Systems, methods, and apparatus for power sharing between control links and backhaul links for network-controlled repeaters
By calculating and sharing the transmission power of the control link and backhaul link in the network control repeater, the maximum transmission power limitation problem is solved, enabling effective simultaneous transmission and improving the system's transmission capacity and flexibility.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- APPLE INC
- Filing Date
- 2024-10-31
- Publication Date
- 2026-05-29
AI Technical Summary
Current technology cannot effectively solve the problem of maximum transmission power limitation for network control repeaters when transmitting simultaneously on the control link and backhaul link, resulting in transmission power exceeding the limit.
By calculating the individual transmission power of each link and performing power sharing, including techniques based on link priority, default priority, and power sharing factor, the transmission power of the links is modified to achieve simultaneous transmission without exceeding the maximum transmission power.
This enables the network control repeater to transmit signals effectively through both the control link and the backhaul link simultaneously without exceeding the maximum transmission power limit, thereby improving the system's transmission capacity and flexibility.
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Figure CN122122824A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Cross-reference to related applications
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 596,105, filed November 3, 2023, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety for all purposes. Technical Field
[0002] This disclosure relates to wireless communication networks and devices. Background Technology
[0003] Wireless communication networks and services are becoming increasingly dynamic, complex, and ubiquitous. For example, wireless communication networks can be developed to enable fifth-generation (5G) or new radio (NR) technologies, sixth-generation (6G) technologies, and so on. Such technologies can include solutions for enabling network nodes and access points to communicate with each other in various ways. In some scenarios, base stations and UEs can communicate via intermediate devices such as network control repeaters (NCRs). Attached Figure Description
[0004] This disclosure will be readily understood and implemented through detailed description and accompanying drawings. The same reference numerals may designate the same features and structural elements. The drawings and corresponding descriptions are provided as non-limiting examples of aspects, embodiments, etc., of this disclosure, and references to “a” or “an” aspect, embodiment, etc., may not necessarily refer to the same aspect, embodiment, etc., and may mean at least one, one, or more, etc.
[0005] Figure 1 This is a diagram of an example network based on one or more specific implementations described in this document.
[0006] Figure 2 This is a diagram illustrating an example of a network control repeater (NCR) based on one or more specific implementations described herein.
[0007] Figure 3 This is a diagram illustrating an example process for sharing transmit power between a control link and a backhaul link, based on one or more specific implementations described herein.
[0008] Figure 4 This is a diagram illustrating an example of modifying the transmit power of simultaneous transmissions based on link priority, according to one or more specific implementations described herein.
[0009] Figure 5 This is a diagram illustrating an example process for modifying the transmit power of simultaneous transmissions based on symbol overlap, according to one or more specific implementations described herein.
[0010] Figure 6This is a diagram illustrating an example of modifying the transmit power of simultaneous transmission based on the use of one or more beams, according to one or more specific implementations described herein.
[0011] Figure 7 This is a diagram illustrating an example of identifying link priorities based on priority tags according to one or more specific implementations described herein.
[0012] Figure 8 This is an illustration of an example of a component of a device according to one or more specific implementations described herein.
[0013] Figure 9 This is a block diagram illustrating components according to one or more specific embodiments described herein that are capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable medium or a computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and performing any one or more of the methods discussed herein. Detailed Implementation
[0014] The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numerals in different drawings can identify the same or similar features, elements, operations, etc. Additionally, this disclosure is not limited to the following description, as other specific embodiments and structural or logical changes can be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure.
[0015] Wireless networks may include user equipment (UEs) capable of communicating with base stations, wireless routers, satellites, and other network nodes. Such equipment may operate according to one or more communication standards, such as 2G, 3G, 4G (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE)), and / or 5G (e.g., New Radio (NR)) communication standards of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). UE may refer to smartphones, tablet computers, wearable wireless devices, vehicles capable of wireless communication, and / or another broad range of wireless-capable devices.
[0016] In some networks, base stations can communicate with UEs via a Network Control Repeater (NCR). In short, the NCR can operate to extend the base station's coverage area. The base station can communicate with the NCR via a control link and a backhaul link. The control link allows the base station to configure and manage the NCR. The combination of the backhaul link and the access link provides a channel through which data is transmitted between the base station and the UE. The channels or beams used for the backhaul link and the control link can be static or fixed, and can be line-of-sight (LOS) beams. Additionally, some NCRs may include an NCR Mobile Terminal (NCR-MT) component and an NCR Forwarder (NCR-FWD) component that share a radio frequency (RF) unit to communicate with the base station. The NCR can sometimes be transmitted simultaneously using both the control link and the backhaul link. However, the NCR can be configured with a maximum transmit power that can be exceeded by the combined transmit power of the control link and the backhaul link. Currently available technologies do not provide any or sufficient solutions for such scenarios.
[0017] The techniques described herein address the shortcomings of currently available technologies by providing a solution that enables NCR to share transmit power between simultaneous transmissions on control links and backhaul links. NCR calculates the individual transmit power for each link and combines these individual transmit powers to determine the total transmit power. When the total power used for simultaneous transmission via both links is less than the maximum transmit power, NCR can use the individual transmit power to transmit simultaneously via each link. Otherwise, NCR can modify the transmit power of each link based on the relative priority of each link, the default priority of each link, a gradual reduction based on the transmit power technique applied to each link, or a power sharing factor applied to each link. As described herein, the power sharing technique applied to links can be based on whether there is overlap between links on the same time symbol, where the same or different beams are used for each link, and / or whether a priority marker for access links is being used. As described herein, simultaneous transmission can include two or more transmissions that overlap with each other in the time and / or frequency domains. These and many other features and examples are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0018] Figure 1 Example network 100 is an example network according to one or more specific implementations described herein. Example network 100 may include UE 110-1, UE 110-2, etc. (collectively referred to as "UE 110" and individually referred to as "UE 110"), radio access network (RAN) 120, core network (CN) 130, application server 140 and external network 150.
[0019] The systems and devices of Example Network 100 may operate according to one or more communication standards, such as 2G, 3G, 4G (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE)) and / or 5G (e.g., New Radio (NR)) communication standards of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Additionally or alternatively, one or more of the systems and devices of Example Network 100 may operate according to other communication standards and protocols discussed herein, including future versions or generations of 3GPP standards (e.g., 6G, 7G, etc.), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standards (e.g., Wireless Metropolitan Area Network (WMAN), Global Microwave Access Interoperability (WiMAX), etc.), and so on.
[0020] As shown in the figure, UE 110 may include a smartphone (e.g., a handheld touchscreen mobile computing device capable of connecting to one or more wireless communication networks). Additionally or alternatively, UE 110 may include other types of mobile or non-mobile computing devices capable of wireless communication, such as personal data assistants (PDAs), pagers, laptops, desktop computers, wireless phones, etc. In some implementations, UE 110 may include an Internet of Things (IoT) device (or IoT UE), which may include a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applications utilizing short-lived UE connections. Additionally or alternatively, the IoT UE may utilize one or more types of technologies, such as machine-to-machine (M2M) communication or machine-type communication (MTC) (e.g., for exchanging data with an MTC server or other device via a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), ProSe or device-to-device (D2D) communication, sensor networks, IoT networks, etc. Depending on the scenario, M2M or MTC data exchange can be machine-initiated, and the IoT network can include interconnected IoT UEs with short-term connections (which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices within the internet infrastructure). In some scenarios, the IoT UE can execute background applications (e.g., keeping track of activity messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate connectivity within the IoT network.
[0021] UE 110 can communicate with and establish connections with one or more other UEs 110 via one or more radio channels 112, each of which may include a physical communication interface / layer. Connections may include M2M, MTC, D2D, SL, etc. Connections may involve a PC5 interface. In some implementations, UE 110 can be configured to discover each other, negotiate radio resources with each other, and establish connections with each other without the intervention or communication of RAN node 122 or another type of network node. In some implementations, discovery, authentication, resource negotiation, registration, etc., may involve communication with RAN node 122 or another type of network node.
