Transmission configuration mechanism for network-controlled repeaters

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a communication device, a scheduling device, and respective methods for the communication device and the scheduling device. For example, the communication device includes a transceiver unit and a circuit. The transceiver unit, in operation, (i) performs relay transmission of a signal and (ii) transmits or receives control signaling. The circuit, in operation, determines a transmission setting for (i) the transmission of the control signaling and / or (ii) the transmission setting for the relay transmission of the signal based on whether the transmission of the control signaling overlaps in time with the relay transmission of the signal.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] 1.Technical Field This disclosure relates to the transmission and reception of signals in communication systems, such as 3GPP® communication systems. In particular, this disclosure relates to methods and apparatus for such transmission and reception. [Background technology]

[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 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] TR 38.913 [Non-patent document 5] TS 23.501 v16.1.0 [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] TS 38.212 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] One non-limiting, exemplary embodiment facilitates increasing the efficiency of a communication system including a relay node. In particular, the present disclosure can improve efficiency in a communication system in which a relay supports (i) simultaneous reception / transmission on different links and (ii) separate reception / transmission on different links (i.e., reception / transmission at different times). [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In one embodiment, the disclosed technology features an apparatus (e.g., a communications apparatus, particularly a relay apparatus). The apparatus includes a transceiver and a circuit. The transceiver, in operation, (i) performs relay transmission of a signal and (ii) transmits or receives control signaling. The circuit, in operation, determines transmission settings for (i) transmission of the control signaling and / or (ii) transmission settings for relay transmission of the signal based on whether transmission of the control signaling overlaps in time with the relay transmission of the signal.

[0007] It should be noted that the general or specific embodiments may be implemented as a system, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, a storage medium, or any combination thereof.

[0008] Further benefits and advantages of the disclosed embodiments and various implementations will become apparent from the specification and drawings. These benefits and / or advantages 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 explanation 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. [Figure 2] Schematic diagram showing the division of functions between NG-RAN and 5GC [Figure 3] Sequence diagram of RRC connection establishment / reconfiguration procedure [Figure 4] Schematic showing enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), massive machine-type communications (mMTC), and ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC) usage scenarios [Figure 5] Block diagram illustrating an exemplary 5G system architecture for a non-roaming scenario [Figure 6] A block diagram illustrating the functional communication structure of a relay node in a communication system in which the node relays signals between a base station and a UE. [Figure 7A] Schematic diagram illustrating an example resource allocation at different times (i.e., using TDM) for transmissions in the C-link UL (slot 3) and transmissions in the backhaul UL (slots 1, 2, and 4). [Figure 7B] Schematic diagram illustrating an example resource allocation for simultaneous (slot 3) transmission in C-link UL and backhaul UL. [Figure 8] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a communication system including a relay node and a base station; and FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary functional structure of the relay node and the base station. [Figure 9]1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary functional structure of a processing circuit on the relay node side; [Figure 10] 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary functional structure of a processing circuit on the base station side. [Figure 11] 1 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps performed by a relay node. [Figure 12] 1 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps performed by a base station. [Figure 13] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating determining the transmit power of each C-link UL transmission depending on whether the C-link UL transmission overlaps with a backhaul UL transmission. [Figure 14] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating determining the transmit power of a backhaul UL transmission depending on whether the respective backhaul UL transmission overlaps with a C-link UL transmission. [Figure 15] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating determining resource configuration for C-link UL transmissions depending on whether each C-link UL transmission overlaps with a backhaul UL transmission. [Figure 16] A schematic diagram showing the beam configuration of backhaul UL transmissions determined depending on whether each backhaul UL overlaps with C-link UL transmissions. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[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 New Radio Access Technology (NR), which will operate in frequencies up to 100 GHz. The first version of the 5G standard was completed at the end of 2017, allowing for the testing and commercial deployment of smartphones compliant with the 5G NR standard.

[0011] In particular, the overall system architecture assumes an NG-RAN (Next Generation Radio Access Network) with gNBs, which provide termination of NG radio access user plane (SDAP / PDCP / RLC / MAC / PHY) and control plane (RRC) protocols for UEs. The gNBs are interconnected with each other via an Xn interface. The gNBs are also connected to an NGC (Next Generation Core) via 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) via an NG-C interface, and to a UPF (User Plane Function) (e.g., a specific core entity that runs the UPF) via 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) sublayer, an RLC (Radio Link Control) sublayer, and a MAC (Medium Access Control) sublayer, which are terminated at the gNB on the network side. In addition, a new access stratum (AS) sublayer (SDAP, Service Data Adaptation Protocol) is introduced above PDCP (see, for example, Section 6.5 of Non-Patent Document 1). NR also defines a control plane protocol stack (see, for example, Section 4.4.2 of Non-Patent Document 1). An overview of Layer 2 functions is provided 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 26.10. The functions of the RRC layer are described in Section 7 of 3GPP TS 26.10.

[0013] For example, the Medium-Access-Control (MAC) layer handles scheduling and scheduling-related functions, including multiplexing logical channels and handling 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 transmitting a specific transport channel, and each transport channel is mapped to a corresponding physical channel. For example, physical channels are the PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel), PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel), and PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel) for the uplink, and the 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 for 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 on the order of three times those offered by IMT-Advanced. In contrast, URLLC has more stringent requirements, including extremely low latency (user plane latency of 0.5 ms for both UL and DL) and high reliability (1-10 Mbps within 1 ms). -5) and mMTC requires high connection density (1 km in urban environments). 2 1,000,000 devices per second), wide coverage in harsh environments, and extremely long battery life (15 years) to lower device costs may preferably be required.

[0016] Therefore, 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 similar 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. Therefore, subcarrier spacings of 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, ... are currently being considered. Symbol duration T u and the subcarrier spacing Δf is given 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 respectively. Each element within 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, or Chapter 4 of Version 15.6.0). 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 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 15 kHz subcarrier spacing, 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 30 kHz subcarrier spacing, 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 as compared to the new numerology (subcarrier spacing and symbol length) of LTE (in LTE, only a 15 kHz subcarrier spacing, 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] <Split of 5G NR Functions 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. The logical nodes of 5GC are AMF, UPF, and SMF.

[0020] In particular, gNB and ng-eNB handle the following major functions. - Radio Resource Management functions, such as Radio Bearer Control, Radio Admission Control, Connection Mobility Control, and dynamic resource allocation (scheduling) to UEs in both uplink and downlink directions. - IP header compression, encryption, and integrity protection of data - AMF selection at UE attach time when routing to an 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 (sent 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 - 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) signaling - 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 - User plane QoS processing (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) to route 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 among 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 to configure the UE and the gNB. Specifically, in this transition, the AMF creates UE context data (including, for example, PDU session context, security keys, UE radio capabilities, and UE security capabilities) and sends it to the gNB via an INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST. The gNB then activates AS security with the UE by sending a SecurityModeCommand message to the UE, and the UE responds with a SecurityModeComplete message. The gNB then performs reconfiguration to establish signaling radio bearer 2 (SRB2) and data radio bearers (DRBs) by sending an RRCReconfiguration message to the UE and receiving an RRCReconfigurationComplete message from the UE in response. In the case of a signaling-only connection, these steps related to RRCReconfiguration are skipped because SRB2 and DRBs are not established. Finally, the gNB notifies the AMF that the establishment procedure is complete via an INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE.

[0026] Accordingly, the present disclosure provides a fifth generation core (5GC) entity (e.g., AMF, SMF, etc.) having, in operation, a control circuit that 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 over the NG connection. In particular, the gNodeB transmits radio resource control (RRC) signaling including a resource allocation configuration information element to the UE over 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 use cases for 5G NR. The 3GPP NR (3rd Generation Partnership Project New Radio) is considering three use cases envisioned for IMT-2020 to support a wide variety of services and applications. Phase 1 specifications for enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) have been finalized. Current and future work includes standardization for ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (URLLC) and large-scale machine-type communications, in addition to further extending eMBB support. Figure 4 shows some examples of IMT usage scenarios envisioned for 2020 and beyond (see, for example, Figure 2 in Non-Patent Document 3).

[0028] URLLC use cases have stringent requirements for capabilities such as throughput, latency, and availability, and are envisioned as one of the enablers for 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. URLLC's ultra-high reliability is supported by identifying technologies to meet the requirements set by [Non-Patent Document 4]. For NR URLLC in Release 15, key requirements include a user plane target latency of 0.5 ms for the uplink (UL) and 0.5 ms for the downlink (DL). A typical URLLC requirement for a single packet transmission is a block error rate (BLER) of 1E-5 for a 32-byte packet size with a user plane latency of 1 ms.

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

[0030] Furthermore, technology enhancements targeted at NR URLLC target latency improvement and reliability enhancement. 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 channels, and downlink preemption. Preemption means that a transmission for which resources have already been allocated is aborted and the already allocated resources are used for another transmission requested later with smaller latency / higher priority requirements. 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 (URLLC) can be preempted by a transmission of service type B (e.g., eMBB). 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 latency sensitive. 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, enabling long battery life.

[0032] As mentioned above, it is expected that the range of reliability in NR will expand. 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 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 the 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 level), higher availability, packet size 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 (target latency for the user plane in particular is 0.5 ms).

[0034] Furthermore, for NR URLLC, several technical enhancements may be available 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 enhancement of HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request) and enhancement of CSI feedback. In addition, enhancement of PUSCH related to mini-slot level hopping and retransmission / repetition has 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 along with the PDU session, and can then configure additional DRBs for the QoS flows of that PDU session (as determined by the NG-RAN, e.g., as described above with reference to Figure 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 5G NR non-roaming reference architecture (see Section 4.23 of Non-Patent Document 5). Application Functions (AFs) (e.g., external application servers handling 5G services as exemplified 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) deemed trusted by the operator can be allowed to interact directly with associated network functions. Application Functions (AFs) not permitted by the operator to directly access network functions interact with associated 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 services, internet access, or third-party services). All or part of the core network functions and application services may be located and run 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 unit that, in operation, 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., an NEF, an AMF, an SMF, a PCF, an 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, in operation, 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 RRC. The uplink control signal may also 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] <Uplink / Downlink / Sidelink> The present disclosure may be applied to any of the uplink, downlink, and sidelink.

[0043] 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).

[0044] 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.

[0045] <Data channel / control channel> The present disclosure may be applied to both data channels and control channels. The channels in this disclosure may be replaced with data channels including PDSCH, PUSCH, and PSSCH, and / or control channels including PDCCH, PUCCH, PBCH, PSCCH, and PSBCH.

