Information indication method, transfer device and network device

Abstract

In an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an information indicating method, a forwarder and a network device, the method including: a mobile terminal of the forwarder receiving first control information, the first control information including at least first information for indicating a time domain resource, and a forwarding unit of the forwarder being in a first state, a second state or a third state in the time domain resource indicated by the first information.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of communications. [Background technology]

[0002] Compared to traditional 3G and 4G systems, 5G systems can provide larger bandwidth and higher data rates, and can support more types of devices and vertical services.

[0003] Therefore, in addition to the traditional telecommunications frequency spectrum, 5G systems will also be deployed in new frequency spectrums, the frequencies of which are significantly higher than the traditional telecommunications frequency spectrums used by 3G and 4G systems, for example, 5G systems can be deployed in millimeter wave bands (28GHz, 38GHz, 60GHz, etc.).

[0004] According to the law of wireless signal propagation, the higher the frequency of the carrier, the more severe the fading that the signal experiences during propagation. Therefore, in actual deployment, 5G systems, especially those deployed in the millimeter wave band, require coverage enhancement methods compared to traditional 3G and 4G systems. How to better enhance the cell coverage of 5G systems remains an issue to be resolved.

[0005] It should be noted that the introduction of the above background art is intended to clearly and completely explain the technical solutions of the present invention and to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art, and these technical solutions described in the background art of the present invention should not be construed as being known to those skilled in the art. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] To better solve the coverage problem of cellular mobile communication systems in actual deployments, RF repeaters are commonly used to amplify and forward signals between terminal devices and network devices. RF repeaters are widely used in the actual deployment of 3G and 4G systems. Generally speaking, conventional RF repeaters are devices that amplify and forward round-trip signals between devices in the RF domain. In other words, conventional RF repeaters are non-regenerative relay nodes that only directly amplify and forward all received signals.

[0007] The inventors have discovered the following: Conventional RF transmitters cannot exchange information with other devices (e.g., network devices, terminal devices, etc.). Specifically, in terms of reception, conventional RF transmitters do not support measuring, demodulating, or decoding transmitted signals, and do not receive signals other than the transmitted signals. In terms of transmission, conventional RF transmitters only amplify and forward signals, but do not support generating or transmitting signals that they themselves have generated. Therefore, the forwarding behavior of conventional RF transmitters is not subject to network control (e.g., control by network devices, etc.). For example, the open / close (on / off) state of a transmitter is usually set manually.

[0008] The inventors have also found that the open / close state of a conventional forwarder is usually manually configured and cannot dynamically match the data transmission between the network device and the UE. Generally, data transmission between the network device and the terminal device is not always performed. Therefore, if the forwarder is in an open state even when there is no data transmission between the network device and the terminal device, it may increase unnecessary power consumption on the one hand and cause interference to other devices, reducing network throughput on the other hand. Therefore, compared with the conventional forwarder, it is necessary to newly add an on / off function for the forwarder. However, there is currently no specific method for controlling the open / close state.

[0009] In view of at least one of the above problems, embodiments of the present invention provide an information indicating method, a forwarder, and a network device. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] According to one aspect of an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a forwarder, comprising: a receiving unit for receiving first control information at the mobile terminal of the forwarder; the first control information includes at least first information for indicating a time domain resource; The forwarding units of the forwarder are in a first state, a second state or a third state in the time domain resource indicated by the first information.

[0011] According to another aspect of an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a network device, the network device including: a transmitting unit; The transmitting unit transmits first control information to the forwarder, the first control information including at least first information for indicating a time domain resource; and / or transmits or does not transmit second control information, the second control information being used to instruct the forwarding unit to forward a signal on the time domain resource.

[0012] Furthermore, according to yet another aspect of an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a communication system, which includes the forwarder according to the previous aspect and / or the network device according to the previous aspect. [Effects of the Invention]

[0013] The advantageous effects of the embodiment of the present invention at least include: by controlling the opening and closing of the forwarder according to the first control information, the time domain resource corresponding to the open state of the forwarder is consistent with the time domain resource of data transmission between the network device and the terminal device, thereby saving the power consumption of the forwarder, reducing interference to other devices in the network, and improving network throughput.

[0014] The following description and reference to the drawings disclose in detail particular embodiments of the present invention, illustrating ways in which the principles of the present invention may be employed, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and various changes, modifications, and alternatives may be included within the scope of the appended claims.

[0015] Additionally, features described and / or illustrated with respect to one embodiment may be used in the same or similar manner in one or more other embodiments, may be combined with features in the other embodiments, or may be substituted for features in the other embodiments.

[0016] It should be noted that when used in this specification, terms such as "comprise / have" refer to the presence of a feature, element, step, or assembly, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, steps, or assemblies. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0017] Elements and features shown in one drawing or one embodiment of an embodiment of the invention may be combined with elements and features shown in one or more other drawings or embodiments, and in the drawings, like reference numerals are used to indicate corresponding parts in several drawings and to indicate corresponding parts used in several embodiments.

[0018] The included drawings are used to provide a further understanding of the embodiments of the present invention, and these drawings constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the present invention, and together with the written description, serve to explain the principles of the present invention. Also, it is apparent that the drawings described below are only for illustrating some embodiments of the present invention, and those skilled in the art can derive other drawings based on these drawings without any creative effort. [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an information indication method according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3]1A-1C illustrate various states in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4A] A diagram showing an access link beam in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4B] A diagram showing an access link beam in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4C] A diagram showing an access link beam in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 illustrates a forwarder in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an information indication method according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] FIG. 1 illustrates a network device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] 1 is a diagram illustrating an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0019] The foregoing and other features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings, in which: While the specification and drawings disclose particular embodiments of the present invention, these represent only some of the embodiments which may employ the principles of the present invention, and it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the described embodiments, but rather includes all such modifications, variations, and alternatives which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

[0020] In embodiments of the present invention, the term "communication network" or "wireless communication network" may refer to a network conforming to any communication standard, such as LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE-A (LTE-Advanced), WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), HSPA (High-Speed ​​Packet Access), etc.

[0021] Additionally, communications between devices in a communications system may be performed according to any level of communications protocol, including, but not limited to, 1G (generation), 2G, 2.5G, 2.75G, 3G, 4G, 4.5G, 5G, New Radio (NR), and / or other conventional or future-developed communications protocols.

[0022] In the embodiments of the present invention, the term "network device" refers to a device that connects a terminal device to a communication network and provides services to the terminal device in a communication system, for example. The network device may include, but is not limited to, a base station (BS), an access point (AP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a broadcast transmitter, a mobile management entity (MME), a network gateway, a server, a radio network controller (RNC), a base station controller (BSC), etc.

[0023] A base station may include, but is not limited to, a Node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), a 5G base station (gNB), etc., and may further include a Remote Radio Head (RRH), a Remote Radio Unit (RRU), a relay, a low-power node (e.g., femto, pico, etc.), etc. The term "base station" may include some or all of the functions thereof, and each base station can provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area. The term "cell" may refer to a base station and / or the area it covers, depending on the context in which the term is used. Unless confusion arises, the terms "cell" and "base station" are interchangeable.

[0024] In embodiments of the present invention, the term "User Equipment" (UE) or "Terminal Equipment" (TE) refers to a device that accesses and receives service from a communication network, for example, via network equipment. User equipment may be fixed or mobile, and may also be referred to as a mobile station (MS), terminal, subscriber station (SS), access terminal (AT), station, etc.

[0025] Terminal devices may include, but are not limited to, cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless modems, wireless communication devices, mobile devices, machine-type communication devices, laptop computers, cordless phones, smartphones, smart watches, digital cameras, and the like.

[0026] Furthermore, for example, in a scenario such as the Internet of Things (IoT), the user equipment may also be a monitoring or measuring device or apparatus, for example, including but not limited to, a Machine Type Communication (MTC) terminal, an in-vehicle communication terminal, a Device to Device (D2D) terminal, a Machine to Machine (M2M) terminal, etc.

[0027] Furthermore, the term "network side" or "network equipment side" refers to the network side, which may be a base station or may include one or more network equipment as described above. The term "user side" or "terminal side" or "terminal equipment side" refers to the user or terminal side, which may be a UE or may include one or more terminal equipment as described above. Unless otherwise specified, "equipment" herein may refer to network equipment or may also refer to terminal equipment.

[0028] In an embodiment of the present invention, existing services (services / traffic) or future services may be transmitted between a network device and a terminal device, for example, these services may include, but are not limited to, eMBB, mMTC, URLLC, V2X communication, etc.

[0029] Because a conventional forwarder does not have the ability to communicate with network equipment, although a conventional forwarder can help increase signal strength, it lacks flexibility and cannot respond to complex environmental changes. Deploying a conventional forwarder in a 5G network (especially in a high-frequency 5G network) may cause unnecessary interference to other network equipment and / or terminal equipment, and reduce the transmission efficiency (e.g., throughput) of the entire network. To make the forwarding of the forwarder more flexible and adaptable to the characteristics of the 5G network, the network equipment needs to cooperate with the forwarder and be able to configure the forwarding of the forwarder according to the network situation.

[0030] To enhance NR coverage, 3GPP Rel-18 proposes a network-controlled repeater (NCR) scheme for signaling between network equipment and terminal equipment. The NCR can directly communicate with network equipment via a control link to assist the NCR in its forwarding operations.

[0031] FIG. 1 illustrates an NCR in an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the NCR 102 is configured between a network device 101 and a terminal device 103. The NCR 102 may include two modules / components: a forwarder mobile terminal (NCR-MT) and a forwarder forwarding unit (NCR-Fwd). The NCR-Fwd is also referred to as the NCR routing unit (NCR-RU). The NCR-MT is used to communicate (interact with) the network device, and the NCR-Fwd is used to forward signals back and forth between the network device and the terminal device. The NCR-MT and NCR-Fwd are functional entities, and their functions may be realized by the same or different hardware modules.

[0032] As shown in FIG. 1, the NCR in this embodiment of the present invention has three links: a control link (C-link), a backhaul link (BH link) for forwarding, and an access link (AC link). The C-link is used for communication between the NCR and network devices. The BH link is used by the forwarder to receive forwarding requests from the network devices or forward signals from terminal devices to the network devices. The AC link is used by the forwarder to forward signals from the network devices to the terminal devices or receive forwarding requests from the terminal devices. Specifically, the NCR-MT communicates with the network devices via the C-link, and the NCR-Fwd forwards signals via the BH link and the AC link.

[0033] In an embodiment of the present invention, a forwarder can communicate with a network device, receive a communication channel / signal transmitted by the network device, and obtain information transmitted by the network device to the forwarder by demodulating / decoding the channel / signal. Hereinafter, this signal processing process is referred to as "communication." The forwarder can also forward a channel / signal transmitted between a network device and a terminal device. The forwarder can perform processing such as amplification on the channel / signal without demodulating / decoding it. Hereinafter, this signal processing process is referred to as "forwarding." "Communication" and "forwarding" are collectively referred to as "transmission." Furthermore, "transmitting or receiving on an AC (or BH) link" is equivalent to "transmitting on an AC (or BH) link," and "transmitting or receiving on a control link" is equivalent to "communicating on a control link." These terms are used for convenience of explanation only and do not limit the present invention. In some cases, "forwarding unit" can be interchangeable with "forwarding behavior."

[0034] In embodiments of the present invention, a forwarder may also be referred to as, but is not limited to, a network controlled forwarder (NCR), a repeater, an RF forwarder, a relay, or an RF repeater; or a repeater node, a forwarder node, or a relay node; or a smart repeater, a smart forwarder, a smart relay, a smart repeater node, a smart forwarder node, or a smart relay node.

