Network Control Repeater Power Control

Abstract

The present disclosure includes several methods and apparatuses for facilitating relaying of signals in a wireless communication system. The method and apparatus on a relay node includes determining a power-related setting for each beam of a plurality of beams individually for each beam, and when receiving and transmitting signals using the plurality of beams, each beam of the plurality of beams is transmitted according to the power-related setting determined for the beam. The method and apparatus on a network side includes determining a power-related setting for each beam of the plurality of beams individually for the relay node to apply when receiving and transmitting signals using the plurality of beams, and transmitting a configuration message based on the power-related setting to the relay node.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] 1.Technical Field FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE The present disclosure relates to transmitting and receiving signals in a communication system. In particular, the present disclosure relates to methods and apparatus for such transmission and reception.

[0002] 2. Description of Related Technology The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is working on technical specifications for next-generation cellular technology, also known as 5th generation (5G), including New Radio (NR) access technology (RAT) operating in the frequency range up to 100 GHz. NR is the successor to technologies represented by Long Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE Advanced (LTE-A).

[0003] In systems such as LTE and NR, further improvements and options may facilitate efficient operation of the communication system and certain devices associated with the communication system. [Prior art documents] [Non-patent literature]

[0004] [Non-Patent Document 1] 3GPP TS 38.300 v15.6.0 [Non-Patent Document 2] 3GPP TS 38.211 [Non-Patent Document 3] ITU-R M.2083 [Non-Patent Document 4] 3GPP TR 38.913 [Non-Patent Document 5] 3GPP TS 23.501 [Non-Patent Document 6] 3GPP RP-213562, “New SI: Study on NR Smart Repeaters”, RAN#94e, Dec. 2021 [Non-Patent Document 7] 3GPP TS 36.106, “Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); FDD repeater radio transmission and reception, ”version 17.0.0 [Non-Patent Document 8] 3GPP TS 38.212 Summary of the Invention

[0005] One non-limiting exemplary embodiment facilitates efficient relaying of signals between two entities that set the signal power for each beam individually.

[0006] In one embodiment, the technology disclosed herein relates to an apparatus, such as a relay device. The apparatus includes a transceiver and circuitry. The transceiver, in operation, receives signals and transmits signals using a plurality of beams. The circuitry, in operation, (i) determines power-related settings for each beam of the plurality of beams individually, and (ii) configures the transceiver to transmit each beam of the plurality of beams in accordance with the power-related settings determined for that beam.

[0007] It should be noted that the general or specific embodiments may be embodied as a system, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, a storage medium, or any combination thereof. For example, an integrated circuit may control the processing of a relay node or a network node.

[0008] Further benefits and advantages of the disclosed embodiments and various implementations will become apparent from the specification and drawings, which may be obtained individually by the various embodiments and features of the specification and drawings, and it is not necessary for all of them to be present in order to obtain one or more of such benefits and / or advantages. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] Exemplary embodiments will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates an example architecture of a 3GPP NR system. [Diagram 2] Schematic diagram showing the division of functions between NG-RAN and 5GC [Diagram 3] Sequence diagram of RRC connection establishment / reconfiguration procedure [Figure 4] Schematic showing the usage scenarios for Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC), and Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC) [Diagram 5] Block diagram illustrating an exemplary 5G system architecture for a non-roaming scenario [Figure 6] A block diagram showing a communication system including a relay and the relay's routing function and communication structure. [Figure 7] Block diagram showing the functional structure of relay nodes and network nodes involved in communication [Figure 8] A block diagram showing an example of the functional structure of a circuit that performs the beamforming function on the relay node side in FIG. 7. [Figure 9] A block diagram showing an example of the functional structure of a circuit that performs the beamforming function on the network node side in FIG. 7. [Figure 10] Schematic diagram showing a repeater applying separate power between a network node and two UEs when transmitting different beams towards the UEs. [Figure 11]Schematic diagram showing beam and power patterns for two beams used to carry periodic traffic. [Figure 12] Schematic showing how repeaters can apply different power to different beams [Figure 13] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary self-oscillation occurrence scenario. [Figure 14] Flow diagram showing the decision to restore a link / beam [Figure 15] FIG. 1 is a first flow diagram showing an example of processing performed by a relay node and a network node; [Figure 16] FIG. 2 is a second flow diagram showing an example of processing performed by a relay node and a network node; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] <5G NR system architecture and protocol stack> 3GPP is working on the next release of fifth-generation cellular technology (known simply as "5G"), which includes the development of a new radio access technology (NR) that will operate in frequencies up to 100 GHz. The first version of the 5G standard will be completed at the end of 2017, which will allow smartphones compliant with the 5G NR standard to proceed to testing and commercial deployment.

[0011] In particular, the overall system architecture envisages an NG-RAN (Next Generation - Radio Access Network) with gNBs terminating NG radio access user plane (SDAP / PDCP / RLC / MAC / PHY) and control plane (RRC) protocols. The gNBs are interconnected with each other by an Xn interface. The gNBs are also connected to an NGC (Next Generation Core) by a Next Generation (NG) interface, more specifically to an AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function) (e.g., a specific core entity that runs the AMF) by an NG-C interface, and to a UPF (User Plane Function) (e.g., a specific core entity that runs the UPF) by an NG-U interface. The NG-RAN architecture is shown in Figure 1 (see, for example, Section 4 of Non-Patent Document 1).

[0012] The user plane protocol stack in NR (see, for example, Section 4.4.1 of Non-Patent Document 1) includes a PDCP (Packet Data Convergence Protocol, see Section 6.4 of Non-Patent Document 1) sublayer, an RLC (Radio Link Control, see Section 6.3 of Non-Patent Document 1) sublayer, and a MAC (Medium Access Control, see Section 6.2 of Non-Patent Document 1) sublayer, which terminate at the gNB on the network side. In addition, a new sublayer (SDAP, Service Data Adaptation Protocol) of the access stratum (AS) is introduced on top of PDCP (see, for example, Section 6.5 of Non-Patent Document 1). A control plane protocol stack is also defined in NR (see, for example, Section 4.4.2 of Non-Patent Document 1). An overview of the functions of Layer 2 is given in Section 6 of Non-Patent Document 1. The functions of the PDCP, RLC, and MAC sublayers are respectively described in Sections 6.4, 6.3, and 6.2 of 3GPP TS 2.0. The functions of the RRC layer are described in Section 7 of 3GPP TS 2.0.

[0013] For example, the Medium-Access-Control (MAC) layer handles scheduling and scheduling-related functions, including multiplexing of logical channels, as well as handling of various numerologies.

[0014] The physical layer (PHY) is responsible for, for example, coding, PHY HARQ processing, modulation, multi-antenna processing, and mapping of signals to appropriate physical time-frequency resources. The physical layer also handles mapping of transport channels to physical channels. The physical layer provides services to the MAC layer in the form of transport channels. A physical channel corresponds to a set of time-frequency resources used for transmission of a particular transport channel, and each transport channel is mapped to a corresponding physical channel. For example, the physical channels are PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel), PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel), and PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel) for the uplink, and PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel), PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel), and PBCH (Physical Broadcast Channel) for the downlink.

[0015] NR use cases / deployment scenarios include enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable and low latency communications (URLLC), and massive machine type communications (mMTC), which have diverse requirements in terms of data rates, latency, and coverage. For example, eMBB is expected to support peak data rates (20 Gbps downlink and 10 Gbps uplink) and user-perceived data rates that are on the order of three times higher than those offered by IMT-Advanced. In contrast, URLLC has more stringent requirements, including extremely low latency (user plane latency of 0.5 ms for UL and DL, respectively) and high reliability (1-10 Mbps within 1 ms). -5) and mMTC requires high connection density (1 km 2 1,000,000 devices per second), wide coverage in harsh environments, and extremely long battery life (15 years) to lower device costs may be preferably required.

[0016] Thus, an OFDM numerology (e.g., subcarrier spacing, OFDM symbol duration, cyclic prefix (CP) duration, number of symbols per scheduling interval) suitable for one use case may not work well for another use case. For example, low latency services may preferably require a shorter symbol duration (and therefore a larger subcarrier spacing) and / or fewer symbols per scheduling interval (also referred to as TTI) than mMTC services. Furthermore, deployment scenarios with large channel delay spreads may preferably require a longer CP duration than scenarios with small delay spreads. To maintain a comparable CP overhead, the subcarrier spacing should be optimized depending on the delay spread. In NR, more than one value of subcarrier spacing may be supported. Thus, currently, subcarrier spacings of 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, ... are considered. The symbol duration T u and the subcarrier spacing Δf is expressed by the formula (Δf=1 / T u ), as in LTE systems, the term "resource element" can be used to denote the smallest resource unit consisting of one subcarrier for the length of one OFDM / SC-FDMA symbol.

[0017] In the new radio system 5G-NR, for each numerology and carrier, a resource grid of subcarriers and OFDM symbols is defined for both the uplink and the downlink. Each element in the resource grid is called a resource element and is identified based on the frequency index in the frequency domain and the symbol position in the time domain (see Version 15.6.0 of Non-Patent Document 2). For example, downlink transmission and uplink transmission are organized into frames with a duration of 10 ms, and each frame is composed of 10 subframes with a duration of 1 ms each. In the implementation form of 5G NR, the number of consecutive OFDM symbols per subframe depends on the setting of the subcarrier spacing. For example, in the case of a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, one subframe has 14 OFDM symbols (similar to an LTE-compliant implementation assuming a normal cyclic prefix). On the other hand, in the case of a subcarrier spacing of 30 kHz, one subframe has two slots, and each slot contains 14 OFDM symbols.

[0018] NR supports multiple different types of subcarrier spacings labeled by the parameter μ compared to the new numerology (subcarrier spacing and symbol length) of LTE (in LTE, only a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, which corresponds to μ = 0 in NR). The types of NR new numerology are summarized in Version 15.7.0 of Non-Patent Document 2.

[0019] <5G NR Function Split between NG-RAN and 5GC> Figure 2 shows the split of functions between NG-RAN and 5GC. The logical nodes of NG-RAN are gNB or ng-eNB (next generation eNB). The logical nodes of 5GC are AMF, UPF, and SMF.

[0020] In particular, gNB and ng-eNB handle the following main functions. - Radio Resource Management functions such as Radio Bearer Control, Radio Admission Control, Connection Mobility Control, dynamic resource allocation (scheduling) to UEs in both uplink and downlink directions - IP header compression, encryption, and integrity protection of data - Selection of AMF at UE attach time when routing to AMF cannot be determined from information provided by the UE - Routing of user plane data to the UPF - Routing control plane information to AMF - Establishing and releasing connections - Scheduling and sending paging messages - Scheduling and transmission of system broadcast information (from AMF or OAM) - Configuring measurements and measurement reporting for mobility and scheduling - Transport-level packet marking in the uplink - Session Management - Network slicing support - QoS flow management and mapping to data radio bearers - Support for UEs in RRC_INACTIVE state - Non-access stratum (NAS) message delivery function - Wireless Access Network Sharing - Dual Connectivity - Tight interworking between NR and E-UTRA

[0021] The Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) handles the following main functions: - Termination of Non-Access Stratum (NAS) signalling - NAS signaling security - Access Stratum (AS) security control - Core Network (CN) inter-node signaling for mobility between 3GPP access networks - Reachability for idle mode UEs (including control and execution of paging retransmissions) - Registration Area Management - Support for intra-system and inter-system mobility - Access Authentication - Access authentication, including roaming rights checks - Mobility management controls (subscriptions and policies) - Network slicing support - Selection of Session Management Function (SMF)

[0022] Furthermore, the User Plane Function (UPF) handles the following main functions: - Anchor points for intra-RAT / inter-RAT mobility (when applicable) - External PDU session points for interconnection with data networks - Packet routing and forwarding - User plane part of packet inspection and policy rule enforcement - Traffic usage reports - an uplink classifier to support routing of traffic flows to the data network; - Branching points to support multi-homed PDU sessions - QoS processing in the user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL / DL rate enforcement) - Verification of uplink traffic (mapping from SDF to QoS flow) - Downlink packet buffering and triggering of downlink data notification

[0023] Finally, the Session Management Function (SMF) processes the following main functions. - Session management - Allocation and management of UE IP addresses - Selection and control of the UP function - Configuration of traffic steering in the User Plane Function (UPF) for routing traffic to the correct destination - Policy enforcement and QoS control part - Downlink data notification

[0024] <Procedures for establishment and reconfiguration of RRC connection> Figure 3 shows the interaction between the UE, gNB, and AMF (5GC entity) in the NAS part when the UE transitions from RRC_IDLE to RRC_CONNECTED (see Non-Patent Document 1).

