Network node control method, device and computer-readable storage medium

Abstract

A method, an apparatus, and a computer-readable storage medium for controlling a network node are provided, the method for controlling a network node comprising the steps of: receiving (S1) signaling transmitted from a base station, the signaling being used to indicate an operation mode and / or a phase state of a network node; and adjusting (S2) the operation mode and / or the phase state of the network node according to the signaling.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] This application is filed based on a Chinese patent application bearing application number 202110620564.5 and filing date on June 3, 2021, and claims priority to the Chinese patent application, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] The present application relates to the technical field of reflective intelligent surfaces, and in particular to a method, apparatus and computer-readable storage medium for controlling a network node. [Background technology]

[0003] In the application of 5G New Radio (NR), the problem of wireless spectrum shortage can be solved by transmitting signals in the millimeter wave spectrum. However, the propagation loss of millimeter wave frequencies is large, signals are easily blocked, and communication between terminals and base stations is greatly affected by the environment.

[0004] In order to solve the signal coverage problem of millimeter wave spectrum communication, the industry has introduced Reflecting Intelligent Surface (RIS) (also known as Intelligent Reflecting Surface (IRS)) technology to enhance the coverage of millimeter wave signals. However, the control of RIS in communication networks still uses traditional communication protocols and control methods, which cannot effectively control RIS and will affect the network performance and coverage to a certain extent. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The following is a summary of the subject matter described in detail herein, which is not intended to limit the scope of protection of the claims.

[0006] The embodiments of the present application provide a method, an apparatus, and a computer-readable storage medium for controlling a network node. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a network node control method applied to a network node, the control method including: receiving signaling transmitted from a base station, the signaling being used to indicate an operation mode and / or a phase state of the network node; and adjusting the operation mode and / or the phase state of the network node in response to the signaling.

[0008] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for controlling a network node, applied to a base station, the method comprising: determining an operation mode and / or a phase state of a network node; and transmitting signaling to the network node for indicating the operation mode and / or the phase state of the network node.

[0009] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a control device for a network node, the control device including at least one processor and a memory communicatively connected to the at least one processor, the memory storing instructions executable by the at least one processor, the instructions being executed by the at least one processor to cause the at least one processor to execute the method for controlling a network node according to the first aspect or the method for controlling a network node according to the second aspect.

[0010] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to execute the method for controlling a network node according to the first aspect or the method for controlling a network node according to the second aspect.

[0011] Additional features and advantages of the present application will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by the practice of the present application. The objectives and other advantages of the present application may be realized and obtained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description, claims and drawings.

[0012] The drawings are provided for further understanding of the technical solution of the present application, constitute a part of the specification, and are used to interpret the technical solution of the present application together with the examples of the present application, and do not limit the technical solution of the present application. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] 2 is a flowchart of an overall method of a network node side control method according to an embodiment of the present application; [Diagram 2] 4 is a flowchart of a control method in which a RIS is controlled based on a phase state according to an embodiment of the present application. [Diagram 3] 4 is a flowchart of a method for determining an operation mode according to a RIS-RNTI according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 4] 4 is a flowchart of a method for determining an operation mode according to a mode indication field according to an embodiment of the present application. [Diagram 5] 4 is a flowchart of a method for determining a narrow beam based on a wide beam according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 6] 2 is a flowchart of an overall method of a base station side control method according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 7] 2 is a flowchart of a method for controlling a RIS according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 8] 4 is a flowchart of a method for identifying an access object as a RIS device at a base station according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 9] 4 is a flowchart of a method for determining a bit length occupied by phase adjustment information based on a division strategy according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 10]4 is a flowchart of a method for determining phase adjustment information based on a bit length restriction according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 11] 1 is a flow chart of an overall method in an example of the present application. [Figure 12] 1 is a structural schematic diagram of a control device according to an embodiment of the present application; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] In order to more clearly understand the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the present application, the present application will be described in more detail below with reference to the drawings and examples. The specific examples described herein are only used to interpret the present application and are not intended to limit the present application.