[0035] In an embodiment of the present invention, the network equipment may be an equipment of the serving cell of the terminal equipment, an equipment of the cell in which the forwarder is located, an equipment of the serving cell of the forwarder, or a parent node of the forwarder, but the present invention does not limit the name of the forwarder, and all equipment that can realize the above-mentioned functions falls within the scope of the forwarder of the present invention.

[0036] Various implementations of the embodiments of the present invention will be described below in conjunction with the drawings, which are merely examples and are not intended to limit the present invention.

[0037] <Example of the first aspect> An information indicating method is provided in the embodiment of the present invention and will be explained from the transmitter side.

[0038] 2 is a diagram illustrating an information indication method according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the method includes the following operations (steps): 201: A mobile terminal of a forwarder receives first control information, the first control information including at least first information for indicating a time domain resource, and a forwarding unit of the forwarder is in a first state, a second state, or a third state in the time domain resource indicated by the first information.

[0039] Note that, although the above-mentioned FIG. 2 is used to exemplify an embodiment of the present invention, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the execution order of each operation may be appropriately adjusted, or some operations may be added or removed. Those skilled in the art may make appropriate modifications based on the above content without being limited to the description of the above-mentioned FIG. 2.

[0040] In some embodiments, the first state may be referred to as an open (ON) state or a first open state, the second state may be referred to as a standby state or a switching state or a second open state or a second closed state, and the third state may be referred to as a closed (OFF) state or a shutdown state or a first closed state.

[0041] In some embodiments, the first state, the second state, and the third state refer to the states of the forwarding unit (NCR-Fwd) of the forwarder, where, as mentioned above, the NCR-Fwd is used to forward signals back and forth between the network equipment and the terminal equipment, and the above-mentioned first state, second state, or third state is used to represent the working state or open / closed state of the NCR-Fwd.

[0042] In some embodiments, the first state indicates that NCR-Fwd forwards signals. For example, a forwarding unit being in the first state in one period (or time domain resource) A refers to the forwarding unit forwarding signals in the period, which includes forwarding downlink signals transmitted from a network device to a terminal device and / or forwarding uplink signals transmitted from a terminal device to a network device. Note that if the forwarding unit forwards downlink signals and uplink signals in the period in a time-division manner and / or employs different BH link beams and / or AC link beams in a time-division manner to forward signals, the period includes the time for the forwarding unit to perform uplink / downlink conversion and / or beam switching.

[0043] In some embodiments, the second state indicates that NCR-Fwd is allowed to, is capable of, or is ready to forward a signal. For example, when a forwarding unit is in the second state for a period (or time domain resource) B, the forwarding unit is in a waiting state for that period, or the forwarding unit has stopped forwarding signals for that period, or the forwarding unit is not forwarding signals for that period, or the forwarding unit is capable of (is allowed to, or is able to, or is capable of, or is ready to) forward signals for that period.

[0044] In some embodiments, the third state indicates that NCR-Fwd is not allowed to forward signals, is not capable of forwarding signals, or is not ready to forward signals. For example, when a forwarding unit is in the third state for one period (or time domain resource) C, the forwarding unit is in a shutdown state for the period, or the forwarding unit stops forwarding signals for the period, or the forwarding unit does not forward signals for the period, or the forwarding unit is allowed to, or is able to, or is capable of, or is ready to, forward signals for the period, or the forwarding unit is not allowed to, or is not able to, or is not capable of, or is not ready to, forward signals for the period.

[0045] In some embodiments, the NCR supports a first state, and may define an output power requirement for the first state, e.g., the output power when the NCR is in the first state is no less than or greater than a first power (or power level), and / or the output power when the NCR is in the first state is no more than or less than a fourth power (or power level).

[0046] In some embodiments, the NCR (or NCR-Fwd) supports only one of the second and third states, e.g., the NCR supports the first and second states, or the NCR supports the first and third states.

[0047] In some embodiments, NCR (or NCR-Fwd) supports a second state and a third state, e.g., NCR supports a first state, a second state, and a third state.

[0048] In some embodiments, the NCR (or NCR-MT) can report to the network device whether it supports the second state and / or the third state.

[0049] In some embodiments, the output power requirement is defined for only the second state or only the third state, e.g., the output power when the NCR is in the second state or the third state is no greater than or less than a second power (or power level) described below.

[0050] In some embodiments, an output power requirement is defined for both the second state and the third state.

[0051] In some embodiments, the output power requirements for the second and third states are the same, e.g., the output power when the NCR is in the second and third states is no greater than or less than a second power (or power level) described below.

[0052] In some embodiments, the output power requirements for the NCR-Fwd are different when the NCR-Fwd is in the second state and the third state. For example, when the NCR-Fwd is in the second state, the output power of the NCR-Fwd is no greater than or less than the second power, and when the NCR-Fwd is in the third state, the output power of the NCR-Fwd is no greater than or less than the third power. The values ​​of the second power and the third power are different, for example, the second power is greater than the third power.

[0053] In some embodiments, the second power / third power refers to power spectral density (dBm / MHz) and may be referred to as the second power spectral density and the third power spectral density, respectively. For example, the second power is equal to -85 dBm / MHz and the third power is less than -85 dBm / MHz, or the second power is greater than -85 dBm / MHz and the third power is equal to -85 dBm / MHz. Also, for example, the second power is -50 dBm / (SCS×(12×N)). RB +1) / 1000) MHz, and the third power is -50 dBm / (SCS × (12 × N RB+1) / 1000) MHz; or the second power is -50 dBm / (SCS × (12 × N RB +1) / 1000)MHz, and the third power is -50dBm / (SCS×(12×N RB +1) / 1000) MHz, where the subcarrier spacing SCS is, for example, but not limited to, the SCS of the transport signal (not the signal being transmitted), and for example, the second power is equal to -36 dBm / MHz and the third power is less than -36 dBm / MHz, or the second power is greater than -36 dBm / MHz and the third power is equal to -36 dBm / MHz.

[0054] In some embodiments, an output power requirement for NCR-Fwd may be defined for each of the uplink and downlink. In other words, the above-mentioned second power and / or third power may be defined for the output power of the BH link and AC link, respectively. For example, for the output power of the downlink or AC link, the second power may be equal to −85 dBm / MHz and the third power may be less than −85 dBm / MHz, or the second power may be greater than −85 dBm / MHz and the third power may be equal to −85 dBm / MHz, and for the output power of the uplink or BH link, the second power may be −50 dBm / (SCS×(12×N)). RB +1) / 1000) MHz, and the third power is -50 dBm / (SCS × (12 × N RB +1) / 1000) MHz; or the second power is -50 dBm / (SCS × (12 × N RB +1) / 1000)MHz, and the third power is -50dBm / (SCS×(12×N RB +1 / 1000) MHz, where the subcarrier spacing SCS is, for example but not limited to, the SCS of the transport signal (not the signal being transported).

[0055] In some embodiments, different output power requirements can be defined for different working frequency bands or frequency ranges (e.g., FR1, FR2, FR2-1, FR2-2). In other words, the above-mentioned second power and / or third power are defined for the output power of the NCR-Fwd working in different frequency bands or frequency ranges. For example, for the output power of the downlink or AC link of FR1, the second power is equal to -85 dBm / MHz and the third power is less than -85 dBm / MHz, or the second power is greater than -85 dBm / MHz and the third power is equal to -85 dBm / MHz, and for the output power of the uplink or BH link of FR1, the second power is -50 dBm / (SCS×(12×N)). RB +1) / 1000) MHz, and the third power is -50 dBm / (SCS × (12 × N RB +1) / 1000) MHz; or the secondary power is -50dBm / (SCS*(12*N RB +1) / 1000)MHz, and the third power is -50dBm / (SCS×(12×N RB +1) / 1000) MHz, where the subcarrier spacing SCS is, for example, but not limited to, the SCS of a transmission signal (not a signal being transmitted). Also, for example, for the output power of FR2, the second power is equal to -36 dBm / MHz and the third power is less than -36 dBm / MHz, or the second power is greater than -36 dBm / MHz and the third power is equal to -36 dBm / MHz.

[0056] In some embodiments, the output power when the NCR-Fwd is in the second or third state is defined as follows: the output power is not greater than / greater than / less than the average power measured within a certain time period while the NCR-Fwd is in the second or third state. For example, the output power is not greater than / greater than / less than the average power measured within a certain time period when the NCR-Fwd is filtered by a filter (e.g., a rectangular filter) whose bandwidth is equal to the passband bandwidth of the NCR-Fwd and centered on the assigned channel frequency. The time period may be related to the SCS, e.g., the time period = 70 / N μs, where N = SCS / 15. The SCS may be, for example, but not limited to, the SCS of the transmission signal (not the signal being transmitted).

[0057] In some embodiments, the forwarding unit supports a direct transition (or switch) from the third state to the first state. Alternatively, the forwarding unit does not support a direct transition from the third state to the first state and / or a direct transition from the first state to the third state; in other words, when NCR-Fwd is in the third state, it must first transition to the second state and then transition from the second state to the first state. Similarly, the forwarding unit may or may not support a direct transition from the first state to the third state.

[0058] In some embodiments, only a transition time (or switching time) between the first state and the second state is defined, or only a transition time between the first state and the third state is defined, such as the first transition time described below. In other words, the first transition time is included only when switching between the first state and the second state, and not when switching between the first state and the third state, or the first transition time is included only when switching between the first state and the third state, and not when switching between the first state and the second state.

[0059] In some embodiments, a transition time between the first state and the second state and a transition time between the first state and the third state are defined, i.e., a transition time is included when switching between the first state and the second state, and a transition time is also included when switching between the first state and the third state, and a transition time between the second state and the third state may or may not be defined.

[0060] In some embodiments, the transition time between the first state and the second state is the same as the transition time between the first state and the third state, e.g., the first transition time.

[0061] In some embodiments, the transient period between the first state and the second state is different from the transient period between the first state and the third state. For example, the transition period between the first state and the second state is a first transition period, the transition period between the first state and the third state is a second transition period, and the first transition period is less than the second transition period. For example, the first transition period is equal to 10 μs and the second transition period is greater than 10 μs, or the first transition period is less than 10 μs and the second transition period is equal to 10 μs. Also, for example, the first transition period is equal to 3 μs and the second transition period is greater than 3 μs, or the first transition period is less than 3 μs and the second transition period is equal to 3 μs.

[0062] In some embodiments, different transition times may be defined for different working frequency bands or frequency ranges (e.g., FR1, FR2, FR2-1, FR2-2), i.e., the above-mentioned first transition time and / or second transition time are defined for NCR-Fwds working in different frequency bands or frequency ranges. For example, for FR1, the first transition time is equal to 10 μs and the second transition time is greater than 10 μs, or the first transition time is less than 10 μs and the second transition time is equal to 10 μs. For FR2, the first transition time is equal to 3 μs and the second transition time is greater than 3 μs, or the first transition time is less than 3 μs and the second transition time is equal to 3 μs.

[0063] FIG. 3 illustrates the transition time and output power of each state in an embodiment of the present invention (assuming that the transition time and output power requirements are different). As shown in FIG. 3, switching from the second state to the first state (also referred to as a change) involves a first transition time, and switching from the first state to the third state involves a second transition time. In the first state, the output power of the NCR-Fwd is greater than the first power, in the second state, the output power of the NCR-Fwd is less than the second power, and in the third state, the output power of the NCR-Fwd is less than the third power. The first power > the second power > the third power, and the three values ​​are different. Note that FIG. 3 is merely an example. For example, the second power and the third power may be the same, the first transition time and the second transition time may be the same, or the state transition may not include the first transition time and the second transition time. A comprehensive list is omitted here.

[0064] Above, the behavior of the transfer unit under different states has been described, and below, the behavior of the mobile terminal when the transfer unit is in different states will be described.