[0022] UE 110 can communicate with each other using one or more radio channels 112. As described herein, UE 110-1 can communicate with RAN node 122 to request SL resources. RAN node 122 can respond to the request by providing UE 110 with a Dynamic Grant (DG) or Configuration Grant (CG) regarding SL resources. DG may involve granting based on a grant request from UE 110. CG may involve granting resources without a grant request and may be based on the type of service offered (e.g., a service with strict timing or latency requirements). UE 110 can perform an Empty Channel Assessment (CCA) procedure based on DG or CG, select SL resources based on the CCA procedure and DG or CG, and communicate with another UE 110 based on SL resources. UE 110 can communicate with RAN node 122 using licensed frequency bands and with another UE 110 using unlicensed frequency bands.
[0023] UE 110 can communicate with and establish a connection with RAN 120 (e.g., communicatively coupled), which may involve one or more radio channels 114-1 and 114-2, each of which may include a physical communication interface / layer. In some implementations, the UE may be configured with dual connectivity (DC) as multi-radio access technology (multi-RAT) or multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), where a UE capable of multiple receive and transmit (Rx / Tx) can use resources provided by different network nodes (e.g., 122-1 and 122-2), which may be via non-ideal backhaul connections (e.g., one network node provides NR access and another provides E-UTRA for LTE or NR access for 5G). In such scenarios, one network node may operate as a primary node (MN) and the other as a secondary node (SN). MN and SN may be connected via a network interface, and at least MN may be connected to CN 130. Additionally, at least one of the MN or SN can operate via a shared spectrum channel access, and the functionality specified for UE 110 can be used for Integrated Access and Backhaul Mobile Terminal (IAB-MT). Similar to UE 110, the IAB-MT can access the network using a single network node or two different nodes with Enhanced Dual Connectivity (EN-DC) architecture, New Radio Dual Connectivity (NR-DC) architecture, etc. In some implementations, the base station (as described herein) can be an example of network node 122. In some scenarios, RAN 120 can coordinate with core network 130 via interfaces 124, 126, and / or 128.
[0024] In some implementations, UE 110 and base station 122 can communicate with each other via NCR 160. NCR 160 can operate as a repeater to improve signal quality and / or extend the coverage area of base station 122. NCR 160 can communicate with UE 110 via an access link and with base station 122 via a control link and a backhaul link. The control link allows base station 122 to control the configuration and operation of NCR 160, and the backhaul link can be used to transmit data between base station 122 and UE 110. NCR 160 can be configured to use a fixed beam for both the control link and the backhaul link. NCR 160 can implement one or more power-sharing techniques to enable NCR 160 to transmit to base station 122 simultaneously via both the control link and the backhaul link. See below for reference. Figure 2 A more detailed discussion of examples of NCR 160.
[0025] As shown in the figure, UE 110 may also or alternatively connect to access point (AP) 116 via connection interface 118, which may include an air interface enabling UE 110 to communicatively couple with AP 116. AP 116 may include a wireless local area network (WLAN), a WLAN node, a WLAN endpoint, etc. Connection 116 may include a local wireless connection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE 702.11 protocol, and AP 116 may include Wi-Fi. ® Router or other access points. Although in Figure 1 While not explicitly described, AP 116 can connect to another network (e.g., the Internet) without needing to connect to RAN 120 or CN130. In some scenarios, UE 110, RAN 120, and AP 116 can be configured to utilize LTE-WLAN aggregation (LWA) technology or LTE WLAN radio-grade integration (LWIP) technology with IPsec tunneling. LWA may involve RAN 120 configuring UE 110, in RRC_CONNECTED state, to utilize LTE and WLAN radio resources. LWIP may involve UE 110 using WLAN radio resources (e.g., connection interface 118) via IPsec protocol tunneling to authenticate and encrypt packets (e.g., Internet Protocol (IP) packets) transmitted via connection interface 118. IPsec tunneling may include encapsulating the entire original IP packet and adding a new packet header to protect the original IP packet header.
[0026] RAN 120 may include one or more RAN nodes 122-1 and 122-2 (collectively referred to as RAN node 122, and individually as RAN node 122), which enable channels 114-1 and 114-2 to be established between UE 110 and RAN 120. RAN node 122 may include a network access point configured to provide radio baseband functionality for data and / or voice connectivity between the user and the network based on one or more communication technologies described herein (e.g., 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, WiFi, etc.). Thus, as an example, a RAN node may be an E-UT RAN node B (e.g., enhanced node B, eNodeB, eNB, 4G base station, etc.), a next-generation base station (e.g., 5G base station, NR base station, next-generation eNB (gNB), etc.). RAN node 122 may include roadside units (RSUs), transmit / receive points (TRxPs or TRPs), and one or more other types of ground stations (e.g., ground access points). In some scenarios, RAN node 122 can be dedicated physical equipment such as macro cell base stations and / or low-power (LP) base stations used to provide smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macro cells.
[0027] Some or all of the RAN nodes or portions thereof of RAN node 122 may be implemented as one or more software entities running on a server computer as part of a virtual network that may be referred to as a Centralized RAN (CRAN) and / or a Virtual Baseband Unit Pool (vBBUP). In these specific implementations, CRAN or vBBUP may implement RAN function splitting, such as Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) splitting, where the Radio Resource Control (RRC) and PDCP layers can be operated by CRAN / vBBUP and other Layer 2 (L2) protocol entities can be operated by individual RAN node 122; Medium Access Control (MAC) / Physical (PHY) layer splitting, where the RRC, PDCP, Radio Link Control (RLC), and MAC layers can be operated by CRAN / vBBUP and the PHY layer can be operated by individual RAN node 122; or “lower PHY” splitting, where the upper portions of the RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC, and PHY layers can be operated by CRAN / vBBUP and the lower portions of the PHY layer can be operated by individual RAN node 122. This virtualization framework allows the idle processor cores of RAN node 122 to perform or execute other virtualization applications.
[0028] In some implementations, a single RAN node 122 may represent a single gNB distributed unit (DU) connected to the gNB control unit (CU) via a single F1 or other interface. In such implementations, the gNB-DU may include one or more remote radio headers or radio frequency (RF) front-end modules (RFEMs), and the gNB-CU may operate by a server located in RAN 120 or by a server pool (e.g., a group of servers configured to share resources) in a manner similar to CRAN / vBBUP. Additionally or alternatively, one or more RAN nodes in RAN node 122 may be next-generation eNBs (i.e., gNBs) that provide Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) user plane and control plane protocol termination to UE 110 and may be connected to the 5G core network (5GC) 130 via an NG interface.
[0029] Any RAN node in RAN 122 may terminate the air interface protocol and may be the first point of UE 110. In some implementations, any RAN node in RAN 122 may perform various logical functions of RAN 120, including but not limited to Radio Network Controller (RNC) functions such as radio bearer management, uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management. UE 110 may be configured to communicate with each other or with any RAN node in RAN 122 on a multi-carrier communication channel using Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) communication signals according to various communication technologies, such as, but not limited to, OFDMA communication technologies (e.g., for downlink communication) or single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) communication technologies (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink (SL) communication), but the scope of such implementations may be unrestricted in this respect. OFDM signals may include multiple orthogonal subcarriers.
[0030] In some implementations, the downlink resource grid can be used for downlink transmissions from any RAN node in RAN node 122 to UE 110, and uplink transmissions can utilize similar techniques. This grid can be a time-frequency grid (e.g., a resource grid or time-frequency resource grid), representing the physical resources in the downlink within each time slot. Such time-frequency representations are common practice for OFDM systems, making radio resource allocation intuitive. Each column and row of the resource grid corresponds to an OFDM symbol and an OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of the resource grid in the time domain corresponds to a time slot in a radio frame. The smallest time-frequency unit in the resource grid is represented as a resource element. Each resource grid comprises resource blocks that describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block may include a set of resource elements (REs); in the frequency domain, this can represent the minimum amount of resources currently available for allocation. Such resource blocks are used to transmit several different physical downlink channels.
[0031] Furthermore, RAN node 122 can be configured to wirelessly communicate with UE 110 and / or each other via licensed media (also referred to as “licensed spectrum” and / or “licensed band”), unlicensed shared media (also referred to as “unlicensed spectrum” and / or “unlicensed band”), or a combination thereof. In an example, licensed spectrum may include channels operating in a frequency range of approximately 400 MHz to approximately 3.8 GHz, while unlicensed band or spectrum may include a 5 GHz band. In additional or alternative examples, unlicensed spectrum may include a 5 GHz unlicensed band, a 6 GHz band, a 60 GHz millimeter-wave band, and so on.