[0025] RRC is a higher layer signaling (protocol) used for the configuration of the UE and the gNB. In particular, in this transition, the AMF creates UE context data (including, for example, PDU session context, security keys, UE radio capabilities, UE security capabilities, etc.) and sends it to the gNB via an INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST. The gNB then activates AS security with the UE, which is performed by the gNB sending a SecurityModeCommand message to the UE and the UE responding with a SecurityModeComplete message to the gNB. The gNB then performs a reconfiguration to establish a signaling radio bearer 2 (SRB2) and a data radio bearer (DRB), which is performed by the gNB sending an RRCReconfiguration message to the UE and the gNB receiving an RRCReconfigurationComplete from the UE in response. In the case of a signaling-only connection, these steps related to RRCReconfiguration are skipped since SRB2 and DRB are not established. Finally, the gNB informs the AMF that the establishment procedure is complete via an INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE.

[0026] Therefore, the present disclosure provides a fifth generation core (5GC) entity (e.g., AMF, SMF, etc.) having a control circuit that, in operation, establishes a next generation (NG) connection with a gNodeB, such that a signaling radio bearer is established between the gNodeB and a user equipment (UE), and a transmitter that, in operation, transmits an initial context setup message to the gNodeB via the NG connection. In particular, the gNodeB transmits radio resource control (RRC) signaling including a resource allocation configuration information element to the UE via the signaling radio bearer. The UE then performs uplink transmission or downlink reception based on the resource allocation configuration.

[0027] <IMT usage scenarios after 2020> Figure 4 shows some of the use cases for 5G NR. The 3rd generation partnership project new radio (3GPP NR) considers three use cases envisaged to support a wide variety of services and applications by IMT-2020. The specifications for phase 1 of enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) have been finalized. Current and upcoming work includes standardization for ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (URLLC) and massive machine-type communications (mMTC), in addition to further extending eMBB support. Figure 4 shows some examples of IMT usage scenarios envisaged for 2020 and beyond (see, for example, Figure 2 in Non-Patent Document 3).

[0028] URLLC use cases have stringent requirements on capabilities such as throughput, latency and availability, and are envisioned as one of the enablers of future vertical applications such as wireless control of industrial manufacturing or production processes, remote medical surgery, power distribution automation in smart grids, and transportation safety. The ultra-high reliability of URLLC is supported by identifying technologies to meet the requirements set by NR URLLC in Release 15. For NR URLLC in Release 15, key requirements include a user plane target latency of 0.5 ms for UL (uplink) and 0.5 ms for DL ​​(downlink). A typical URLLC requirement for a single transmission of a packet is a BLER (block error rate) of 1E-5 for a packet size of 32 bytes with a user plane latency of 1 ms.

[0029] From the physical layer perspective, there are several possible ways to improve reliability. Current scope for improving reliability includes defining separate CQI tables for URLLC, more compact Downlink Control Information (DCI) formats, PDCCH repetition, etc. However, as NR becomes more stable and developed (for a key requirement of NR URLC), the scope for achieving ultra-high reliability may increase. Specific use cases for NR URLCC in Release 15 include augmented reality / virtual reality (AR / VR), e-health, e-safety, and mission-critical applications.

[0030] Furthermore, technology enhancements targeted by NR URLCC target latency improvement and reliability improvement. Technology enhancements for latency improvement include configurable numerology, non-slot-based scheduling with flexible mapping, grant-free (configured grant) uplink, slot-level repetition of data channel, and preemption for downlink. Preemption means that a transmission for which resources are already allocated is aborted and the already allocated resources are used for another transmission with smaller latency / higher priority requirement requested later. Thus, an already granted transmission is preempted by a later transmission. Preemption applies regardless of the specific service type. For example, a transmission of service type A (URLCC) can be preempted by a transmission of service type B (eMBB, etc.). Technology enhancements for reliability improvement include dedicated CQI / MCS tables for a target BLER of 1E-5.

[0031] The mMTC (Massive Machine Type Communication) use case is characterized by a very large number of connected devices transmitting relatively small amounts of data that are generally not sensitive to latency. The devices need to be low cost and have extremely long battery life. From an NR perspective, utilizing very narrow bandwidth portions is one possible solution to achieve power savings from the UE perspective to enable long battery life.

[0032] As mentioned above, it is expected that the range of reliability in NR will increase. One key requirement for all cases, especially for URLLC and mMTC, is high or ultra-high reliability. Several mechanisms can be considered to improve reliability from a radio perspective and from a network perspective. In general, there are several key areas that can help improve reliability. These areas include compact control channel information, data channel / control channel repetition, and diversity related to frequency, time, and / or spatial domains. These areas are generally applicable to reliability, regardless of the specific communication scenario.

[0033] For NR URLLC, further use cases with more stringent requirements have been identified, e.g. in factory automation, the transport industry and power supply. The more stringent requirements include higher reliability (up to 10 times faster) depending on the use case. -6 These include: high-speed (level 1), higher availability, packet sizes up to 256 bytes, time synchronization on the order of a few microseconds (values ​​range from 1 to a few microseconds depending on the frequency range), and short latency on the order of 0.5 to 1 ms (the target latency for the user plane in particular is 0.5 ms).

[0034] Furthermore, for NR URLLC, several technical enhancements are possible from the perspective of the physical layer. In particular, enhancements related to PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel) include compact DCI, repetition of PDCCH, and increased PDCCH monitoring. Also, enhancements related to UCI (Uplink Control Information) include enhancements of HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request) and CSI feedback. In addition, enhancements of PUSCH related to mini-slot level hopping and retransmission / repetition have also been recognized. The term "mini-slot" means a transmission time interval (TTI: Transmission Time Interval) that contains a smaller number of symbols than a slot (a slot contains, for example, 14 symbols).

[0035] <QoS Control> The 5G QoS (Quality of Service) model is based on QoS flows and supports both QoS flows that require a guaranteed flow bit rate (GBR QoS flows) and QoS flows that do not require a guaranteed flow bit rate (non-GBR QoS flows). Therefore, at the NAS level, a QoS flow is the finest granularity for QoS differentiation in a PDU session. A QoS flow is identified within a PDU session by a QoS flow ID (QFI) that is transmitted within a capsule header through the NG-U interface.

[0036] The 5GC establishes one or more PDU sessions for each UE. The NG-RAN establishes at least one Data Radio Bearer (DRB) for each UE with the PDU sessions, and can then configure additional DRBs for the QoS flows of the PDU sessions (NG-RAN decides when to do so), e.g. as described above with reference to FIG. 3. The NG-RAN maps packets belonging to different PDU sessions to different DRBs. NAS-level packet filters in the UE and 5GC associate UL and DL packets with QoS flows, and AS-level mapping rules in the UE and NG-RAN associate UL and DL QoS flows with DRBs.

[0037] Figure 5 shows the non-roaming reference architecture of 5G NR (see section 4.23 of non-patent document 5). Application Functions (AFs) (e.g., external application servers handling 5G services exemplarily described in Figure 4) interact with the 3GPP Core Network to provide services. For example, they support application influence on traffic routing, access Network Exposure Functions (NEFs), or interact with a policy framework (see Policy Control Function (PCF)) for policy control (e.g., QoS control). Based on the operator's deployment, application functions (AFs) that are deemed trusted by the operator can be allowed to interact directly with the relevant network functions. Application functions (AFs) that are not allowed by the operator to directly access network functions interact with the relevant network functions using an external exposure framework via the NEF.

[0038] Figure 5 shows further functional units of the 5G architecture: Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF), Network Repository Function (NRF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), and Data Network (DN) (e.g. operator's services, internet access or third party services). All or part of the core network functions and application services may be located and executed in a cloud computing environment.

[0039] Therefore, the present disclosure provides an application server (e.g., an AF in a 5G architecture) having a transmitter that, when operated, sends a request including QoS requirements for at least one of a URLLC service, an eMMB service, and an mMTC service to at least one of 5GC functions (e.g., NEF, AMF, SMF, PCF, UPF, etc.) to establish a PDU session including a radio bearer between a gNodeB and a UE in accordance with the QoS requirements, and a control circuit that, when operated, executes the service using the established PDU session.

[0040] <Control signal> In the present disclosure, the downlink control signal (information) according to the present disclosure may be a signal (information) transmitted via a PDCCH of a physical layer, or may be a signal (information) transmitted via a MAC Control Element (CE) of a higher layer or an RRC. The downlink control signal may be a predefined signal (information).

[0041] The uplink control signal (information) according to the present disclosure may be a signal (information) transmitted via a PUCCH of a physical layer, or may be a signal (information) transmitted via a MAC CE of a higher layer or an RRC. Also, the uplink control signal may be a predefined signal (information). The uplink control signal may be uplink control information (UCI), first stage sidelink control information (SCI), or second stage SCI.

[0042] <Frequency band> The present disclosure may be applied to both licensed and unlicensed bands. It is applicable to both frequency bands, but may be particularly advantageous for high frequency bands, since the benefits of beamforming are greater in high frequency bands. In particular, the frequency band for 5G NR is divided into two different frequency ranges. First, FR1 (Frequency Range 1), which includes frequency bands below 6 GHz that were partially used in previous standards, has been expanded to potentially cover new spectrum offerings from 410 MHz to 7125 MHz. The other band is FR2 (Frequency Range 2), which includes frequency bands from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz.

[0043] <Device> A terminal or user terminal or user device or mobile station or mobile node is called user equipment (UE) in LTE and NR. A user equipment (UE) may be a mobile device or communication device, such as a wireless telephone, a smartphone, a tablet computer, or a USB (Universal Serial Bus) stick with user equipment functionality. However, the term mobile device is not limited thereto, and in general, a repeater may also have such mobile device functionality, and a mobile device may act as a repeater. For example, a terminal is a physical entity (physical node) in a communication network. Furthermore, a communication device may be any machine-type communication device, such as an IoT device, etc. A node may have several functional entities. A functional entity refers to a software or hardware module that realizes and / or provides a given set of functions to other functional entities of the same or other nodes or networks. A node may have one or more interfaces that connect the node to communication facilities or media over which the node can communicate. Similarly, a network entity may have logical interfaces that connect the functional entity to communication facilities or media over which it can communicate with other functional entities or correspondent nodes.