[0065] In some embodiments, the transmission unit is in the third state in period D, and the mobile terminal (NCR-MT) does not receive some or all downlink signals and / or does not transmit some or all uplink signals in period D. For example, the downlink signals include second control information for instructing the transmission unit to transmit signals, and the second control information includes RRC or MAC CE or DCI.

[0066] In some embodiments, the transfer unit is in a third state during period D, and the mobile terminal does not monitor a DCI format to indicate that the transfer unit is to transfer a signal during period D, or the mobile terminal does not expect to receive second control information (e.g., DCI) that indicates that the transfer unit is to transfer a signal during period D, or the mobile terminal does not expect to receive second control information (e.g., RRC or MAC CE or DCI) that indicates that the transfer unit is to transfer a signal during period D.

[0067] Alternatively, the transfer unit is in the second state or the third state in period D, and the mobile terminal monitors a DCI format to instruct the transfer unit to transfer a signal in that period, or the mobile terminal receives second control information in that period that instructs the transfer unit to transfer a signal in that period, or the mobile terminal receives second control information instructing the transfer unit to transfer a signal in that period after receiving the first control information.

[0068] In some embodiments, the first state, second state, and third state refer to the state of the forwarder mobile terminal (NCR-MT), and the above first state, second state, or third state is used to represent the working state or open / closed state of the NCR-MT.

[0069] In some embodiments, the third state indicates that the NCR-MT cannot transmit or receive signals on the C-link, for example, under the third state, the mobile terminal (NCR-MT) does not receive some or all downlink signals and / or does not transmit some or all uplink signals in period D. For example, the downlink signals include second control information for instructing the transmission unit to transmit signals, and the second control information includes RRC or MAC CE or DCI.

[0070] In some embodiments, the third state indicates that the NCR-MT does not monitor or expect to monitor the transmission or reception of signals on the C-link, for example, under the third state, the mobile terminal does not monitor a DCI format to instruct the transfer unit to transfer signals in the period D, or the mobile terminal does not expect to receive second control information (e.g., DCI) instructing the transfer unit to transfer signals in the period, or the mobile terminal does not expect to receive second control information (e.g., RRC or MAC CE or DCI) instructing the transfer unit to transfer signals in the period.

[0071] Alternatively, the second state or the third state represents that the NCR-MT monitors signals transmitted or received on the C-link or transmits or receives signals on the C-link, for example, under the second state or the third state, the mobile terminal monitors a DCI format for instructing the forwarding unit to forward signals during the period, or the mobile terminal receives second control information during the period instructing the forwarding unit to forward signals during the period, or the mobile terminal receives second control information after receiving the first control information instructing the forwarding unit to forward signals during the period.

[0072] In some embodiments, the period corresponding to the above-mentioned first state, second state or third state is represented by a time domain resource configured by a network device, i.e., the mobile terminal of the forwarder receives first control information transmitted by a network device, which may include DCI and / or RRC signaling and / or MAC CE, and the first control information includes at least first information for indicating a time domain resource (period), which can explicitly or implicitly indicate that the forwarding unit is in the first state, second state or third state in the time domain resource, so that the forwarding unit of the forwarder is in the first state, second state or third state in the time domain resource indicated by the first information.

[0073] The following describes how the first information indicates the time domain resource.

[0074] In some embodiments, the first information may be carried by one or more first information fields, which indicate the start position (offset) and / or time length and / or interval and / or period of the time domain resource. The time domain resource may be periodic, semi-persistent, or aperiodic. The start position (offset), time length, interval, and / or period may be indicated with a granularity of a time unit, such as a subframe, slot, symbol, mini-slot, or millisecond.

[0075] In some embodiments, the first information field may include the start position (offset) and / or the time length and / or the number of time units included in the interval and / or period of the time domain resource (e.g., field_1 and / or field_2 in Element_2 in the example described below), where the number of time units indicates the start position (offset) and / or the time length and / or the interval and / or the period of the time domain resource, or the first information field may include an index of the time unit (e.g., field_3 in Element_2 in the example described below), or the first information field (e.g., the time domain resource allocation information field described below) may include one row index value, where the start position (offset) and / or the time length and / or the interval and / or the period are indicated by the index value and the time domain resource allocation table.

[0076] In some embodiments, when carried by multiple (X) first information fields, the information regarding time domain resources indicated by different first information fields may be different, for example, each different first information field may indicate different information such as shift, time length, period, etc. (for example, field_1, field_2, and field_3 in Element_2 in the example described below), or each different first information field may indicate different time units, for example, each different first information field may indicate slot, symbol, etc., or the time domain resources indicated by different first information fields may not overlap or may partially overlap, and embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto.

[0077] In some embodiments, when carried by a plurality (X) of first information fields, the X first information fields may be divided into a plurality (Y) of sets of first information fields, each set of first information fields including one or more (Z) first information fields, where one set of first information fields indicates some of the time domain resources, and the time domain resources indicated by the information fields in different sets do not overlap or partially overlap. For example, in Example 6 described below, Element_2 includes one set of first information fields, which includes three first information fields, field_1, field_2, and field_3.

[0078] In some embodiments, the first control information may or may not further include second information for instructing one or more access link beams, where whether the first control information includes second information is related to the working frequency band (or frequency range) and / or capabilities and / or higher layer parameter settings of the transmission unit.

[0079] For example, being related to the working frequency band (or frequency range) means that when the working frequency band of the transmission unit is in FR1, the first control information does not include the second information, and when the working frequency band of the transmission unit is in FR2, the first control information includes the second information.

[0080] For example, being related to capability means that when the access link beam of the forwarder is fixed (or only one access link beam (analog beam) is supported), the first control information includes the second information. When the access link beam of the forwarder is adjustable or switchable (or the forwarder supports multiple access link beams), the first control information includes the second information. In this example, the forwarder may or may not transmit capability-related information to the network device. The capability-related information may include, for example, the number of access link beams supported by the forwarder, and / or beam index and / or spatial characteristic-related information. Note that the beam index will be described later.

[0081] For example, when the working frequency band of the forwarder is in FR1, it is assumed that the access link beam is fixed (or only one access link beam (analog beam) is supported), and the forwarder does not need to send the capability-related information to the network equipment; or when the access link beam of the forwarder is adjustable / switchable (or the forwarder supports multiple access link beams), it sends the capability-related information to the network equipment, and otherwise the network equipment does not need to send the capability-related information.

[0082] For example, when the working frequency band of the forwarder is in FR2, it is implicitly assumed that the access link beam is adjustable / switchable (or the forwarder supports multiple access link beams), and the forwarder does not need to send the capability-related information to the network equipment; or when the access link beam of the forwarder is fixed (or only one access link beam (analog beam) is supported), it sends the capability-related information to the network equipment, and otherwise it does not need to send the capability-related information to the base station.

[0083] Also, for example, when the working frequency band of the forwarder is in FR1 or FR2, regardless of whether the access link beam is fixed or adjustable / switchable (or the forwarder supports multiple access link beams), all the forwarders send the capability-related information to the network equipment, for example, when the access link beam is fixed, the number of access link beams reported is 1, or when the access link beam is adjustable / switchable (or the forwarder supports multiple (N) access link beams), the number of access link beams reported is N.

[0084] For example, being related to the configuration of higher layer parameters (which precede the first control information in terms of time) refers to the following: for example, suppose the first control information is DCI (DCI format X_Y), the higher layer parameter is an information field of RRC signaling, and the information field is used (directly or indirectly) to configure whether DCI format X_Y includes second information. For example, the higher layer parameter may be 1 bit, and when the configuration of the higher layer parameter includes the second information (e.g., the bit value is 1), DCI format X_Y includes the second information, and when the configuration of the higher layer parameter does not include the second information (e.g., the bit value is 0), DCI format X_Y does not include the second information. Also, for example, if the information field is included in an information element (IE) or another information field, DCI format X_Y includes the second information, and if not, it does not include the second information. Furthermore, for example, the higher layer parameters are used to set beams (e.g., also called candidate beams) that can be indicated by the access link beams that can be indicated by the DCI format X_Y, and when one access link beam of the transmitter is set as a candidate beam, the DCI format X_Y does not include the second information, and when multiple access link beams are set as candidate beams, the DCI format X_Y includes the second information.

[0085] For example, the upper layer parameters exampleField_4 and exampleField_5 can be represented in ASN.1 data format as follows:

[0086] [Table 1] Wherein, exampleField_4 is used to set an information field for indicating an access link beam in DCI format X_Y, and INTEGER (0..3) may be the number of bits of the information field. Optionally, it may include Element_3, which is used to set a list of beam patterns corresponding to the information field (assuming the information field indicates the index of one beam pattern). ExampleField_4 may be present or absent, i.e., exampleField_4 is present conditionally, and the condition XYZ1 includes the following: optional present for FR2 (or FR2-1) and absent for FR1; or mandatory present for FR2 (or FR2-1) and absent for FR1; or mandatory present for FR2 (or FR2-1) and optional present for FR1.

[0087] Among them, exampleField_5 is used to set an information field for indicating time domain resources in DCI format X_Y, and Element_4 sets a time domain resource list corresponding to the information field, for example, PDSCH-TimeDomainResourceAllocationList.

[0088] For example, the upper layer parameter ExampleIE_6 or exampleField_6 can be represented in ASN.1 data format as follows:

[0089] [Table 2] Wherein, ExampleIE_6 or exampleField_6 is used to configure DCI format X_Y, aField is used to configure an information field for indicating an access link beam in DCI format X_Y, INTEGER (0..3) may be the number of bits of the information field, and may optionally include Element_3, which is used to configure a list of beam patterns corresponding to the information field (assuming that the information field indicates the index of one beam pattern), although embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto. The aField may or may not be present, i.e., the aField exists conditionally, and the condition XYZ1 has been described above and will not be described in detail here. The anotherField is used to configure an information field for indicating time domain resources in DCI format X_Y, and Element_4 configures a time domain resource list corresponding to the information field, such as PDSCH-TimeDomainResourceAllocationList.

[0090] For example, the second information may be related information of one or more access link beams, and the related information may include a beam type and / or a beam index, etc. The beam type and index will be described later.

[0091] In some embodiments, the first control information may or may not further include third information for indicating the first state, the second state, or the third state. For example, the third information may be 1-bit information or 2-bit information, and the 1-bit or 2-bit information is used to indicate whether the state of the transfer unit is the first state, the second state, or the third state, for example, when the bit value is 0, the first state is indicated, and when the bit value is 1, the third state is indicated, and an exhaustive list is omitted here.

[0092] In some embodiments, the first control information is a DCI (DCI format X_Y) and includes the same information field corresponding to the second information and the third information. In other words, the same information field in DCI format X_Y provides the second information or the third information in different cases. For example, for FR1, the information field is used to provide the third information, and for FR2, the information field is used to provide the second information. Also, for example, if the NCR supports only one access link beam or only one access link beam is configured, the information field is used to provide the third information, and if the NCR supports multiple access link beams or multiple access link beams are configured, the information field is used to provide the second information.

[0093] The following provides an exemplary implementation of the first control information.

[0094] In some embodiments, the first information explicitly indicates that the transmission unit is in a first state, a second state, or a third state in the time domain resource; in other words, the first information is used only to indicate that the transmission unit is in a first state, a second state, or a third state in the time domain resource, and does not indicate any other content.

[0095] In this embodiment, the first control information may or may not include second information for directing one or more access link beams. For example, when the working frequency band of the forwarder is in FR1, the network equipment does not support beam control or direction, and / or the access link beam is implicit, fixed, or default (only one analog beam is supported), so the network equipment does not send second information for directing one or more access link beams to the terminal equipment, or does not send second information for directing one or more access link beams in the first control information.