[0032] Licensed spectrum may correspond to channels or frequency bands that are selected, reserved, regulated, etc., for certain types of wireless activities (e.g., wireless telecommunications network activities), while unlicensed spectrum may correspond to one or more frequency bands that are not restricted to certain types of wireless activities. Whether a particular frequency band corresponds to licensed or unlicensed media may depend on one or more factors, such as frequency allocations determined by public sector organizations (e.g., government agencies, regulatory agencies, etc.) or frequency allocations determined by private sector organizations involved in developing wireless communication standards and protocols.
[0033] To operate in unlicensed spectrum, UE 110 and RAN node 122 may use standalone unlicensed operation, licensed assisted access (LAA), eLAA, and / or feLAA mechanisms. In these specific implementations, UE 110 and RAN node 122 may perform one or more known medium sensing or carrier sensing operations to determine whether one or more channels in the unlicensed spectrum are unavailable or otherwise occupied before transmission in the unlicensed spectrum. Medium / carrier sensing operations may be performed according to a Listen-Before-Speak (LBT) protocol.
[0034] The PDSCH can carry user data and higher-layer signaling to UE 110. The Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) can carry information, particularly regarding the transmission format and resource allocation related to the PDSCH channel. The PDCCH can also inform UE 110 about the transmission format, resource allocation, and Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) information related to the uplink shared channel. Typically, downlink scheduling (e.g., allocating control and shared channel resource blocks to UE 110-2 within the cell) can be performed at any RAN node in RAN node 122 based on channel quality information fed back from any UE in UE 110. Downlink resource allocation information can be transmitted on the PDCCH used for (e.g., allocated to) each UE in UE 110.
[0035] PDCCH uses Control Channel Elements (CCEs) to transmit control information. Several CCEs (e.g., six) can be composed of Resource Element Groups (REGs), where REGs are defined as Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs) in OFDM symbols. For example, before being mapped to resource elements, the complex-valued symbols of the PDCCH can first be organized into quadruples, which can then be arranged using a sub-block interleaver for rate matching. Each PDCCH can be transmitted using one or more of these CCEs, where each CCE can correspond to nine sets, each with four physical resource elements, called REGs. Four Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) symbols can be mapped to each REG. Depending on the DCI size and channel conditions, one or more CCEs can be used to transmit the PDCCH. In LTE, four or more different PDCCH formats with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation levels, L=1, 2, 4, 8, or 16) can be defined.
[0036] Some implementations may use the concept of resource allocation for control channel information, which is an extension of the concept described above. For example, some implementations may utilize an extended (E)-PDCCH that uses PDSCH resources for control information transmission. One or more ECCEs may be used to transmit the EPDCCH. Similarly, each ECCE may correspond to a set of nine, each consisting of four physical resource elements, called an EREG. In some cases, an ECCE may have a different number of EREGs.
[0037] RAN nodes 122 can be configured to communicate with each other via interface 123. In an implementation where the system is an LTE system, interface 123 may be an X2 interface. In an NR system, interface 123 may be an Xn interface. In some implementations, such as standalone (SA) implementations, interface 123 may be an Xn interface. In some implementations, such as non-standalone (NSA) implementations, interface 123 may represent both an X2 interface and an XN interface. The X2 interface may be defined between two or more RAN nodes 122 (e.g., two or more eNBs / gNBs or combinations thereof) connected to the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) or CN 130, or between two eNBs connected to the EPC. In some implementations, the X2 interface may include an X2 user plane interface (X2-U) and an X2 control plane interface (X2-C). X2-U may provide flow control mechanisms for user packets transmitted via the X2 interface and may be used to convey information about the delivery of user data between eNBs or gNBs. For example, X2-U can provide specific sequence number information about user data transmitted from the primary eNB (MeNB) to the secondary eNB (SeNB); information about the successful in-order delivery of PDCP Packet Data Units (PDUs) from the SeNB to the UE 110 for user data; information about PDCP PDUs not delivered to the UE 110; information about the current minimum expected buffer size at the SeNB for transmitting user data to the UE; and so on. X2-C can provide LTE in-network access mobility functions (e.g., including context transfer from the source eNB to the target eNB, user plane transmission control, etc.), load management functions, and inter-cell interference coordination functions.
[0038] As shown in the figure, RAN 120 may be connected (e.g., communicatively coupled) to CN 130. CN 130 may include multiple network elements 132 configured to provide various data and telecommunications services to customers / subscribers (e.g., users of UE110) connected to CN 130 via RAN 120. In some implementations, CN 130 may include an evolved packet core (EPC), a 5G CN, and / or one or more additional or alternative types of CNs. Components of CN 130 may be implemented in a single physical node or in separate physical nodes, including components for reading and executing instructions from machine-readable or computer-readable media (e.g., non-transitory machine-readable storage media). In some implementations, network function virtualization (NFV) may be used to virtualize any or all of the network node roles or functions described above via executable instructions stored in one or more computer-readable storage media (described in further detail below). A logical instantiation of CN 130 may be referred to as a network slice, and a logical instantiation of a portion of CN 130 may be referred to as a network subslice. Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) architectures and infrastructures can be used to virtualize one or more network functions onto a physical resource comprising a combination of industry-standard server hardware, storage hardware, or switches (or alternatively, proprietary hardware). In other words, NFV systems can be used to implement virtual or reconfigurable concrete implementations of one or more EPC components / functions.
[0039] As shown in the figure, CN 130, application server 140, and external network 150 can be interconnected via interfaces 134, 136, and 138, which may include IP network interfaces. Application server 140 may include one or more server devices or network elements (e.g., Virtual Network Functions (VNFs)) that provide applications (e.g., Universal Mobile Telecommunications System Packet Service (UMTS PS) domain, LTE-PS data service, etc.) that use IP bearer resources with CM 130. Application server 140 may also be configured, or alternatively, to support one or more communication services for UE 110 via CN 130 (e.g., Voice over IP (VoIP sessions, push-to-talk (PTT) sessions, group communication sessions, social networking services, etc.). Similarly, external network 150 may include one or more networks (including the Internet) to provide access to various additional services, information, interconnectivity, and other network features to the mobile communication network and UE 110.
[0040] Figure 2This is a diagram illustrating an example of a network control repeater (NCR) 160 according to one or more specific implementations described herein. As shown, the NCR 160 may include one or more NCR mobile terminal (NCR-MT) components 210 and one or more NCR forwarding (NCR-FWD) components 220. Generally, the NCR 160 and its components may be implemented as a combination of hardware and software configured to enable the NCR 160 to perform the operations, processes, and functions described herein. Although not shown, example hardware components of the NCR 160 may include one or more antennas, radio frequency circuitry, baseband circuitry, power management circuitry, application circuitry, inter-component interface circuitry, communication interfaces, processors, memory devices, storage devices, etc. Hardware components may be configured to store, execute, and otherwise support information and software instructions consistent with one or more of the techniques described herein.
[0041] Generally, the NCR 160 can be used as a relay for information between base station 122 (or another type of network access point device) and UE 110. The hardware and software of the NCR 160 can be arranged and configured to implement the NCR-MT component 210 and the NCR-FWD component 220. As shown, the NCR-MT component 210 can operate to establish and maintain a control link (C-link) with base station 122. The control link can be based on the NR Uu interface and can facilitate the exchange of information (e.g., side control information or SCI) between the NCR 160 and base station 122. The side control information can enable the configuration and control of the NCR-FWD component 220. For example, the side control information can be used to indicate beam information (e.g., configured beams), turn beams on or off, indicate UL-DL TDD configuration, and the behavior of the NCR 160 under flexible symbols.
[0042] NCR-FWD component 220 can operate to establish a backhaul link with base station 122 and an access link with UE 110. NCR-FWD component 220 can perform UL / DL RF signal amplification and forwarding between the gNB and UE via the backhaul and access links. NCR 160 can configure, modify, and control the functionality of NCR-FWD component 220 based on side control information received from base station 122. The channels / beams used for the backhaul and control links can be static or fixed, and can be LOS beams. The beam used for the access link can be referred to as the access beam or access beam link. The beam used for the backhaul link can be referred to as the backhaul beam or backhaul link beam. The beam used for the control link can be referred to as the control beam or control link beam.