[0046] <Reference signal> In this disclosure, a reference signal is a signal known to both a base station and a mobile station, and each reference signal may be referred to as a reference signal (RS) or a pilot signal. A reference signal may be any of a DMRS, a Channel State Information - Reference Signal (CSI-RS), a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), a Phase Tracking Reference Signal (PTRS), a Cell-specific Reference Signal (CRS), and a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS). A reference signal may be used for channel characteristic estimation and / or synchronization in a receiving device. One or more parameters of a 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, a reference signal may be used to compare a reference power with a received power. However, a reference signal may also be used for comparing phase and / or frequency, etc.

[0047] <time interval> In the present disclosure, the time resource unit is not limited to one or a combination of a slot and a symbol, 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.

[0048] <Frequency band> The present disclosure may be applied to both licensed and unlicensed bands. While applicable to both frequency bands, it may be particularly advantageous for high frequency bands because the benefits of beamforming are greater in higher 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 the frequency band from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz.

[0049] <Communication> The present disclosure may be applied to communication 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.

[0050] The present disclosure can be applied to both terrestrial networks and non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) using satellites or high altitude pseudo satellites (HAPSs). The present disclosure can also be applied to networks with large cell sizes and terrestrial networks with large delays compared to the symbol length or slot length, such as ultra-wideband transmission networks.

[0051] <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 a single 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. Instead, an antenna port is defined as the smallest unit through which a terminal is permitted to transmit a reference signal. An antenna port may also be defined as the smallest unit for multiplication of precoding vector weights.

[0052] <Downlink control channel monitoring, PDCCH, DCI> Many of the functions performed by a UE include monitoring a downlink control channel (eg, PDCCH, see section 5.2.3 of 3GPP TS 36.210, 2003) to receive, for example, specific control information or data intended for the UE.

[0053] Below is a non-exhaustive list of such features: - Paging message monitoring function, - System information acquisition function, - signaling supervision operation in discontinuous reception (DRX) functionality; - inactivity monitoring behavior in the discontinuous reception (DRX) function; - receiving a random access response in a random access function; - Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer reordering function

[0054] 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).

[0055] 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). Many different DCI formats have already been defined for 5G NR (see 3GPP TS 26.110, 2015.6.0, section 7.3.1).

[0056] These DCI formats represent the predetermined formats that the respective information is formed and transmitted in. In particular, DCI formats 0_1 and 1_1 are used for scheduling the PUSCH and PDSCH in one cell, respectively.

[0057] 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 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 to conserve power.

[0058] As mentioned above, one of the purposes of the DCI in the PDCCH is to dynamically schedule resources in the downlink, uplink, or sidelink. In particular, several formats of the DCI are provided to convey notification of resources allocated to a data channel for a particular user (resource allocation, RA). The resource allocation may include specifying resources in the frequency domain and / or the time domain.

[0059] <Physical resource block> In general, the term "Physical Resource Block" (PRB) refers to the smallest allocable resource unit available for the transmission of (user) data. In LTE and NR, a PRB has a predetermined number of consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain (e.g., 12) and a predetermined number of symbols in the time domain (e.g., 14 OFDM symbols in LTE).

[0060] <Technical terms> The following describes UEs, relay nodes, base stations (network nodes), and procedures for new radio access technologies envisioned for 5G mobile communication systems, but which may also be used in LTE mobile communication systems or future mobile communication systems. Several different implementations and variations are also described. The following disclosure is facilitated by, and may be based, for example, at least in part on, the discussions and findings above.

[0061] Generally, 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 understandable manner. However, it should be understood that these assumptions are merely exemplary for the purposes of explanation herein, are not essential to the invention, and therefore do not limit the scope of the disclosure. Those skilled in the art will understand that the principles described in the following disclosure and claims can be applied to different scenarios and in ways not explicitly described herein.

[0062] Furthermore, although specific terminology used in the context of new radio access technologies for upcoming communication systems has not yet been fully determined or may ultimately change, some of the terms used below, such as procedures, entities, and layers, are closely related to the terms used in LTE / LTE-A systems or in the current 3GPP 5G standardization. Therefore, the terminology may change in the future without affecting the functionality of the embodiments. Therefore, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments and their scope of protection are not limited to the specific terminology illustratively used herein due to the absence of newer or ultimately agreed-upon terminology, but should be understood more broadly in terms of the functions and concepts underlying the functions and principles of the present disclosure.

[0063] <Device> In LTE and NR, a terminal, user terminal, user device, mobile station, or mobile node is called user equipment (UE). It may be a mobile device or communication device with user equipment functionality, such as a wireless telephone, smartphone, tablet computer, or USB (Universal Serial Bus) stick. However, the term mobile device is not limited thereto. In general, a repeater may also have such mobile device functionality or function 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. A node may have several functional entities. A functional entity refers to a software or hardware module that realizes and / or provides a set of predetermined 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 functional entities to communication facilities or media over which it can communicate with other functional entities or correspondent nodes.

[0064] <Base station> In this disclosure, a 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 sidelink communication, a terminal may be used instead of a base station. A base station may be a relay device that relays communication between an upper node and a terminal. A base station may be a roadside unit. A 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, a base station may provide wireless access to terminals. Communication between a communication device (e.g., a UE, i.e., a terminal) and a scheduling device (e.g., a base station) is usually standardized and may be defined by different layers, such as PHY, MAC, and RRC (see also the discussion above). In LTE and NR, the air interface protocol stack includes a physical layer, a medium access (MAC) layer, and upper layers. The control plane is provided with a higher layer protocol, the Radio Resource Control Protocol. Through RRC, base stations can control the configuration of terminals, and terminals can communicate with base stations 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" as used herein refers 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 implements and / or provides a predetermined set of functions to other functional entities of the same or other nodes or networks. The physical entity performs several control tasks related to communication devices, including one or more of scheduling and configuration.It should be noted that the functions of the base station and the communication device may be integrated into one device. For example, a mobile terminal may also perform the functions of a base station for another terminal. The terminology used in LTE is eNB (or eNodeB), while the terminology currently used in 5G NR is gNB. In particular, the base station may be a gNB in ​​a Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) NR system.

[0065] <Relay node> The term "relay" or "relay node" refers to a general node or any communication device (in a communication system) used to receive a signal from one entity, amplify the signal, and transmit it to another entity.

[0066] In other words, a repeater may be any device controlled by a first entity (hereinafter generally referred to as a base station / scheduling device / gNB) to relay signals between the first entity and a second entity (hereinafter generally referred to as a UE). However, although a repeater in this disclosure is described as amplifying signals between a base station (network node, scheduling device) and a user equipment, a repeater in this disclosure may also be used to amplify signals between two user equipments, for example. In particular, a repeater may be a UE, a base station (e.g., a gNB), an NCR, or an IAB (Integrated Access Backhaul).

[0067] For example, the repeater may be an RF (radio frequency) repeater that simply receives, amplifies, and retransmits a signal without performing baseband L1 processing such as demodulation and decoding or (H)ARQ. However, the present invention is not limited thereto and may be a smart repeater that performs demodulation, decoding, and / or error correction on the signal before relaying. In particular, a signal received from one entity that the repeater relays to another entity and a corresponding signal that the repeater transmits to the other entity may be identical (up to amplification) or different (e.g., in terms of modulation and, e.g., by error correction). Note that in this disclosure, (i) a signal / transmission received by a repeater from an entity to be relayed to another entity is also referred to as a "relayed signal / transmission," and (ii) a signal / transmission of a relay node that the repeater relays the relayed signal / transmission is also referred to as a "relayed signal / transmission." In general, a relayed transmission may be (i) received from a gNB or (ii) a transmission received from another entity and relayed to the gNB. Also, a relay transmission may be (i) a transmission transmitted to a gNB or (ii) a transmission transmitted to another entity. Furthermore, it should be noted that the present disclosure is applicable to a relay regardless of the layer (RF, L1, L2, L3, etc.) of the relay, the applicable frequency band, the multiplexing domain, etc.

[0068] In general, a relay node serves to extend coverage within a cell and / or improve performance at the cell edge, while enabling cost reduction compared to increasing the number of base stations (network nodes). In the downlink, the relay node may receive, amplify, and further transmit, for example, to one or more terminals, signals from a network node (e.g., a scheduling device or a base station) in the downlink. In the uplink, the relay node may receive, amplify, and further transmit, for example, signals from one or more terminals to a network node (e.g., a base station). To this end, the relay node may have multiple radio access interfaces, in particular the following radio access interfaces: - Interface for wireless access to the UE (also called access link) - the interface for wireless access to the base station (also known as the backhaul link), and / or - An interface for transmitting and / or receiving control information to and from the base station (also called C-link)

[0069] A relay node can conceptually be implemented at any layer (e.g., RF, L1, L2, or L3), however, for efficiency and cost reasons, a simpler physical layer repeater may be desirable.

[0070] LTE relaying, unlike simply using a repeater (like an RF repeater), was not cost-effective. For example, in LTE, the L2 repeater demodulates and decodes the received data, applies any error correction, and then retransmits it as a new signal. This improves signal quality, rather than the degradation of the signal-to-noise ratio that would result from using a repeater. With LTE repeaters, UEs communicate with the relay node, which then 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-multiplexed. Several other repeater options were available, but none supported beamforming. The LTE repeater concept has not been widely adopted.

[0071] 3GPP has recently defined a study item and work item on Network-Controlled Repeaters (NCRs) in NR (see Non-Patent Document 6, freely available at www.3gpp.org). Thus, a repeater can be a repeater that can extend the coverage of the network and is expected to be more cost-effective than the Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) introduced in Rel. 16.

[0072] One of the desirable features of a network-controlled repeater is the ability to beamform. LTE repeaters were designed to operate in the sub-3 GHz band, where beamforming is not required (Non-Patent Document 7). This 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.

[0073] The objectives of the network-controlled repeater study include the following characteristics: The network-controlled repeater (also called smart repeater) is to be used to extend network coverage in the FDD / TDD bands in FR1 and the TDD bands in FR2, although during the study, TDD deployment in FR2 may be prioritized in 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" or "UE → sRelay → gNB" ("sRelay" in this specification refers to a smart relay, smart repeater, or network-controlled repeater, which are used interchangeably in each instance). The smart repeater should be able to simultaneously maintain a gNB repeater link and a repeater-UE link. Cost efficiency is a key consideration.