[0096] In the above-mentioned embodiment, the second information indicates one or more access link beams, but the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to this, and the second information may further indicate one or more backhaul link beams, and the implementation manner is similar, so detailed description thereof will be omitted in the embodiment of the present invention.

[0097] In this embodiment, the first control information may further include third information for indicating the first state, the second state, or the third state collectively.

[0098] For example, the first control information may include first information but not second information, and may optionally further include third information, in which case the access link beam may be implicit, fixed, or default, and the first information only indicates that the transfer unit is in a first state, a second state, or a third state in the time domain resource.

[0099] In some embodiments, the first information implicitly indicates that the forwarding unit is in a first state, a second state, or a third state in the time domain resource, and the first information is further used to indicate time domain resources corresponding to one or more access link beams and / or one or more backhaul link beams. The one or more access link beams and / or one or more backhaul link beams are indicated by the second information included in the second control information. For example, when the working frequency band of the forwarder is in FR2, the network equipment supports beam adjustment, indication, or switching (or the forwarder supports multiple (N) access link beams), so the network equipment transmits the second information to indicate one or more access link beams to the terminal equipment.

[0100] For example, the first control information includes first information and second information, the second information indicating one or more access link beams and / or one or more backhaul link beams, the first information indicating time domain resources corresponding to one or more access link beams and / or one or more backhaul link beams, and the first information can further implicitly indicate that the state of the transmission unit in the time domain resources is a first state, a second state, or a third state.

[0101] An illustrative explanation will be given below.

[0102] Hereinafter, we will first explain how to define the index of the access (AC) link beam.

[0103] The AC link beam may be referred to as the terminal device side beam, which refers to the receive beam / transmit beam adopted (used) by the forwarder on the AC link, where the transmit beam transmits signals from the network equipment to the terminal equipment, and the receive beam transmits signals from the terminal equipment to the network equipment. The backhaul link beam may be referred to as the network device side beam, which refers to the receive beam / transmit beam adopted (used) by the forwarder on the BH link, where the receive beam transmits signals from the terminal equipment to the network equipment, and the transmit beam transmits signals from the network equipment to the terminal equipment. The (antenna) beam, for example, refers to the main lobe of the radiation pattern of an antenna array.

[0104] In some embodiments, the transmitter may support beams (or antenna beams) of different directions and / or widths, and a correlation relationship may exist between the beams. For example, a correlation relationship between a first beam and a second beam may include the following: the first beam and the second beam have the same beam center direction, and / or the first beam and the second beam have the same beam peak direction, and / or the first beam and the second beam are QCLs (e.g., QCL type D), and / or the first beam is within the second beam range, and / or the second beam is within the first beam range, and / or the beamwidth of the first beam is within the beamwidth range of the second beam, and / or the beamwidth of the second beam is within the beamwidth range of the first beam. The beam center direction may refer to the geometric center of the half power contour of the beam, and the beam peak direction may refer to the direction of the maximum EIRP of the beam.

[0105] Example 1: The beams supported by the NCR are numbered sequentially, and the numbering can be done according to spatial relationships. For example, adjacently numbered beams are adjacent in space. For example, if the NCR supports four beams, they can be numbered from 0 or 1, with their respective indices being 0 to 3 or 1 to 4.

[0106] Example 2: The NCR simultaneously supports a first beam (wide beam) and a second beam (narrow beam), and the beams are numbered sequentially, with the numbering performed according to a spatial relationship. For example, the wide beams can be numbered first, followed by the narrow beams, with adjacently numbered wide beams being adjacent in space, and adjacently numbered narrow beams being adjacent in space. Alternatively, one wide beam and its associated narrow beams can be numbered first, and then other wide beams and narrow beams can be numbered in the same manner. For example, FIG. 4A illustrates beam indexing in an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4A, the NCR supports two wide beams (first beams) and eight narrow beams (second beams), with the first four narrow beams associated with the first wide beam and the last four narrow beams associated with the second wide beam. All beams can be numbered starting from 0 or 1, e.g., 0 to 9 (or 1 to 10, not shown). When numbering, the first two may be wide beams and the rest narrow beams, or the first and sixth may be wide beams and the others narrow beams.

[0107] Example 3: The NCR simultaneously supports a first beam (wide beam) and a second beam (narrow beam), and the first beam and the second beam are numbered sequentially, with the numbering performed according to a spatial relationship. Adjacently numbered wide beams are adjacent in space, and adjacently numbered narrow beams are adjacent in space. For example, FIG. 4B is a diagram illustrating beam indexing in an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4B, the NCR supports two wide beams (first beams) and eight narrow beams (second beams). The wide beams and narrow beams are numbered starting from 0 or 1, respectively. For example, the wide beams are numbered from 0 to 1 (or 1 to 2, not shown), and the narrow beams are numbered from 0 to 7 (or 1 to 8, not shown). For example, the first four narrow beams are associated with the first wide beam, and the last four narrow beams are associated with the second wide beam.

[0108] Example 4: An NCR simultaneously supports a first beam (wide beam) and a second beam (narrow beam), and the first beam and the second beam are numbered according to the layer class, starting from 0 or 1, respectively, and the numbering can be performed according to a spatial relationship. Adjacently numbered wide beams are adjacent in space, and adjacently numbered narrow beams are adjacent in space. For adjacently numbered wide beams, narrow beams associated with wide beams with relatively small sequential numbers (indexes) that have relatively large sequential numbers are adjacent in space to narrow beams associated with wide beams with relatively large sequential numbers that have relatively small sequential numbers. For example, FIG. 4C is a diagram showing beam indexes in an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4C, the NCR supports two wide beams (first beams) and eight narrow beams (second beams). The wide beams have sequential numbers 0 to 1 (or 1 to 2, not shown), and the four narrow beams associated with the first wide beam and the four narrow beams associated with the second wide beam have sequential numbers 0 to 3 (or 1 to 4, not shown), respectively.

[0109] Although the above-mentioned indexes are all one-dimensional, the embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto, and the indexes may be two-dimensional or three-dimensional. For example, the beams may be arranged according to a two-dimensional array, and the horizontal beams and the vertical beams may be numbered separately. In this case, the indexes are two-dimensional. Note that a comprehensive list will be omitted here.

[0110] In some embodiments, the range of beams corresponding to numberable beams may be all beams that can be used for transmitting NCR or all beams that can be indicated by the first control information (candidate beams set by higher layer parameters of the network equipment) and / or all beams supported by the NCR, or it may be said that one beam may correspond to one or more beam indices (each of the multiple beam indices is predefined and / or reported by the NCR to the network equipment and / or set by the network equipment). For example, one beam corresponds to a first index and a second index, in which the first index is an index that uniquely identifies the beam among all beams supported by the NCR, and the second index is an index that uniquely identifies the beam among all beams that can be used for transmitting NCR or all beams that can be indicated by the first control information (candidate beams set by higher layer parameters of the network equipment).

[0111] In the above example, the first control information includes first information and second information, and one or more access link beams indicated by the second information correspond to the time domain resources indicated by the first information, and when the second information indicates multiple access link beams, the multiple access link beams are time-division or frequency-division.

[0112] In some embodiments, the first information is carried by one first information field, and the time domain resource indicated by the first information field corresponds to one access link beam, and the second information is carried by one or more second information fields, and the one or more second information fields indicate one access link beam and correspond to the time domain resource indicated by the one first information field.

[0113] Example (1): When carried by multiple (M) second information fields, the beam-related information indicated by different second information fields is different. For example, when two second information fields are included, one is used to indicate a beam type (broad beam / narrow beam) and another is used to indicate a beam index (of a beam of the beam type), or one is used to indicate a beam set indicator and another is used to indicate a beam index (of a beam of the beam set), or one is used to indicate a wide beam index and another is used to indicate a narrow beam index (for example, according to the above Example 3 regarding the index, a specific value may be reserved to indicate that a wide beam or a narrow beam is not indicated, and for example, according to the above Example 4 regarding the index, a second information field for indicating only a narrow beam index reserves a specific value to indicate that a narrow beam is not indicated (or that the beam indicated by the DCI is a wide beam)).

[0114] Example (2): When one second information field is included, the second information field directly or indirectly indicates the beam index (first index or second index) of an access link beam. When directly indicating, the decimal value of the second information field is equal to the beam index value, thereby indicating the corresponding beam. When indirectly indicating, the decimal / binary value of the second information field is mapped to the beam index values ​​from small to large in order, thereby indicating the corresponding beam. Alternatively, the bits in the second information field are mapped to the beam index values ​​from small to large in order from MSB to LSB (or in reverse order), where a 0 bit value does not indicate the corresponding beam, and a 1 bit value indicates the corresponding beam (only one bit is 1 and the others are 0). For example, in Example 1 above, the second information field may be 0001, indicating the last numbered beam.

[0115] In some embodiments, the first information is carried by one first information field, and the time domain resources indicated by the first information field correspond to one or more access link beams, and the second information is carried by one or more second information fields, and the one or more second information fields indicate one or more access link beams and correspond to the time domain resources indicated by the one first information field.

[0116] Example (3): When the second information is carried by multiple (K) second information fields, each second information field indicates one access link beam, and the access link beams indicated by the multiple second information fields correspond to different parts of the time domain resources indicated by the first information field according to a predefined rule (time division), or all the access link beams indicated by the multiple second information fields correspond to all of the time domain resources indicated by the first information field (frequency division), or are a mixture of time domain resources.

[0117] Example (4): When the second information is carried by multiple (K) second information fields, the K second information fields can be divided into multiple (N) sets of second information fields, each set of second information fields including one or more (M) second information fields, each set of second information fields indicating one access link beam, and the access link beams indicated by the multiple sets of second information fields correspond to different parts of the time domain resources indicated by the first information field according to a predefined rule (time division), or the access link beams indicated by the multiple sets of second information fields all correspond to all of the time domain resources indicated by the first information field (frequency division), or are a mixture of time domain resources. When one set of second information fields includes M second information fields, the beam-related information indicated by different second information fields is different. The specific indication method is the same as in Example (1) above, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

[0118] In some embodiments, the first information is carried by multiple first information fields, and the time domain resources indicated by the multiple first information fields correspond to one or multiple access link beams. For example, different first information fields indicate different information regarding the time domain resources. For example, the first information is carried by two first information fields, and the time units indicated by the different first information fields are different, with one being used to indicate a slot and another being used to indicate a symbol, or the information indicated by the different first information fields is different, with one being used to indicate a start position and another being used to indicate a duration. Alternatively, for example, the first information is carried by three first information fields, and each is used to indicate a slot shift, a symbol shift, and a duration, respectively. Alternatively, for example, the time domain resources indicated by different first information fields do not overlap or partially overlap. The time domain resources indicated by the multiple first information fields are the union of the time domain resources indicated by the multiple first information fields.

[0119] Example (5): The first information is carried by multiple first information fields, and the second information is carried by one or more second information fields, where the one or more second information fields indicate one access link beam and correspond to the time domain resources indicated by the multiple first information fields. When the second information is carried by one second information field, the one second information field directly or indirectly indicates the one access link beam. For specific indication methods, see Example (2) above, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted here. When the second information is carried by multiple second information fields, the information on the beams indicated by different second information fields (beam-related information) is different. For specific indication methods, see Example (1) above, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

[0120] Example (6): The first information is carried by a plurality of first information fields, and the second information is carried by one or more second information fields, and the one or more second information fields indicate one or more access link beams, corresponding to the time domain resources indicated by the plurality of first information fields. Example 1: When the second information is carried by a plurality (K) of second information fields, each second information field indicates one access link beam, and each first information field and each second information field have a one-to-one correspondence, that is, the access link beam indicated by one second information field is applied to the time domain resource indicated by its corresponding first information field. Example 2: When the second information is carried by multiple (K) second information fields, the K second information fields can be divided into multiple (N) sets of second information fields, each set of second information fields includes one or more (M) second information fields, each set of second information fields indicates one access link beam, each first information field and each set of second information fields have a one-to-one correspondence, and the access link beam indicated by a set of second information fields is applied to the time domain resource indicated by the corresponding first information field. When a set of second information fields includes M second information fields, the beam-related information indicated by different second information fields is different. The specific indication method is the same as in Example (1) above, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

[0121] In some embodiments, the first control information may be RRC signaling.