[0043] The NCR 160 can be configured to participate in power sharing for simultaneous transmission via a control link and a backhaul link. The NCR 160 can determine the individual transmission power for each link and combine the individual transmission powers to determine the total transmission power. When the total transmission power is below the maximum transmission power (e.g., the total transmission power that the NCR 160 is capable of or can be configured for), the NCR 160 can use the individual transmission power to transmit simultaneously via each link. Otherwise, the NCR 160 can modify (e.g., reduce) the transmission power for one or more links based on one or more techniques. Examples of such techniques may include modifying one or more individual transmission powers based on a relative priority associated with each link, a default priority based on each link, a gradual reduction based on a transmission power technique, or a power sharing factor applied to each link. Additional details and examples of such techniques are described below with reference to the accompanying figures.
[0044] Figure 3 This is a diagram illustrating an example procedure 300 for controlling transmit power sharing between a control link and a backhaul link, according to one or more specific implementations described herein. Procedure 300 may be implemented by an NCR 160. In some implementations, procedure 300 may be implemented by an NCR-MT 210 and / or an NCR-FWD 222. In some implementations, some or all of procedure 300 may be implemented by one or more other systems or devices (including...). Figure 1 It can be executed by one or more of the devices in the system, or it can be executed in conjunction with one or more other systems or devices.
[0045] Additionally, process 300 may include... Figure 3 The operations shown are compared to one or more fewer, additional, differently ordered, and / or arranged operations, including other processes and / or operations discussed herein. For example, process 300 may include operations preceding one or more of the depicted operations, operations performed in parallel with one or more of the depicted operations, and / or operations following one or more of the depicted operations. Furthermore, some or all of the operations in process 300 may be performed independently, sequentially, simultaneously, etc., relative to one or more of the other operations in process 300. Therefore, the techniques described herein are not limited to... Figure 3 The number, sequence, arrangement, timing, etc. of the operations or processes described.
[0046] Although not shown, NCR 160 may receive control or configuration information from base station 122. This information enables NCR 160 to implement one or more of the transmit power sharing techniques described herein. For example, the control or configuration information may enable NCR 160 to implement transmit power sharing based on the relative priorities of control links and backhaul links, the default priority of each link, the gradual reduction of transmit power techniques, the power sharing factor applied to each link, or a combination thereof. Therefore, based on the configuration information or instructions received from base station 122, NCR 160 may be able to switch between transmit power sharing techniques and / or enable / disable power sharing techniques.
[0047] Process 300 may include determining the transmit power for the control link and the transmit power for the backhaul link (block 310). For example, NCR 160 may detect or determine that simultaneous UL transmissions are scheduled for both the control link and the backhaul link. As described herein, simultaneous transmissions may include two or more transmissions that overlap with each other in the time and / or frequency domains. NCR 160 may determine separate transmit power for the control link and separate transmit power for the backhaul link. As described herein, separate transmit power may include transmit power that NCR 160 is configured to apply in isolation to a particular transmission (e.g., without considering overlapping transmissions from NCR 160).
[0048] Process 300 may include comparing the total transmit power for simultaneous transmission with the maximum UL transmit power of NCR 160 (box 320). For example, NCR 160 may combine the individual transmit power of control link transmission with the individual transmit power of backhaul link transmission to determine the total transmit power used for simultaneous UL transmission. NCR 160 may also determine the maximum transmit power of NCR 160 for UL transmission. The maximum transmit power may be based on static or semi-static parameters indicating the maximum transmit power of NCR 160. In some implementations, the maximum transmit power may be configured by control information from base station 122. NCR 160 may compare the total transmit power used for simultaneous transmission with the maximum transmit power of NCR 160. The individual transmit power used for control link transmission may be determined as PNCR. UL控制,计算的 The individual transmit power or amplification gain used for the backhaul link can be fixed, for example, via orbital angular momentum (OAM) or determined as PNCR. UL回传 This can vary depending on the specific implementation or scenario. The total transmission power can be determined as P. 总 =PNCR UL控制,计算的 +PNCR UL回传 The maximum transmit power can be determined as PNCR. UL,最大 .
[0049] When the total transmit power is less than the maximum transmit power (box 330—Yes), process 300 may include simultaneous transmission using individual transmit powers (box 340). For example, when the combined transmit power used for the control link and backhaul link is less than (or equal to) the maximum UL transmit power of NCR 160, NCR 160 may continue to transmit simultaneously via the control link and backhaul link according to the individual transmit power associated with each link. For example, when P 总 Less than or equal to PNCR UL,最大 At that time, NCR 160 can use PNCR UL控制,计算的 Perform control link transmission and use PNCR UL回传 (Or transmit via a fixed transmission power via OAM) through the backhaul link.
[0050] When the total transmit power is less than the maximum transmit power (box 330—No), process 300 may include modifying the transmit power of simultaneous transmissions (box 350). For example, when the total transmit power used for the control link and backhaul link exceeds the maximum UL transmit power of the NCR 160, the NCR 160 may apply one or more transmit power sharing techniques to the control link and backhaul link. For example, when P 总 Greater than PNCR UL,最大 At the same time, the NCR 160 can use one or more transmit power modification techniques (also referred to herein as transmit power sharing techniques) to modify the PNCR. UL回传 and / or PNCR UL回传 .
[0051] Transmit power sharing techniques can modify (e.g., reduce) the UL transmit power used for control links and / or backhaul links such that the total transmit power no longer exceeds the maximum UL transmit power of NCR 160. Examples of such techniques may include modifying one or more individual transmit powers based on: relative priority associated with each link; default priority for each link; and / or a gradual reduction according to transmit power techniques; or a power sharing factor applied to each link.
[0052] When applying transmit power sharing technology, process 300 may include simultaneous transmission using a modified UL transmit power (box 360). For example, NCR 160 may continue to use the modified UL transmit power for simultaneous transmission via the control link and the backhaul link. Therefore, when the initial transmit power will exceed the maximum transmit power of NCR 160, process 300 may enable transmit power sharing between the control link and the backhaul link. Details and examples of transmit power sharing technology are described below with reference to the following figures.
[0053] Figure 4This is a diagram illustrating example 400 of modifying the transmit power of simultaneous transmissions based on link priority according to one or more specific embodiments described herein. As shown, transmit power modification techniques 410 may include priority-based modification 420, stepwise (or iterative) modification 430, and factor-based modification 440. One or more transmit power modification techniques 410 may be implemented by NCR 160. Additionally, in some embodiments, transmit power modification techniques 410 may include one or more fewer, additional, or alternative techniques for modifying the transmit power of the control link and / or backhaul link.
[0054] Priority-based modification 420 may include modifying or reducing the individual transmit power of the control link and / or backhaul link based on the relative priority of the links. In some implementations, control information may be used to indicate whether the control link or the backhaul link has higher priority for simultaneous UL transmit power purposes. In other implementations, which link has priority may be fixed based on communication standard specifications. NCR 160 may determine the transmit power used for the link with higher priority as its corresponding individual transmit power (e.g., PNCR). UL控制,计算的 or PNCR UL回传 The NCR 160 can transmit power from the maximum power of the NCR 160 (e.g., PNCR). UL,最大 Subtract the transmit power of links with higher priority (e.g., PNCR) from the output. UL控制,计算的 or PNCR UL回传 This determines the modified transmit power for links with lower priority.
[0055] The incremental modification 430 may include iteratively modifying or reducing the individual transmit power of the control link and / or backhaul link. For example, the first iteration may include reducing the transmit power of the control link and backhaul link by a given value (e.g., 0.1 dB). Once reduced, the new total transmit power P 总 It can then be determined and compared with the maximum transmit power PNCR UL,最大 Compare the results. This process can be repeated until P. 总 Less than or equal to PNCR UL,最大 Therefore, the NCR 160 can continue simultaneous transmission. In some implementations, the amount of time the transmit power is modified can be greater than or less than 0.1 dB. Additionally or alternatively, each iteration can have a different amount of time (e.g., the amount of time can increase or decrease with each iteration). In some implementations, the NCR 160 can modify the transmit power of the link one at a time and compare the new total transmit power with the maximum transmit power after each modification.