[0074] An idea that needs further study is to identify what additional (control) information is necessary or desirable for smart repeaters assuming maximum transmit power (defined in L1). The additional information may include beamforming information, timing information for aligning transmit and receive boundaries, uplink and downlink TDD configuration information, ON / OFF information for efficient interference management and improved energy efficiency, power control information for interference management, etc.

[0075] As mentioned above, LTE also allows for the use of amplify-and-forward (AF) repeaters (RF repeaters). Such repeaters are transparent to the system and simply amplify and forward the received signal to the user. The repeater itself cannot determine whether the amplified signal is the desired signal received from the UE / gNB or simply interference or noise. Therefore, if the repeater is not properly configured or deployed, it can increase inference in the system. LTE RF repeaters are designed to operate in the sub-3 GHz band, where beamforming is not required (see Non-Patent Document 7, available free of charge at www.3gpp.org). However, the network-controlled repeaters considered for Rel. 18 operate in both FR1 and FR2 bands and enable beamforming. Therefore, their design requires additional consideration.

[0076] 6 shows an exemplary design of a communication system 600 including a repeater 650, which may be a network-controlled repeater (NCR) currently envisioned in NR. The repeater 650 includes, as functional units, a mobile termination unit 640 (also referred to as a mobile terminal or MT) and a radio unit (RU) 660. The MT unit 640 may receive control signals / information from a network node (gNB) 610 and configure the RU unit 660 accordingly.

[0077] It may also transmit information to the gNB 610. Note that the MT unit 640 (which may be functionally similar to a UE) may communicate with the gNB using the channels described above (e.g., as described in the "Downlink Control Channel Monitoring, PDCCH, DCI" section, etc.). The RU unit 660 is responsible for receiving and amplifying signals (including data and / or control information) received from the gNB 610 and / or one or more (serving) UEs, such as the illustrated UE 690. In NR, the currently used term for the MT unit is NCR-MT, and the currently used term for the RU unit is NCR-Fwd (Fwd stands for forwarding).

[0078] 6, the repeater 650 includes a transmitter, illustrated as a first transceiver 630, that transmits signals / transmissions 620 toward or receives signals 620 from the gNB 610 (and possibly additional gNBs), and a second transceiver 670 that transmits signals 680 toward or receives signals 680 from one or more UEs 690. As shown, the transmissions / signals may be transmitted / received via beams (e.g., may be directional transmissions). However, the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

[0079] As also shown in Figure 6, particularly in NR, the link between the gNB (i.e., the device that controls relaying) and the MT for receiving / transmitting control information is called a control link or C-link, the link between the gNB and the RU for receiving / forwarding signals is called a backhaul link, and the link between the RU and the UE for receiving / forwarding signals is called an access link.

[0080] Examples of control information for NCR include control signals for ON / OFF, power control, and TDD UL / DL configuration. In general, semi-static and dynamic indications may be used for ON / OFF signals and / or power control. Both dynamic and semi-static indications may be supported.

[0081] For TDD UL / DL configuration, flexible symbols may be supported by NCR. For example, the gNB may dynamically or semi-statically configure the flexible slots / symbols (i.e., the gNB may send an indication to the NCR indicating dynamically or semi-statically whether the flexible symbol / slot is a DL symbol / slot or a UL symbol / slot). Both dynamic and semi-static indications may be supported. In general, the NCR may also be configured not to amplify the signal over the flexible slots / symbols.

[0082] Note that Figure 6 shows an example of a functional communication structure of a repeater. Generally, 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 additional circuits for realizing signal transmission and reception. By including one or more transmitters and / or receivers, simultaneous transmission and reception with one or more communication partners may be possible.

[0083] <Further improvements> As will be further explained with reference to FIGS. 7A and 7B, which show exemplary resource allocations for C-link UL and backhaul UL, respectively, the inventors have identified a problem in configuring relay nodes.

[0084] As mentioned above, an NCR may support UL transmissions on the C-link (i.e., the link between the gNB and the NCR-MT for receiving / transmitting control information) and the backhaul link (i.e., the link between the gNB and the NCR-Fwd for receiving / forwarding signals). As shown in Figure 7A, in general, an NCR can perform UL transmissions on the C-link and the backhaul link at different times, i.e., in a TDM manner. Furthermore, as shown in Figure 7B, depending on the capabilities of the NCR, simultaneous UL transmissions on the C-link and the backhaul in overlapping bands may also be supported. However, simultaneous UL transmissions may result in additional interference for decoding of control signals or data at the gNB. Also, an NCR may have limitations regarding maximum / allowed transmit power. Therefore, an NCR may not be able to meet the UL transmit power configured for the backhaul and C-link. In general, these issues apply to simultaneous transmissions by a repeater on any two different links (e.g., the C-link, the backhaul link, and / or the access link). Furthermore, transmissions by repeaters on one link may cause interference to reception by repeaters on other links.

[0085] <Embodiment> The present inventors have identified the possibility of providing an improved procedure that allows one or more of the above-mentioned drawbacks to be avoided. The present disclosure relates to various solutions and variations to such improved procedures. Accordingly, the present disclosure provides techniques for improving the efficiency of communication systems that include relay nodes. In particular, the present disclosure may improve the efficiency in communication systems in which relays support (i) simultaneous reception / transmission on different links and (ii) separate reception / transmission on different links (i.e., reception / transmission at different times).

[0086] The present disclosure provides, inter alia, a scheduling apparatus, a corresponding method for the scheduling apparatus, a communication apparatus (e.g., a communication apparatus adapted / configured to perform the functions of a relay node in a communication system), a corresponding method and (computer) program (e.g., a program stored in a memory) for the communication apparatus, a communication system comprising such a scheduling apparatus and communication apparatus, and an integrated circuit which, in operation, controls the processes of the scheduling apparatus / communication apparatus to perform the respective methods.

[0087] An example of such a communication system is shown in Figure 8. The communication system 800 may be a wireless communication system conforming to 5G technical specifications, particularly an NR communication system, although the present disclosure is not limited to a 3GPP NR terrestrial network (TN) and may also be applied to NTN, other wireless systems, or cellular systems.

[0088] FIG. 8 illustrates a general and simplified exemplary block diagram of a communication device 810 (exemplary here as a relay node) and a scheduling device 860 (exemplary here as assumed to be located in a base station, e.g., an eNB (also referred to as an ng-eNB) in LTE or a gNB in ​​5G NR). Generally, however, the scheduling device may be a terminal in the case of a sidelink connection between two terminals. Furthermore, particularly with regard to URLLC, eMBB, and mMTC use cases, the communication device 810 may be a sensor device, a wearable device, or a connected vehicle or a controller for automated machinery in an industrial factory. The communication device 810 may function as a relay between a base station and other communication devices.

[0089] As shown in Figure 8, a communication device 810 and a scheduling device 860 (eNB / gNB) may communicate with each other over a (wireless) physical channel 850 using their respective transceivers 820 (relay node side) and 870 (base station side). The scheduling device 860 and the relay node 810 together constitute a communication system 800. The communication system 800 may further include other entities as shown in Figure 1, in particular other communication devices to which the relay node relays signals from the base station and / or other communication devices to which the relay node receives signals that the relay node relays to the base station.

[0090] <Transmitter / receiver and circuit> As shown in FIG. 8 (left side), the communication device may comprise a transceiver and a circuit (or processing circuit), and the scheduling device may comprise a transceiver and a (processing) circuit.

[0091] Note that the term "transceiver" refers to a front-end including one or more antennas (or multiple antennas if beamforming is used). The transceiver here may include an amplifier, several modulators for modulating baseband signals onto a system carrier, a possible digital-to-analog converter, and possible further signal-improvement circuitry. Generally, a transceiver may comprise and / or function as a receiver and / or a transmitter. In other words, in this disclosure, "transceiver" refers to hardware and software components that enable a communication device to transmit and / or receive wireless signals over a wireless channel. Thus, a transceiver corresponds to a receiver, a transmitter, or a combination of a receiver and a transmitter. Typically, base stations and communication devices are assumed to be capable of both transmitting and receiving wireless signals. However, for some applications, particularly eMBB, mMTC, and URLLC (e.g., smart home, smart city, industrial automation), devices such as sensors may only receive signals. The transmitter may be responsible for processing transmissions and other related processing. The receiver may be responsible for processing receptions and other related processing, such as channel monitoring. Generally, a transceiver may be controlled by a circuit to perform transmission and / or reception.

[0092] As used herein, the term "circuitry" refers to any hardware and / or software. For example, a circuit may include one or more processors (or processing units or any LSI), microcontrollers, programmable hardware such as FPGAs, and / or dedicated hardware such as ASICs, and may also include digital or analog circuitry.

[0093] Between the transceiver and the processing circuitry, there may be input / output points (or nodes) at which the processing circuitry, in operation, can control the transceiver, i.e., control the receiver and / or transmitter, and exchange receive and transmit data. The processing circuitry may perform control tasks such as transmitting user data and control data provided by the processing circuitry and / or controlling the transceiver to receive user data and control data that is further processed by the processing circuitry. The processing circuitry may also be responsible for performing other processes, such as judging, determining, calculating, measuring, etc.

[0094] According to one exemplary embodiment, a communications device 810 is provided as illustrated in FIG. 8 (left side). The communications device 810 includes a transceiver 820 and a circuit 830. The transceiver 820, in operation, (i) performs relay transmission of a signal and (ii) transmits or receives control signaling. The (processing) circuit 830, in operation, determines transmission settings for (i) the transmission of the control signaling and / or (ii) the relay transmission of the signal based on whether the transmission of the control signaling overlaps in time with the relay transmission of the signal.

[0095] It should be noted that the circuitry 830 may implement more functions than the above-described determination of transmission settings, for example, may further control the transceiver unit 820. In particular, the circuitry 830 may control the transceiver unit 820 to relay signals, send and receive control signaling. Thus, the circuitry 830 may exemplarily be considered to include a transmission setting circuit 835 configured to perform the above-described determination of transmission settings. The configuration may be provided by hardware adaptation and / or software.

[0096] 9 shows a functional structure of an example of the transmission setting circuit 835. In particular, the circuit 835 may include an overlap determination circuit 910 and a transmission setting determination circuit 920. The overlap determination circuit 910 may be responsible for (e.g., configured to determine) (i) whether a (e.g., specific) relay transmission overlaps with (e.g., any) transmission of control signaling and / or whether a (e.g., specific) transmission of control signaling overlaps with (e.g., any) relay transmission. The transmission setting determination circuit 920 may be responsible for determining a transmission setting of the (e.g., specific) relay transmission / transmission of control signaling based on the determination result of the overlap determination circuit 910.