[0122] In some embodiments, when the first control information is RRC signaling, the same information element (ExampleIE_1 in the example) or the same field (exampleField_1 in the example) in the RRC signaling is used to set an access link beam, or to set the transfer unit to be in a first state, a second state, or a third state, respectively, in different cases.

[0123] Example 1: ExampleIE_1 or exampleField_1 can be represented in ASN.1 data format as follows:

[0124] [Table 3] Wherein, aField is used to set the access link beam, and INTEGER (0..9) may be a beam index (corresponding to the second information), the beam number, etc., and may optionally include Element_X, which is used to set the beam pattern. However, embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto. The aField may be present or absent (the first control information may or may not include the second information), that is, the aField is present conditionally, and the condition XYZ1 may include the following: for FR2 (or FR2-1), the aField is optionally present, and for FR1, the aField is absent; or for FR2 (or FR2-1), the aField is mandatory present, and for FR1, the aField is absent; or for FR2 (or FR2-1), the aField is mandatory present, and for FR1, the aField is optional present.

[0125] Wherein, if the aField exists, the anotherField is used to set the time domain resource corresponding to the access link beam (set by the corresponding aField), thereby implicitly indicating that NCR-Fwd is in the first state for the time domain resource. If the aField does not exist, the anotherField is used to indicate the time domain resource for which the forwarding unit is in the first state, second state, or third state. Element_2 includes first information for indicating the time domain resource, and includes one or more first information fields.

[0126] Example 2: ExampleIE_1 or exampleField_1 can be represented in ASN.1 data format as follows, i.e., ExampleIE_1 or exampleField_1 is used to set an access link beam, or to set the transmission unit to be in a first state, a second state, or a third state.

[0127] [Table 4] Among them, Element_1 is used to configure one or more access link beams and the time domain resources corresponding to these beams, or to configure the time domain resources in which the transmission unit is in the first state, the second state, or the third state.

[0128] Wherein, aField is used to set the access link beam, and INTEGER (0..9) may be a beam index (corresponding to the second information), the beam number, etc., and may optionally include Element_X, which is used to set the beam pattern. However, embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto. The aField may be present or absent (the first control information may or may not include the second information), that is, the aField is present conditionally, and the condition XYZ1 may include the following: for FR2 (or FR2-1), the aField is optionally present, and for FR1, the aField is absent; or for FR2 (or FR2-1), the aField is mandatory present, and for FR1, the aField is absent; or for FR2 (or FR2-1), the aField is mandatory present, and for FR1, the aField is optional present.

[0129] Wherein, if the aField exists, the anotherField is used to set the time domain resource corresponding to the access link beam (set by the corresponding aField), thereby implicitly indicating that the NCR-Fwd is in the first state for the time domain resource. If the aField does not exist, the anotherField is used to set the time domain resource for the forwarding unit in the first state, the second state, or the third state. Element_2 includes first information for indicating the time domain resource, and includes one or more first information fields.

[0130] Example 3: ExampleIE_1 or exampleField_1 can be represented in ASN.1 data format as follows, i.e., ExampleIE_1 or exampleField_1 is used to set an access link beam, or to set the transmission unit to be in a first state, a second state, or a third state.

[0131] [Table 5] Among them, Element_1 is used to configure one or more access link beams and the time domain resources corresponding to these beams, or to configure the time domain resources in which the transmission unit is in the first state, the second state, or the third state.

[0132] Wherein, aField is used to set the access link beam, and INTEGER (0..9) may be a beam index (corresponding to the second information), the beam number, etc., and may optionally include Element_X, which is used to set the beam pattern. However, embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto. The aField may be present or absent (the first control information may or may not include the second information), that is, the aField is present conditionally, and the condition XYZ1 may include the following: for FR2 (or FR2-1), the aField is optionally present, and for FR1, the aField is absent; or for FR2 (or FR2-1), the aField is mandatory present, and for FR1, the aField is absent; or for FR2 (or FR2-1), the aField is mandatory present, and for FR1, the aField is optional present.

[0133] Wherein, if the aField exists, the anotherField is used to set the time domain resource corresponding to the access link beam (set by the corresponding aField), thereby implicitly indicating that the NCR-Fwd is in the first state for the time domain resource. If the aField does not exist, the anotherField is used to set the time domain resource for the forwarding unit in the first state, the second state, or the third state. Element_2 includes first information for indicating the time domain resource, and includes one or more first information fields.

[0134] In some embodiments, when the first control information is RRC signaling, different information elements or different fields in the RRC signaling are used to configure an access link beam, or to configure a transmission unit to be in a first state, a second state, or a third state, respectively, and different information elements (ExampleIE_2 and ExampleIE_3 in the examples) or different fields (exampleField_2 and exampleField_3 in the examples) share the same information element (Element_1 or Element_2 in the examples) to configure time domain resources. Example 4: ExampleIE_2 or exampleField_2, and ExampleIE_3 or exampleField_3 can be represented in ASN.1 data format as follows:

[0135] [Table 6] Wherein, ExampleIE_2 or exampleField_2 is used to set the access link beam, and ExampleIE_3 or exampleField_3 is used to set whether the transmission unit is in the first state, the second state, or the third state. ExampleIE_2 or exampleField_2 may be present or absent (the first control information includes or does not include the second information), that is, it exists conditionally, and the condition XYZ1 includes the following: optional present for FR2 (or FR2-1) and absent for FR1; or mandatory present for FR2 (or FR2-1) and absent for FR1; or mandatory present for FR2 (or FR2-1) and optional present for FR1.

[0136] Example 5: ExampleIE_2 or exampleField_2 and ExampleIE_3 or exampleField_3 can be represented in ASN.1 data format as follows:

[0137] [Table 7] Wherein, ExampleIE_2 or exampleField_2 is used to set the access link beam, and ExampleIE_3 or exampleField_3 is used to set whether the transmission unit is in the first state, the second state, or the third state. The ExampleIE_2 or exampleField_2 (corresponding to the second information) may or may not be present (the first control information may or may not include the second information), i.e., it is conditionally present, and the condition XYZ1 includes the following: optional present for FR2 (or FR2-1) and absent for FR1; or mandatory present for FR2 (or FR2-1) and absent for FR1; or mandatory present for FR2 (or FR2-1) and optional present for FR1. For an explanation of Element_1, please refer to Example 6, and a detailed explanation will be omitted here.

[0138] Example 6: ExampleIE_2 or exampleField_2 and ExampleIE_3 or exampleField_3 can be represented in ASN.1 data format as follows:

[0139] [Table 8] Wherein, ExampleIE_2 or exampleField_2 is used to set the access link beam (corresponding to the second information), and ExampleIE_3 or exampleField_3 is used to set whether the transmission unit is in the first state, the second state, or the third state. ExampleIE_2 or exampleField_2 may or may not be present (the first control information includes or does not include the second information), that is, it exists conditionally, and the condition XYZ1 includes the following: optional present for FR2 (or FR2-1) and absent for FR1; or mandatory present for FR2 (or FR2-1) and absent for FR1; or mandatory present for FR2 (or FR2-1) and optional present for FR1.

[0140] Among them, Element_1 is used to configure one or more access link beams and the time domain resources corresponding to these beams, or to configure the time domain resources in which the transmission unit is in the first state, the second state, or the third state.

[0141] Wherein, aField is used to set the access link beam, and INTEGER(0..9) may be a beam index, or may be the beam number, etc. Optionally, Element_X may be included, which is used to set the beam pattern. However, embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto. The aField may be present or absent, that is, the aField is conditionally present, and the condition XYZ2 may include the following: for ExampleIE_2 or exampleField_2, it is mandatory present, and for ExampleIE_3 or exampleField_3, it is absent.

[0142] Wherein, if the aField exists, the anotherField is used to set the time domain resource corresponding to the access link beam (set by the corresponding aField), thereby implicitly indicating that the NCR-Fwd is in the first state for the time domain resource. If the aField does not exist, the anotherField is used to set the time domain resource for the forwarding unit in the first state, the second state, or the third state. Element_2 includes first information for indicating the time domain resource, and includes one or more first information fields.

[0143] Among them, Element_2 can be represented in ASN.1 data format as follows:

[0144] [Table 9] Wherein, field_1 is used to set the periodicity and / or offset of the time domain resource, field_2 is used to set the duration within the period, and field_3 is used to set the slot and / or symbol within the duration, for example, to indicate the slot index, starting slot index, starting symbol index, slot number, and symbol number. Wherein, slot index is an index within 10 ms (one frame) or 1 ms (one subframe), and symbol index is an index within 10 ms (one frame) or 1 ms (one subframe) or one slot. The slot number is the number of slots within the duration. The symbol number is the number of symbols within the duration or slot.

[0145] In some embodiments, the first control information may be a DCI, and the DCI may be in DCI format X_Y. For example, the DCI format X_Y may be an existing DCI format (e.g., DCI format 1_0 / 1_1 / 1_2 / 0_0 / 0_1 / 0_2 / 2_2, etc.), or may be a newly introduced DCI format for NCR.

[0146] In some embodiments, the DCI may be unicast / dedicated or group common.

[0147] In some embodiments, the CRC of the DCI is scrambled by a first radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) or scrambled by a second RNTI, where the first RNTI includes, for example, an RNTI type that can be adopted by non-NCRs / can also be set to non-NCRs, such as a first C-RNTI, a first MCS-C-RNTI, or an SFI-RNTI, and the second RNTI includes, for example, an RNTI exclusively for NCRs (e.g., an NCR-RNTI or a second C-RNTI or a second MCS-C-RNTI), in other words, non-NCRs cannot adopt the second RNTI / the second RNTI cannot be set.

[0148] In some embodiments, the NCR (e.g., NCR-MT) can monitor DCI format X_Y by setting it to a dedicated search space USS and / or a common search space CSS. For example, if DCI format X_Y is unicast or dedicated, it can be set to USS to monitor the DCI format, and the RNTI for CRC scrambling is, for example, the first C-RNTI, or NCR-RNTI, or the second C-RNTI, or the second MCS-C-RNTI. If DCI format X_Y is group common, it can be set to CSS to monitor the DCI format, and the CSS is, for example, the Type3-PDCCH CSS set, and the RNTI for CRC scrambling is, for example, SFI-RNTI, or NCR-RNTI, or the second C-RNTI, or the second MCS-C-RNTI.

[0149] For example, the DCI may include one or more first information fields, each of which may include a time domain resource allocation information field. A TDRA information field may indicate one row of TDRA configurations by a row index. A time domain resource allocation (TDRA) table (or simply referred to as a TDRA table) may include at least one row. Hereinafter, for convenience, one row will be referred to as one TDRA configuration, i.e., a TDRA table may include at least one TDRA configuration. A TDRA configuration may include at least one time domain resource configuration, which may include at least a symbol position (starting symbol + length) configuration in a slot. Optionally, a TDRA configuration may further include at least one slot offset K0 configuration. A TDRA configuration may or may not further include other information (e.g., a mapping type). However, embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto. Wherein, the symbol position setting in the slot includes, for example, a start and length indicator SLIV, where the SLIV corresponds to a valid combination of a starting symbol (S) and a length (L), or it corresponds, for example, to a starting symbol setting and a length setting, where the starting symbol setting and the length setting are a valid combination.