[0015] When a new type of device accesses a base station, in order to better assist the base station to control the accessed new type of device, an embodiment of the present application provides a network node control method applied to the network node. As shown in Figure 1, the control method includes but is not limited to the following steps S1 and S2:

[0016] Step S1: Receive signaling sent from a base station, the signaling being used to indicate an operation mode and / or a phase state of a network node.

[0017] Step S2: Adjust the operation mode and / or phase state of the network node in response to the signaling.

[0018] The network node may be various types of equipment other than a user equipment UE, such as a reflective intelligent surface with phase adjustment function or other phase adjustment equipment, equipment that adjusts the operation mode according to signaling, etc.

[0019] Reflective intelligent surface (RIS) (also known as intelligent radio wave reflecting surface (IRS)) is a new concept introduced in the wireless communication industry, which uses a two-dimensional artificial surface made of electromagnetic materials such as metasurfaces to re-adjust the electromagnetic characteristics of the electromagnetic frequency signals incident on the surface, thereby greatly improving the performance of wireless communication networks and helping to solve the problems of hardware overhead and maintenance costs caused by the dense deployment of micro base stations and access points in 5G networks.

[0020] A large number of reflecting units are arranged on the surface of the RIS. These reflecting units form a plane, and each unit can independently induce amplitude and / or phase changes of the incident electromagnetic frequency signal. Therefore, from the perspective of beam reconstruction, the RIS may also be called a Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface. These reflecting units have special electromagnetic properties according to their structural parameters and may be controlled by a RIS controller in a software-defined manner. Through joint phase control of the RIS controller on the reflecting units, they jointly realize fine three-dimensional reflected beamforming. In particular, the reflected electromagnetic frequency signals may be coherently added to improve the received signal power or subtractively combined to reduce interference. By placing the RIS in the environment, such as painted on the walls of buildings and carried to a platform, the RIS can transform the wireless environment into an intelligent space capable of supporting information sensing, analog computing, and wireless communication.

[0021] At present, the control of RIS is limited by traditional communication protocols and control methods, and in some scenarios, it is difficult to achieve good cooperation with base stations, which causes certain difficulties in the popularization and application of RIS. In view of this, the embodiments of the present application propose a network node control method, device and computer-readable storage medium, which adds a first scrambling code dedicated to RIS device to the communication protocol, and performs scrambling and descrambling according to the first scrambling code, thereby ensuring better cooperation between RIS device and base station.

[0022] As shown in Fig. 2, an embodiment of the present application provides a network node control method applied to a reflective intelligent surface RIS. A plurality of reflective unit groups are arranged in the RIS, and the reflective unit group includes at least one reflective unit. The control method includes but is not limited to the following steps S100, S200 and S300.

[0023] Step S100: Receive signaling sent from a base station. The signaling includes downlink control information DCI for indicating a phase state of a reflector group. The DCI is scrambled by the base station with a scrambling code.

[0024] Step S200: Descramble the signaling by a scrambling code to obtain DCI.

[0025] Step S300: Adjust the phase state of the reflection unit group according to the DCI. Downlink control information (DCI) is information carried by a downlink control channel and transmitted from a base station to a terminal device, including resource allocation methods, retransmission requests, and power control. At different interaction stages between a base station and a terminal, different formats of DCI and corresponding downlink control channels can be used to ensure smooth communication between the base station and the terminal. In the scenario of using RIS, the RIS may function as a relay device or as a terminal device, and the two different access methods use different signaling mechanisms. When the RIS functions as a relay device, it uses a signaling architecture related to the conventional relay device, which does not contradict the signaling architecture of the user equipment (UE), and is not described in detail here. When the RIS functions as a terminal device, it uses a signaling architecture related to the UE, and there are often multiple UEs in the serving cell of the base station. At this time, the RIS is consistent with the access and interaction method between the UE and the base station, and the base station uses the signaling architecture related to the UE to control the RIS, which obviously cannot fully exert the function of the RIS. Therefore, how the RIS is identified by the communication network, and how the communication network controls the RIS and the content fed back from the RIS to the communication network are all problems to be solved.