[0097] It should be noted that any of the circuits 830, 835, 910, 920 may implement more functions. For example, the circuit may be configured to determine resources for transmitting and receiving data, particularly resources for relay transmission and transmission of control signaling. In particular, the time (e.g., start, end, and / or length) of the transmission may be determined by the circuit and provided to the overlap determination circuit 910 (if not determined by the circuit 910 itself), for example, via an interface. For example, the transceiver 820 may receive signaling including an indication (e.g., scheduling DCI) indicating resources for transmission, the circuit may obtain the indication from the signaling, and the relay may determine the resources based on the obtained indication. In particular, the transceiver 820 may receive first control signaling transmitted by the gNB in ​​step S1260 described below, the circuit of the relay may obtain an indication of the first resource allocation from the first control signaling, and the relay may determine the first resource allocation based on the obtained indication. The overlap determination circuit may then determine whether a first resource allocation that designates, assigns, and / or grants resources for control signaling overlaps with the relay transmission.

[0098] Corresponding to the above-mentioned communication device, there is provided a communication method executed by the communication device. As shown in Fig. 11, the method includes a step S1120 of determining (a) a transmission setting for transmitting the control signaling and / or (b) a transmission setting for relaying the signal based on whether the transmission of the control signaling overlaps in time with the relay transmission of the signal, a step S1130 of transmitting or receiving the control signaling, and a step S1140 of relaying the signal.

[0099] Corresponding to the above communication device, the communication method may (optionally) include step S1110 of (i) determining whether a relay transmission (i.e., a particular relay transmission) overlaps with a transmission of control signaling (e.g., any transmission), and / or whether a transmission of control signaling (i.e., a particular transmission) overlaps with a relay transmission (e.g., any relay transmission).

[0100] It should be noted that if the relay determines transmission settings for transmitting control signaling, for example, in step S1120, the relay may transmit the control signaling according to the determined transmission settings for the control signaling transmission (for example, in step S1130). Furthermore, if the relay determines transmission settings for relay transmission, for example, in step S1120, the relay may perform the relay transmission according to the determined transmission settings for the relay transmission (for example, in step S1140).

[0101] According to another exemplary embodiment, an integrated circuit is provided corresponding to the above-described communication device method. The integrated circuit, in operation, controls the processing of the communication device, the processing including the steps of the above-described communication device method. The integrated circuit may be, for example, circuit 830 or 835 described above, and / or may be deployed / deployable in the communication device, in particular in a relay node.

[0102] 8 (right side), according to another exemplary embodiment, a scheduling device 860 is provided. The scheduling device 860 comprises a transceiver unit 870 and a circuit 880. In operation, the (processing) circuit 880 (i) determines a first transmission setting to be used by the communication device to transmit or receive control signaling when the transmission of the control signaling overlaps in time with a relay transmission of the communication device, which relays signals from one or more user equipments (UEs) to a scheduling device; (ii) determines a second transmission setting to be used by the communication device for the transmission of the control signaling when the transmission of the control signaling does not overlap in time with a relay transmission; (iii) determines a first resource allocation to be used by the communication device for the transmission of the control signaling according to the first and second transmission settings; (iv) determines a second resource allocation to be used by the UE to transmit signals to the communication device according to the first and second transmission settings; (v) generates first control signaling including an indication indicating the first resource allocation; and (vi) generates second control signaling including an indication indicating the second resource allocation. In operation, the transmitter 870 transmits to the communications device (i) first control signaling and (ii) second control signaling that is relayed by the communications device to the UE.

[0103] Specifically, the above-mentioned "first resource allocation" refers to a "first" resource used for transmitting control information from a relay to a gNB or a resource used for transmitting control information from a gNB to a relay. In other words, the first resource allocation specifies, allocates, and / or grants resources for transmissions in a C-link (UL or DL). Furthermore, the "second resource allocation" specifies, allocates, and / or grants "second" resources used by a UE to transmit signals to a communication device (relay) to be relayed by the relay to the gNB. As described below, time instances for relayed transmissions of the relay may be already configured, and the relay may be configured with those time instances. Furthermore, typically, the time instances at which a UE transmits a signal to a relay and the corresponding relayed transmission at which the relay relays that signal to a gNB are closely related (e.g., the relay may relay a received signal (immediately) upon receiving it). Thus, when determining the second resource, the gNB may determine the frequency resource to be used by the UE and / or may grant a particular configured time instance to a particular UE or a particular transmission of the UE.

[0104] The transceiver 870 may also receive relayed transmissions from the communication device and / or transmit signals to be relayed to the communication device. The transceiver 870 may also receive or transmit on the first resource allocation. The circuitry 880 may implement more functions than the determining and generating described above, for example, may transmit or receive control signaling (e.g., transmit “first” and “second” control signaling) and / or further control the transceiver 870 to receive or transmit data. Furthermore, the gNB may transmit or receive control signaling on the first resource and receive a relayed transmission that relays a signal transmitted by the UE on the second resource.

[0105] In general, transmission or reception by the transceiver 870 may be controlled by circuitry 880 . For this reason, the circuit 880 may be considered to include, for example, a scheduling circuit 885 configured to perform the aforementioned determination and generation. The configuration may be provided by hardware adaptation and / or software. A functional structure of an example of the scheduling circuit 885 is shown in FIG. 10. In particular, the scheduling circuit 885 may include a transmission setting determination circuit 1010 responsible for determining first and second transmission settings, a resource determination circuit 1020 that may be configured to determine first and second resource allocations, and a signal generation circuit 1030 that may generate first and second signals. It should be noted that the scheduling circuit 885 may implement more functions.

[0106] Further, corresponding to the scheduling device described above, there is provided a communication method executed by the scheduling device. As shown in Fig. 12, the method includes a step S1200 of determining a first transmission configuration to be used by the communication device for transmitting or receiving control signaling when the transmission of the control signaling overlaps in time with a relay transmission of the communication device, the relay transmission relaying a signal from one or more user equipments (UEs) to the scheduling device, a step S1210 of determining a second transmission configuration to be used by the communication device for transmitting the control signaling when the transmission does not overlap in time with the relay transmission, and a step S1211 of determining a second transmission configuration to be used by the communication device for transmitting the control signaling according to the first and second transmission configurations. 12 , the method includes, for example, a step S1220 of determining a first resource allocation to be used by the UE for transmitting a signal to the communication device according to the first and second transmission configurations, a step S1230 of determining a second resource allocation to be used by the UE for transmitting a signal to the communication device according to the first and second transmission configurations, a step S1240 of generating first control signaling including an indication of the first resource allocation, a step S1250 of generating second control signaling including an indication of the second resource allocation, a step S1260 of transmitting the first control signaling to the communication device, and a step S1270 of transmitting the second control signaling to the communication device, which is relayed by the communication device to the UE. Further, the method of the scheduling apparatus may include, for example, receiving a relayed transmission from the communication device and / or transmitting a signal to be relayed to the communication device (although not shown in FIG. 12 ).

[0107] According to another exemplary embodiment, an integrated circuit is provided corresponding to the above-described scheduling device method. The integrated circuit, in operation, controls the processing of the scheduling device and includes the steps of the above-described scheduling device method. This integrated circuit may, for example, be the above-described circuit 880 or 885 and / or may be deployed / deployable in a communication device, in particular in a scheduling device.

[0108] 11 and 12, or some steps may be performed jointly or jointly. For example, as described further below, the base station may jointly / jointly perform any number and / or combination of the determining steps (S1200, S1210, S1220, S1230), perform the generation of the control signaling in step S1250 in one step, and / or transmit the first and second control signaling jointly (steps S1260 and S1270). Furthermore, any of the steps performed by the base station may generally be performed jointly with corresponding steps for other relay nodes and may be performed taking into account traffic conditions and quality requirements of services used by one or more UEs receiving the relay transmission and / or transmitting transmissions relayed to the relay node.

[0109] Furthermore, since the present disclosure relates to a device for configuring (scheduling) a communication device (e.g., a relay node) and the communication device, it should be noted that the details and embodiments described in the present disclosure may apply to (and be implemented by) each of the communication device and the scheduling device, and corresponding methods and integrated circuits, unless explicitly stated or indicated by context. In particular, the scheduling device may be configured to generate and transmit control signals, as described below, and the communication device may be configured to receive such signaling and obtain instructions therefrom. In particular, any of the steps / operations described below may be performed or controlled by circuit 830 (communication device side) and / or circuit 880 (base station side). Furthermore, any receiving and transmitting steps may be performed by (e.g., controlled by) the transceiver unit 820 (UE side) and / or the transceiver unit 870 (base station side) (e.g., controlled by the respective circuits).

[0110] <Send settings> In general, the term "transmission configuration" is broadly understood as any setting / configuration of states or parameters related to a relay node's transmission, particularly related to the relay node relaying a relayed signal (also referred to in this disclosure as relay transmission) or transmitting control signaling to a gNB. In particular, the transmission configuration may include and / or specify a power configuration, a resource configuration, and / or a beam configuration, as further described below.

[0111] As described above, the repeater determines a transmission setting for a particular transmission based on whether the particular transmission is an overlapping or non-overlapping transmission (e.g., step S1120). In particular, the repeater may determine a different transmission setting when the transmission is overlapping than when the transmission is not overlapping. For example, the NCR may apply separate / different transmission settings to C-link transmissions that overlap with (e.g., any) backhaul transmissions (from or to the NCR) than to non-overlapping C-link transmissions. In general, the different transmission settings may specify (i) different power settings, (ii) different resource settings, and / or (iii) different beam settings.

[0112] In general, a gNB may configure a repeater by: (i) In case of overlap, the transmission configuration that the repeater uses for a particular type (e.g., any) of transmission (corresponding to the "first transmission configuration" in step S1200), and / or (ii) The transmission setting that the repeater uses for a particular type of transmission if there is no overlap (corresponding to the "second transmission setting" in step S1210).

[0113] Here, a "particular type" refers to transmission of a particular link (e.g., C-link, backhaul link, access link) and / or a particular direction (e.g., UL, DL, sidelink). In other words, it may be assumed that a repeater uses a transmission configuration for UL transmission of the C-link (C-link UL transmission as a "type" of transmission) when the UL transmission of the C-link is non-overlapping, and uses a different transmission configuration for UL transmission of the C-link when the UL transmission of the C-link overlaps. Also, a gNB may configure a repeater with two different transmission configurations for a first type (UL C-link) and simultaneously configure it with two different transmission configurations for another second type (e.g., UL backhaul), where the transmission configuration of the first type may be different from the transmission configuration of the second type.