[0150] In some embodiments, the first time position for the first control information may be a slot, a last slot, or a last symbol in which a time domain resource or a physical channel (PDCCH / PDSCH) carrying the first control information is located, or the first time position may be a subframe, a slot, a last slot, or a last symbol in which the first control information or HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the physical channel (PDCCH / PDSCH) carrying the first control information is located. For example, when the first control information is DCI, the DCI is carried by a PDCCH, and the first time position may be a subframe, a slot, a last slot, or a last symbol in which the PDCCH carrying the DCI is located, or the first time position may be a subframe, a slot, a last slot, or a last symbol in which the DCI or HARQ-ACK feedback (in the PUCCH / PUSCH) corresponding to the PDCCH carrying the DCI is located. For example, the first control information may be a MAC CE, the MAC CE may be carried by a PDSCH, and the first time position may be a subframe or slot or the last slot or the last symbol in which HARQ-ACK feedback (in which PUCCH / PUSCH) corresponding to the PDSCH carrying the MAC CE is located.

[0151] In some embodiments, the second time position of the time domain resource indicated by the first information may be the subframe or slot in which the time domain resource indicated by the first information is located, or the first slot in which it is located, or the first symbol in which it is located.

[0152] In some embodiments, when the state of the forwarder upon receiving the first control information or the state of the forwarder before the time domain resource is specified by the first information is different from the state of the time domain resource specified by the first information, the state switching requires a certain transition time, which may further include the time for some other forwarder processing operations (e.g., beam switching) and / or the time required for receiving the first control information (decoding), etc. Therefore, the first interval between the first time position and the second time position of the time domain resource specified by the first information is not greater than or less than a first predetermined value or a second predetermined value. The first predetermined value is greater than the second predetermined value. Below, an example of transition from the third state or the second state to the first state will be described.

[0153] In some embodiments, the forwarding unit is in a third state when the mobile terminal receives the first control information, or the forwarding unit is in the third state before the time domain resource indicated by the first information and is in the first state at the time domain resource indicated by the first information, and the first interval is not greater than or less than the first predetermined value.

[0154] For example, the first predetermined value includes the time required for switching the forwarding unit from the third state to the first state, wherein the time required for switching from the third state to the first state may or may not include the time required for beam switching, for example, when the first control information includes the second information, the time required for switching from the third state to the first state includes the time required for beam switching, and when the first control information does not include the second information, the time required for switching from the third state to the first state does not include the time required for beam switching, and optionally, the first predetermined value may further include or not include the time required for the mobile terminal to receive the first control information.

[0155] Alternatively, for example, the first predetermined value may include the time required for the forwarding unit to switch from the third state to the second state, and optionally, the first predetermined value may or may not further include the time required for the mobile terminal to receive the first control information.

[0156] Alternatively, for example, the first predetermined value may include a time required for the transmission unit to switch from the third state to the second state and a time required for switching from the second state to the first state, wherein the time required for switching from the second state to the first state may or may not include a time required for beam switching, for example, when the first control information includes the second information, the time required for switching from the second state to the first state includes the time required for beam switching, and when the first control information does not include the second information, the time required for switching from the second state to the first state does not include the time required for beam switching. Optionally, the first predetermined value may further include or not include a time required for the mobile terminal to receive the first control information.

[0157] Alternatively, for example, the first predetermined value may include a time required for the forwarding unit to switch from the third state to the second state and a time required for beam switching. Optionally, the first predetermined value may or may not further include a time required for the mobile terminal to receive the first control information.

[0158] In some embodiments, the transfer unit is in the second state upon receipt of the first control information, or the transfer unit is in the second state before the time domain resource indicated by the first information and is in the first state at the indicated time domain resource, and the first interval is not greater than or less than a second predetermined value.

[0159] For example, the second predetermined value includes a time required for switching the transmission unit from the second state to the first state, wherein the time required for switching from the second state to the first state may or may not include a time required for beam switching, for example, when the first control information includes the second information, the time required for switching from the second state to the first state includes the time required for beam switching, and when the first control information does not include the second information, the time required for switching from the second state to the first state does not include the time required for beam switching. Optionally, the second predetermined value may further include or not include a time required for the mobile terminal to receive the first control information.

[0160] Alternatively, for example, the second predetermined value may include a time required for beam switching. Optionally, the second predetermined value may further include or not include a time required for the mobile terminal to receive the first control information.

[0161] Although the above description has been given taking the transition from the third state or the second state to the first state as an example, the implementation manner of the transition of the forwarder from the first state to the third state and from the first state to the second state is similar. Furthermore, when the forwarder switches from the second state to the third state or from the third state to the second state, for example, the forwarding unit is in the third state upon receiving the first control information, or the forwarding unit is in the third state before the time domain resource indicated by the first information and is in the second state during the indicated time domain resource, and the first interval is not greater than or less than a fifth predetermined value. For example, the fifth predetermined value includes the time required for switching from the third state to the second state, and optionally, the fifth predetermined value may further include or not include the time required for the mobile terminal to receive the first control information.

[0162] Above, we have explained the implementation method of the first interval using state switching as an example. Below, we will explain the implementation method of the first interval (hereinafter referred to as the second interval) using the example of whether the first control information includes second information.

[0163] In some embodiments, a second interval between a third time position of the first control information and a fourth time position of the time domain resource indicated by the first information is not greater than or less than a third predetermined value or a fourth predetermined value, and the third predetermined value is greater than the fourth predetermined value. The third time position may refer to the first time position and the fourth time position may refer to the second time position, and detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted herein.

[0164] In some embodiments, the first control information includes second information for directing one or more access link beams, and the second spacing is not greater than or less than the third predetermined value.

[0165] For example, the third predetermined value includes the time required for the forwarding unit to switch from the third state to the first state, wherein the time required for switching from the third state to the first state includes the time required for beam switching, and optionally, the third predetermined value may or may not further include the time required for the mobile terminal to receive the first control information.

[0166] Alternatively, for example, the third predetermined value may include a time required for the transmission unit to switch from the third state to the second state and a time required for the transmission unit to switch from the second state to the first state, where the time required for the switching from the second state to the first state includes a time required for beam switching. Optionally, the third predetermined value may or may not further include a time required for the mobile terminal to receive the first control information.

[0167] Alternatively, for example, the third predetermined value may include a time required for the forwarding unit to switch from the third state to the second state and a time required for beam switching. Optionally, the third predetermined value may further include or not include a time required for the mobile terminal to receive the first control information. Alternatively, for example, the third predetermined value may include a time required for the forwarding unit to switch from the second state to the first state, in which the time required for the switch from the second state to the first state includes a time required for beam switching, and optionally, the third predetermined value may further include or not include a time required for the mobile terminal to receive the first control information.

[0168] Alternatively, for example, the third predetermined value may include a time required for beam switching. Optionally, the third predetermined value may further include or not include a time required for the mobile terminal to receive the first control information.

[0169] In some embodiments, the first control information does not include second information for instructing one or more access link beams, and the second spacing is not greater than or less than the fourth predetermined value.

[0170] For example, the fourth predetermined value includes the time required for the forwarding unit to switch from the third state to the first state, wherein the time required for switching from the third state to the first state does not include the time required for beam switching, and optionally, the fourth predetermined value may or may not further include the time required for the mobile terminal to receive the first control information.

[0171] Alternatively, for example, the fourth predetermined value may include the time required for the forwarding unit to switch from the third state to the second state, and optionally, the fourth predetermined value may or may not further include the time required for the mobile terminal to receive the first control information.

[0172] Alternatively, for example, the fourth predetermined value may include a time required for the transmission unit to switch from the third state to the second state and a time required for the transmission unit to switch from the second state to the first state, where the time required for the switching from the second state to the first state does not include a time required for beam switching. Optionally, the fourth predetermined value may further include or not include a time required for the mobile terminal to receive the first control information.

[0173] Alternatively, for example, the fourth predetermined value may include a time required for the transmission unit to switch from the second state to the first state, where the time required for the switching from the second state to the first state does not include a time required for beam switching. Optionally, the fourth predetermined value may further include or not include a time required for the mobile terminal to receive the first control information.

[0174] Alternatively, for example, the fourth predetermined value may include a time required for beam switching. Optionally, the fourth predetermined value may or may not further include a time required for the mobile terminal to receive the first control information.

[0175] In each of the above examples, whether each predetermined value includes the time required for the mobile terminal to receive the first control information may be determined based on whether or not a HARQ-ACK is fed back for the first control information.

[0176] For example, when feeding back, if the first (third) time position is based on the position of the HARQ-ACK (e.g., the slot where the HARQ-ACK information corresponding to DCI or MAC CE is located or the last slot or the last symbol), each predetermined value does not need to include the time required for the mobile terminal to receive the first control information; and if the first (third) time position is based on the first control information (the slot where the PDCCH carrying DCI is located or the last slot or the last symbol), each predetermined value needs to include the time required for the mobile terminal to receive the first control information.

[0177] For example, when no feedback is provided, if the first (third) time position is based on the first control information (the slot in which the PDCCH carrying the DCI is located or the last slot or the last symbol), each predetermined value must include the time required for the mobile terminal to receive the first control information.

[0178] The following describes how to determine whether to feed back HARQ-ACK information.

[0179] In some embodiments, the mobile terminal of the forwarder may or may not transmit HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the first control information.

[0180] In some embodiments, whether the mobile terminal transmits HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the first control information is related to the capability and / or higher layer parameter configuration of the forwarder, or whether HARQ-ACK feedback for the first control information is supported is related to the capability and / or higher layer parameter configuration of the forwarder, for example, the first control information may be DCI.

[0181] For example, regarding capabilities, suppose the first control information is DCI (DCI format X_Y), and the NCR reports to the base station whether or not it supports HARQ-ACK feedback for DCI format X_Y. If it reports support, the NCR transmits corresponding HARQ-ACK information (ACK) to the base station after receiving DCI format X_Y; otherwise, the NCR does not transmit corresponding HARQ-ACK information (ACK) to the base station after receiving DCI format X_Y. In some cases, the NCR tacitly accepts non-support, so the NCR reports to the base station that it supports HARQ-ACK feedback for DCI format X_Y only if it supports it, and does not need to report it otherwise.

[0182] For example, this relates to the configuration of higher layer parameters. Assume that the first control information is DCI (DCI format X_Y), the higher layer parameter is an information field of RRC signaling, and the information field is used (directly or indirectly) to configure whether the NCR will perform HARQ-ACK feedback for DCI format X_Y. If HARQ-ACK feedback is configured for DCI format X_Y, the NCR transmits corresponding HARQ-ACK information (ACK) to the base station after receiving DCI format X_Y; otherwise, the NCR does not transmit corresponding HARQ-ACK information (ACK) to the base station after receiving DCI format X_Y. For example, the higher layer parameter may be a 1-bit information element, and when the bit value is set to 1 by the higher layer parameter (e.g., carried by RRC), HARQ-ACK feedback for the first control information is transmitted, and when the bit value is set to 0 by the higher layer parameter (e.g., carried by RRC), HARQ-ACK feedback for the first control information is not transmitted. Generally, as described above, the NCR capability does not support HARQ-ACK feedback, so the higher layer parameters should not be configured to provide HARQ-ACK feedback for DCI format X_Y.

[0183] In some embodiments, the mobile terminal of the forwarder transmits HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the first control information, and the start position of the time domain resource indicated by the first information is after (to ensure reliability) or before (to reduce delay) or is the same as the end position of the time domain resource for transmitting the HARQ-ACK information, where the time domain position for transmitting the HARQ-ACK information may be predefined or indicated by a network device, and the network device may set the start position of the time domain resource indicated by the first information taking delay and reliability into consideration.

