the scope of the claims.

[0172] The following provides an overview of various embodiments illustrating different aspects of the present disclosure:

[0173] Embodiment 1: A method for wireless communication by a UE, wherein the UE is configured to communicate with an auxiliary device, the auxiliary device providing different transmission modes for relaying radio signals associated with a Uu link between the UE and a base station, the method comprising: establishing a local communication link between the UE and the auxiliary device; receiving transmission mode set information associated with a set of one or more active transmission modes of the auxiliary device; communicating with the auxiliary device via the local link to select the transmission mode of the auxiliary device; and communicating with the base station via the Uu link relayed by the auxiliary device based on the selected transmission mode.

[0174] Example 2: According to the method described in Example 1, the method further includes: sending a configuration of one or more measurement intervals to the auxiliary device via the local link, wherein each of the one or more measurement intervals is associated with a transmission mode in the set of one or more active transmission modes of the auxiliary device; performing one or more corresponding measurements of the received signal quality on the Uu link during the one or more measurement intervals; selecting a transmission mode based on the one or more measurements of the received signal quality; and sending an indication of the selected transmission mode via the local link.

[0175] Embodiment 3: According to the method according to one or more of embodiments 1 to 2, the method also includes: determining that the quality of the received signal on the Uu link has deteriorated; selecting a different transmission mode for the auxiliary device; and sending an indication of the selected different transmission mode via the local link.

[0176] Embodiment 4: The method according to one or more of embodiments 1 to 3 further includes: receiving an indication of the one or more measurement intervals via the Uu link; and determining the configuration of the one or more measurement intervals based on the indication.

[0177] Embodiment 5: The method according to one or more of embodiments 1 to 4, wherein the indication is associated with a beam repeatedly transmitted from the base station.

[0178] Embodiment 6: The method of one or more of embodiments 1 to 5, wherein the transmission mode set information comprises information about at least one transmission mode data set associated with the transmission mode of the secondary device, the transmission mode data set comprising an indication of at least one of the following:

[0179] - configuration of a transmission mode at the secondary device;

[0180] - signal quality measured by the UE;

[0181] - a cell identifier associated with the measured signal quality;

[0182] - a UE location determined by the UE;

[0183] - a signal quality prediction provided by the auxiliary device;

[0184] - a cell identifier associated with the signal quality prediction;

[0185] - a signal quality forecast provided by the secondary device, said signal quality forecast being associated with a signal quality expected at a future time; and / or

[0186] - a signal quality forecast time, the signal quality forecast time indicating a time associated with the signal quality forecast.

[0187] Embodiment 7: The method according to one or more of embodiments 1 to 6 further comprises: receiving an update to the transmission mode set information from the auxiliary device.

[0188] Embodiment 8: The method of one or more of embodiments 1 to 7, wherein the update indicates a modification to one or more active transmission modes of the secondary device.

[0189] Embodiment 9: The method according to one or more of embodiments 1 to 8 further comprises: sending a request for updating the transmission mode set information to the auxiliary device.

[0190] Embodiment 10: The method according to one or more of embodiments 1 to 9, wherein the request for an update of the transmission mode set information comprises at least one of the following:

[0191] - a UE location determined by the UE;

[0192] - signal quality measured by the UE; and / or

[0193] - A cell identifier associated with the measured signal quality.

[0194] Embodiment 11: A method according to one or more of embodiments 1 to 10, wherein the auxiliary device is a device mounted on a vehicle, and the device mounted on the vehicle includes: one or more sensors, the one or more sensors including a camera, a radar, or a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver, a transceiver to establish a Uu link with at least one base station; and a coverage map including base station coverage information and / or one of the perception and machine learning (ML) engines of the collection for processing signals of the one or more sensors to determine one or more active transmission modes of the auxiliary device.

[0195] Embodiment 12: A method according to one or more of embodiments 1 to 11, wherein the auxiliary device is a device mounted on a vehicle, and the device mounted on the vehicle includes: one or more transparent and / or reflective reconfigurable smart surfaces (RIS), and the one or more transparent and / or reflective reconfigurable smart surfaces (RIS) are used to relay the radio signals associated with the Uu link between the UE and the at least one base station; a transceiver, and the transceiver is used to communicate with the UE via the local link; a RIS controller, and the RIS controller is used to control the different transmission modes, wherein the transmission mode includes a transmission and / or reflection mode of the one or more RIS; and wherein the local communication link between the UE and the auxiliary device includes one of an IEEE 802.11 link, a Bluetooth link or a 3GPP side link.