[0026] In the embodiment of the present application, a scrambling code for a signaling architecture that controls the RIS is added to the communication protocol, so that when the base station delivers a DCI instruction, the base station distinguishes whether the DCI delivered from the base station is a DCI for a RIS device or a DCI for a normal UE by a scrambling code dedicated to the RIS. For example, the scrambling code is represented by a first scrambling code. When the RIS device accesses the serving cell of the base station, the base station and the RIS device determine to perform scrambling and descrambling using the first scrambling code by the initial random access preamble. At this time, when the base station wants to transmit signaling to the RIS device, it scrambles the downlink channel of the DCI using the first scrambling code and transmits the signaling. Since each UE in the serving cell does not have the first scrambling code, it cannot successfully descramble even if it receives the signaling. Meanwhile, when the RIS device receives the signaling, it can successfully obtain DCI by descrambling it using the first scrambling code, ensuring that the RIS can accurately identify the signaling transmitted from the base station without being interfered with by messages related to the UE.

[0027] The added scrambling code is not limited to the first scrambling code, but may further include the second scrambling code, the third scrambling code, etc. All of these scrambling codes are dedicated to the RIS device, and can only be descrambled by the same scrambling code in the RIS device. In the random access preamble stage, the RIS device and the base station only need to mutually determine the type of scrambling code to be used.

[0028] According to the existing DCI scrambling and descrambling method, a Radio Network Temporary Identity (RNTI) is used. Various RNTIs, such as SI-RNTI (for system messages), RA-RNTI (for random access response), and C-RNTI (for user services), are configured in the UE under the existing communication protocol according to different functions. Different RNTI types have different value ranges, and different RNTI types have certain mapping relationships with channels. The RNTI is used to scramble the control messages of the channel, thereby realizing functions such as system broadcasting, specific user scheduling, etc. Therefore, the scrambling code added in the embodiment of the present application may be realized by the RNTI, for example, RIS-RNTI1 (first scrambling code dedicated to RIS), RIS-RNTI2 (second scrambling code dedicated to RIS), and RIS-RNTI3 (third scrambling code dedicated to RIS), and the same applies below, and are collectively referred to as RIS-RNTI. Therefore, it can be seen that the RIS-RNTI is different from the range of values ​​of all RNTIs in the current communication protocol, and thus distinguishes between RIS devices and UE devices, and distinguishes between specific radio channels, etc.

[0029] In step S100, the base station may send signaling through a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) or a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). In this case, the RIS-RNTI has a mapping relationship with the PDCCH or PDSCH. For example, the PDCCH is scrambled by the RIS-RNTI to send a DCI indication to the RIS, and the RIS descrambles the PDCCH by the RIS-RNTI to recover the DCI and obtain the corresponding control command.

[0030] In short, the signaling received by the RIS is transmitted after the base station scrambles the corresponding channel by using a scrambling code. The RIS realizes descrambling based on the same scrambling code, and realizes that the RIS can smoothly access the serving cell as a terminal device. It should be noted that, although the above-mentioned uses a dedicated scrambling code to distinguish the RIS from the UE, some general-purpose scrambling codes can also be used to scramble the signaling for instructing the RIS, and there is no particular limitation here.

[0031] According to the scrambling code in step S100, the RIS device identifies the position of the DCI in the signaling by descrambling the corresponding channel. The DCI includes fields that control the reflection unit of the RIS according to the format currently used. By extracting these fields, it generates instructions to be executed by the RIS controller.

[0032] The RIS controller may control each reflecting unit or reflecting unit group on the RIS surface one by one according to the signaling. Currently used reflecting units have different structures and are generally digitally controllable two-dimensional metamaterials, for example, the reflecting unit may be a PIN diode, a field effect transistor, or a Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) switch, etc. Different types of reflecting units have different control methods for RIS control. For example, for a PIN diode, the switching of the switch state is controlled by setting a bias voltage, which corresponds to the switching of two phase states, thereby generating a phase shift difference and realizing the phase reconstruction of the electromagnetic frequency. Since the basic functions that need to be realized by the reflecting units are almost the same, we will not detail here which type of reflecting unit can perform what control, and those skilled in the art may set the corresponding control method according to the characteristics of the reflecting unit used.