[0114] Thus, if it is determined that the transmissions are overlapping, the repeater may select a transmission setting configured for the overlapping transmission (this type of transmission), and if it is determined that the transmissions are not overlapping, the repeater may select a transmission setting configured for the non-overlapping transmission. In other words, determining the transmission setting in step S1120 may be a step of selecting a transmission setting (e.g., from / among two configured transmission settings) based on whether the transmissions are overlapping or not.

[0115] In general, before configuring the repeater, the gNB may perform a step of determining a transmission configuration for an overlapping transmission of a type (e.g., step S1200) and / or a step of determining a transmission for a non-overlapping transmission of that type (e.g., step S1210). It is noted that this is a determination in which the gNB determines the transmission configuration based on, for example, traffic considerations, QoS considerations, interference within the cell, etc. In particular, it is noted that (i) the first transmission configuration determined in step S1200 may be the transmission configuration used by the repeater to perform overlapping relay transmissions (rather than overlapping transmissions of control signaling), and (ii) the second transmission configuration determined in step S1210 may be the transmission configuration used by the repeater to perform non-overlapping relay transmissions but not non-overlapping transmissions of control signaling.

[0116] For example, in step S1200, the gNB may determine a transmission configuration for overlapping transmission of control signaling, and in step S1210, the gNB may determine a transmission configuration for non-overlapping transmission of control signaling, which may be based on (expected) traffic in the cell, QoS of the UE, interference in the cell, etc.

[0117] The gNB may then generate and transmit respective control signaling including indicating the determined transmission configuration for relaying. Note that instead of or in addition to determining the transmission configuration for overlapping (non-overlapping) transmission of the control signaling, the gNB may determine the transmission configuration for overlapping (non-overlapping) transmission of the relay transmission in step 1200 (S1210).

[0118] Generally, the gNB schedules the UE and the relay. Thus, the gNB can typically control / determine whether a transmission is an overlapping transmission or a non-overlapping transmission. When determining resources for the UE and the relay transmissions (e.g., in steps S1220 and S1230, respectively), the gNB may determine which transmissions are overlapping transmissions and which are non-overlapping transmissions. Thus, the gNB may consider and / or utilize situations where overlapping and non-overlapping use different transmission configurations when scheduling resources / transmissions (e.g., steps S1220, S1230), e.g., to reduce interference, improve reliability of a particular transmission taking into account QoS requirements of a particular service, etc. In particular, the gNB may determine the first and / or second resource allocations based on the first and second transmission configurations. In particular, the gNB may determine whether to use a first or second transmission configuration for a transmission (relay transmission or transmission of control signaling), and (i) if the first transmission configuration is used, allocate overlapping resources for that transmission, and (ii) if the second transmission configuration is used, allocate non-overlapping resources for that transmission.

[0119] <Duplicates and duplicate determination> It should be noted that in this disclosure, the term "overlapping" refers to overlapping in time. More specifically, first and second transmissions are considered to overlap if a portion of at least one of the first and second transmissions occurs during or at the same time that the other transmission (e.g., the second transmission) occurs. For example, a relay may determine whether two transmissions overlap based on resources allocated to the two transmissions. In other words, if the time index (e.g., slot / symbol index) of (e.g., at least one) resource of the first transmission is identical to the time index of (e.g., any) resource of the second transmission, the first and second transmissions may be considered to overlap (e.g., may be determined to overlap by the relay and the gNB).

[0120] As described above, when a transmission configuration for a control signaling transmission is to be determined (e.g., step S1210), it may be determined whether the transmission of the control signaling overlaps with a relay transmission (e.g., step S1110). Furthermore, when a transmission configuration for a relay transmission is to be determined (e.g., step S1210), it may be determined whether the relay transmission overlaps with any transmission of the control signaling (e.g., step S1110). Note that in this disclosure, expressions such as "overlapping transmission" and "non-overlapping transmission" refer to overlapping / non-overlapping according to these determinations regarding the control signaling and the relay transmission. In other words, a non-overlapping transmission of the control signaling may overlap in time with, for example, another transmission of the control signaling. Furthermore, it should be noted that the determination of whether a transmission overlaps may be performed only for a specific frequency range (e.g., BWP). For example, when determining whether a control signaling transmission overlaps with a relay transmission, only relay transmissions in a specific / predetermined / configured frequency range (e.g., the frequency range in which the control signaling transmission occurs) may be considered, and thus control transmissions that overlap with relay transmissions outside of that frequency range are still considered non-overlapping.

[0121] Note that the transmission of control signaling may be (i) a transmission that the relay receives from the gNB, or (ii) a transmission that the relay transmits to the gNB. Furthermore, as described above, the relay transmission is (i) a transmission that the relay transmits to the gNB, or (ii) a transmission that the relay transmits to a third entity (an entity other than the gNB). Specifically, when determining a transmission for relaying, the relay may determine whether the relay transmission overlaps with the reception of control signaling.

[0122] As described above, the relay may obtain resources / times for the control signaling transmission based on instructions included in signaling received from the gNB (e.g., first control signaling, etc.). Furthermore, the relay may obtain bandwidth portions including resources for the relay transmission based on instructions included in signaling received from the gNB. Furthermore, the relay may determine the transmission time of the relay transmission based on, for example, instructions included in signaling received from the gNB. The relay instance (i.e., the transmission time of the relay transmission) may be indicated dynamically or semi-statically by the gNB.

[0123] In other words, the NCR may determine the transmission instances of the relaying and control signaling (i.e., the respective transmission times of the relaying transmissions and the control signaling transmissions) from a predetermined configuration or a received DCI. For example, the relay may receive control signaling from the gNB including an indication of the transmission times of one or more relaying transmissions, obtain the indication from the signaling, and determine the transmission times based on the obtained indication. Based on the determined relaying and control transmission instances, the relay may determine when and whether overlap occurs (S1110).

[0124] <Different power settings> As already mentioned, a transmission setting may include a power setting. In general, a "power setting" may specify or indicate the transmit (Tx) power that a relay node is (supposed to) use to make a transmission (of a particular type, e.g., as described above). For example, the power setting may be a power control setting, such as a gated power loop or TPC associated with a particular power (level).

[0125] In general, the transmit power for performing a transmission may depend on whether the transmission overlaps. In other words, in general, the repeater may determine (e.g., in step S1120) a power setting for transmitting the control signaling based on whether the transmission of the control signaling overlaps with the relay transmission. For example, the repeater (e.g., circuit 835) may: (i) when the transmission of the control signaling overlaps with the relay transmission, the first power setting is used for the transmission of the control signaling; and (ii) the second power setting is used for the transmission of the control signaling when the transmission of the control signaling does not overlap with the relay transmission; may be determined (eg, in step S1120).

[0126] In other words, the repeater may use a first power setting for overlapping transmissions (e.g., a particular type of overlapping transmission) and a second power setting for non-overlapping transmissions, and the first and second power settings may have / specify different transmit powers from each other.

[0127] For example, the NCR may be configured (e.g., by the gNB) with different power control settings (e.g., separate open / closed power loops or different levels of TPC). More specifically, the repeater may be configured with two different power (control) settings: one for overlapping transmissions and one for (a particular type of) non-overlapping transmissions. In particular, the repeater / NCR may be defined / configured with two different / separate power settings for the C-link (e.g., two power settings for transmitting control information / signaling to the gNB), one for non-overlapping transmissions and one for overlapping transmissions. Alternatively, or in addition, the repeater / NCR may be defined / configured with two different / separate power settings for the backhaul (e.g., two power settings for relay transmissions), one for non-overlapping transmissions and one for overlapping transmissions.

[0128] An example of NCRs set with different transmit powers for overlapping and non-overlapping UL C-link transmissions is shown in Figure 13. The first row of Figure 13 shows an example resource allocation for UL transmissions on the C-link and UL transmissions on the backhaul link. As shown in the first row of Figure 13, slots 1, 2, 4, and 6 have only UL transmissions on the backhaul link, slot 3 has only UL transmissions on the C-link, and slot 5 has UL transmissions on the C-link and UL transmissions on the backhaul link, with resources that overlap in time.

[0129] In this example, the NCR is configured with one power setting for the backhaul (e.g., the NCR is configured with one transmission setting for the backhaul, or the NCR is configured with different transmission settings for the backhaul but specifying the same power setting). Furthermore, in the example of Figure 13, the NCR is configured with two transmission settings for the C-link that specify different transmission powers for transmitting control information to the gNB. The transmission power specified by the transmission setting that the repeater uses for non-overlapping transmission is P1, and the transmission power specified by the transmission setting that the repeater uses for overlapping transmission is P2, where P1 is smaller than P2.

[0130] Thus, as shown in the third row of Figure 13, the NCR applies transmit power P1 when only C-link UL transmission is performed (i.e., slot 3) and applies transmit power P2 for simultaneous transmission (i.e., slot 5). More specifically, in the case of simultaneous (or overlapping) transmission, the repeater applies transmit power P2 to the C-link transmission (see row 3) and transmit power P0 to the backhaul UL transmission (see row 2).

[0131] It should be noted that the increased C-link transmission power in case of overlap with backhaul transmission can be used to compensate for the interference of backhaul transmission at the gNB, thereby improving the reliability of decoding of control information of C-link transmission at the gNB side.

[0132] <Maximum transmission power> In general, the NCR may be set and / or limited by a maximum transmit power. Here, the maximum transmit power refers to the maximum transmit power that a repeater may use for transmission at any time (e.g., the maximum transmit power for all transmissions made at a given time). In general, the maximum transmit power may be directly given by the NCR capability. The maximum transmit power may be the maximum allowed transmit power or may be reduced to reduce the risk of damaging the repeater or for safe power consumption. The maximum transmit power may be set in advance or may be set by the gNB (taking into account the NCR capability and / or priority). For example, the gNB may reduce the maximum transmit power of a repeater to reduce interference within the cell.

[0133] In general, when a repeater is configured with a maximum transmit power and a transmit power for transmitting control signaling, the repeater (e.g., circuit 835) may determine a transmit power for the overlapping relay transmission based on (i) the configured transmit power for transmitting the control signaling and (ii) the configured maximum transmit power (e.g., step S1120). Note that the configured transmit power for transmitting the control signaling may be the transmit power for the overlapping and non-overlapping transmissions of the control signaling. When a repeater is configured with different transmit powers for the overlapping and non-overlapping transmissions of the control signaling, the repeater may make the above determination of the transmit power for the overlapping relay (e.g., as in the example of FIG. 14) based on the transmit power of the overlapping transmissions of the control signaling.