[0044] <Base station> In the present disclosure, the base station may be, for example, a Transmission Reception Point (TRP), a cluster head, an access point, a Remote Radio Head (RRH), an eNodeB (eNB), a gNodeB (gNB), a Base Station (BS), a Base Transceiver Station (BTS), a base unit, or a gateway. Also, in the sidelink communication, a terminal may be used instead of the base station. The base station may be a relay device that relays communication between an upper node and a terminal. The base station may be a roadside unit. The base station may be, for example, a scheduling node or a network node that forms part of a network for providing services to terminals. In particular, the base station may provide wireless access to the terminal. The communication between the terminal and the base station is generally standardized and may be defined by different layers such as PHY, MAC, and RRC. In LTE and NR, the air interface protocol stack includes a physical layer, a medium access (MAC) layer, and an upper layer. The control plane is provided with a radio resource control protocol, which is an upper layer protocol. Via RRC, the base station can control the configuration of the terminals, and the terminals can communicate with the base station to perform control tasks such as establishing and modifying connections and bearers, measurements, and other functions. The terminology used in LTE is eNB (or eNodeB), while the terminology currently used in 5G NR is gNB. The term "base station" or "radio base station" refers herein to a physical entity in a communication network. A base station, like a mobile station, can have several functional entities. A functional entity refers to a software or hardware module that realizes and / or provides a given set of functions to other functional entities of the same or other nodes or networks. The physical entity performs several control tasks related to the communication device, including one or more of scheduling and configuration.It should be noted that the base station functionality and the communication device functionality may be integrated in one device. For example, a mobile terminal may further perform the base station functionality for another terminal. The terminology used in LTE is eNB (or eNodeB), while the terminology currently used in 5G NR is gNB.

[0045] <Relay node> A relay node is used to extend the coverage of a cell or improve the performance at the cell edge while reducing costs compared to the construction of additional base stations (network nodes). A relay node receives signals from a base station on the downlink, amplifies them, and transmits them further on the downlink to one or more terminals. A relay node receives signals from one or more terminals on the uplink, amplifies them, and transmits them further on the uplink to a base station. To this end, a relay node may have two radio access interfaces, one for radio access with a UE and another one (sometimes also referred to as a backhaul link) for radio access with a base station. This may be preferable, especially for FDD relay operation. For TDD operation, it may be a single interface, such as a duplexer, that alternately connects the uplink and the downlink in the time domain. A relay node can be conceptually realized at any layer (e.g., RF, L1, L2, or L3). However, a simpler physical layer repeater may be desired from the viewpoint of efficiency and cost reduction.

[0046] LTE repeaters were not cost-effective as they simply rebroadcast the signal (as in RF repeaters). For example, in LTE, L2 repeaters demodulate and decode the actual data received, perform any error correction, etc., and retransmit it as a new signal. This improves the signal quality rather than degrading the signal-to-noise ratio that would be the case with repeaters. For LTE repeaters, the UE communicates with the relay node, which in turn communicates with a "donor" eNB. The links between the UE and the repeater, and between the repeater and the BS, could be time-division multiplexed or frequency-division multiplexed. Several other repeater options were offered, but none of them supported beamforming. The LTE repeater concept has not been widely adopted.

[0047] 3GPP has recently defined a study item (followed by a work item) on network controlled repeaters in New Radio rel.18 (see non-patent document 6, available free of charge at www.3gpp.org). Thus, a repeater can be a repeater that can extend the coverage of the network and is supposed to be more cost-effective than the IAB (Integrated Access and Backhaul) introduced in Rel.16.

[0048] One of the desirable features of a network-controlled repeater is the ability to beamform, which is one of the main differences between a network-controlled repeater and an LTE repeater. A network-controlled repeater should support both outdoor and indoor scenarios.

[0049] The objectives of the network controlled repeater study include the following features: While smart repeaters are envisaged for extending network coverage in FR1 FDD / TDD and FR2 TDD bands, the study may prioritise FR2 TDD deployment for both outdoor and outdoor-to-indoor (O2I) scenarios. The repeater should be a one-hop fixed smart repeater that is transparent to the UE. In other words, the signal path is only "gNB → sRelay → UE" and "UE → sRelay → gNB" ("sRelay" in this specification refers to smart repeater, smart repeater or network controlled repeater, which are used interchangeably in each instance). The smart repeater should be able to simultaneously maintain gNB repeater link and repeater-UE link. Cost efficiency is a key consideration.

[0050] An idea that needs further study is to identify what ancillary (control) information is necessary or desirable for smart repeaters assuming maximum transmit power (defined in L1). The ancillary information may include beamforming information, timing information for aligning transmit and receive boundaries, uplink and downlink TDD configuration information, information for efficient interference management and improved energy efficiency, power control information for interference management, etc.

[0051] As mentioned, LTE also allows for amplify and forward (AF) repeaters (RF repeaters). Such repeaters are transparent to the system and amplify the received signal and forward it to the user. The repeater itself cannot know whether the amplified signal is the desired signal received from the UE / gNB or just interference or noise. Therefore, if the repeater is not properly configured / placed, it may increase interference in the system. LTE RF repeaters are designed to operate in the bands below 3 GHz where beamforming is not required (see Non-Patent Document 7 (available for free from www.3gpp.org)). However, the network-controlled repeaters considered for Rel. 18 operate in both FR1 and FR2 and allow beamforming. Therefore, their design requires further attention.

[0052] Hereinafter, the term repeater, also referred to as a relay node in this specification, refers to a general node used to receive and amplify a signal from one entity and transmit it to another entity. The present disclosure is also applicable to such a general node. This is because the present disclosure relates to a function of beamforming that can be useful in any repeater, regardless of the layer (RF, L1, L2, L3, etc.), the applicable frequency band, the area of ​​multiplexing, etc. In this disclosure, the term "repeater" is used in this disclosure in accordance with the recent discussion in 3GPP, but is not to be interpreted as being limiting in this disclosure. This disclosure is also easily applicable to RF repeaters and smart repeaters discussed for NR, but this application is exemplary. An RF (Radio Frequency) repeater does not perform baseband L1 processing such as demodulation and demodulation or (H)ARQ, but simply receives, amplifies, and retransmits a signal. In addition, although a repeater is described in this specification as amplifying a signal between a base station (network node) and a user equipment, a repeater in this disclosure can also be used to amplify a signal between two user equipments.

[0053] <Uplink / Downlink / Sidelink> The present disclosure may be applied to any of the uplink, downlink, and sidelink.

[0054] For example, the present disclosure may be applied to the uplink PUSCH, PUCCH, and PRACH, the downlink PDSCH, PDCCH, and PBCH, and the sidelink PSSCH (Physical Sidelink Shared Channel), PSCCH (Physical Sidelink Control Channel), and PSBCH (Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel).

[0055] The PDCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, and PUCCH are examples of a downlink control channel, a downlink data channel, an uplink data channel, and an uplink control channel, respectively. The PSCCH and PSSCH are examples of a sidelink control channel and a sidelink data channel, respectively. The PBCH and PSBCH are examples of a broadcast channel, and the PRACH is an example of a random access channel.

[0056] <Reference signal> In the present disclosure, a reference signal is a signal known (e.g., predefined, fixed) to both the base station and the mobile station and / or the relay node, and each reference signal may be referred to as a reference signal (RS) or a pilot signal. The reference signal may be any of DMRS, Channel State Information - Reference Signal (CSI-RS), Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), Phase Tracking Reference Signal (PTRS), Cell-specific Reference Signal (CRS), and Sounding Reference Signal (SRS). The reference signal may be used for channel characteristic estimation and / or synchronization in the receiving device. Also, one or more parameters of the reference signal may be used for data (control, payload) transmission, and one or more other parameters of the same reference signal may be used as a reference. For example, the reference signal may be used to compare a reference power and a received power. However, the reference signal may also be used to compare a phase and / or a frequency, etc.

[0057] <time interval> In the present disclosure, the time resource unit is not limited to one or a combination of slots and symbols, and may be a time resource unit such as a frame, a superframe, a subframe, a slot, a subslot of a time slot, a minislot, or a symbol, an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, a Single Carrier-Frequency Division Multiplexing Access (SC-FDMA) symbol, or other time resource unit. The number of symbols included in one slot is not limited to the number of symbols exemplified in the above-mentioned embodiment, and may be other numbers of symbols.

[0058] <Communication> The present disclosure may be applied to any of communication including relay between a base station and a terminal (Uu link communication), communication between terminals (sidelink communication), and V2X (Vehicle to Everything) communication. The channels in the present disclosure may be rephrased as PSCCH, PSSCH, physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH), PSBCH, PDCCH, PUCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, and PBCH.

[0059] The present disclosure can also be applied to a terrestrial network or a non-terrestrial network (NTN) using a satellite or a high altitude pseudo satellite (HAPS). The present disclosure can also be applied to a terrestrial network with a large cell size and a large delay compared to a symbol length or a slot length, such as an ultra-wideband transmission network.

[0060] <Antenna port> An antenna port refers to a logical antenna (antenna group) formed from one or more physical antennas. That is, an antenna port does not necessarily refer to one physical antenna, but may refer to an array antenna consisting of multiple antennas. For example, the number of physical antennas constituting an antenna port is not defined, and instead, an antenna port is defined as the smallest unit that a terminal is allowed to transmit a reference signal. An antenna port may also be defined as the smallest unit for multiplication of a precoding vector weighting.

[0061] <Downlink control channel monitoring, PDCCH, DCI> Many of the functions performed by the UE and / or the repeater include monitoring a downlink control channel (e.g., PDCCH, see 3GPP TS 2013-011066, version 15.6.0, section 5.2.3) for example to receive specific control information or data intended for the UE.

[0062] Below is a non-exhaustive list of such features: - Paging message monitoring function, - System information acquisition function, - signalling supervision operation in discontinuous reception (DRX) functionality; - inactivity monitoring operation in the discontinuous reception (DRX) function; - receiving a random access response in a random access function; - Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer reordering function

[0063] As described above, the PDCCH is monitored by the UE to identify and receive information intended for the UE, such as control information and user traffic (e.g., DCI on the PDCCH, user data on the PDSCH indicated by the PDCCH).

[0064] The control information in the downlink (which can be called downlink control information, DCI) has the same purpose in 5G NR as DCI in LTE, i.e. it is a set of special control information for scheduling, for example, a downlink data channel (e.g. PDSCH) or an uplink data channel (e.g. PUSCH).

[0065] In 5G NR, many different DCI formats have already been defined (see 3GPP TS 2.0, 2013-01-13, version 15.6.0, section 7.3.1).

[0066] These DCI formats represent the predefined formats that the respective information is formed and transmitted in. In particular, DCI formats 0_1 and 1_1 are used for scheduling PUSCH and PDSCH in one cell, respectively.

[0067] The PDCCH monitoring in each of these functions serves a specific purpose and is therefore initiated for that purpose. PDCCH monitoring is typically controlled at least based on a timer operated by the UE. The timer has the purpose of controlling the PDCCH monitoring, for example to limit the maximum length of time that the UE monitors the PDCCH. For example, the UE does not need to monitor the PDCCH indefinitely and can stop monitoring after a certain time so as to conserve power.

[0068] As mentioned above, one of the purposes of DCI in PDCCH is to dynamically schedule resources in the downlink or uplink, or in the sidelink. In particular, several formats of DCI are provided to convey notification of resources assigned to a data channel for a particular user (resource allocation, RA). A resource allocation may include specification of resources in the frequency domain and / or the time domain.