[0196] Embodiment 13: The method according to one of the preceding embodiments 1 to 12, wherein the auxiliary device is a repeater for relaying the radio signal associated with the Uu link between the UE and the base station, the repeater comprising:

[0197] a transceiver configured to communicate with the UE via the local link; and

[0198] a transponder controller configured to control the different transmission modes, wherein the transmission modes include beam mapping of one or more beams directed toward the base station;

[0199] The local communication link between the UE and the auxiliary device comprises one of a device-to-device link, an IEEE 802.11 link, a Bluetooth link, or a 3GPP side link.

[0200] Embodiment 14: A method for wireless communication by an auxiliary device, wherein the auxiliary device provides different transmission modes for relaying radio signals associated with a Uu link between a user equipment (UE) and a base station, the method comprising: establishing a local communication link between the auxiliary device and the UE; sending transmission mode set information associated with a set of one or more active transmission modes of the auxiliary device; communicating with the UE via the local link to select the transmission mode of the auxiliary device; and relaying signals associated with the Uu link between the UE and the base station based on the selected transmission mode.

[0201] Example 15: According to the method of Example 14, the method also includes: receiving a configuration of one or more measurement intervals from the UE via the local link, wherein each of the one or more measurement intervals is associated with a transmission mode in the set of one or more active transmission modes of the auxiliary device; setting the corresponding one or more transmission modes during the one or more measurement intervals; receiving an indication of the selected transmission mode via the local link; and setting the selected transmission mode for relaying signals associated with the Uu link.

[0202] Embodiment 16: The method according to one or more of embodiments 14 to 15 further comprising: receiving an indication of the selected different transmission mode via the local link; and setting the different transmission mode for relaying signals associated with the Uu link.

[0203] Embodiment 17: The method of one or more of embodiments 14 to 16, wherein the transmission mode set information comprises information about at least one transmission mode data set associated with a transmission mode of the secondary device, the transmission mode data set comprising an indication of at least one of the following:

[0204] - configuration of a transmission mode at the secondary device;

[0205] - signal quality measured by the UE;

[0206] - a cell identifier associated with the measured signal quality;

[0207] - a UE location determined by the UE;

[0208] - a signal quality prediction provided by the auxiliary device;

[0209] - a cell identifier associated with the signal quality prediction;

[0210] - a signal quality forecast provided by the secondary device, said signal quality forecast being associated with a signal quality expected at a future time; and / or

[0211] - a signal quality forecast time, the signal quality forecast time indicating a time associated with the signal quality forecast.

[0212] Embodiment 18: According to one or more of the methods described in embodiments 14 to 17, the method further includes: sending an update of the transmission mode set information to the UE.

[0213] Embodiment 19: The method of one or more of Embodiments 14 to 18, wherein the update indicates a modification to one or more active transmission modes of the secondary device.

[0214] Embodiment 20: The method according to one or more of embodiments 14 to 19 further comprises: receiving a request for updating the transmission mode set information from the UE.

[0215] Embodiment 21: The method of one or more of embodiments 14 to 20, wherein the request for an update of the transmission mode set information comprises at least one of the following:

[0216] - a UE location determined by the UE;

[0217] - signal quality measured by the UE; and / or

[0218] - A cell identifier associated with the measured signal quality.

[0219] Embodiment 22: A method according to one or more of embodiments 14 to 21, wherein the auxiliary device is a device mounted on a vehicle, and the device mounted on the vehicle includes: one or more sensors, the one or more sensors including a camera, a radar, or a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver, a transceiver to establish a Uu link with at least one base station; and a coverage map including base station coverage information and / or one of the perception and machine learning (ML) engines of the collection for processing signals of the one or more sensors to determine one or more active transmission modes of the auxiliary device.

[0220] Embodiment 23: A method according to one or more of embodiments 13 to 22, wherein the auxiliary device is a device mounted on a vehicle, and the device mounted on the vehicle includes: one or more transparent and / or reflective reconfigurable smart surfaces (RIS), wherein the one or more transparent and / or reflective reconfigurable smart surfaces (RIS) are used to relay the radio signals associated with the Uu link between the UE and the at least one base station; a transceiver, wherein the transceiver is used to communicate with the UE via the local link; a RIS controller, wherein the RIS controller is used to control the different transmission modes, wherein the transmission mode includes a transmission and / or reflection mode of the one or more RIS; and wherein the local communication link between the UE and the auxiliary device includes one of an IEEE 802.11 link, a Bluetooth link, or a 3GPP side link.