[0134] For example, a repeater may be configured with: Maximum transmission power (hereinafter referred to as "Pmax") ·Transmission power for overlapping transmission of control signaling (hereinafter referred to as "P2"), and ·Transmission power for transmitting non-overlapping relay transmissions (hereafter referred to as "P0").

[0135] The transmit power P2 for transmitting the overlapping control signaling may be the transmit power for transmitting the non-overlapping control signaling, for example (as in the example of Figure 14), the repeater may be configured with the transmit power for transmitting the non-overlapping control signaling (hereinafter referred to as "P1").

[0136] The repeater (e.g., circuitry 830) may then control the transceiver to transmit: - duplicate transmission of control signaling with the set transmission power P2; non-overlapping transmission of control signaling with the configured transmission power P1 (or P2 if overlapping / non-overlapping transmission of control signaling is not configured with different transmission powers), Non-overlapping relay transmission with a set transmission power P0, and (ii) redundant relay transmission using the set transmit power P0 if the set transmit power P0 for relay transmission is less than or equal to the remaining transmit power Pmax-P2, and using the remaining transmit power Pmax-P2 if the set transmit power P0 for relay transmission is greater than the remaining transmit power Pmax-P2.

[0137] As already indicated, the "remaining transmission power" here refers to the difference between the configured maximum transmission power Pmax and the configured transmission power P2 for transmitting overlapping control signaling.

[0138] In particular, the repeater (e.g., circuit 835) may determine that the transmit power for a particular relay transmission is (i) P0 if the particular relay transmission is non-overlapping, or (ii) min(P0, Pmax-P2) if the particular relay transmission is overlapping (e.g., step S1120). In other words, if the TX power (P0) set for the relay is greater than the difference between the maximum power (Pmax) and the TX power (P2) set in the control signal, i.e., P0>(Pmax-P2), then Pmax-P2 applies; otherwise, if P0≦(Pmax-P2), then P0 applies. In other words, considering the transmit power upper limit, the power allocated to the backhaul in the overlapping transmission instances is min(P0, Pmax-P2). In the case of simultaneous transmissions, NCR first allocates power to the C-link transmission and then allocates the remaining power to the backhaul transmission.

[0139] An example of determining transmit power based on the maximum transmit power is shown in Figure 14. In the example of Figure 14, the NCR has a maximum transmit power Pmax. Furthermore, the repeater is configured with (i) transmit power P1 for non-overlapping C-link UL transmissions, (ii) transmit power P2 for overlapping C-link UL transmissions, and (iii) transmit power P0 for non-overlapping backhaul UL transmissions.

[0140] Thus, the NCR applies (i.e., performs transmissions using / at the respective transmit powers) transmit power P0 for non-overlapping backhaul UL transmissions (i.e., slots 1, 2, 4, and 6) and transmit power P1 for non-overlapping C-link UL transmissions (slot 3). Furthermore, for the simultaneous / overlapping backhaul and C-link UL transmissions in slot 5, the NCR applies transmit power P2 for the overlapping C-link UL transmission and transmit power Pmax-P2 for the overlapping backhaul UL transmission. In particular, due to the maximum transmit power cap (i.e., Pmax), the NCR cannot transmit the backhaul signal at P0 and instead allocates the remaining power, i.e., Pmax-P2, to the overlapping backhaul UL transmission in slot 5.

[0141] <Different resource settings> As already mentioned, the transmission configuration may include resource configuration. In general, a "resource configuration" may specify or indicate, for example: the resources (e.g., resource elements) used for each transmission, and / or The modulation and coding schemes (MCS) used for each transmission.

[0142] In general, a resource configuration configured for non-overlapping transmission of a particular transmission type and a resource configuration configured for overlapping transmission of a particular transmission type may specify different resource elements and / or different MCSs. For example, the different resource configurations may be PUCCH of C-link (e.g. PUCCH resource set), PUCCH in the backhaul UL (e.g., PUCCH resource set), PUSCH on the C-link (e.g., PUSCH-AllocationList), and / or PUSCH for backhaul UL transmission (e.g., PUSCH-AllocationList), (e.g., two different configurations may be defined, one for overlapping transmissions of each type and one for non-overlapping transmissions of each type).

[0143] In general, the resource configuration for a transmission may depend on whether the transmission overlaps. In other words, in general, the repeater (e.g., circuit 835) may determine the resource configuration for the transmission of the control signaling based on whether the transmission of the control signaling overlaps with the relay transmission (e.g., in step S1120). For example, the repeater (e.g., circuit 835) may determine (e.g., in step S1120): (i) using a first resource configuration for transmitting control signaling when the transmission of the control signaling overlaps with the relay transmission; and (ii) using a second resource configuration for transmitting control signaling when the transmission of control signaling does not overlap with relay transmission;

[0144] In other words, the repeater may use a first resource configuration for overlapping transmissions (e.g., a particular type of overlapping transmission) and a second resource configuration for non-overlapping transmissions, and the first and second resource configurations may be different from each other (e.g., may specify different frequency resources for the transmissions).

[0145] In particular, the transmission times of the transmissions may be independent of whether the transmissions overlap or non-overlapping (and may be known to the repeater, e.g., based on instructions / signaling received from the gNB). The repeater may (i) determine whether the transmissions overlap based on the transmission times, and (ii) determine frequency resources for the transmissions based on the results of this determination (i.e., whether the transmissions overlap). For example, in determining frequency resources, the repeater may determine the number of resources (e.g., the number of resource elements) and / or the frequency of the resources (resource elements) for each time instance of the used resource grid that falls within the transmission time (i.e., for each time instance that overlaps in time with the transmission time). For example, the repeater / NCR may be defined / configured with two different / separate resource configurations for the C-link (e.g., two resource configurations for transmitting control information / signaling to the gNB), one for non-overlapping transmissions and another for overlapping transmissions. Alternatively or additionally, a repeater / NCR may be defined / configured with two different / separate resource configurations for backhaul (e.g., two resource configurations for relay transmissions): one for non-overlapping transmissions and another for overlapping transmissions.

[0146] An example of an NCR configured with different PUCCH resource sets for overlapping and non-overlapping C-link UL transmissions is shown in Figure 15. More specifically, the transmission configuration for overlapping transmissions is assumed to specify more resources than the transmission configuration for non-overlapping transmissions. As shown in the figure, the NCR utilizes a PUCCH resource set with more resource elements for simultaneous / overlapping transmissions (slot 5) than for non-overlapping C-link UL transmissions (slot 3).

[0147] By using more resources for overlapping transmissions than for non-overlapping transmissions, better reliability and link adaptation performance can be achieved. In particular, the added resources can be used to increase transmission redundancy, which can compensate for interference from other transmissions (e.g., interference from the backhaul transmission in slot 5 in the example).

[0148] <Overwrite> In general, a relay may be configured with one transmission configuration for transmission of control signaling and another / different transmission configuration for relay transmission. One of these two transmission configurations may override the other (i.e., be used for both transmissions) if they overlap. More specifically, a relay may, for example, use a transmission configuration for non-overlapping relay transmission and may use a transmission configuration for transmission of control signaling for (i) overlapping transmission of control signaling, (ii) non-overlapping transmission of control signaling, and (iii) overlapping relay transmission.

[0149] In particular, the repeater (e.g., circuitry 835) may determine (e.g., in step S1120): The transmission setting for redundant relay transmission is the transmission setting set for the transmission of control signaling, · The transmission settings for non-overlapping relay transmission are the transmission settings configured for relay transmission.

[0150] <Different beam settings> The above-mentioned overwrite mechanism may be applied, for example, when the transmission configuration configured for the transmission of control signaling and the other / different transmission configuration for relay transmission specify different beam configurations.

[0151] As already mentioned above, the transmission configuration may include a beam configuration. The beam configuration may, for example, configure the direction of the beam / transmission. For example, a repeater may be configured with one beam configuration for the C-link and another beam configuration for the backhaul link. The C-link configuration may then override the backhaul configuration in case of simultaneous transmissions.

[0152] This example will be described with reference to FIG. 16. Different beams are assigned for C-link and backhaul UL transmissions. Specifically, the beam configuration for C-link UL transmissions (control signaling transmissions) is ID#m, and the beam configuration for backhaul UL transmissions (relay transmissions) is ID#n. Therefore, it is assumed that the NCR uses beam ID#m for the C-link and beam ID#n for backhaul transmissions in the UL. As shown in the second row of FIG. 16, the beam configuration used in each slot is shown. In a simultaneous C-link and backhaul UL transmission in slot 5, the NCR prioritizes the C-link configuration. Therefore, the NCR uses the beam configuration corresponding to beam ID#m for simultaneous transmission in slot 5. As also shown in the second row of FIG. 16, the repeater uses the beam configuration corresponding to beam ID#n for non-overlapping UL backhaul transmissions in slots 1, 2, 4, and 6, and the beam configuration corresponding to beam ID#m for non-overlapping UL C-link transmissions in slot 3.

[0153] Prioritizing the C-link setup can improve the reliability of C-link transmissions, which may be more important than relay transmissions because they carry control information.

[0154] Hardware and Software Implementations of the Disclosure The present disclosure can be implemented by software, hardware, or software operating in conjunction with hardware. Each functional block used in the above-described embodiments can be implemented, in whole or in part, by an LSI such as an integrated circuit. Each process described in each embodiment can be controlled, in whole or in part, by the same LSI or a combination of LSIs. The LSI can be formed as an individual chip, 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 level of integration, the LSI can also be referred to as an IC (integrated circuit), system LSI, super LSI, or ultra LSI. However, the technology for implementing an integrated circuit is not limited to LSI, and can be implemented using dedicated circuits, general-purpose processors, or dedicated processors. Furthermore, FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays), which can be programmed after LSI fabrication, and reconfigurable processors, which can reconfigure the connections and settings of circuit cells arranged within the LSI, can also be used. The present disclosure can be implemented using digital or analog processing. If, as a result of advances in semiconductor technology or other derivative technologies, LSI is replaced by future integrated circuit technologies, these future integrated circuit technologies can be used to integrate functional blocks. Biotechnology can also be applied.

[0155] The present disclosure may be implemented by any type of apparatus, device, or system referred to as a communications apparatus. For example, relay nodes, network nodes, and scheduling apparatuses are considered communications apparatuses.

[0156] A communication device may include a transceiver and processing / control circuitry. A transceiver may include and / or function as a receiver and a transmitter. As a transmitter and receiver, a transceiver may include an RF (radio frequency) module including an amplifier, an RF modulator / demodulator, etc., and one or more antennas.