[0069] <Random access procedure> Similar to LTE, 5G NR provides a Random Access Channel (RACH) procedure (or simply a random access procedure). For example, the RACH procedure can be used by a UE to access a discovered cell. The RACH procedure can also be used, for example, to: During handover, when establishing synchronization to a new cell, To re-establish uplink synchronization to the current cell if synchronization is lost due to a long period without uplink transmissions from the device. If a dedicated scheduling request resource is not configured for the device, It can also be used in other contexts within NR.

[0070] There are a number of events that may trigger the UE to perform a random access procedure (see 3GPP TS 2013-01033, section 9.2.6), including the following: - Initial access from RRC_IDLE - RRC connection re-establishment procedure - DL data or UL data arrives at RRC_CONNECTED when the UL synchronization state is "asynchronous" - UL data arrives during RRC_CONNECTED when no PUCCH resources are available for SR (scheduling request) - SR Failure - Required by RRC during synchronous reconfiguration (e.g. handover) - Transition from RRC_INACTIVE - Establishing time alignment of secondary TAGs - Other SI requirements (see section 7.3) - Beam failure recovery - Continuous UL LBT failures on SpCell Triggered by

[0071] A mobile terminal can be scheduled for uplink transmission if its uplink transmission is time synchronized. Thus, the Random Access Channel (RACH) procedure serves as an interface between unsynchronized mobile terminals (UEs) and orthogonal transmission of uplink radio access. Random access is used, for example, to achieve uplink time synchronization for user equipment that has not yet acquired or lost uplink synchronization. Once the user equipment acquires uplink synchronization, the base station can schedule uplink transmission resources for the user equipment. One scenario related to random access is when a user equipment in RRC_CONNECTED state hands over from a current serving cell to a new target cell and performs a random access procedure to achieve uplink time synchronization in the target cell.

[0072] <Terminology> In the following, UEs, relay nodes, base stations (network nodes), and procedures are described for new radio access technologies envisioned in 5G mobile communication systems (but which can also be used in LTE mobile communication systems). A number of different implementations and variants are also described. The following disclosure is facilitated by, and may be based, for example, at least in part on, the discussion and findings above.

[0073] In general, it should be noted that many assumptions have been made herein to allow the principles underlying the present disclosure to be explained in a clear and easily understandable manner, but it should be understood that these assumptions are merely examples made herein for the purpose of explanation and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

[0074] Furthermore, although the specific terminology used in the context of new radio access technologies for the upcoming 3GPP 5G communication system has not yet been fully determined or may eventually change, some of the terms such as procedures, entities, layers, etc. used below are closely related to the terms used in the LTE / LTE-A system or in the current 3GPP 5G standardization. Thus, the terms may change in the future, but without affecting the functionality of the embodiments. Therefore, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the embodiments and their scope of protection are not limited to the specific terms used illustratively herein due to the absence of newer or finally agreed upon terms, but should be understood more broadly in terms of the functions and concepts underlying the functions and principles of the present disclosure.

[0075] <Embodiment> In general, as already indicated, it may be desirable to facilitate power control for beamforming operations, and in particular for repeater beamforming operations.

[0076] FIG. 6 shows a design example of a communication system 600 including a repeater 650, which is a network-controlled repeater currently being considered for NR. The repeater 650 includes a mobile terminal (MT) unit 640 and a radio unit (RU) unit 660 as functional units. The MT unit 640 receives control signals from a network node (gNB) 610 and configures the RU unit 660 accordingly. It can also transmit information to the gNB 610. The RU unit 660 is responsible for receiving and amplifying received signals (including data and / or control information) from one or more UEs, such as the illustrated UE 690, and the gNB 610. Note that the MT unit 640 (functionally similar to a UE) can communicate with the gNB using the channels described above (e.g., section "Downlink Control Channel Monitoring, PDCCH, DCI", etc.).

[0077] In FIG. 6, the repeater 650 includes transceivers such as a first transceiver 630 for transmitting a beam 620 to the gNB 610 and receiving a beam 620 from the gNB 610 (and possibly further gNBs) and a second transceiver 670 for transmitting a beam 680 to one or more UEs 690 and receiving a beam 680 from one or more UEs 690. This is to show the functional communication structure of the repeater. In general, there may be one transceiver responsible for transmitting and / or receiving with any entity. Such a transceiver may include multiple antennas and amplifiers and possibly further circuits to realize the transmission and reception of signals. By including one or more transmitters and / or receivers, simultaneous transmission and reception with one or more communication partners may be possible.

[0078] For example, as envisioned in 3GPP's current study items, a network-controlled repeater can maintain one or more gNB-to-repeater links and repeater-to-UE links. In particular, operation in the FR2 band along with beamforming can be prone to link failures. The repeater 650 is required to identify some link failures and take appropriate action to avoid introducing unnecessary interference into the system. The repeater 650 can also serve UEs 690 with different communication requirements (e.g., different requirements for URLLC or eMBB traffic). Therefore, power control can be a significant concern to meet communication demands.

[0079] One problem that may occur in an RF repeater is self-oscillation. Conventionally, in a repeater, automatic gain control (AGC) is used to avoid self-oscillation. The power control unit in the gNB operates to give more power to a weaker signal. Therefore, the AGC on the repeater side 610 and the power control unit of the gNB 690 may adversely affect each other.

[0080] This disclosure presents several power control solutions for network controlled repeaters in the context of link failures, user scheduling, self-oscillation, and the like.

[0081] In particular, the present disclosure provides techniques that facilitate setting the transmit power to relay nodes for individual beams.

[0082] The present disclosure may include a relay node 710 as shown in Figure 7 and may correspond to relay node 650 described above. The relay node 710 includes a transceiver 720 and circuitry 730 that may control (e.g., configure) the transceiver 720. The transceiver 720, in operation (e.g., when controlled by circuitry 730), receives and transmits signals using multiple beams.

[0083] In other words, the transceiver 720 is a transceiver of the relay node 710 that relays the received signal to its destination. The multiple beams described above do not need to be the number of beams used simultaneously by the relay or all beams. The transceiver 720 may amplify the power of the transmitted signal relative to the power of the received signal. The transceiver 720 may perform beamforming for transmitting the signal. The transmission may be an uplink transmission from the UE 690 to the network node 610 via the relay 710 (corresponding to the relay 650 in FIG. 6). Additionally or alternatively, the transmission may be a downlink transmission from the network node 610 to the UE 690 via the relay 710 (650). Although this disclosure is directed to control of beamforming transmitted from the relay 710, the relay may also be capable of directional reception from the UE 690 or the network node 610. The relay node 710 may be capable of transmitting and receiving beams simultaneously. Additionally or alternatively, a relay node 710 may be capable of simultaneously transmitting multiple beams and / or simultaneously receiving multiple beams, although these capabilities are not required and may be included to facilitate the efficiency of such a relay node 710.

[0084] In operation, the circuit 730: - determining a power-related setting for each beam of a plurality of beams individually; - configuring the transceiver unit to transmit each beam of the plurality of beams in accordance with the determined power-related settings for that beam; Do the following.

[0085] The circuitry 730 may include a beamforming control unit 735 for performing these functions, as shown in Figure 7. It is noted that the circuitry 730 may also include additional functions related to control of the transceiver unit or additional functions.

[0086] 8 shows an example of the beamforming control unit 735. It includes a setting determination circuit 810 and a transceiver setting circuit 820. The setting determination circuit 810 determines the power-related settings for each beam of the multiple beams individually. Here, the individual determination means that the determination is made individually, so that the power-related settings can be different for different beams. Whether the power-related settings are actually different for different beams depends on the result of the individual determination for each beam.

[0087] The decision (e.g. made by the configuration decision circuit 810) may be made from ancillary (control) information received from the network node 910, or may be made at the relay node based on its own measurements, as described below.

[0088] The transceiver setting circuit 820 configures the transceiver 720 via the interface 725 to transmit each beam of the multiple beams according to power-related settings determined for each beam of the multiple beams (individually corresponding to each beam of the multiple beams).

[0089] As shown in FIG. 7, the relay node 710 may communicate with the network node 760 over a channel 750. For example, the relay node 710 and the network node 760 may communicate in the control plane over the channel 750. The network node 760 may send control messages to the relay node 710. Such control messages may include measurement reports and / or other reports and / or configurations to be adopted by the relay node 710 and / or requests for any reports, etc. Additionally or alternatively, the relay node 710 may send control messages to the network node 760. Such control messages may include measurement reports and / or other reports and / or requests for any reports or actions from the network node side, etc. The channel 750 may also be used for the transmission of user plane signals between the network node 760 and the relay node 710. Note that, as discussed above with respect to the current discussion of 3GPP smart repeaters, the relay node 710 need not have more physical layer (L1) functionality than the RF portion, including beamforming. In other words, in some embodiments, the relay node 710 does not perform any demodulation or decoding or demultiplexing, etc. For example, in OFDM or FDMA systems, the possibility of performing different beamforming for different UEs may be limited if the UEs are frequency multiplexed in the same time domain resource.

[0090] 6, the repeater 650 includes an RU unit 660 and an MT unit 640. The RU unit 660 performs relay operations and is therefore primarily responsible for user plane functions. The MT unit 640 can directly communicate with the gNB 610 and is therefore primarily responsible for control plane functions. The MT unit 640 may operate on the same carrier as the RU unit 660, or may operate on a different carrier (frequency band).

[0091] The present disclosure provides a network node 760. As shown in Figure 7, the network node includes a transceiver 770 and circuitry 780. The transceiver 770 may be controlled by the circuitry 780 via an interface 775 to transmit and receive signals to and from various entities, such as relay nodes 650, 710 and one or more user equipments 690.

[0092] In operation, the circuit 780: - determining, for each of the plurality of beams, power-related settings to be applied when the relay node receives and transmits signals using the plurality of beams; - controlling the transceiver unit to send a configuration message based on a power-related configuration to a relay node; Do the following.

[0093] 9 shows a functional unit of a dedicated circuit 780 for controlling beamforming of a relay node, which is also shown in FIG. 7 as a relay beamforming control unit 785. The relay beamforming control unit 785 further includes a setting determination circuit 910 and a setting signaling circuit 920, for example.

[0094] The configuration determination circuit 910 determines the power-related configuration for each beam of the multiple beams separately. As mentioned above, the power-related configuration is used for application by the relay node when receiving and transmitting signals using the multiple beams. It should be noted that the determination may be based on measurements made by the network node or on reports received from the relay node, e.g. separate reports for each beam, as will be described in more detail below. For example, the network node makes the decision based on quality reports from various entities (e.g. relay nodes or UEs) in the cell. The network node may take into account the interference situation, some maximum power limitations given in the standard, channel quality situations of the entities in the cell, and parameters to be considered that are known to the network node when performing scheduling tasks, etc.

[0095] Also, the individual decision for each beam takes into account the measured power of the beam (measured by the network node itself or reported by the UE) and at least one of the reported (from the relay node, per beam) maximum power limit or other power limits or desired power etc.

[0096] The configuration signaling circuitry 920 controls the transceiver 770 to transmit a configuration message based on the power-related configuration to the relay node 710. The configuration message may be generated (e.g., by the configuration signaling circuitry 920) based on the power-related configuration in various manners. For example, the power-related configuration may directly include the value of the power that the relay node to which the configuration message (generally, the control message) is addressed sets per beam. Note that the power value may be notified with some granularity and does not need to be signaled as a whole. The power value may be signaled as a delta (e.g., from the last set value). Note that the present disclosure is not limited to a particular format or method of signaling the power value per beam.