[0221] Embodiment 24: A method according to one or more of embodiments 14 to 23, wherein the auxiliary device is a repeater for relaying the radio signal associated with the Uu link between the UE and the base station, the repeater comprising: a transceiver for communicating with the UE via the local link; and a repeater controller for controlling the different transmission modes, wherein the transmission mode comprises beam mapping of one or more beams directed to the base station; wherein the local communication link between the UE and the auxiliary device comprises one of a device-to-device link, an IEEE 802.11 link, a Bluetooth link, or a 3GPP side link.

[0222] Embodiment 25: An apparatus for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising components configured to perform the method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 13.

[0223] Embodiment 26: An apparatus for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising components configured to perform the method according to any one of embodiments 14 to 24.

[0224] Embodiment 27: A computer program comprising instructions for causing the apparatus according to embodiment 25 to perform the steps of the method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 13.

[0225] Embodiment 28: A computer program comprising instructions for causing the apparatus according to embodiment 26 to perform the steps of the method according to any one of embodiments 14 to 24.

[0226] Embodiment 29: A computer program comprising program instructions, which, when executed by a computer, perform all the steps of the method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 13 or 14 to 24.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication by a UE, the UE being configured to communicate with an auxiliary device, the auxiliary device providing different transmission modes for relaying radio signals associated with a Uu link between the UE and a base station, the method comprising: establishing a local communication link between the UE and the auxiliary device; receiving transmission mode set information associated with a set of one or more active transmission modes of the secondary device; communicating with the secondary device via a local link to select a transmission mode for the secondary device; as well as Communication is performed with the base station via the Uu link relayed by the auxiliary device based on the selected transmission mode.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: sending a configuration of one or more measurement intervals to the secondary device via the local link, wherein each measurement interval of the one or more measurement intervals is associated with a transmission mode in the set of one or more active transmission modes of the secondary device; performing corresponding one or more measurements of received signal quality on the Uu link during the one or more measurement intervals; selecting a transmit mode based on the one or more measurements of received signal quality; as well as An indication of the selected transmission mode is sent via the local link.

3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising: determining that a received signal quality on the Uu link has degraded; selecting different transmission modes for the auxiliary device; as well as An indication of the selected different transmission mode is sent via the local link.

4. The method according to claim 2, further comprising: receiving, via the Uu link, an indication of the one or more measurement intervals; The configuration of the one or more measurement intervals is determined based on the indication. The method of claim 4 , wherein the indication is associated with a beam repeatedly transmitted from the base station.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transmission mode set information comprises information about at least one transmission mode data set associated with a transmission mode of the secondary device, the transmission mode data set comprising an indication of at least one of: - configuration of a transmission mode at the secondary device; - signal quality measured by the UE; - a cell identifier associated with the measured signal quality; - a UE location determined by the UE; - a signal quality prediction provided by the auxiliary device; - a cell identifier associated with the signal quality prediction; - a signal quality forecast provided by the secondary device, said signal quality forecast relating to a signal quality expected at a future time; or - a signal quality forecast time, the signal quality forecast time indicating a time associated with the signal quality forecast.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: An update to the transmission pattern set information is received from the secondary device.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the update indicates a modification to one or more active transmission modes of the secondary device.

9. The method according to claim 7, further comprising: A request for updating the transmission mode set information is sent to the secondary device.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the request for an update of the transmission mode set information comprises at least one of: - a UE location determined by the UE; - signal quality measured by the UE; or - A cell identifier associated with the measured signal quality.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the auxiliary device is a device installed on a vehicle, and the device installed on the vehicle comprises: One or more sensors, the one or more sensors including one of a camera, a radar, or a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver, a transceiver to establish a Uu link with at least one base station; as well as One of a coverage map including base station coverage information and / or a perception and machine learning (ML) engine for processing signals from the one or more sensors to determine the set of one or more active transmission patterns for the secondary device.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the auxiliary device is a vehicle-mounted device, the vehicle-mounted device comprising: one or more transparent and / or reflective reconfigurable smart surfaces (RIS) for relaying the radio signals associated with the Uu link between the UE and the at least one base station; a transceiver configured to communicate with the UE via the local link; and a RIS controller configured to control the different transmission modes, wherein the transmission modes include transmission and / or reflection modes of the one or more RISs; The local communication link between the UE and the auxiliary device comprises one of a device-to-device link, an IEEE 802.11 link, a Bluetooth link, or a 3GPP side link.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary device is a repeater for relaying the radio signal associated with the Uu link between the UE and the base station, the repeater comprising: a transceiver configured to communicate with the UE via the local link; and a transponder controller configured to control the different transmission modes, wherein the transmission modes include beam mapping of one or more beams directed toward the base station; The local communication link between the UE and the auxiliary device comprises one of a device-to-device link, an IEEE 802.11 link, a Bluetooth link, or a 3GPP side link.