[0056] Factor-based modification 440 may include modifying or reducing the individual transmit power of the control link and / or backhaul link by a factor or ratio. For example, NCR 160 may receive control information (from base station 122) indicating that the combined simultaneous transmit power of the control link and / or backhaul link exceeds the maximum transmit power PNCR. UL,最大 A power sharing factor is applied to the transmit power of the control link and / or backhaul link. This factor can be applied to the control link, the backhaul link, or both. In some implementations, different factors may be received for the control link and the backhaul link. In some implementations, the power sharing factor can be a ratio, indicating the proportion of power to be allocated to one link relative to another link. In other implementations, the power sharing factor can be another type of value. The NCR 160 can apply the power sharing factor to the control link and / or the backhaul link, resulting in a new total transmit power P. 总 It can be determined and compared with the maximum transmit power PNCR UL,最大 The power sharing factor can be calculated by NCR 160 and / or configured by base station 122 via NCR 160 configuration information transmitted through the control link.
[0057] Figure 5 This is a diagram illustrating an example process 500 for modifying the transmit power of simultaneous transmissions based on symbol overlap, according to one or more specific embodiments described herein. Process 500 may be implemented by NCR 160. In some embodiments, process 500 may be implemented by NCR-MT 210 and / or NCR-FWD 222. In some embodiments, some or all of process 500 may be implemented by one or more other systems or devices (including...). Figure 1 The process 500 may be performed by one or more of the devices in the system, or may be performed in conjunction with one or more other systems or devices. Additionally, the process 500 may include... Figure 5 The operations shown are compared to one or more fewer, additional, differently ordered, and / or arranged operations, including other processes and / or operations discussed herein. For example, process 500 may include operations preceding one or more of the depicted operations, operations performed in parallel with one or more of the depicted operations, and / or operations following one or more of the depicted operations. Furthermore, some or all of the operations in process 500 may be performed independently, sequentially, simultaneously, etc., relative to one or more of the other operations in process 500. Therefore, the techniques described herein are not limited to... Figure 5 The number, sequence, arrangement, timing, etc. of the operations or processes described.
[0058] Process 500 may involve using a resource-dependent power sharing factor for overlapping symbols between the control link and the backhaul link. As shown in the figure, process 500 may include determining whether symbol overlap exists between the control link and the backhaul link (box 510). For example, NCR 160 may determine that symbols transmitted via the control link overlap with symbols transmitted via the backhaul link.
[0059] When there is no symbol overlap (box 520—No), process 500 may include power sharing based on a factor proportional to the scheduled resources for each link (box 530). For example, in response to verifying that the control link and backhaul link do not have overlapping symbols, NCR 160 may use one or more factors proportional to the resources scheduled for each link to implement a power sharing technique. For example, if X number of resources are scheduled for the control link and Y number of resources are scheduled for the backhaul link, a factor equal to X / (X+Y) may be applied to the maximum transmit power for the control link. Similarly, a factor equal to Y / (X+Y) may be applied to the maximum transmit power for the backhaul link. As described herein, scheduled resources may refer to resource elements (REs) that have been scheduled or reserved for use. The power sharing factor may be calculated by NCR 160 and / or configured by base station 122 via NCR 160 configuration information transmitted via the control link. Base station 122 may also configure NCR 160 with one or more power sharing rules (e.g., predefined rules for determining and / or allocating transmit power between control link and backhaul link), including different power sharing factors, when to use different power sharing factors, how to determine priorities in one or more scenarios, etc.
[0060] When there is symbol overlap or partial overlap between the control link and the backhaul link (box 520—Yes), process 500 may include power sharing based on a factor relative to a combination of scheduled resources used for the control link and the backhaul link (box 540). For example, in response to verifying that the control link and the backhaul link do indeed have overlapping or partially overlapping symbols, NCR160 may implement a factor-based power sharing technique based on a combination of scheduled resources used for the control link and the backhaul link. For example, a transmit power factor for the backhaul link may be determined based on the maximum transmit power of the backhaul link and a combination of scheduled resources used for both the control link and the backhaul link. Similarly, a transmit power factor for the control link may be determined based on the maximum transmit power of the control link and a combination of scheduled resources used for both the control link and the backhaul link.
[0061] In some implementations, the combination of scheduled resources can be evenly distributed between control links and backhaul links. In other implementations, the combination of scheduled resources can be split according to configured parameters or settings (e.g., configuration information from base station 122). In some implementations, NCR 160 can avoid transmitting (or “blank”) overlapping symbols in a link. In such implementations, NCR 160 can be configured to select symbols to skip based on predefined rules, based on links with lower priority, and / or based on one or more other factors or conditions.
[0062] Figure 6 This is a diagram illustrating example 600 of modifying the transmit power of simultaneous transmissions based on the use of one or more beams, according to one or more specific embodiments described herein. As shown, example 600 may include factor-based modification 610. As described herein, NCR 160 may participate in transmit power sharing at least in part based on one or more factors applied to the transmit power of the control link and / or the transmit power of the backhaul link. Examples of such factors may include simple factor values applied to the transmit power of the control link and the backhaul link, ratios applied to the transmit power of the control link and the backhaul link, and / or another type of value used to facilitate appropriate transmit power sharing. Figure 6 As shown, different factors and / or factor types can be used in different beam scenarios.
[0063] For example, one power sharing factor can be used in scenarios where the same beam is used for both the control link and the backhaul link 620, while another power sharing factor can be used in scenarios where different beams are used for both the control link and the backhaul link 630. Furthermore, different power sharing factors can be used for different links within the same type of beam scenario. For instance, when the same beam is used for two links, one power sharing factor can be applied to one type of link and another power sharing factor can be applied to another type of link. Similarly, when different beams are used for each link, one power sharing factor can be applied to one type of link and another power sharing factor can be applied to another type of link. Therefore, different power sharing factors can be used for different types of beam scenarios.
[0064] Figure 7 This is a diagram illustrating example 700 of determining link priority based on priority tags according to one or more specific implementations described herein. Process 700 may be implemented by NCR 160. In some implementations, process 700 may be implemented by NCR-MT210 and / or NCR-FWD 222. In some implementations, some or all of process 700 may be implemented by one or more other systems or devices (including...). Figure 1The process 700 may be performed by one or more of the devices in the system, or may be performed in conjunction with one or more other systems or devices. Additionally, the process 700 may include... Figure 7 The operations shown are fewer, additional, differently ordered, and / or arranged than one or more operations, including other processes and / or operations discussed herein. For example, process 700 may include operations preceding one or more of the depicted operations, operations performed in parallel with one or more of the depicted operations, and / or operations following one or more of the depicted operations. Furthermore, some or all of the operations in process 700 may be performed independently, sequentially, simultaneously, etc., relative to one or more of the other operations in process 700. Therefore, the techniques described herein are not limited to... Figure 7 The number, sequence, arrangement, timing, etc. of the operations or processes described.
[0065] As shown in the figure, process 700 may include determining whether a priority tag for the backhaul / access link is in use (box 710). For example, traffic between UE 110 and base station 122 may be tagged with a priority tag for data forwarding purposes. The priority tag may be applied to semi-static or periodic forwarding via the backhaul / access link. To determine priority for power sharing purposes between the control link and the backhaul link, NCR 160 may determine whether a priority tag is applied to or has been applied to semi-static or periodic transmissions via the backhaul / access link.
[0066] When a priority label is being applied (box 720—Yes), process 700 may include determining that the backhaul link has priority over the control link (box 740). For example, when a priority label is applied to semi-static or periodic forwarding via the backhaul / access link, NCR 160 may determine that the backhaul link has priority over the control link. When a priority label is not being applied (box 720—No), process 700 may include determining that the control link has priority over the backhaul link (box 740). For example, when a priority label is not applied to semi-static or periodic forwarding via the backhaul / access link, NCR 160 may determine that the control link has priority over the backhaul link. However, in some implementations, NCR 160 may still prioritize the backhaul link over the control link when there is overlap between dynamic forwarding via the backhaul link.
[0067] Figure 8This is an illustration of examples of components of a device according to one or more embodiments described herein. In some embodiments, device 800 may include at least application circuitry 802, baseband circuitry 804, RF circuitry 806, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 808, one or more antennas 810, and power management circuitry (PMC) 812 coupled together as shown. In some embodiments, device 800 may include fewer components (e.g., the RAN node may not utilize application circuitry 802, but may instead include a processor / controller to process data received from the core network). In some embodiments, device 800 may include additional components such as, for example, memory / storage devices, displays, cameras, sensors (including one or more temperature sensors, such as a single temperature sensor, multiple temperature sensors at different locations in device 800, etc.), or input / output (I / O) interfaces. In other embodiments, the components described below may be included in more than one device (e.g., the circuitry may be individually included in more than one device for a cloud-RAN (C-RAN) embodiment).