[0097] The present disclosure is not limited to directly signaling per-beam power values. The configuration message may be a configuration related to resource allocation. For example, the configuration message may be a message related to resource management or allocation, or a resource or bearer related configuration message that includes some configuration related to resources or bearers selected by the network node for the relay node for the individual beams.

[0098] The repeater may not be aware of the traffic type toward the UE. Thus, if the gNB wants to allocate different powers for different resources or bearers, it may inform the repeater of such power allocation based on time and beam configuration (the gNB knows the traffic type and the corresponding resources including time domain resources and beams). According to a non-limiting example, the gNB may allocate different powers (distinct powers, but not necessarily different values) for different physical layer priorities. In Rel. 16, for example, UL channels could be allocated to low priority (LP) and high priority (HP). The gNB may configure the repeater with higher power for HP channels and lower power for LP channels. However, these are just examples of how the gNB may configure the power of the relay beam. The present disclosure is not limited to a specific gNB implementation, and thus the gNB may consider any relevant parameters to accomplish resource management and allocation tasks, including power configuration.

[0099] The power related configuration may be signaled by any signaling type from the network node 760 to the relay node 710. For example, the signaling may be a semi-static (e.g. RRC) configuration message or may be signaling at the physical layer or MAC layer. For example, a PDSCH or PDCCH may be configured between the relay node 710 and the network node 760 and used to transmit the power related configuration in a configuration message.

[0100] Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, the relay node 710 may transmit messages (e.g., reports) to the network node 760 via a PUSCH or PUCCH established between the network node 760 and the relay node 710. The relay node 710 may also communicate with the network node 760 via an RRC protocol. For example, the relay node 710 may respond to reports or requests from the network node 760 via RRC messages. Such RRC messages may include information regarding individual powers for each beam.

[0101] Note that the "circuit" here may be any hardware and / or software. For example, the circuit may include one or more processors, microcontrollers, programmable hardware such as FPGAs, or dedicated hardware such as ASICS, and may further include additional digital or analog circuits. Note that the "transceiver" refers to a front end that includes one or more antennas (one or more antennas if beamforming is used). The transceiver here may include an amplifier, some modulators for modulating baseband signals to a system carrier, possibly a D / A converter, and possibly further signal improvement circuits.

[0102] Some of the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, which are described in detail below, include the following examples. Example 1: A repeater is configured (by the gNB) with separate and possibly different transmit powers associated with each beam (DL) to an individual UE (or in the direction of the same UE) or each beam (UL) from an individual UE (or in the direction of the same UE). Example 2: The repeater is configured by the gNB with a transmit power pattern for dedicated beams and periodic transmissions. Example 3: Repeaters can report their maximum transmit power per beam to the gNB to avoid self-oscillation or for other power management purposes. Example 4: The repeater reports to the gNB a sudden drop in transmit power applied by the ADC at the repeater side. Example 5a: A repeater is configured (by the gNB) with a power threshold per beam. The repeater may stop amplifying the signal if the sensed (received) signal falls below the threshold. Example 5b. The repeater may report detected link failures between the repeater and the UE (or in a direction from the repeater) to the gNB. Example 5c: A repeater may be configured (by the gNB) with an alternative beam to the gNB or an alternative link to another gNB. When the repeater detects a link failure between the gNB and the repeater, it initiates link recovery or switches to the alternative beam / link. Note that these are examples and are not intended to limit the present disclosure, and may be combined such that relay nodes and network nodes support one or more.

[0103] In general, the present disclosure provides various possibilities for individually setting the power for each transmission beam transmitted by the relay node. As can be seen from this example, the repeater may be configured with a transmission power for each beam (each beam of multiple repeater beams) by the network node. Additionally or alternatively, the relay node may report the achievable transmission power for each beam to the network node, which may take the report into account when configuring the repeater. Additionally or alternatively, the repeater may be configured with a minimum sensed power for each beam by the network node. If the received signal is smaller than the configured minimum sensed power, the repeater stops amplifying and initiates link recovery. Note that the above example may be particularly advantageous for repeaters (RF repeaters).

[0104] Example 1 In this example, determining the power-related settings at the relay node 710 includes receiving power-related settings from the network node 760 including an indication of the transmit power (power indication) that the relay node will apply when transmitting a beam towards a user equipment or network node.

[0105] In response, in the network node 760, as described above, power related settings may be transmitted to the relay node, including an indication of the transmit power that the relay node should apply when transmitting the beam towards the user equipment or network node.

[0106] This is illustrated in FIG. 10. FIG. 10 illustrates a network node (base station) 1010, a repeater 1050, and two UEs, UE1 and UE2. The network node 1010 communicates with the repeater 1050 via a beam 1020. For example, power-related settings may be transmitted from the network node 1010 to the repeater 1050 via the beam 1020. Note that in this example, as shown by the beam 1020, the network node 1010 and the repeater 1050 may generally communicate with one or more beams, or may communicate without beamforming. The present disclosure is not limited to a particular method of communication between the network node 1010 and the repeater 1050. However, applying beamforming between them may provide both more efficient power management and reduced inter-cell interference. In this example, the repeater relays signals received from the network node 1010 to UE1 and UE2. Signals transmitted towards (addressed to) UE1 are transmitted in beam B1 with transmission power P1. Signals transmitted towards (addressed to) UE2 are transmitted in beam B2 with transmission power P2. In this example, beams B1 and B2 have different directions. Also in this example, powers P1 and P2 are different. This is the result of an individual decision of the power per beam in the network node, which decision is signalled to the relay node in a notification contained in the power related configuration.

[0107] A repeater such as the repeater 1050, particularly one deployed in an indoor environment, may serve multiple UEs such as UE1 and UE2 with different communication requirements (e.g., traffic types with different quality of service requirements). For example, UE1 may have a requirement for URLLC traffic, whereas UE2 may have a requirement for eMBB traffic. When UE1 and UE2 are in different directions with respect to the repeater 1050, the gNB 1010 may configure the repeater 1050 to apply different transmit powers P1 and P2 for the respective beams B1 and B2. The gNB 1010 may allocate appropriate powers depending on the link quality and / or communication requirements.

[0108] For example, the transmit powers P1, P2 may be allocated according to a semi-static (e.g., via RRC configuration) allocation received from the gNB 1010, while the beams B1 and B2 may be adaptively changed (e.g., by dynamic signaling via signaling at layer 1, also called physical layer signaling, such as signaling transmitted on PDSCH or PDCCH between the repeater 1050 and the network node 1010). Such signaling allows for gradual power adaptation and link adaptation to traffic types. At the same time, dynamic beam deformation to maintain directivity allows adaptive user scheduling, which contributes to power management. This reduces the signaling overhead associated with adjusting the transmit power by the repeater compared to adaptively changing the transmit power for each transmission instance.

[0109] In general, however, the present disclosure and Example 1 are not limited to semi-static signaling of power notifications, and the transmit power per beam may alternatively or additionally be dynamically allocated to at least one of a specific DL or UL beam, a specific UE or beams of the same UE, a specific bandwidth, or a specific time instance. Such dynamic signaling may lead to improved power management and interference situation in a cell, but on the other hand, involves some signaling overhead.

[0110] 10 shows an example of downlink beams B1 and B2 and their respective powers P1 and P2. Also, for uplink transmission, the repeater 1050 may be configured to apply different transmission powers toward the gNB 1010 when transmitting signals received from the UEs U1 and U2 (or from a certain direction) to the gNB 1010.

[0111] In general, Example 1 (and generally any of the examples of this disclosure) may be applied to set the power of both uplink and downlink relays, or only for downlink relays, or only for uplink relays, where the power for the uplink beam is also set separately and may be different from the power for the downlink beam.

[0112] Note that this example shows a gNB 1010 that sets power-related settings in a repeater 1050 to relay signals between the same gNB 1010 and a UE served by the gNB 1010. However, it is also contemplated that one gNB 1010 may set a repeater 1050 to relay signals between another gNB and the same or a different UE.

[0113] As described above, in some implementations, the relay node 710 receives the power-related configurations via a radio resource control protocol, and the power-related configurations may be received separately for one or more of the uplink beam, the downlink beam, the frequency band, and the periodically scheduled time domain unit.

[0114] Correspondingly, in the network node 760, the power-related settings are transmitted via separate radio resource control protocols for one or more of the uplink beam, the downlink beam, the frequency band, and the periodically scheduled time domain unit.

[0115] It should be noted that when referring to frequency bands, in NR, FR1 and FR2 may be two frequency bands that can be distinguished from each other. However, the present disclosure is not limited to such a broad definition of frequency bands. In general, a frequency band may be defined by a system carrier (if the system supports carrier aggregation), or may be defined by several narrower frequency band portions.

[0116] Example 2 The repeater 1050 may need to relay some periodic data in the downlink (from gNB 1010 to U1 or UE1) and / or uplink (from U1 or UE2 to gNB 1010). Such periodic data may be, for example, periodic Channel Quality Information (CQI) reports, Semi-Persistent Scheduling (SPS), Configured Grant (CG), and / or Scheduling Request (SR). According to an exemplary embodiment, the repeater 1050 is configured with a pattern of beams and transmission power as shown in FIG. 11. In FIG. 11, it is assumed that the repeater 1050 serves two UEs, UE1 and UE2, in a TDMA manner, i.e., with different (non-overlapping) time domain resources. The utilized beams B1 and B2 are associated with transmission powers P1 and P2 according to the power-related settings received from the gNB1010, as shown in FIG. 11.

[0117] The beam-transmission power pattern corresponds to the beam and power allocation for the periodically scheduled time domain unit described above. In particular, as shown in FIG. 11, after a periodic resource with a period T is allocated to UE1, a periodic resource with the same period T is allocated to UE2. A beam B1 is set to the periodic resource for UE1, and a beam B2 is set to the periodic resource for UE2. A power P1 is set to the periodic resource for UE1, and a power P2 is set to the periodic resource for UE2. The periodic allocation (e.g., a specific beam direction) of the beams B1 and B2 is also called a beam pattern. The repeater 1050 applies such a beam pattern when (periodically) transmitting a signal to UE1 and UE2. The periodic allocation of powers P1 and P2 to certain beams (here, periodic beams B1 and B2) in the time domain may be called a power pattern. The repeater 1050 applies such a power pattern when (periodically) transmitting a signal by the beams B1 and B2 (here, to UE1 and UE2). In addition, the power pattern may be associated with each beam without a specific beam pattern (e.g., indicating a beam direction, etc.), or may be combined with a beam pattern as a beam transmission power pattern and associated with each beam, and transmitted from the gNB 1010 to the relay node 1050.

[0118] The power pattern and / or beam power pattern may facilitate a reduction in signaling overhead in power selection for periodic traffic, since in the case of periodic traffic, the power pattern is signaled once for the periodic resource (resource containing periodic traffic via each beam) and applied periodically. Such power pattern setting, beam pattern setting, or beam and power pattern setting may be semi-statically configured via RRC. Such signaling may be advantageous to further reduce overhead for periodic traffic. However, alternatively or additionally, example 2 may be used in conjunction with lower layer signaling, or only lower layer signaling may be applied, without being limited to RRC signaling.

[0119] The power and / or beams in the above-mentioned patterns are allocated per time domain unit. For example, the beams and / or power may be changed per time domain unit such as slot, minislot, and symbol. The period T may be measured in such time domain units. The pattern in this example allocates a specific optical power through a specific beam at a specific time. Note that beams B1 and B2 belong to different UEs. However, in general, periodic allocation may also be performed for different beams of the same UE. There may be a pattern of downlink and / or uplink power and / or beams notified from the gNB 760 to the repeater 710.