[0157] Some non-limiting examples of such communication devices include telephones (e.g., mobile 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-readers, telehealth / telemedicine devices, vehicles (e.g., cars, airplanes, ships) that provide communication capabilities, and various combinations thereof.

[0158] Communication devices are not limited to portable or mobile devices, 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 "thing" in an "Internet of Things" (IoT) network.

[0159] Communication can include, for example, exchanging data through cellular systems, wireless LAN systems, satellite systems, etc., and various combinations thereof.

[0160] A communications device 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 device 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 device.

[0161] The communications apparatus may further include infrastructure facilities, such as base stations, access points, and any other apparatus, device, or system that communicate with or control apparatuses such as the apparatuses in the non-limiting examples above.

[0162] Furthermore, various embodiments may be implemented by software modules, which are executed by a processor or directly in hardware. A combination of software modules and hardware implementation is also possible. The software modules may be stored on 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 a method according to the present disclosure.

[0163] 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 can be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can 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 within the definition of 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 disc includes a compact disc (CD), a laser disc, an optical disc, a digital versatile disc (DVD), a floppy disk, and a Blu-ray disc, 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.

[0164] Furthermore, it should be noted that individual features of different embodiments may be the subject of other embodiments, individually or in any combination. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present disclosure, as 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.

[0165] Further Aspects According to a first aspect, there is provided a communications device. The communications device includes a transceiver unit and a circuit. The transceiver unit, in operation, (i) performs relay transmission of a signal, and (ii) transmits or receives control signaling. The circuit, in operation, determines transmission settings for (i) the transmission of the control signaling and / or (ii) the relay transmission of the signal based on whether the transmission of the control signaling overlaps in time with the relay transmission of the signal.

[0166] According to a second aspect provided in addition to the first aspect, the circuit, in operation, determines (i) a power setting for transmitting the control signaling and / or (ii) a resource setting for transmitting the control signaling based on whether the transmission of the control signaling overlaps in time with a relay transmission.

[0167] According to a third aspect provided in addition to the first or second aspect, the circuit, in operation, determines: (i) if the transmission of the control signaling overlaps in time with the relay transmission, a first power setting is used for the transmission of the control signaling; and (ii) if the transmission of the control signaling does not overlap in time with the relay transmission, a second power setting different from the first power setting is used for the transmission of the control signaling.

[0168] According to a fourth aspect provided in addition to the third aspect, the first power setting has a transmission power that is different from a transmission power of the second power setting.

[0169] According to a fifth aspect provided in addition to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the circuit, in operation, determines: (i) if the transmission of the control signaling overlaps in time with the relay transmission, a first resource configuration is used for the transmission of the control signaling; and (ii) if the transmission of the control signaling does not overlap in time with the relay transmission, a second resource configuration different from the first resource configuration is used for the transmission of the control signaling.

[0170] According to a sixth aspect provided in addition to the fifth aspect, the first resource configuration has (i) resource elements that differ from the resource elements of the second resource configuration and / or (ii) a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) that differs from the MCS of the second resource configuration.

[0171] According to a seventh aspect provided in addition to any one of the first to sixth aspects, the circuit, in operation, (i) determines that when the transmission of the control signaling overlaps in time with the relay transmission, (a) the transmission setting for the transmission of the control signaling is a first transmission setting, and (b) the transmission setting for the relay transmission is the first transmission setting, and (ii) when the transmission of the control signaling does not overlap in time with the relay transmission of the signal, determines that the transmission setting for the relay transmission is a second transmission setting different from the first transmission setting.

[0172] According to an eighth aspect provided in addition to the seventh aspect, the first transmission setting and the second transmission setting each include a beam setting, and (i) the beam setting of the first transmission setting and the beam setting of the second transmission setting are different from each other, and / or (ii) the circuit, during operation, determines that the transmission setting for transmitting the control signaling is the first transmission setting if the transmission of the control signaling does not overlap in time with the relay transmission.

[0173] According to a ninth aspect provided in addition to any one of the first to eighth aspects, a communication device is configured with a transmit power and a maximum transmit power for transmitting control signaling, and in operation, when the transmission of the control signaling overlaps in time with the relay transmission, the circuit determines the transmit power for the relay transmission based on the transmit power configured for transmitting the control signaling and the configured maximum transmit power.

[0174] According to a tenth aspect provided in addition to the ninth aspect, a communication device is configured with a transmit power for relay transmission, and the circuit, in operation, when transmission of control signaling overlaps in time with relay transmission, (i) controls the transceiver unit to transmit control signaling using the transmit power set for transmitting the control signaling, (ii) controls the transceiver unit to relay the signal using the transmit power set for relay transmission if the transmit power set for relay transmission is less than or equal to the remaining transmit power, and (iii) controls the transceiver unit to relay the signal using the remaining transmit power if the transmit power set for relay transmission is greater than the remaining transmit power, the remaining transmit power corresponding to the difference between the configured maximum transmit power and the transmit power set for transmitting the control signaling.

[0175] According to an eleventh aspect, there is provided a scheduling apparatus comprising: a transmitter and circuitry that, in operation, (i) determines a first transmission setting to be used by the communication device to transmit or receive control signaling when transmission of the control signaling overlaps in time with relay transmission of the communication device, the relay transmission relaying signals from one or more user equipments (UEs) to the scheduling apparatus; (ii) determines a second transmission setting to be used for transmission of the control signaling by the communication device when transmission does not overlap in time with relay transmission; (iii) determines a first resource allocation to be used by the communication device for transmission of the control signaling according to the first and second transmission settings; (iv) determines a second resource allocation to be used by the UE to transmit signals to the communication device according to the first and second transmission settings; (v) generates first control signaling including an indication of the first resource allocation; and (vi) generates second control signaling including an indication of the second resource allocation. In operation, the transmitter transmits (i) first control signaling and (ii) second control signaling to the communication device that is relayed by the communication device to the UE.

[0176] According to a twelfth aspect provided in addition to the eleventh aspect, (i) the first transmission setting specifies a first power setting used by the communication device for transmitting or receiving control signaling transmissions when the transmissions overlap, and the second transmission setting specifies a second power setting used by the communication device for transmitting or receiving control signaling transmissions when the transmissions do not overlap, and the first power setting is different from the second power setting, and / or (ii) the first transmission setting specifies a first resource setting used by the communication device for transmitting or receiving control signaling transmissions when the transmissions overlap, and the second transmission setting specifies a second resource setting used by the communication device for transmitting or receiving control signaling transmissions when the transmissions do not overlap, and the first resource setting is different from the second resource setting.

[0177] According to a thirteenth aspect provided in addition to the eleventh or twelfth aspects, (i) when the transmission of the control signaling overlaps in time with the relay transmission, a first power setting is used for the transmission of the control signaling by the communication device, and (ii) when the transmission of the control signaling does not overlap in time with the relay transmission, a second power setting different from the first power setting is used for the transmission of the control signaling by the communication device.

[0178] According to a fourteenth aspect provided in addition to the thirteenth aspect, the first power setting has a transmission power different from a transmission power of the second power setting.

[0179] According to a 15th aspect, which is provided in addition to any one of the 11th to 14th aspects, (i) when the transmission of the control signaling overlaps in time with the relay transmission, a first resource configuration is used for the transmission of the control signaling by the communication device, and (ii) when the transmission of the control signaling does not overlap in time with the relay transmission, a second resource configuration different from the first resource configuration is used for the transmission of the control signaling by the communication device.

[0180] According to a sixteenth aspect provided in addition to the fifteenth aspect, the first resource configuration has (i) resource elements that are different from the resource elements of the second resource configuration, and / or (ii) a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) that is different from the MCS of the second resource configuration.

[0181] According to a 17th aspect, which is provided in addition to any one of the 11th to 16th aspects, (i) if the transmission of the control signaling overlaps in time with the relay transmission, (a) the transmission setting for the transmission of the control signaling is a first transmission setting, and (b) the transmission setting for the relay transmission is the first transmission setting, and (ii) if the transmission of the control signaling does not overlap in time with the relay transmission of the signal, the transmission setting for the relay transmission is a second transmission setting different from the first transmission setting.

[0182] According to an 18th aspect provided in addition to the 17th aspect, the first transmission setting and the second transmission setting have respective beam settings, and (i) the beam setting of the first transmission setting and the beam setting of the second transmission setting are different from each other, and / or if the transmission of the control signaling does not overlap in time with the relay transmission, the transmission setting used by the communication device to transmit the control signaling is the first transmission setting.

[0183] According to a 19th aspect, which is provided in addition to any one of the 11th to 18th aspects, a communication device is configured with a transmission power and a maximum transmission power for transmitting control signaling, and when the transmission of the control signaling overlaps in time with a relay transmission, the transmission power used by the communication device for the relay transmission is based on (e.g., depends on) the transmission power configured for transmitting the control signaling and the maximum transmission power configured.

[0184] According to a twentieth aspect provided in addition to the ninth aspect, (i) a communication device is configured with a transmit power for relay transmission, and (ii) when transmission of control signaling overlaps in time with relay transmission, (a) the transmit power used by the communication device for transmitting the control signaling is the transmit power set for transmitting the control signaling, (b) when the transmit power set for relay transmission is less than or equal to the remaining transmit power, the transmit power used by the communication device for relay transmission is the transmit power set for relay transmission, and (c) when the transmit power set for relay transmission is greater than the remaining transmit power, the transmit power used by the communication device for relay transmission is the remaining transmit power, and the remaining transmit power corresponds to the difference between the configured maximum transmit power and the transmit power set for transmitting the control signaling.

[0185] According to a 21st aspect, there is provided a method for a communications device, the method including: (i) determining, based on whether transmission of the control signaling overlaps in time with relay transmission of the signal, (a) a transmission setting for transmitting the control signaling and / or (b) a transmission setting for relaying the signal, (ii) transmitting or receiving the control signaling, and (iii) relaying the signal.

[0186] Regarding the method according to the twenty-first aspect, a further aspect corresponding to a step performed by the communication device in operation is provided by any one of the second to tenth aspects.