[0068] Application circuitry 802 may include one or more application processors. For example, application circuitry 802 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processor may include any combination of general-purpose processors and special-purpose processors (e.g., graphics processors, application processors, etc.). The processor may be coupled to or may include a memory / storage device and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory / storage device to enable various applications or operating systems to run on device 800. In some specific implementations, the processor of application circuitry 802 may process data packets received from a core network.
[0069] Baseband circuitry 804 may include circuitry, such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. Baseband circuitry 804 may include one or more baseband processors or control logic components to process baseband signals received from the receive signal path of RF circuitry 806 and to generate baseband signals for the transmit signal path of RF circuitry 806. Baseband circuitry 804 may interface with application circuitry 802 to generate and process baseband signals and control the operation of RF circuitry 806. For example, in some implementations, baseband circuitry 804 may include a 3G baseband processor 804A, a 4G baseband processor 804B, a 5G baseband processor 804C, or other baseband processors 804D for other existing, developing, or future generations (e.g., 5G, 6G, 7G, etc.). Baseband circuitry 804 (e.g., one or more baseband processors 804A to 804D) may handle various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via RF circuitry 806. In other embodiments, some or all of the functionalities of the baseband processors 804A to 804D may be included in modules stored in memory 804G and executed via a central processing unit (CPU) 804E. Radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation / demodulation, encoding / decoding, and radio frequency shifting. In some embodiments, the modulation / demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuitry 804 may include Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), pre-decoding, or constellation mapping / demapping functionalities. In some embodiments, the encoding / decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry 804 may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, or low-density parity-check (LDPC) encoder / decoder functionalities. Specific implementations of the modulation / demodulation and encoder / decoder functionalities are not limited to these examples and may include other suitable functionalities in other respects.
[0070] In some implementations, the memory 804G can receive and store one or more configurations, instructions, and / or other types of information to enable power sharing between simultaneous transmissions via control links and backhaul links. When the total power used for simultaneous transmissions via two links is less than the maximum transmission power, individual transmission power can be used for each link. Otherwise, the transmission power used for one or both links can be modified (e.g., reduced) based on the relative priority of each link, the default priority of each link, a gradual reduction according to a transmission power technique applied to each link, or a power sharing factor applied to each link. As described herein, the power sharing technique applied to links can be based on whether there is overlap between links on the same time symbol, where the same or different beams are used for each link, and / or whether a priority marker for access links is being used. These and many other features and examples are described herein and can be implemented using configurations, instructions, and / or other types of information stored by the memory 804G.
[0071] In some embodiments, the baseband circuit 804 may include one or more audio digital signal processors (DSPs) 804F. The audio DSP 804F may include elements for compression / decompression and echo cancellation, and in other embodiments may include other suitable processing elements. In some embodiments, components of the baseband circuit 804 may be suitably combined in a single chip, a single chipset, or disposed on the same circuit board. In some embodiments, some or all of the components of the baseband circuit 804 and the application circuit 802 may be implemented together, for example, on a system-on-a-chip (SoC).
[0072] In some implementations, baseband circuit 804 can provide communication compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some implementations, baseband circuit 804 can support communication with NG-RAN, Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (EUTRAN), or other Wireless Metropolitan Area Networks (WMAN), Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN), Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPAN), etc. Implementations of baseband circuit 804 configured to support radio communication with more than one radio protocol may be referred to as multimode baseband circuits.
[0073] RF circuit 806 can communicate with a wireless network using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various implementations, RF circuit 806 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc., to facilitate communication with the wireless network. RF circuit 806 may include a receive signal path, which may include circuitry for down-converting the RF signal received from FEM circuit 808 and providing a baseband signal to baseband circuit 804. RF circuit 806 may also include a transmit signal path, which may include circuitry for up-converting the baseband signal provided by baseband circuit 804 and providing an RF output signal to FEM circuit 808 for transmission.
[0074] In some embodiments, the receive signal path of RF circuit 806 may include mixer circuit 806A, amplifier circuit 806B, and filter circuit 806C. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of RF circuit 806 may include filter circuit 806C and mixer circuit 806A. RF circuit 806 may also include synthesizer circuit 806D for synthesizing frequencies used by mixer circuit 806A in both the receive and transmit signal paths. In some embodiments, mixer circuit 806A in the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert the RF signal received from FEM circuit 808 based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuit 806D. Amplifier circuit 806B may be configured to amplify the down-converted signal, and filter circuit 806C may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signal to generate an output baseband signal. The output baseband signal may be provided to baseband circuit 804 for further processing. In some implementations, the output baseband signal may be a zero-frequency baseband signal, but this may not be necessary. In some implementations, the mixer circuit 806A in the receive signal path may include a passive mixer, but the scope of implementation is not limited in this respect.
[0075] In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 806A of the transmit signal path can be configured to up-convert the input baseband signal based on the synthesis frequency provided by the synthesizer circuit 806D to generate an RF output signal for the FEM circuit 808. The baseband signal can be provided by the baseband circuit 804 and can be filtered by the filter circuit 806C. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 806A of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 806A of the transmit signal path can include two or more mixers and can be arranged for quadrature down-conversion and up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 806A of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 806A of the transmit signal path can include two or more mixers and can be arranged for image suppression. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 806A of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 806A can be arranged for direct down-conversion and direct up-conversion, respectively. In some implementations, the mixer circuit 806 for the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 806A for the transmit signal path can be configured for superheterodyne operation.
[0076] In some embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal can be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternative embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal can be digital baseband signals. In these alternative embodiments, RF circuit 806 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry, and baseband circuit 804 may include a digital baseband interface for communication with RF circuit 806.
[0077] In some dual-mode implementations, separate radio integrated circuits can be provided to process the signal for each spectrum, but the scope of implementation is not limited in this respect. In some implementations, the synthesizer circuit 806D can be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional-N / N+1 synthesizer, but the scope of implementation is not limited in this respect, as other types of frequency synthesizers can also be suitable. For example, the synthesizer circuit 806D can be a Δ-∑ synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer including a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider.
[0078] Synthesizer circuit 806D can be configured to synthesize an output frequency for use by mixer circuit 806A of RF circuit 806 based on a frequency input and a divider control input. In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 806D can be a fractional N / N+1 synthesizer. In some embodiments, the frequency input can be provided by a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO). The divider control input can be provided by baseband circuit 804 or application circuit 802 according to the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, the divider control input (e.g., N) can be determined from a lookup table based on the channel indicated by application circuit 802.
[0079] The synthesizer circuit 806D of the RF circuit 806 may include a frequency divider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer, and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the frequency divider may be a dual-mode divider (DMD), and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by N or N+1 (e.g., based on carry output) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phase detector, a charge pump, and a set of D-type flip-flops. In these embodiments, the delay elements may be configured to divide the VCO period into Nd equal phase groups, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO period.
[0080] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuit 806D may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and may be used in conjunction with quadrature generator and frequency divider circuitry to generate multiple signals having multiple different phases relative to each other at that carrier frequency. In some embodiments, the output frequency may be the LO frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, the RF circuit 806 may include an in-phase / quadrature (I / Q) / polarity converter.
[0081] FEM circuit 808 may include a receive signal path, which may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas 810, amplify the received signals, and provide an amplified version of the received signals to RF circuit 806 for further processing. FEM circuit 808 may also include a transmit signal path, which may include circuitry configured to amplify signals provided by RF circuit 806 for transmission via one or more of the one or more antennas 810. In various specific embodiments, amplification via the transmit or receive signal path may be performed only in RF circuit 806, only in FEM circuit 808, or in both RF circuit 806 and FEM circuit 808.
[0082] In some implementations, FEM circuit 808 may include a transmit / receive switch to switch between transmit and receive mode operation. FEM circuit 808 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of FEM circuit 808 may include a low-noise amplifier to amplify the received RF signal and provide the amplified received RF signal as an output (e.g., provided to RF circuit 806). The transmit signal path of FEM circuit 808 may include a power amplifier to amplify the input RF signal (e.g., provided by RF circuit 806); and one or more filters to generate an RF signal for subsequent transmission (e.g., through one or more antennas in one or more antennas 810).