[0120] Example 3 In this example, the decision at the relay node 710 includes estimating a maximum transmit power to avoid self-oscillation when transmitting a signal, and the circuitry 730 (e.g., the transceiver setting circuitry 820) controls the transceiver 720 to send a notification of the estimated maximum transmit power to the network node 760.

[0121] Correspondingly, in the network node 760, determining includes the transceiver receiving an indication of the estimated maximum transmit power from the relay node, and determining a power-related setting as a function of the estimated maximum transmit power.

[0122] The amplified signal at the repeater 710 may be reflected with a large amplitude, which may cause self-oscillation. This problem is illustrated in FIG. 13. FIG. 13 shows a gNB 1310, a repeater 1350, and a UE 1390. The repeater 1350 amplifies a downlink signal 1315 (which may therefore also be denoted as Rx_gnb) received from the gNB toward the UE 1390. The received signal 1315 is amplified by the repeater 1350 with a gain denoted as g, resulting in an amplified output signal 1355 (=g×Rx_gnb) that is transmitted to the UE 1390. The amplified output signal is denoted as Tx_relay. A portion 1365 of the amplified output signal 1355 is fed back to the beam received signal from the gNB. Thus, interference from buildings may cause an amplification loop. Portion 1365 can be expressed as α×g×Rx_gnb, where α is a multiplier (less than or equal to 1 and greater than or equal to 0) that specifies the amount of signal to be fed back (percentage of Tx_relay) multiplied by Rx_relay.

[0123] When g×Rx_relay>Rx_gnb (the amplified signal is stronger), self-oscillation may occur. In such a case, the amplification gain g should be reduced, which is conventionally done by the repeater's adaptive gain control (AGC). Due to the repeater's beamforming function, the maximum gain per beam may be different. This may affect the maximum transmit power that the repeater 1350 can transmit in each beam while avoiding self-oscillation. The repeater 1350 may identify / estimate the maximum transmit power in each beam that avoids self-oscillation. This maximum transmit power is then reported to the gNB 1310. Such information may be used for scheduling and power allocation by the gNB 1310. In other words, the gNB 1310 may configure the repeater 1350 according to the received reports.

[0124] Thus, the circuitry 730 (e.g., the transceiver configuration circuitry 820) may control the transceiver 720 to reduce the gain. The AGC may be part of the transceiver configuration circuitry 820 or may be part of the circuitry 730 and perform gain control to reduce or avoid self-oscillation. However, the present disclosure is not limited in this respect and the AGC may be part of the transceiver 720 and perform gain control and inform the transceiver configuration circuitry 820 when self-oscillation is detected or when the maximum transmit power per beam is changed.

[0125] It should be noted that the above example shows only a simplified scenario for ease of illustration. In general, the repeater 1350 does not necessarily only amplify. In general, the repeater 1350 may perform some additional filtering, shaping, or further processing on the signal. For example, filtering at the edges of some frequency bands may be useful in some deployment scenarios to reduce interference to adjacent frequency bands.

[0126] Thus, in example 3, the repeater 1350 determines its own per-beam power-related settings (including maximum transmit power). It may then report notification of the power-related settings to the gNB 1310. Note that the repeater (and corresponding network node) may support example 3 in addition to or as an alternative to examples 1 and / or 2. For example, the network node may set the per-beam power (possibly power and / or beam pattern) for relaying, and the repeater may report a maximum transmit power based on its own decision taking into account self-oscillation, etc. (or other power management functions). The network node may take this reported maximum transmit power into account when determining the power-related settings for the repeater.

[0127] Example 4 In this example, at the relay node, determining - determining that a transmission power for transmitting a signal needs to be reduced; - reducing the transmission power applied to the transmission of the signal; - controlling the transceiver to send a notification to the network node of the reduced power.

[0128] In response, at the network node 760, determining includes receiving (via the transceiver 770) a reduced power notification to the network node indicating that the relay node 710 has reduced transmit power applied to transmission of signals via the respective beams. In some cases, determining further includes determining power-related settings in accordance with the notification.

[0129] In this example 4, unlike example 3, a relay node may need to suddenly reduce the power of one or more beams of the beams it transmits as shown in FIG. 12. FIG. 12 shows a network node (gNB) 1210 and a relay node (repeater) 1250. The relay node currently transmits four beams in different directions and with individually configurable powers P1, P2, P3, and P4. The gNB 1210 may set the relay node with a beam 1220. When reporting a power reduction from the relay node 1250 to the network node 1210, a beam in the same direction as 1220 or a different direction may be used. Instead of reporting an estimated maximum transmit power, in example 4, the relay node at least reports that it has reduced the power. However, examples 3 and 4 may be used together. The relay node may be capable of both reporting a reduction in its own transmit power and reporting a maximum transmit power value. In one exemplary embodiment, Examples 3 and 4 may be combined such that the repeater reports (i) that it has reduced its transmit power in a beam and (ii) the maximum transmit power to avoid self-oscillation, e.g., in the same message.

[0130] In Example 4, the notification of reduced power may simply be a notification that the power has been reduced. However, the present disclosure is not limited to such a notification. The notification may include a notification of the value of the transmission power after reduction by the repeater or a value to be reduced from the transmission power. As an example, in combination with Example 3, the reduced power may be a power having a value up to the reported maximum transmission power (hereinafter, this is referred to as the "reported maximum transmission power").

[0131] In one exemplary implementation, the repeater determines that it needs to reduce the transmission power for transmitting the signal if an increase in self-oscillation is detected.

[0132] Especially in dynamic environments, the smart repeater may need to further reduce its transmission power to avoid self-oscillation, as described above. In this case, the actual transmission power may be less than the reported maximum possible transmission power per beam or the power allocated by the gNB (see Example 3). In this way, the repeater can report a further reduced transmission power to the gNB. Such a report can be used for various purposes. For example, the gNB can be informed that the maximum achievable transmission power in a beam has been reached, so that it does not request the repeater to increase the power further. In case of downlink data transmission, the early report of a rapid reduction in transmission power by the repeater helps the gNB to trigger a data retransmission, since there is a high probability that the downlink data will not be successfully decoded. Alternatively, the gNB may inform (configure, instruct) the repeater to change the beam to the UE.

[0133] The advantage of Example 4 is that the gNB can identify excessive power reduction by repeaters and take appropriate measures such as using an alternative beam / link, triggering a retransmission, or changing the modulation and coding scheme.

[0134] However, determining that the transmission power for transmitting a signal needs to be reduced is not necessarily about self-oscillation. Another possible power reduction scenario is that a repeater serves two gNBs simultaneously. If a signal needs to be retransmitted to or from a first repeater with a higher transmission power, the transmission power for transmission to another (second) gNB (a gNB different from the first gNB) may need to be reduced. In other words, as part of the power management, a determination (detection) that the transmission power for transmitting a signal needs to be reduced may be made, for example, to allocate limited power to different transmissions.

[0135] Example 5 In this example, the power related settings include notification of a minimum received power threshold. Such notification may be transmitted from the network node to the relay node and correspondingly received from the relay node.

[0136] There may be a variety of scenarios in which such notification of a minimum received power threshold may be used, and how it may be used. Three non-limiting examples 5A, 5B, and 5C are given below.

[0137] Example 5A In this example, the repeater side sets the transmitter and receiver for the aforementioned beam (beam with a minimum received power threshold defined), - measuring the power received from the direction of the beam from a user equipment or network node to which the beam is amplified (or transmitted); and - ceasing transmission of the received signal if the measured power falls below a minimum received power threshold for a predetermined time; Includes.

[0138] For example, in FR2 band operation, there may be a high probability of gNB-repeater or repeater-UE link being blocked. In such a case, amplifying the signal is not beneficial and may cause interference to the system. To address this issue, a minimum received power threshold may be defined for each beam in the repeater. Then, for example, if the perceived signal power at the repeater is below the defined threshold, the repeater will not amplify signals from that beam (i.e., will not relay received signals using that beam). The minimum received power threshold may be signaled semi-statically or dynamically (e.g., per scheduling instance or per multiple scheduling instances).

[0139] The sensed signal power at the repeater refers to the signal power measured at the repeater. After stopping the repeating, a beam recovery procedure, or generally a link recovery procedure, can be performed to overcome the shadowing problem. For example, the gNB and / or the UE between which the repeater is located may initiate such a recovery procedure. If the recovery fails (or, in some embodiments, without first attempting recovery), the random access procedure may be restarted by the UE or the gNB may page the UE again.

[0140] Example 5B In this example, the repeater side sets the transmitter and receiver for the above-mentioned beam. - measuring the power received from the direction of the beam from a user equipment to which the beam is amplified (or transmitted); - if the measured power is below the minimum received power threshold for a predetermined period of time, generating a fault notification; controlling the transceiver unit to send a fault notification to the network node; Includes.

[0141] Correspondingly, in the network node 760, the determining may include receiving a fault notification to the network node (via the transceiver 770) indicating that the relay node has measured power below a minimum power threshold transmitted for a predetermined period of time, and in some cases, the determining may include taking the notification into account.

[0142] In an exemplary embodiment, if the repeater stops relaying due to an obstruction in the repeater-UE link as described in Example 5A, the repeater may inform the gNB of the stop by indicating as a failure notification that it has zeroed the transmit power for a particular beam (i.e., stopped transmitting that beam) as described in Example 4. In this way, if the repeater identifies a link failure between the repeater and the UE, it can immediately inform the gNB. In such a case, the gNB may reschedule the UE using an alternative beam, use another link if dual connectivity / multiple TRPs exist, or take other measures to enable signal reception or transmission between itself and the UE. In general, the gNB may use this information for resource management and / or resource allocation as well as handover decisions.

[0143] Example 5C In this example, the repeater side processing circuitry 730, in operation, controls the transceiver unit 720 to receive alternative beam settings from the network node 760.

[0144] For example, the alternative beam configuration includes (i) one or more beams to a network node having a direction different from the direction of the beam (the beam directed toward the network node currently used at the relay node), and / or (ii) one or more beams (from the repeater) to a network node different from the network node (the network node currently serving the relay node by the beam).

[0145] Specifically, in case (ii), if the link between the current network node and the repeater is interrupted or degraded due to other factors, an alternative beam can be provided to another network node (gNB) to efficiently handle even an unrecoverable link failure. Also, the above case (i) can contribute to reducing delays and errors caused by beam setup failures.

[0146] Also, in this example 5C, setting the transceiver 720 on the repeater side in an exemplary embodiment (for the above beam) - measuring the power received from the direction of the beam from a network node to which the beam is amplified (or transmitted); - applying an alternative beam configuration for transmitting signals to the network node if the measured power is below a minimum received power threshold for a predetermined time (e.g. in case of a link failure), which may be part of beam recovery; may include:

[0147] Correspondingly, on the network node side, the processing circuitry 780 (920) in operation controls the transceiver to send an alternative beam configuration to the relay node. For example, the network node may determine such an alternative configuration based on some reports from the relay node or UE and / or its own measurements of signals received from the relay node.

[0148] A predetermined time greater than zero may help avoid detecting certain power fluctuations as link failures because the duration of the fluctuations is so short that they have little or no effect on the signal quality on the beam.