14. A method of wireless communication by a secondary device, the secondary device providing different transmission modes for relaying radio signals associated with a Uu link between a user equipment (UE) and a base station, the method comprising: establishing a local communication link between the auxiliary device and the UE; sending transmission mode set information associated with a set of one or more active transmission modes of the secondary device; communicating with the UE via a local link to select a transmission mode of the auxiliary device; as well as Signals associated with the Uu link between the UE and the base station are relayed based on the selected transmission mode.

15. The method according to claim 14, further comprising: receiving, from the UE via the local link, a configuration of one or more measurement intervals, wherein each of the one or more measurement intervals is associated with a transmission mode in the set of one or more active transmission modes of the secondary device; setting corresponding one or more transmission modes during the one or more measurement intervals; receiving an indication of the selected transmission mode via the local link; as well as The selected transmission mode is set for relaying signals associated with the Uu link.

16. The method according to claim 15, further comprising: receiving, via the local link, an indication of the selected different transmission mode; as well as The different transmission modes are set for relaying signals associated with the Uu link.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the transmission mode set information comprises information about at least one transmission mode data set associated with a transmission mode of the secondary device, the transmission mode data set comprising an indication of at least one of: - configuration of a transmission mode at the secondary device; - signal quality measured by the UE; - a cell identifier associated with the measured signal quality; - a UE location determined by the UE; - a signal quality prediction provided by the auxiliary device; - a cell identifier associated with the signal quality prediction; - a signal quality forecast provided by the secondary device, said signal quality forecast relating to a signal quality expected at a future time; or - a signal quality forecast time, the signal quality forecast time indicating a time associated with the signal quality forecast.

18. The method according to claim 14, further comprising: Sending an update to the transmission mode set information to the UE.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the update indicates a modification to one or more active transmission modes of the secondary device.

20. The method according to claim 18, further comprising: A request for updating the transmission pattern set information is received from the UE.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the request for an update of the transmission mode set information comprises at least one of: - a UE location determined by the UE; - signal quality measured by the UE; - A cell identifier associated with the measured signal quality.

22. The method of claim 14, wherein the auxiliary device is a vehicle-mounted device, the vehicle-mounted device comprising: One or more sensors, the one or more sensors including one of a camera, a radar, or a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver, a transceiver to establish a Uu link with at least one base station; as well as One of a coverage map including base station coverage information and / or a perception and machine learning (ML) engine for processing signals from the one or more sensors to determine the set of one or more active transmission patterns for the secondary device.

23. The method of claim 14, wherein the auxiliary device is a vehicle-mounted device, the vehicle-mounted device comprising: one or more transparent and / or reflective reconfigurable smart surfaces (RIS) for relaying the radio signals associated with the Uu link between the UE and the at least one base station; a transceiver configured to communicate with the UE via the local link; and a RIS controller configured to control the different transmission modes, wherein the transmission modes include transmission and / or reflection modes of the one or more RISs; The local communication link between the UE and the auxiliary device comprises one of a device-to-device link, an IEEE 802.11 link, a Bluetooth link, or a 3GPP side link.

24. The method according to claim 14, wherein the auxiliary device is a repeater for relaying the radio signal associated with the Uu link between the UE and the base station, the repeater comprising: a transceiver configured to communicate with the UE via the local link; and a transponder controller configured to control the different transmission modes, wherein the transmission modes include beam mapping of one or more beams directed toward the base station; The local communication link between the UE and the auxiliary device comprises one of a device-to-device link, an IEEE 802.11 link, a Bluetooth link, or a 3GPP side link.

25. An apparatus for wireless communication by a UE, the UE being configured to communicate with a secondary device, the secondary device providing different transmission modes for relaying radio signals associated with a Uu link between the UE and a base station, wherein the apparatus comprises a memory and at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor and the memory are configured to: establishing a local communication link between the UE and the auxiliary device; receiving transmission mode set information associated with a set of one or more active transmission modes of the secondary device; communicating with the secondary device via a local link to select a transmission mode for the secondary device; as well as Communication is performed with the base station via the Uu link relayed by the auxiliary device based on the selected transmission mode.

26. An apparatus for wireless communication by a secondary device, the secondary device providing different transmission modes for relaying radio signals associated with a Uu link between a user equipment (UE) and a base station, wherein the apparatus comprises a memory and at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor and the memory are configured to: establishing a local communication link between the auxiliary device and the UE; sending transmission mode set information associated with a set of one or more active transmission modes of the secondary device; communicating with the UE via the local link to receive a selection of a transmission mode for the secondary device; and Signals associated with the Uu link between the UE and the base station are relayed based on the selected transmission mode.

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