[0187] According to a 22nd aspect, there is provided a method for a scheduling device, the method comprising the steps of: (i) determining a first transmission configuration to be used by a communications device for transmitting or receiving control signaling when transmission of the control signaling overlaps in time with a relay transmission of the communications device, the relay transmission relaying signals from one or more user equipments (UEs) to the scheduling device; (ii) determining a second transmission configuration to be used for transmission of the control signaling by the communications device when the transmission does not overlap in time with a relay transmission; and (iii) determining a second transmission configuration to be used by the communications device for transmission of the control signaling in accordance with the first and second transmission configurations. (iv) determining a first resource allocation to be used by the UE to transmit signals to the communication device according to the first and second transmission configurations; (v) generating first control signaling including instructions indicating the first resource allocation; (vi) generating second control signaling including instructions indicating the second resource allocation; (vii) transmitting the first control signaling to the communication device; and (viii) transmitting the second control signaling to the communication device, which is relayed by the communication device to the UE.

[0188] Regarding the method according to the twenty-second aspect, a further aspect corresponding to the steps performed in the operation by the scheduling device is provided by any one of the twelfth to twentieth aspects.

[0189] According to a 23rd aspect, there is provided an integrated circuit (which may be deployed in a communications device, particularly a relay node), which, in operation, controls processing of the communications device, the processing including: (i) determining, based on whether transmission of the control signaling overlaps in time with relaying of the signal, (a) a transmission setting for transmitting the control signaling and / or (b) a transmission setting for relaying the signal, (ii) transmitting or receiving the control signaling, and (iii) relaying the signal.

[0190] For example, an integrated circuit according to the 23rd aspect may include an interface with a transceiver capable of receiving and transmitting signals, and circuitry configured to (i) determine, based on whether the transmission of the control signaling overlaps in time with the relaying of the signal, (a) determine transmission settings for transmitting the control signaling and / or (b) determine transmission settings for relaying the signal, (ii) configure the transceiver via the interface to transmit or receive the control signaling, and (iii) configure the transceiver via the interface to relay the transmission of the signal.

[0191] The integrated circuit of the twenty-third aspect may further implement the corresponding feature of any one of the second to tenth aspects.

[0192] According to a 24th aspect, there is provided an integrated circuit (which may be deployed in a communication, particularly a scheduling device) that, in operation, controls processing of the scheduling device, the processing comprising: (i) determining a first transmission setting to be used by the communication device to transmit or receive control signaling when transmission of the control signaling overlaps in time with a relay transmission of the communication device, the relay transmission relaying signals from one or more user equipments (UEs) to the scheduling device; (ii) determining a second transmission setting to be used for transmission of the control signaling by the communication device when the transmission does not overlap in time with a relay transmission; and (iii) determining a second transmission setting to be used for transmission of the control signaling by the communication device in accordance with the first and second transmission settings. (iv) determining a first resource allocation to be used by the communication device for transmitting a signal to the communication device according to the first and second transmission configurations; (v) generating first control signaling including an indication of the first resource allocation; (vi) generating second control signaling including an indication of the second resource allocation; (vii) transmitting the first control signaling to the communication device; and (viii) transmitting the second control signaling to the communication device, which is relayed by the communication device to the UE.

[0193] For example, an integrated circuit according to a 24th aspect includes an interface with a transceiver unit capable of receiving and transmitting signals, and (i) determining a first transmission setting to be used by the communication device to transmit or receive control signaling when the transmission of the control signaling overlaps in time with a relay transmission of the communication device, the relay transmission relaying the signal from one or more user equipments (UEs) to a scheduling device; (ii) determining a second transmission setting to be used by the communication device to transmit the control signaling when the transmission does not overlap in time with the relay transmission; and (iii) determining a first resource allocation to be used by the communication device to transmit the control signaling according to the first and second transmission settings. (iv) determine a second resource allocation to be used by the UE to transmit signals to the communication device according to the first and second transmission configurations; (v) generate first control signaling including instructions indicating the first resource allocation; (vi) generate second control signaling including instructions indicating the second resource allocation; (vii) configure the transceiver unit to transmit the first control signaling to the communication device over the interface; and (viii) configure the transceiver unit to transmit the second control signaling to the communication device over the interface, which is relayed by the communication device to the UE.

[0194] The integrated circuit of the twenty-fourth aspect may further implement the corresponding feature of any one of the twelfth to twentieth aspects.

[0195] According to a 25th aspect, a program stored on a (non-transitory) storage medium and comprising code instructions, when executed on one or more processors of a communication device, causes the one or more processors to perform the steps of any of the above methods (the 21st and 22nd aspects and their respective further aspects).

Claims

1. A communication device, When in operation, Relays and transmits signals, Sending or receiving control signaling; a transmitter / receiver; In operation, based on whether transmission of the control signaling overlaps in time with relay transmission of the signal, a transmission configuration for the transmission of said control signaling, and / or a transmission setting for relaying the signal; A circuit for determining A communication device comprising:

2. In operation, the circuitry performs the following steps based on whether the transmission of the control signaling overlaps in time with the relay transmission: a power setting for the transmission of said control signaling, and / or configuring resources for transmission of said control signaling; To determine The communication device according to claim 1 .

3. The circuit, in operation, determining to use a first power setting for transmitting the control signaling if the transmission of the control signaling overlaps in time with the relay transmission; determining to use a second power setting for transmitting the control signaling if the transmission of the control signaling does not overlap in time with the relay transmission; the second power setting is different from the first power setting; 3. The communication device according to claim 1 or 2.

4. the first power setting has a different transmit power than the second power setting. The communication device according to claim 3 .

5. The circuit, in operation, determining to use a first resource configuration for transmitting the control signaling if the transmission of the control signaling overlaps in time with the relay transmission; determining to use a second resource configuration for transmitting the control signaling if the transmission of the control signaling does not overlap in time with the relay transmission; the second resource configuration is different from the first resource configuration; A communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

6. The first resource configuration includes: resource elements different from the resource elements of the second resource configuration, and / or a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) different from the MCS of the second resource configuration; having The communication device according to claim 5 .

7. The circuit, in operation, if the transmission of the control signaling overlaps in time with the relay transmission, the transmission configuration for transmitting the control signaling is a first transmission configuration; the transmission configuration for the relay transmission is the first transmission configuration; and determining that the transmission configuration for the relay transmission is a second transmission configuration if the transmission of the control signaling does not overlap in time with the relay transmission of the signal; the second transmission configuration is different from the first transmission configuration; A communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. the first transmission configuration and the second transmission configuration each include a beam configuration; the beam configuration of the first transmission configuration and the beam configuration of the second transmission configuration are different from each other; and / or and determining, in operation, that the transmission configuration for the control signaling transmission is the first transmission configuration if the transmission of the control signaling does not overlap in time with the relay transmission. The communication device according to claim 7.

9. the communication device is configured with a transmit power and a maximum transmit power for transmitting control signaling; In operation, when transmission of the control signaling overlaps in time with the relay transmission, the circuit determines a transmit power for the relay transmission based on the configured transmit power for transmitting the control signaling and the configured maximum transmit power. A communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. the communication device is configured with a transmit power for relay transmission; In operation, when the transmission of the control signaling overlaps in time with the relay transmission, the circuitry: controlling the transceiver unit to transmit the control signaling using the transmission power set for transmitting the control signaling; When the transmission power set for the relay transmission is equal to or less than the remaining transmission power, the transmitter / receiver controls the transmitter / receiver to relay the signal using the transmission power set for the relay transmission; If the transmission power set for the relay transmission is greater than the remaining transmission power, controlling the transceiver unit to relay the signal using the remaining transmission power; the remaining transmission power corresponds to a difference between the configured maximum transmission power and the configured transmission power for transmitting the control signaling. The communication device according to claim 9.

11. A scheduling device, When in operation, determining a first transmission configuration to be used by the communication device to transmit or receive control signaling if the transmission of the control signaling overlaps in time with a relay transmission of the communication device, the relay transmission relaying signals from one or more user equipments (UEs) to the scheduling device; determining a second transmission configuration to be used by the communication device for transmission of the control signaling if the transmission does not overlap in time with the relay transmission; determining a first resource allocation to be used by the communication device for transmitting the control signaling according to the first and second transmission configurations; determining a second resource allocation to be used by the UE to transmit the signal to the communication device according to the first and second transmission configurations; generating first control signaling including an indication of the first resource allocation; generating second control signaling including an indication of the second resource allocation; The circuit and When in operation, the first control signaling; and the second control signaling relayed by the communication device to the UE; and transmits the signal to the communication device. A transmitter; A scheduling device comprising:

12. 1. A method of a communication device, comprising: based on whether the transmission of the control signaling overlaps in time with the relay transmission of the signal; a transmission configuration for the transmission of said control signaling, and / or a transmission setting for relaying said signal; determining whether transmitting or receiving said control signaling; relaying the signal; A method comprising:

13. A method of a scheduling device, comprising: determining a first transmission configuration to be used by a communication device to transmit or receive control signaling if the transmission of the control signaling overlaps in time with a relay transmission of the communication device, the relay transmission relaying signals from one or more user equipments (UEs) to the scheduling device; determining a second transmission configuration to be used by the communication device for transmission of the control signaling if the transmission does not overlap in time with the relay transmission; determining a first resource allocation to be used by the communication device for transmission of the control signaling according to the first and second transmission configurations; determining a second resource allocation to be used by the UE to transmit the signal to the communication device according to the first and second transmission configurations; generating first control signaling including an indication of the first resource allocation; generating second control signaling including an indication of the second resource allocation; transmitting the first control signaling to the communication device; transmitting the second control signaling to the communication device, which is relayed by the communication device to the UE; A method comprising:

14. 1. An integrated circuit that, in operation, controls the processing of a communications device, said processing comprising: Based on whether the transmission of the control signaling overlaps in time with the relaying of the signal, a transmission configuration for the transmission of said control signaling, and / or a transmission setting for relaying said signal; determining whether transmitting or receiving said control signaling; relaying the signal; , an integrated circuit.

15. An integrated circuit that, in operation, controls the processing of a scheduling device, said processing comprising: determining a first transmission configuration to be used by a communication device to transmit or receive control signaling if the transmission of the control signaling overlaps in time with a relay transmission of the communication device, the relay transmission relaying signals from one or more user equipments (UEs) to the scheduling device; determining a second transmission configuration to be used by the communication device for transmission of the control signaling if the transmission does not overlap in time with the relay transmission; determining a first resource allocation to be used by the communication device for transmission of the control signaling according to the first and second transmission configurations; determining a second resource allocation to be used by the UE to transmit the signal to the communication device according to the first and second transmission configurations; generating first control signaling including an indication of the first resource allocation; generating second control signaling including an indication of the second resource allocation; transmitting the first control signaling to the communication device; transmitting the second control signaling to the communication device, which is relayed by the communication device to the UE; , an integrated circuit.

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