[0149] According to the implementation of the exemplary embodiment of Example 5, the processing circuitry 720 in the relay performs the following operation after a predetermined time: restore the link between the relay node and the network node, and perform link restoration including beam selection, such as selecting from an alternative beam configuration (or multiple alternative beam configurations) and / or selecting from multiple predefined beams.

[0150] Link recovery may include beam recovery procedures. Beam recovery may be performed by initiating a Random Access Channel (RACH) procedure. Beam recovery procedures include, for example, beam failure detection (detectable failure by comparison with a minimum received power threshold over a predetermined time period as described above), best beam selection (e.g., SSB or CSI-RS), beam failure recovery request (transmitted via PRACH), and beam failure recovery response (transmitted via PDCCH including Random Access Response (RAR)). This disclosure is not limited to any particular signaling such as the signaling for the beam recovery procedures described above. In general, beam recovery includes beam selection, i.e., selection of a beam suitable for further transmission. "Best beam selection" refers to a beam selected as best according to some criteria. Beam selection may be performed according to any procedure, and this disclosure is not limited to any particular beam selection procedure or criteria.

[0151] For example, the repeater can be configured with an alternative beam towards the gNB or a link towards another gNB. If the repeater identifies a link failure on the gNB-to-repeater link (the link between the repeater and the gNB), it can initiate beam / link recovery or switch to an alternative beam / link. It can also specify a time delay (a predetermined time) for the repeater. The repeater then initiates beam / link recovery if the initial beam (the beam whose sensed power is below the minimum received power threshold) does not recover within the specified delay time.

[0152] "After a predetermined time has elapsed" may be, for example, a time instance immediately after the predetermined time or very close to the time elapsed, i.e., recovery of the link / beam occurs when the predetermined time has elapsed.

[0153] 14 shows a schematic flow chart for Example 5C. In particular, at the repeater side, it is determined whether the received signal power in a particular beam is equal to or greater than a minimum received power threshold in step 1410. If so, it amplifies the signal in step 1420. If not, it starts beam (or link) recovery in step 1430.

[0154] Examples 5A, 5B, and 5C may be combined and implemented by the repeater, and therefore the gNB. Also, only one of Examples 5A, 5B, and 5C may be implemented, or each of Examples 5A, 5B, and 5C may be implemented instead of or in combination with Examples 1 to 4.

[0155] The above describes the relay node and network node devices and their operational functions in association with each other. The present disclosure also provides corresponding methods. These corresponding methods include the above steps performed by structural and functional units of each of the devices. For example, a method is provided that can be performed by the relay device 710, and in which the steps as described above are performed by the operating circuitry 730 and the operating transceiver 720. Correspondingly, a method is provided that can be performed by the network device 760, and includes the steps as described above, performed by the operating circuitry 780 and the operating transceiver 770.

[0156] 15 and 16 show exemplary methods for such relay nodes and network nodes.

[0157] For example, there is provided a method (relay node method) that includes determining (S1510, S1610) a power-related setting for each beam of a plurality of beams individually, the method further including receiving a signal and transmitting (S1530, S1650) the signal on a plurality of beams, each beam of the plurality of beams being transmitted according to the power-related setting determined for the beam.

[0158] Another (network node) method is provided that includes steps of determining (S1540, S1670) power-related settings for each beam of the multiple beams individually for the relay node to apply when receiving and transmitting signals using the multiple beams, and sending (S1550, S1680) a configuration message based on the power-related settings to the relay node.

[0159] In particular, FIG. 15 shows an exemplary embodiment in which the network node generates individual power settings in each beam and configures the relay accordingly. This was also the case, for example, in Examples 1, 2, 5A, 5B, and 5C described above. In particular, in step S1540, the network node determines power settings for two or more transmit beams in the relay node individually. Such a determination may be made based on various parameters and reports (e.g., one or more of traffic type, priority, channel quality, and capacity, etc.) that are typically considered in the scheduling and resource management functions of the network node. In step S1550, the network node transmits the settings (power-related settings) determined in step S1540 to the relay node. The relay node determines the settings, including receiving the settings transmitted from the network node in step S1510. In step S1520, the relay node applies the settings. In other words, in this step, the relay node configures its transceiver accordingly. Then, in step S1530, the relay node relays signals between the network node and the UE. That is, the relay node transmits the beams according to the received and applied configuration, e.g., with a power set individually for each beam. If the relay relays the uplink signal, in step S1560, the network node may receive the relayed signal.

[0160] FIG. 16 shows an embodiment in which the relay node generates individual power settings in each beam and reports them to the network node. This was the case, for example, in the above-mentioned examples 3, 4, and 5B. In particular, in step S1610, the relay node determines individual power-related notifications in at least one beam. The power-related notification may be, for example, the maximum achievable power in terms of self-oscillation, or a notification to reduce the power of an individual beam, or a notification that there is a link failure of a link using a particular beam. In step S1620, the relay node reports the notification to the network node. The network node receives the notification in step S1660. In step S1670, the network node may determine individual power-related settings using the received notification (possibly together with other parameters as described above) and transmit the power-related settings to the relay node in step S1680. The relay node may receive the settings in step S1650, apply the settings in steps S1630 and S1640, and relay the signal.

[0161] However, the relay node may directly apply the power notification determined (at step S1610) and transmit a signal accordingly at steps S1630 and S1640 as shown in Figure 16. There is no need to wait to receive the configuration from the network node.

[0162] The network node may receive the signal relayed by the relay node in step S1690.

[0163] Further exemplary details of each method can be gleaned from the functions performed by the relay nodes and the network nodes and from the description of the functional and structural parts above.

[0164] Hardware and Software Implementations of the Disclosure The present disclosure can be implemented by software, by hardware, or by software cooperating with hardware. Each functional block used in the description of each embodiment above can be implemented in part or in whole by an LSI such as an integrated circuit, and each process described in each embodiment can be controlled in part or in whole by the same LSI or a combination of LSIs. The LSI can be formed as a chip individually, or a single chip can be formed to include some or all of the functional blocks. The LSI can include a data input / output unit coupled to it. Depending on the degree of integration, the LSI can also be called an IC (integrated circuit), a system LSI, a super LSI, or an ultra LSI. However, the technology for implementing the integrated circuit is not limited to an LSI, and can be implemented by using a dedicated circuit, a general-purpose processor, or a dedicated processor. Furthermore, an FPGA (field programmable gate array) that can be programmed after the LSI is manufactured, or a reconfigurable processor that can reconfigure the connections and settings of the circuit cells arranged inside the LSI can also be used. The present disclosure can be implemented as digital processing or analog processing. If, as a result of advances in semiconductor technology or other derivative technologies, LSI is replaced by a future integrated circuit technology, the future integrated circuit technology can be used to integrate the functional blocks. Biotechnology can also be applied.

[0165] The present disclosure may be implemented by any type of apparatus, device, or system having a communication capability (referred to as a communication apparatus). For example, relay nodes and network nodes (respectively) are considered as communication apparatuses.

[0166] A communication device may include the transceiver and processing / control circuitry described above. The transceiver may include a receiver and a transmitter and / or function as a receiver and a transmitter. The transceiver as a transmitter and a receiver may include an RF (radio frequency) module including an amplifier, an RF modulator / demodulator, etc., and one or more antennas.

[0167] Some non-limiting examples of such communications devices include phones (e.g., cell phones, smartphones), tablets, personal computers (PCs) (e.g., laptops, desktops, notebooks), cameras (e.g., digital still / video cameras), digital players (digital audio / video players), wearable devices (e.g., wearable cameras, smart watches, tracking devices), game consoles, e-book readers, telehealth / telemedicine equipment, vehicles providing communications capabilities (e.g., cars, airplanes, ships), and various combinations thereof.

[0168] Communications devices are not limited to portable or portable, but can also include any type of equipment, device, or system that is non-portable or fixed, such as smart home devices (e.g., appliances, lights, smart meters, control panels), vending machines, and any other "things" in the "Internet of Things" network.

[0169] Communications may include, for example, exchanging data through cellular systems, wireless LAN systems, satellite systems, etc., as well as various combinations thereof.

[0170] A communications unit may include devices such as a controller or a sensor coupled to the communications device to perform the communications functions described in this disclosure. For example, a communications unit may include a controller or a sensor that generates control or data signals used by the communications device to perform the communications functions of the communications unit.

[0171] The communications apparatus may further include infrastructure facilities, such as base stations, access points, and any other apparatus, devices, or systems that communicate with or control apparatuses such as the apparatuses in the non-limiting examples above.

[0172] Furthermore, various embodiments may be implemented by software modules, which are executed by a processor or directly in hardware. Also, a combination of software modules and hardware implementation is possible. The software modules may be stored in any type of computer-readable storage medium. In particular, according to another implementation, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium is provided. The storage medium stores a program that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the steps of the method according to the present disclosure.

[0173] By way of non-limiting example, such computer-readable storage media may comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, flash memory, or any other medium that may be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that may be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection is referred to as a computer-readable medium, as appropriate. For example, if instructions are transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of the medium. However, it should be understood that computer-readable storage media and data storage media do not include connections, carrier waves, signals, or other transitory media, but instead cover non-transitory tangible storage media. As used herein, a disk includes a compact disk (CD), a laser disk, an optical disk, a digital versatile disc (DVD), a floppy disk, and a Blu-ray disk, where a "disk" typically reproduces data magnetically, while a "disc" reproduces data optically with a laser. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0174] It should further be noted that individual features of the different embodiments may be the subject of other embodiments individually or in any combination. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the present disclosure set forth in the specific embodiments may be subject to various changes and / or modifications without departing from the concept or scope of the invention as broadly described. The embodiments described herein are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

[0175] Further Aspects According to a first aspect, a relay node is provided, comprising: a transceiver unit that, during operation, receives and transmits signals using a plurality of beams; and processing circuitry that, during operation, performs the following: (i) determining power-related settings for each beam of the plurality of beams individually; and (ii) configuring the transceiver unit to transmit the beam in accordance with the power-related settings determined for each beam of the plurality of beams.

[0176] According to a second aspect provided in addition to the first aspect, the determining includes controlling the transceiver unit to receive the power-related settings from the network node including an indication of a transmission power to be applied by the relay node when transmitting the beam to a user equipment or network node.

[0177] According to a third aspect provided in addition to any one of the first or second aspects, the power-related settings are received separately for one or more of the uplink beam, the downlink beam, the frequency band, and the periodically scheduled time domain unit via a radio resource control protocol.

[0178] According to a fourth aspect provided in addition to any one of the first to third aspects, the power-related settings include notification of a minimum received power threshold.

[0179] According to a fifth aspect provided in addition to the fourth aspect, configuring the transceiver unit includes: (i) measuring, for the beam, the power received from the direction of the beam from a user equipment or network node to which the beam is amplified and directed; and (ii) ceasing transmission of the received signal if the measured power falls below the minimum received power threshold for a predetermined time.

[0180] According to a sixth aspect, provided in addition to any one of the fourth to fifth aspects, the processing circuit, when operated, controls the transceiver unit to receive an alternative beam configuration from a network node, and (i) configuring the transceiver unit includes, for the beam, (ii) measuring the power received from the direction of the beam from the network node to which the beam is amplified and directed, and applying the alternative beam configuration for transmitting the signal to the network node if the measured power is below the minimum received power threshold for a predetermined time.

[0181] According to a seventh aspect provided in addition to the sixth aspect, the alternative beam configuration includes one or more beams to the network node having a direction different from a direction of the beam, and / or one or more beams to a network node different from the network node.