[0083] In some implementations, the PMC 812 can manage the power supplied to the baseband circuitry 804. Specifically, the PMC 812 can control power selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-to-DC (DC-to-DC) conversion. The PMC 812 is typically included when the device 800 is capable of being battery powered, for example, when the device 800 is included in a UE. The PMC 812 can improve power conversion efficiency while providing the desired implementation size and thermal characteristics.
[0084] and Figure 8 The PMC 812 is shown coupled only to the baseband circuit 804. However, in other specific implementations, the PMC 812 may additionally or alternatively couple to other components, such as, but not limited to, the application circuit 802, the RF circuit 806, or the FEM circuit 808, and perform similar power management operations on these other components.
[0085] In some implementations, the PMC 812 can be controlled or otherwise integrated into various power-saving mechanisms of the device 800. For example, if the device 800 is in the RRC_Connected state, where it remains connected to the RAN node because it expects to receive traffic immediately, it can enter a state called Discontinuous Receive Mode (DRX) after a period of inactivity. During this state, the device 800 can be powered down for short intervals, thus saving power.
[0086] If no data traffic activity persists for an extended period, device 800 may transition to the RRC_Idle state. In this state, device 800 disconnects from the network and does not perform operations such as channel quality feedback or handover. Device 800 may enter a very low-power state and may perform paging, during which it may periodically wake up again to listen to the network and then power off again. Device 800 may not receive data in this state; to receive data, device 800 may transition back to the RRC_Connected state.
[0087] An additional power-saving mode allows the device to be unavailable from the network for periods exceeding the paging interval (ranging from seconds to hours). During this time, device 800 may be unable to connect to the network and may be completely powered off. Any data transmitted during this period may incur significant delays, and device 800 may assume that the delays are acceptable.
[0088] The processor of application circuit 802 and the processor of baseband circuit 804 can be used to execute elements of one or more instances of the protocol stack. For example, the processor of baseband circuit 804 can be used individually or in combination to execute layer 3, layer 2, or layer 1 functionality, while the processor of baseband circuit 804 can utilize data received from these layers (e.g., packet data) and further execute layer 4 functionality (e.g., transmit communication protocol (TCP) and user datagram protocol (UDP) layers). As mentioned herein, layer 3 may include the RRC layer, which will be described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 2 may include the Media Access Control (MAC) layer, the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, which will be described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 1 may include the physical (PHY) layer of the UE / RAN node, which will be described in further detail below.
[0089] Figure 9 This is a block diagram illustrating components, according to some examples, capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and executing any or more methods discussed herein. Specifically, Figure 9 A schematic representation of hardware resource 900 is shown, which includes one or more processors 910 (or processor cores), one or more memory / storage devices 920, and one or more communication resources 930, each of which is communicatively coupled via bus 940. For specific implementations utilizing node virtualization or network function virtualization, a hypervisor can be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices / subslices to utilize hardware resource 900. Hardware resource 900 can interact with hypervisor 902. For example, hypervisor 902 can schedule or otherwise manage hardware resource 900.
[0090] Processor 910 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digital signal processor (DSP) (such as a baseband processor), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor, or any suitable combination thereof) may include, for example, processor 912 and processor 914.
[0091] The memory / storage device 920 may include main memory, disk storage devices, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory / storage device 920 may include, but is not limited to, any type of volatile or non-volatile memory, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid-state storage devices, etc.
[0092] In some implementations, the memory / storage device 920 may receive and store one or more configuration, instructions, and / or other types of information 955 to enable power sharing between simultaneous transmissions via a control link and a backhaul link. When the total power used for simultaneous transmissions via both links is less than the maximum transmission power, individual transmission power may be available for each link. Otherwise, the transmission power used for one or both links may be modified (e.g., reduced) based on the relative priority of each link, the default priority of each link, a gradual reduction according to a transmission power technique applied to each link, or a power sharing factor applied to each link. As described herein, the power sharing technique applied to links may be based on whether there is overlap between links on the same time symbol, where the same or different beams are used for each link, and / or whether a priority marker for access links is being used. These and many other features and examples are described herein and can be implemented using configuration, instructions, and / or other types of information stored by the memory / storage device 920.
[0093] Communication resource 930 may include interconnect or network interface components or other suitable devices for communicating with one or more peripheral devices 904 or one or more databases 906 via network 908. For example, communication resource 930 may include wired communication components (e.g., for coupling via a universal serial bus), cellular communication components, near-field communication components, Bluetooth, etc. ® Components (e.g., Bluetooth) ® Low power consumption, Wi-Fi ® Components and other communication components.
[0094] Instructions 950A, 950B, 950C, 950D, and / or 950E may include software, programs, applications, applets, or other executable code for causing at least one processor in processor 910 to perform any one or more of the methods discussed herein. Instructions 950 may reside wholly or partially within at least one processor in processor 910 (e.g., within cache memory), memory / storage device 920, or any suitable combination thereof. Furthermore, any portion of instructions 950A through 950E may be transferred from any combination of peripheral device 904 or database 906 to hardware resource 900. Therefore, the memory of processor 910, memory / storage device 920, peripheral device 904, and database 906 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.
[0095] Embodiments herein may include subjects such as methods, components for performing actions or blocks of the method, including at least one machine-readable medium containing executable instructions that, when executed by a machine (e.g., a processor with memory, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), etc.), cause the machine to perform actions of a method or apparatus or system for concurrent communication using various communication technologies according to the specific implementations and embodiments described.
[0096] In Embodiment 1, which may also include one or more embodiments described herein, a network control repeater (NCR) may include: a memory; and one or more processors configured to, when executing instructions stored in the memory, cause the NCR to: determine a first transmit power for a first transmission associated with a control link between the NCR and a base station; determine a second transmit power for a second transmission associated with a backhaul link between the NCR and the base station; determine whether a first combination of transmit power including the first transmit power and the second transmit power exceeds a maximum transmit power of the NCR; and when the first combination of transmit power exceeds the maximum transmit power, modify at least one or both of the first transmit power and the second transmit power such that a second combination of transmit power is less than or equal to the maximum transmit power of the NCR, and transmit the first transmission and the second transmission according to the second combination of transmit power.
[0097] In Embodiment 2, which may also include one or more embodiments described herein, at least one of the first transmit power and the second transmit power is modified based on the priority of the first transmit power relative to the second transmit power. In Embodiment 3, which may also include one or more embodiments described herein, at least one of the first transmit power and the second transmit power is modified according to a gradual decrease in power. In Embodiment 4, which may also include one or more embodiments described herein, at least one of the first transmit power and the second transmit power is modified by at least one power sharing factor.
[0098] In Embodiment 5, which may also include one or more embodiments described herein, at least one of the first and second transmission powers is modified by the number of resources in the first transmission relative to the number of resources in the second transmission. In Embodiment 6, which may also include one or more embodiments described herein, the first and second transmissions have at least one overlapping symbol, and at least one of the first and second transmission powers is modified based on an equal division of the maximum transmission power between the first and second transmissions. In Embodiment 7, which may also include one or more embodiments described herein, the first and second transmissions have at least one overlapping symbol, and at least one of the first and second transmission powers is modified based on a configured division of the transmission power between the first and second transmissions.
[0099] In Embodiment 8, which may also include one or more embodiments described herein, the first transmission and the second transmission have at least one overlapping symbol, and the at least one of the first transmission power and the second transmission power is modified based on the NCR to avoid transmitting the at least one of the first transmission and the second transmission for the overlapping symbol. In Embodiment 9, which may also include one or more embodiments described herein, the at least one of the first transmission power and the second transmission power is modified based on a power sharing factor associated with a control link and a backhaul link using a single beam for transmission. In Embodiment 10, which may also include one or more embodiments described herein, the at least one of the first transmission power and the second transmission power is modified based on a power sharing factor associated with a control link and a backhaul link using different beams for transmission.
[0100] In Embodiment 11, which may also include one or more embodiments described herein, at least one of the first transmit power and the second transmit power is modified based on the priority of the first transmit relative to the second transmit, and the priority of the first transmit relative to the second transmit is based on a priority tag applied to the backhaul link and the corresponding access link. In Embodiment 12, which may also include one or more embodiments described herein, the NCR is further configured to transmit the first transmit and the second transmit according to the first combination of transmit powers when the first combination of transmit powers does not exceed the maximum transmit power.