[0184] In some embodiments, the mobile terminal of the forwarder transmits HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the first control information, and the location of the time domain resource indicated by the first information is unrelated to the location of the time domain resource for transmitting the HARQ-ACK information, or the location of the time domain resource indicated by the first information is not restricted by the location of the time domain resource for transmitting the HARQ-ACK information, or the network device does not need to consider the location of the time domain resource for transmitting the HARQ-ACK information when setting the location of the time domain resource indicated by the first information. For example, after receiving the above-mentioned first control information or the PDCCH / PDSCH for carrying the first control information, the NCR transmits corresponding HARQ-ACK information, and the first (third) time position for the first control information is the slot or the last slot or the last symbol in which the time domain resource or physical channel (PDCCH / PDSCH) carrying the first control information is located. For example, when the first control information is DCI, the DCI is carried by a PDCCH, and the first (third) time position may be the subframe or slot or the last slot or the last symbol in which the PDCCH carrying the DCI is located. Therefore, the position of the time domain resource for transmitting HARQ-ACK information and the position of the time domain resource indicated by the first information in the first control information do not have a sequential restriction relationship. In other words, the position of the time domain resource indicated by the first information in the first control information is not restricted by the position of the time domain resource for transmitting the HARQ-ACK information, and vice versa.

[0185] The above-described embodiments are provided to exemplify the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. Appropriate modifications can be made based on the above-described embodiments. For example, each of the above-described embodiments can be used alone, or two or more of the above-described embodiments can be used in combination.

[0186] According to an embodiment of the present invention, by controlling the opening and closing of the forwarder using the first control information, the time domain resource corresponding to the open state of the forwarder is consistent with the time domain resource of data transmission between the network device and the terminal device, thereby saving the power consumption of the forwarder, reducing interference to other devices in the network, and improving network throughput.

[0187] <Example of the second aspect> In an embodiment of the present invention, a forwarder is provided, which may be, for example, the NCR described above, a network device or terminal device having a forwarding function, or one or more components or assemblies provided in the NCR, the network device or the terminal device.

[0188] 5 is a diagram illustrating a transmitter according to an embodiment of the present invention. The principle by which the transmitter solves the problem is the same as the method according to the embodiment of the first aspect, so that specific implementations can refer to the embodiment of the first aspect, and redundant explanations of the same content will be omitted here.

[0189] As shown in FIG. 5, the forwarder 500 includes: A receiving unit 501 receives first control information at a mobile terminal of the forwarder, the first control information including at least first information for indicating a time domain resource, and a forwarding unit of the forwarder is in a first state, a second state, or a third state at the time domain resource indicated by the first information.

[0190] For the implementation methods of the first state, second state, and third state, reference can be made to the embodiments of the first aspect, and for the implementation method of the first control information, reference can be made to the embodiments of the first aspect, and detailed explanations thereof will be omitted here.

[0191] 5 shows only the connection relationships or signal directions between each component or module for convenience, but as will be understood by those skilled in the art, various related technologies such as bus connection may be adopted. Each of the above-mentioned components or modules may be realized by hardware such as a processor, memory, transmitter, receiver, etc., and the implementation of the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0192] The above-described embodiments are provided to exemplify the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. Appropriate modifications can be made based on the above-described embodiments. For example, each of the above-described embodiments can be used alone, or two or more of the above-described embodiments can be used in combination.

[0193] According to an embodiment of the present invention, by controlling the opening and closing of the forwarder using the first control information, the time domain resource corresponding to the open state of the forwarder is consistent with the time domain resource of data transmission between the network device and the terminal device, thereby saving the power consumption of the forwarder, reducing interference to other devices in the network, and improving network throughput.

[0194] <Example of the third aspect> In the embodiment of the present invention, an information instruction method is provided, and will be explained from the network device side. Note that the description of the same content as in the embodiment of the first aspect will be omitted here.

[0195] 6 is a diagram illustrating an information indication method according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 6, the method includes the following operations (steps): 601: The network equipment sends first control information to the forwarder, where the first control information includes at least first information for indicating a time domain resource; and / or sends or does not send second control information, where the second control information is used to instruct the forwarding unit to forward a signal on the time domain resource.

[0196] Regarding the implementation manner of the first control information and the second control information, reference can be made to the embodiment of the first aspect, and detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

[0197] Note that, although the above-mentioned FIG. 6 is used to exemplify an embodiment of the present invention, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the execution order of each operation may be appropriately adjusted, or some operations may be added or removed. Those skilled in the art may make appropriate modifications based on the above content without being limited to the description of the above-mentioned FIG. 6.

[0198] The above describes only the steps or processes related to the present invention, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The method in the embodiments of the present invention may further include other steps or processes, and the specific contents of these steps or processes can be found in the related art.

[0199] Furthermore, although the above-described embodiments are provided to exemplify the present invention, the present invention is not limited to these, and appropriate modifications can be made based on the above-described embodiments. For example, each of the above-described embodiments may be used alone, or two or more of the above-described embodiments may be used in combination.

[0200] According to an embodiment of the present invention, by controlling the opening and closing of the forwarder using the first control information, the time domain resource corresponding to the open state of the forwarder is consistent with the time domain resource of data transmission between the network device and the terminal device, thereby saving the power consumption of the forwarder, reducing interference to other devices in the network, and improving network throughput.

[0201] <Example of the fourth aspect> An embodiment of the present invention provides a network device.

[0202] 7 is a diagram illustrating a network device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The principle by which the network device solves the problem is the same as the method according to the third embodiment, so that specific implementations can refer to the third embodiment, and redundant explanations of the same content will be omitted here.

[0203] As shown in FIG. 7, a network device 700 in an embodiment of the present invention includes: A transmitting unit 701: transmits first control information to a forwarder, the first control information including at least first information for indicating a time domain resource; and / or transmits or does not transmit second control information, the second control information being used to instruct the forwarding unit to forward a signal on the time domain resource.

[0204] Regarding the implementation manner of the first control information and the second control information, reference can be made to the embodiment of the first aspect, and detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

[0205] Although only the components or modules related to the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited thereto. The network device 700 in the embodiment of the present invention may further include other components or modules, and reference can be made to the related art for details of these components or modules.

[0206] 7 shows only the connection relationships or signal directions between each component or module, but as will be understood by those skilled in the art, various related technologies such as bus connection may be adopted. Each of the above-described components or modules may be realized by hardware such as a processor, memory, transmitter, or receiver, and the present invention is not limited to these.

[0207] Furthermore, although the above-described embodiments are provided to exemplify the present invention, the present invention is not limited to these, and appropriate modifications can be made based on the above-described embodiments. For example, each of the above-described embodiments may be used alone, or two or more of the above-described embodiments may be used in combination.

[0208] According to an embodiment of the present invention, by controlling the opening and closing of the forwarder using the first control information, the time domain resource corresponding to the open state of the forwarder is consistent with the time domain resource of data transmission between the network device and the terminal device, thereby saving the power consumption of the forwarder, reducing interference to other devices in the network, and improving network throughput.

[0209] <Example of the fifth aspect> In an embodiment of the present invention, a communication system is provided, and Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating the communication system in the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 1, the communication system includes a network device 101, a forwarder 102, and a terminal device 103. For convenience, Fig. 1 illustrates one network device, one forwarder, and two terminal devices, but the embodiment of the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0210] In an embodiment of the present invention, existing services (traffic / services) or future services can be transmitted between the network device 101 and the terminal device 103. For example, these services may include, but are not limited to, eMBB, mMTC, URLLC, V2X communication, etc. The forwarder 102 is configured to execute the information indicating method described in the embodiment of the first aspect, and the network device 101 is configured to execute the information indicating method described in the embodiment of the third aspect, the contents of which are incorporated herein and will not be described in detail herein.

[0211] An embodiment of the present invention further provides an electronic device, which may be, for example, a transporter or a network device.

[0212] 8 is a diagram showing the configuration of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 8, the electronic device 800 may include a processor 810 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU)) and a memory 820, which is connected to the processor 810. The memory 820 can store various data and can also store a program 830 for information processing, and can execute the program 830 under the control of the processor 810.

[0213] For example, the processor 810 may be configured to execute a program to implement the information indication method described in the embodiment of the first aspect.

[0214] Also, for example, the processor 810 may be configured to execute a program to implement the information indication method described in the embodiment of the third aspect.

[0215] 8, the electronic device 800 further includes a transceiver 840, an antenna 850, etc., among which the functions of the above-mentioned components are the same as those of the prior art, and detailed description thereof will be omitted here. Note that the electronic device 800 does not need to include all the components shown in FIG. 8. The electronic device 800 may also include components not shown in FIG. 8, and reference can be made to the prior art for such components.

[0216] In a further embodiment of the present invention, a computer-readable program is provided, which, when executed by a transmitter, causes a computer to perform the information indication method described in the embodiment of the first aspect on the transmitter.

[0217] An embodiment of the present invention further provides a storage medium storing a computer-readable program, wherein the computer-readable program causes a computer to perform the information indicating method described in the embodiment of the first aspect in a transmitter.

[0218] In a further embodiment of the present invention, a computer-readable program is provided, which, when executed on a network device, causes a computer to execute the information indication method described in the embodiment of the third aspect on the network device.

[0219] An embodiment of the present invention further provides a storage medium storing a computer-readable program, wherein the computer-readable program causes a computer to execute the information indication method described in the embodiment of the third aspect in a network device.

[0220] Furthermore, the above-mentioned devices, methods, etc. may be realized by software or hardware, or by a combination of hardware and software. The present invention also relates to a computer-readable program as described below, which, when executed by a logic component, causes the logic component to realize the above-mentioned devices or components, or to perform each of the above-mentioned methods or steps. The logic component may be, for example, an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), a microprocessor, or a processing unit used in a computer. The present invention also relates to a storage medium, such as a hard disk, magnetic disk, optical hard disk, DVD, or flash memory, that stores the above-mentioned program.

[0221] Furthermore, one or more combinations of the functional blocks illustrated in the figures and / or one or more combinations of the functional blocks may be implemented as a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic component, a discrete gate or transistor logic component, a discrete hardware assembly, or any other suitable combination for performing the functions described herein. Also, one or more combinations of the functional blocks illustrated in the figures and / or one or more combinations of the functional blocks may be further implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors communicatively coupled with a DSP, or any other configuration.

[0222] Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and any modifications to the present invention that do not depart from the spirit of the present invention fall within the technical scope of the present invention.

[0223] Furthermore, with respect to the above-mentioned embodiments, the following supplementary notes are further disclosed.

[0224] (Appendix 1) 1. An information indication method applied to a forwarder, said method comprising: The mobile terminal of the forwarder receives first control information; the first control information includes at least first information for indicating a time domain resource; The forwarding unit of the forwarder is in a first state, a second state, or a third state in the time domain resource indicated by the first information.

[0225] (Appendix 2) 2. The method of claim 1, comprising: The transfer unit being in a first state on a time domain resource indicated by the first information includes the transfer unit transferring a signal on the time domain resource; The transfer unit being in the second state on the time domain resource indicated by the first information includes: the transfer unit being in a standby state on the time domain resource, or the transfer unit stopping transfer of signals on the time domain resource, or the transfer unit not transferring signals on the time domain resource, or the transfer unit having the ability to transfer signals on the time domain resource; The transfer unit being in a third state on the time domain resource indicated by the first information includes the transfer unit being in a shutdown state on the time domain resource, or the transfer unit stopping transfer of signals on the time domain resource, or the transfer unit not transferring signals on the time domain resource, or the transfer unit having the capability to transfer signals on the time domain resource, or the transfer unit not having the capability to transfer signals on the time domain resource.