[0182] According to an eighth aspect provided in addition to any one of the sixth or seventh aspects, after the predetermined time, the processing circuitry, in operation, performs link recovery, including beam selection, of a link between the relay node and the network node.

[0183] According to a ninth aspect, provided in addition to any one of the fourth to eighth aspects, configuring the transceiver unit includes: (a) measuring, for the beam, a power received from a direction of the beam from a user equipment to which the beam is amplified and directed; and (b) if the measured power is below a minimum received power threshold for a predetermined time, (i) generating a fault notification; and (ii) controlling the transceiver unit to transmit the fault notification to the network node.

[0184] According to a tenth aspect provided in addition to any one of the first to ninth aspects, the determining includes estimating a maximum transmission power to avoid self-oscillation when transmitting the signal, and controlling the transceiver unit to transmit a notification of the estimated maximum transmission power to the network node.

[0185] According to an eleventh aspect provided in addition to any one of the first to tenth aspects, the determining includes determining that a transmission power for transmitting the signal needs to be reduced, reducing the transmission power applied to the transmission of the signal, and controlling the transceiver unit to send a notification of the reduced power to a network node.

[0186] According to a twelfth aspect provided in addition to the eleventh aspect, determining that a transmission power for transmitting the signal needs to be reduced is performed upon detecting an increase in self-oscillation.

[0187] According to a thirteenth aspect, there is provided a network node comprising a transceiver unit and processing circuitry that, in operation, (i) determines, for each beam of a plurality of beams, power-related settings to be applied when a relay node receives and transmits signals using the plurality of beams, and (ii) controls the transceiver unit to transmit a configuration message to the relay node based on the power-related settings.

[0188] According to a 14th aspect provided in addition to the 13th aspect, the power-related settings include an indication of a transmission power to be applied by the relay node when transmitting the beam to a user equipment or the network node.

[0189] According to a 15th aspect provided in addition to any one of the 13th or 14th aspects, the power-related settings are transmitted separately for one or more of the uplink beam, the downlink beam, the frequency band, and the periodically scheduled time domain unit via a radio resource control protocol.

[0190] According to a sixteenth aspect provided in addition to any one of the thirteenth to fifteenth aspects, the power-related settings include notification of a minimum received power threshold.

[0191] According to a 17th aspect provided in addition to the 16th aspect, the processing circuit, in operation, controls the transceiver unit to transmit an alternative beam setting to the relay node.

[0192] According to an 18th aspect provided in addition to the 17th aspect, the alternative beam configuration includes one or more beams from the relay node having a direction different from the direction of the beam (the currently used beam from the relay node to a network node) and / or one or more beams from the relay node to a network node different from the (current) network node.

[0193] According to a 19th aspect, provided in addition to any one of the 16th to 18th aspects, the determining includes receiving (via a transceiver unit) a fault notification to the network node, the fault notification indicating that the relay node has measured power below a transmitted minimum power threshold for the predetermined time, and taking the notification into account in the determining.

[0194] According to a twentieth aspect, provided in addition to any one of the thirteenth to nineteenth aspects, the determining includes the transceiver unit receiving a notification of the estimated maximum transmission power from the relay node, and determining the power-related settings in response to the estimated maximum transmission power.

[0195] According to a 21st aspect, provided in addition to any one of the 13th to 20th aspects, the determining includes receiving (via a transceiver unit) a notification of reduced power to a network node indicating that the relay node has reduced a transmit power applied to transmission of the signal via an individual beam, and determining the power-related settings in accordance with the notification.

[0196] According to a 22nd aspect, there is provided an integrated circuit (which may be deployed in a relay node), comprising: an interface with a transceiver unit capable of receiving and transmitting signals using a plurality of beams; and circuitry configured (by hardware or software) to (i) determine power-related settings for each beam of the plurality of beams individually, and (ii) configure the transceiver unit via the interface to transmit each beam of the plurality of beams in accordance with the power-related settings determined for that beam.

[0197] According to a 23rd aspect, there is provided an integrated circuit (which may be deployed in a network node), comprising: an interface with a transceiver unit capable of receiving and transmitting signals using a plurality of beams; and a processing circuit configured to (i) determine, individually for each beam of the plurality of beams, power-related settings to be applied by a relay node when receiving and transmitting the signals using the plurality of beams, and (ii) control the transceiver unit via the interface to send a configuration message to the relay node based on the power-related settings.

[0198] The integrated circuit of the 24th aspect may further implement a corresponding function of any one of the 2nd to 12th aspects. The integrated circuit of the 23rd aspect may further implement a corresponding function of any one of the 13th to 21st aspects.

[0199] According to a twenty-fifth aspect, there is provided a method comprising determining power-related settings individually for each beam of a plurality of beams, receiving signals using the plurality of beams, and transmitting signals, each beam of the plurality of beams being transmitted in accordance with the power-related settings determined for that beam.

[0200] According to a 26th aspect, there is provided a method comprising: determining, for each beam of a plurality of beams, power-related settings to be applied when a relay node receives and transmits the signal using the plurality of beams; and transmitting a configuration message to the relay node based on the power-related settings.

[0201] For the method according to the 25th aspect, further aspects are provided corresponding to steps performed when operated by any one of the relay nodes of the 1st to 12th aspects. For the method according to the 26th aspect, further aspects are provided corresponding to steps performed when operated by any one of the network nodes of the 13th to 21st aspects.

[0202] According to a 27th aspect, there is provided a program stored on a storage medium (non-transitory medium) and comprising code instructions which, when executed by one or more processors of a user equipment, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of any one of the methods described above (the 25th aspect, the 26th aspect and each further aspect).

[0203] In summary, the present disclosure includes several methods and apparatuses for facilitating relaying of signals in a wireless communication system. The relay node-side method and apparatus includes determining a power-related setting for each beam of a plurality of beams individually for each beam, receiving and transmitting signals using the plurality of beams, each beam of the plurality of beams being transmitted according to the power-related setting determined for the beam. The network-side method and apparatus includes determining a power-related setting for each beam of the plurality of beams individually for the relay node to apply when receiving and transmitting signals using the plurality of beams, and transmitting a configuration message based on the power-related setting to the relay node.

Claims

1. a transceiver unit that, in operation, receives and transmits signals using a plurality of beams; During operation, determining a power-related setting for each beam of said plurality of beams individually; - configuring the transceiver unit to transmit each beam of the plurality of beams in accordance with the power-related settings determined for that beam; and a processing circuit for performing A relay node comprising:

2. The determining step comprises: controlling the transceiver unit to receive from the network node the power related configuration comprising an indication of a transmission power to be applied by the relay node when transmitting the beam to a user equipment or network node. The relay node according to claim 1 .

3. The power-related configuration is transmitted via a radio resource control protocol. an uplink beam; a downlink beam; - a frequency band; a periodically scheduled time domain unit; Received separately for one or more of:

3. The relay node according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The power-related settings include notification of a minimum received power threshold. The relay node according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. The setting of the transceiver unit includes, for the beam, - measuring the power received from the direction of said beam from a user equipment or network node towards which said beam is amplified and pointed; ceasing transmission of the received signal if the measured power is below the minimum received power threshold for a predetermined time. The relay node according to claim 4.

6. The processing circuitry, in operation, controls the transceiver unit to receive an alternative beam configuration from a network node; The setting of the transceiver unit includes, for the beam, measuring the power received from the direction of said beam from the network node to which said beam is amplified and directed; - applying the alternative beam configuration for transmitting the signal to the network node if the measured power is below the minimum received power threshold for a predetermined time.

6. The relay node according to claim 4 or 5.

7. The alternative beam configuration includes: one or more beams to the network node having a direction different from that of the beam; and / or one or more beams to a network node different from the network node; The relay node according to claim 6.

8. and after the predetermined time, the processing circuitry, in operation, performs link recovery, including beam selection, of a link between the relay node and the network node. The relay node according to claim 6 or 7.

9. The setting of the transceiver unit includes, for the beam, measuring the power received from the direction of said beam from the user equipment to which said beam is amplified and directed; if the measured power is below a minimum received power threshold for a predetermined time, ○ generating a fault notification; controlling the transceiver unit to transmit the fault notification to the network node, The relay node according to any one of claims 4 to 8.

10. The determining step comprises: estimating a maximum transmission power to avoid self-oscillation when transmitting the signal; and controlling the transceiver unit to transmit an indication of the estimated maximum transmit power to the network node. The relay node according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

11. The determining step comprises: determining that a transmit power for transmitting the signal needs to be reduced; reducing the transmit power applied to the transmission of the signal; and and controlling the transceiver unit to send a notification of reduced power to a network node. The relay node according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

12. determining that a transmission power for transmitting the signal needs to be reduced upon detecting an increase in self-oscillation; A relay node according to claim 11.

13. A transmitter / receiver unit; During operation, determining, for each beam of a plurality of beams individually, power-related settings to be applied by the relay node when receiving and transmitting signals using said plurality of beams; - controlling the transceiver unit to transmit a configuration message to the relay node based on the power-related configuration; A processing circuit for performing the above-mentioned A network node comprising:

14. The power related configuration includes an indication of a transmission power to be applied by the relay node when transmitting the beam to a user equipment or the network node. A network node according to claim 13.

15. the power-related configuration is transmitted via a radio resource control protocol separately for one or more of an uplink beam, a downlink beam, a frequency band, and a periodically scheduled time domain unit; A network node according to claim 13 or 14.

16. The power-related settings include notification of a minimum received power threshold. A network node according to any one of claims 13 to 15.

17. The processing circuitry, in operation, controls the transceiver unit to transmit an alternative beam configuration to the relay node.

17. A network node according to claim 16.

18. the alternative beam configuration includes one or more beams from the relay node having a direction different from a direction of the beam and / or one or more beams from the relay node to a network node different from the network node; 18. A network node according to claim 17.

19. said determining including receiving a fault notification to said network node, said fault notification indicating that said relay node has measured power below a transmitted minimum power threshold for a predetermined period of time, and taking said notification into account in said determining. A network node according to any one of claims 16 to 18.

20. and determining, by the transceiver unit, the power-related configuration in response to the estimated maximum transmit power. A network node according to any one of claims 13 to 19.

21. and determining the power-related configuration according to the received signal. A network node according to any one of claims 13 to 20.

22. an interface with a transceiver capable of receiving and transmitting signals using multiple beams; determining a power-related setting for each beam of said plurality of beams individually; - configuring said transceiver via said interface to transmit each beam of said plurality of beams in accordance with said power-related settings determined for that beam. A circuit configured as follows:

1. An integrated circuit comprising:

23. an interface with a transceiver capable of receiving and transmitting signals using multiple beams; determining, individually for each beam of said plurality of beams, power-related settings that a relay node applies when receiving and transmitting said signals using said plurality of beams; controlling said transceiver via said interface to transmit a configuration message to said relay node based on said power-related configuration A processing circuit configured as follows:

1. An integrated circuit comprising:

24. determining a power-related setting for each beam of the plurality of beams individually; receiving signals using the plurality of beams and transmitting the signals; each beam of the plurality of beams is transmitted in accordance with the power-related setting determined for that beam. method.

25. determining, for each beam of the plurality of beams, power-related settings to be applied by the relay node when receiving and transmitting signals using the plurality of beams; sending a configuration message to the relay node based on the power-related configuration; A method comprising:

26. 26. A program stored on a storage medium and comprising code instructions which, when executed by one or more processors of a user equipment, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of any one of the methods according to claim 24 or 25.

Images