[0101] In Embodiment 13, which may also include one or more embodiments described herein, a method performed by a network control repeater (NCR) may include: determining a first transmit power of a first transmission associated with a control link between the NCR and a base station; determining a second transmit power of a second transmission associated with a backhaul link between the NCR and the base station; determining whether a first combination of transmit power including the first transmit power and the second transmit power exceeds a maximum transmit power of the NCR; and when the first combination of transmit power exceeds the maximum transmit power, modifying at least one or both of the first transmit power and the second transmit power such that a second combination of transmit power is less than or equal to the maximum transmit power of the NCR, and transmitting the first transmission and the second transmission according to the second combination of transmit power.
[0102] In embodiment 14, which may also include one or more embodiments described herein, a computer-readable medium may include one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: determine a first transmission power of a first transmission associated with a control link between the NCR and a base station; determine a second transmission power of a second transmission associated with a backhaul link between the NCR and the base station; determine whether a first combination of transmission powers including the first transmission power and the second transmission power exceeds a maximum transmission power of the NCR; and when the first combination of transmission powers exceeds the maximum transmission power, modify at least one or both of the first transmission power and the second transmission power such that a second combination of transmission powers is less than or equal to the maximum transmission power of the NCR; and transmit the first transmission and the second transmission according to the second combination of transmission powers.
[0103] The foregoing description of the subject matter of this disclosure, including the examples, embodiments, aspects, etc., illustrative of the content described in the specification summary, is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosed aspects to the precise form disclosed. While specific examples, embodiments, aspects, etc., have been described herein for illustrative purposes, various modifications may be contemplated within the scope of such examples, embodiments, aspects, etc., as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.
[0104] In this regard, although the subject matter of this disclosure has been described in conjunction with various examples, embodiments, aspects, and corresponding drawings, it should be understood, where applicable, that other similar aspects may be used or modifications and additions may be made to the disclosed subject matter to perform the same, similar, alternative, or substitute functions without departing from the disclosed subject matter. Therefore, the disclosed subject matter should not be limited to any single example, embodiment, or aspect described herein, but should be interpreted in accordance with the breadth and scope of the appended claims.
[0105] In particular, regarding the various functions performed by the components or structures (assemblies, devices, circuits, systems, etc.) described above, unless otherwise stated, the terminology used to describe such components (including references to "part") is intended to correspond to any component or structure that performs the specified functions of the described component (e.g., functionally equivalent), even if it is not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure that performs the functions in the exemplary embodiments illustrated herein. Furthermore, although certain features have been disclosed with respect to only one of several embodiments, it may be desirable and advantageous for any given application to combine such features with one or more other features of other embodiments.
[0106] As used herein, the term “or” is intended to mean inclusive “or” rather than exclusive “or.” That is, unless otherwise stated or clearly apparent from the context, “X adopts A or B” is intended to mean any natural inclusive arrangement of natural inclusive arrangements. That is, if X adopts A; X adopts B; or X adopts both A and B, then “X adopts A or B” is satisfied in any of the foregoing cases. Additionally, the articles “a” and “an” used in this application and the appended claims should generally be interpreted as meaning “one or more” unless otherwise stated or clearly apparent from the context to refer to the singular form. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms “comprising,” “including,” “having,” “having,” “with,” or variations thereof are used in the embodiment or claims, such terms are intended to be included in a manner similar to the term “including.” Additionally, in the case of discussing one or more numbered items (e.g., “first X,” “second X,” etc.), generally, the one or more numbered items may be different or they may be the same, but in some cases, the context may indicate that they are different or that they are the same.
[0107] As is well known, the use of personally identifiable information should comply with privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmental requirements for protecting user privacy. In particular, personally identifiable information data should be managed and disposed of to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and users should be clearly informed of the nature of authorized use.
Claims
1. A network control repeater (NCR), the network control repeater (NCR) comprising: Memory; and One or more processors, the one or more processors being configured to cause the NCR to: when executing instructions stored in the memory. Determine the first transmission power associated with the first transmission of the control link between the NCR and the base station; Determine the second transmission power associated with the backhaul link between the NCR and the base station; Determine whether a first combination of transmission power, including the first transmission power and the second transmission power, exceeds the maximum transmission power of the NCR; as well as When the first combination of transmission power exceeds the maximum transmission power Modify at least one or both of the first transmission power and the second transmission power such that a second combination of transmission powers is less than or equal to the maximum transmission power of the NCR, and The first transmission and the second transmission are transmitted according to the second combination of transmission power.
2. The NCR of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first transmission power and the second transmission power is modified based on the priority of the first transmission relative to the second transmission.
3. The NCR according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the first transmission power and the second transmission power is modified according to a gradual decrease in power.
4. The NCR of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first transmit power and the second transmit power is modified by at least one power sharing factor.
5. The NCR of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first transmission power and the second transmission power is modified by the number of resources of the first transmission relative to the number of resources of the second transmission.
6. The NCR according to claim 1, wherein: The first transmission and the second transmission have at least one overlapping symbol, and The first transmission power and the second transmission power are modified based on an equal division of the maximum transmission power between the first transmission and the second transmission.
7. The NCR according to claim 1, wherein: The first transmission and the second transmission have at least one overlapping symbol, and The first transmission power and the second transmission power are modified based on a configured division of transmission power between the first transmission and the second transmission.
8. The NCR according to claim 1, wherein: The first transmission and the second transmission have at least one overlapping symbol, and The first transmission power and the second transmission power are modified based on the NCR to avoid transmitting the first transmission and the second transmission for the at least one overlapping symbol.
9. The NCR of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first transmit power and the second transmit power is modified based on a power sharing factor associated with the control link and backhaul link using a single beam for transmission.
10. The NCR of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first transmit power and the second transmit power is modified based on a power sharing factor associated with the control link and backhaul link that transmit using different beams.
11. The NCR according to claim 1, wherein: The first transmission power and the second transmission power are modified based on the priority of the first transmission relative to the second transmission, and The priority of the first transmission relative to the second transmission is based on priority tags applied to the backhaul link and the corresponding access link.
12. The NCR of claim 1, wherein the NCR is further configured to: When the first combination of transmission power does not exceed the maximum transmission power The first transmission and the second transmission are transmitted according to the first combination of transmission power.
13. A method performed by a network control repeater (NCR), the method comprising: Determine the first transmission power associated with the first transmission of the control link between the NCR and the base station; Determine the second transmission power associated with the backhaul link between the NCR and the base station; Determine whether a first combination of transmission power, including the first transmission power and the second transmission power, exceeds the maximum transmission power of the NCR; as well as When the first combination of transmission power exceeds the maximum transmission power Modify at least one or both of the first transmission power and the second transmission power such that a second combination of transmission powers is less than or equal to the maximum transmission power of the NCR, and The first transmission and the second transmission are transmitted according to the second combination of transmission power.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein at least one of the first transmission power and the second transmission power is modified based on the priority of the first transmission relative to the second transmission.
15. The method of claim 13, wherein at least one of the first transmission power and the second transmission power is modified according to a gradual decrease in power.
16. The method of claim 13, wherein at least one of the first transmission power and the second transmission power is modified by at least one power sharing factor.
17. The method of claim 13, wherein at least one of the first transmission power and the second transmission power is modified by the number of the first transmission resources relative to the number of the second transmission resources.
18. A computer-readable medium comprising one or more instructions, said one or more instructions causing said one or more processors to perform operations when executed by said one or more processors, said operations including: Determine the first transmit power of the first transmission associated with the control link between the network control repeater (NCR) and the base station; Determine the second transmission power associated with the backhaul link between the NCR and the base station; Determine whether a first combination of transmission power, including the first transmission power and the second transmission power, exceeds the maximum transmission power of the NCR; as well as When the first combination of transmission power exceeds the maximum transmission power Modify at least one or both of the first transmission power and the second transmission power such that a second combination of transmission powers is less than or equal to the maximum transmission power of the NCR, and The first transmission and the second transmission are transmitted according to the second combination of transmission power.
19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein at least one of the first transmission power and the second transmission power is modified based on the priority of the first transmission relative to the second transmission.
20. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein at least one of the first transmission power and the second transmission power is modified according to a gradual decrease in power.