[0226] (Appendix 3) 10. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The first information indicates that the transmission unit is in a third state in the time domain resource, and the mobile terminal does not receive some or all downlink signals and / or does not transmit some or all uplink signals in the time domain resource.

[0227] (Appendix 4) 4. The method of any one of claims 1 to 3, comprising: The first information indicates that the transfer unit is in a third state on the time domain resource, and the mobile terminal does not monitor a DCI format for indicating that the transfer unit transfers a signal on the time domain resource, or the mobile terminal does not expect to receive second control information instructing that the transfer unit transfers a signal on the time domain resource, or the mobile terminal does not expect to receive second control information instructing that the transfer unit transfers a signal on the time domain resource.

[0228] (Appendix 5) 4. The method of any one of claims 1 to 3, comprising: The first information indicates that the transfer unit is in a second state or a third state on the time domain resource, and the mobile terminal monitors a DCI format for instructing the transfer unit to transfer a signal on the time domain resource, or the mobile terminal receives second control information on the time domain resource instructing the transfer unit to transfer a signal on the time domain resource, or the mobile terminal receives second control information after receiving the first control information instructing the transfer unit to transfer a signal on the time domain resource.

[0229] (Appendix 6) 6. The method of any one of claims 1 to 5, comprising: The first information is carried by one or more first information fields.

[0230] (Appendix 7) 6. The method of any one of claims 1 to 5, comprising: The first information explicitly indicates that the transfer unit is in a first state, a second state, or a third state in the time domain resource.

[0231] (Appendix 8) 8. The method of claim 7, The first control information does not include second information for instructing one or more access link beams.

[0232] (Appendix 9) 9. The method of claim 8, The second information is carried by one or more second information fields.

[0233] (Appendix 10) 10. The method of any one of appendices 7 to 9, comprising: The first information explicitly indicates that the transfer unit is in a first state, a second state, or a third state in the time domain resource, meaning that the first information is used only to indicate that the transfer unit is in a first state, a second state, or a third state in the time domain resource.

[0234] (Appendix 11) 8. The method of claim 7, The first control information further includes third information for indicating the first state, the second state, or the third state.

[0235] (Appendix 12) 11. The method of claim 10, The working frequency band of the transmitter is in FR1.

[0236] (Appendix 13) 6. The method of any one of claims 1 to 5, comprising: The first information implicitly indicates that the transfer unit is in a first state, a second state, or a third state in the time domain resource.

[0237] (Appendix 14) 14. The method of claim 13, The first control information further includes second information for instructing one or more access link beams.

[0238] (Appendix 15) 15. The method of claim 14, The second information is carried by one or more second information fields.

[0239] (Appendix 16) 14. The method of claim 13, The first information is further used to indicate time domain resources corresponding to one or more access link beams indicated by the second information.

[0240] (Appendix 17) 14. The method of claim 13, The working frequency band of the transmitter is in FR2.

[0241] (Appendix 18) 18. The method of any one of claims 1 to 17, comprising: Whether the first control information includes second information for instructing an access link beam is related to the working frequency band and / or capabilities and / or upper layer parameter settings of the transmission unit.

[0242] (Appendix 19) 19. The method of any one of claims 1 to 18, comprising: The first control information includes DCI and / or RRC signaling and / or MAC CE.

[0243] (Appendix 20) 20. The method of any one of claims 1 to 19, comprising: A first interval between a first time position related to the first control information and a second time position of a time domain resource indicated by the first information is not greater than or less than a first predetermined value or a second predetermined value.

[0244] (Appendix 21) 21. The method of claim 20, The first predetermined value is greater than the second predetermined value.

[0245] (Appendix 22) 22. The method according to claim 20 or 21, The first predetermined value includes the time required for switching the transfer unit from the third state to the second state or the first state, or the first predetermined value includes the time required for switching the transfer unit from the third state to the second state and the time required for switching from the second state to the first state, or the first predetermined value includes the time required for switching the transfer unit from the third state to the second state and the time required for beam switching.

[0246] (Appendix 23) 22. The method according to claim 20 or 21, The second predetermined value includes a time required for switching the transfer unit from the second state to the first state, or the second predetermined value includes a time required for beam switching.

[0247] (Appendix 24) 23. The method of claim 22, The time required to switch from the third state to the first state may or may not include the time required to switch beams.

[0248] (Appendix 25) 24. The method according to claim 22 or 23, The time required to switch from the second state to the first state may or may not include the time required to switch beams.

[0249] (Appendix 26) 26. The method of any one of claims 20 to 25, comprising: The first predetermined value and / or the second predetermined value may or may not include the time required for the mobile terminal to receive the first control information.

[0250] (Appendix 27) 27. The method of any one of claims 20 to 26, comprising: The transfer unit is in a third state when the mobile terminal receives the first control information, or the transfer unit is in the third state before the time domain resource indicated by the first information and is in the first state at the time domain resource indicated by the first information, and the first interval is not greater than or less than the first predetermined value.

[0251] (Appendix 28) 28. The method of claim 27, The transfer unit is in a second state when receiving the first control information, or the transfer unit is in the second state before the time domain resource indicated by the first information and is in the first state at the indicated time domain resource, and the first interval is not greater than or less than a second predetermined value.

[0252] (Appendix 29) 20. The method of any one of claims 1 to 19, comprising: A second interval between a third time position related to the first control information and a fourth time position of the time domain resource indicated by the first information is not greater than or less than a third predetermined value or a fourth predetermined value.

[0253] (Appendix 30) 29. The method of claim 29, The third predetermined value is greater than the fourth predetermined value.

[0254] (Appendix 31) 31. The method according to claim 29 or 30, The first control information includes second information for instructing one or more access link beams, and the second spacing is not greater than or less than the third predetermined value.

[0255] (Appendix 32) 31. The method according to claim 29 or 30, The first control information does not include second information for instructing one or more access link beams, and the second interval is not greater than or less than the fourth predetermined value.

[0256] (Appendix 33) 33. The method of any one of claims 1 to 32, further comprising: The mobile terminal of the forwarder transmits HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the first control information; The start position of the time domain resource indicated by the first information is after, before, or the same as the end position of the time domain resource for transmitting the HARQ-ACK information.

[0257] (Appendix 34) 34. The method of any one of claims 1 to 33, comprising: The forwarder transmits HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the first control information, and the location of the time domain resource indicated by the first information is unrelated to the location of the time domain resource for transmitting the HARQ-ACK information.

[0258] (Appendix 35) 1. An information indication method applied to a network device, the method comprising: The network device sends first control information to the forwarder, the first control information including at least first information for indicating time domain resources; and / or The method includes transmitting or not transmitting second control information, the second control information being used to instruct the transmission unit to transmit a signal on the time domain resource.

[0259] (Appendix 36) a transporter, a memory and a processor; The storage device stores a computer program, The processor is configured to execute the computer program to implement the information indication method described in any one of Supplementary Notes 1 to 34.

[0260] (Appendix 37) A network device, a memory and a processor; The storage device stores a computer program, The processor is configured to execute the computer program to implement the information indication method described in Appendix 35.

Claims

1. a transporter, a receiving unit for receiving first control information at the mobile terminal of the forwarder; the first control information includes at least first information for indicating a time domain resource; A forwarder, wherein a forwarding unit of the forwarder is in a first state, a second state, or a third state in a time domain resource indicated by the first information.

2. 2. The transfer device of claim 1, The transfer unit being in a first state on a time domain resource indicated by the first information includes the transfer unit transferring a signal on the time domain resource; The transfer unit being in the second state on the time domain resource indicated by the first information includes: the transfer unit being in a standby state on the time domain resource, or the transfer unit stopping the transfer of signals on the time domain resource, or the transfer unit not transferring signals on the time domain resource, or the transfer unit having the ability to transfer signals on the time domain resource; A forwarder, wherein the forwarding unit being in a third state on the time domain resource indicated by the first information includes the forwarding unit being in a shutdown state on the time domain resource, or the forwarding unit stopping forwarding of signals on the time domain resource, or the forwarding unit not forwarding signals on the time domain resource, or the forwarding unit having the ability to forward signals on the time domain resource, or the forwarding unit not having the ability to forward signals on the time domain resource.

3. 2. The transfer device of claim 1, The first information indicates that the transfer unit is in a third state on the time domain resource, and the mobile terminal does not monitor a DCI format for instructing the transfer unit to transfer a signal on the time domain resource, or the mobile terminal does not expect to receive second control information instructing the transfer unit to transfer a signal on the time domain resource, or the mobile terminal does not expect to receive second control information instructing the transfer unit to transfer a signal on the time domain resource.

4. 2. The transfer device of claim 1, The first information indicates that the transfer unit is in a second state or a third state on the time domain resource, and the mobile terminal monitors a DCI format for instructing the transfer unit to transfer a signal on the time domain resource, or the mobile terminal receives second control information on the time domain resource instructing the transfer unit to transfer a signal on the time domain resource, or the mobile terminal receives second control information instructing the transfer unit to transfer a signal on the time domain resource after receiving the first control information.

5. 2. The transfer device of claim 1, The first information explicitly indicates that the transfer unit is in a first state, a second state, or a third state in the time domain resource.

6. 6. The transfer device of claim 5, A forwarder, wherein the first control information does not include second information for instructing one or more access link beams.

7. 6. The transfer device of claim 5, The first information explicitly indicates that the transfer unit is in a first state, a second state, or a third state in the time domain resource, indicating that the first information is only used to indicate that the transfer unit is in a first state, a second state, or a third state in the time domain resource, a transferor.

8. 7. The transfer device of claim 6, The working frequency band of the transmitter is in FR1.

9. 2. The transfer device of claim 1, The first information implicitly indicates that the transfer unit is in a first state, a second state, or a third state in the time domain resource.

10. 10. The transfer device of claim 9, A forwarder, wherein the first control information further includes second information for directing one or more access link beams.

11. 10. The transfer device of claim 9, The first information is further used to indicate time domain resources corresponding to one or more access link beams indicated by the second information, the forwarder.

12. 10. The transfer device of claim 9, The working frequency band of said transmitter is in FR2.

13. 2. The transfer device of claim 1, A transmitter, wherein a first interval between a first time position related to the first control information and a second time position of a time domain resource indicated by the first information is not greater than or less than a first predetermined value or a second predetermined value.

14. 14. The transfer device of claim 13, The first predetermined value is greater than the second predetermined value.

15. 14. The transfer device of claim 13, A transmitter, wherein the first predetermined value includes the time required for the transfer unit to switch from the third state to the second state or the first state, or the first predetermined value includes the time required for the transfer unit to switch from the third state to the second state and the time required for switching from the second state to the first state, or the first predetermined value includes the time required for the transfer unit to switch from the third state to the second state and the time required for beam switching.

16. 14. The transfer device of claim 13, The second predetermined value comprises a time required for switching a transfer unit from the second state to the first state, or the second predetermined value comprises a time required for beam switching.

17. 2. The transfer device of claim 1, The transfer device further comprises: The transmitter includes a feedback unit, which transmits HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the first control information to a mobile terminal of the transmitter, and the start position of a time domain resource indicated by the first information is after, before, or the same as the end position of the time domain resource for transmitting the HARQ-ACK information.

18. 2. The transfer device of claim 1, The transmitter transmits HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the first control information, and the location of the time domain resource indicated by the first information is unrelated to the location of the time domain resource for transmitting the HARQ-ACK information.

19. A network device, A network device comprising a transmitting unit, which transmits first control information to a forwarder, the first control information including at least first information for instructing a time domain resource; and / or transmits or does not transmit second control information, the second control information being used to instruct the forwarding unit to forward a signal on the time domain resource.

20. A communication system comprising a forwarder according to claim 1 and / or a network device according to claim 19.

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