[0033] As described above, the above steps can effectively descramble the signaling received by the RIS, thereby enabling better coordination between the base station and the RIS, enhancing the base station's signal coverage and network performance, and improving the cell reuse rate.

[0034] In some cases, the reflecting unit group of the RIS device supports different operation modes, so that the whole RIS device can be switched into different operation modes, such as reflection mode, transmission mode, active mode and passive mode. Taking the reflection mode as an example, in the reflection mode, the reflecting unit group reflects the incident electromagnetic frequency into a specified direction, and jointly generates another beam by adjusting the reflected electromagnetic frequency through a phase shift at the reflection surface. The selection of the operation mode can be realized by various methods, and two examples are described below.

[0035] As shown in FIG. 3, in the first example, the type of scrambling code determines the operation mode that the network node needs to use, that is, different types of scrambling codes have a one-to-one correspondence with different operation modes, and specifically includes the following steps S310 to S320.

[0036] Step S310: Determine the operation mode of the network node according to the scrambling code.

[0037] Step S320: In the operation mode, the phase state of the reflection unit group is controlled according to the DCI.

[0038] The above steps take the network node as an example of a RIS device, when the base station decides to use a first scrambling code for scrambling, the RIS device performs blind detection (Blind Decode) on the downlink channel (e.g., PDCCH) and determines that the first scrambling code is successfully used for descrambling, at which time the RIS device searches a correspondence table between scrambling code types and operation modes and finds that the first scrambling code corresponds to a first operation mode (e.g., reflection mode). In this case, the RIS controller sets the entire RIS device to the first operation mode, and performs phase state adjustment of individual reflection units or reflection unit groups according to DCI in the first operation mode.

[0039] The first operation mode is not inconsistent with the phase state adjustment performed by the reflection unit group. Take the reflection mode as an example, the reflection mode only indicates that the reflection unit group is in a reflection state, but does not indicate what phase shift angle the reflection unit group rotates, so that the phase state of the reflection unit group can still be adjusted according to the reflection mode to determine the waveform characteristic of the reflected beam.

[0040] As shown in Fig. 4, in the second example, the operation mode that the network node needs to use is determined by a specific field in the signaling, for example, a mode indication field is set in RRC (Radio Resource Control), MAC (medium access control) or DCI. At this time, the value of the mode indication field corresponds one-to-one with the operation mode. Specifically, the following steps S330 to S340 are included.

[0041] Step S330: Determine a mode indication field in the radio resource control (RRC), the media access control (MAC) or the downlink control information (DCI) according to the type of signaling.

[0042] Step S340: Determine the operation mode of the network node according to the mode indication field.

[0043] Taking the mode indication field in the DCI as an example, when the RIS device succeeds in descrambling by the scrambling code, each bit in the DCI can be identified. By determining the value of the bit corresponding to the mode indication field in the DCI and searching for the correspondence between the value and the operation mode, it is possible to determine in what operation mode the RIS device should operate. When the mode indication field in the DCI is set in a binary manner, if the RIS device has K operation modes, the bit length of the mode indication field is log2(K). For example, the RIS has four operation modes, which are the first to fourth operation modes, and the mode indication field is represented by two bits, which are 00, 01, 10, and 11, respectively. If it is determined that the value of the mode indication field is 00 after descrambling, it is determined that the operation mode that the RIS needs to use is the first operation mode. Similarly, the current operation mode does not contradict the phase state adjustment performed by the reflection unit group, and a duplicated description is omitted here.

[0044] Since the reflection units have different phase states, it is necessary to occupy a certain number of bits in the DCI to control the phase state of the reflection unit group by the control command. If the number of reflection units or reflection unit groups in the RIS is very large and the reflection units support multiple phase states, the bits occupied by the control command will be very large, and the signaling overhead will be very large. Take the reflection unit supporting two phase states as an example, if the RIS panel is composed of 64x64 reflection units and the bits are set in a binary manner, the total number of phase controls is 2 (64x64), obviously the signaling overhead is very large and affects the distribution of signaling. Therefore, in order to reduce the signaling overhead, a phase state control method is proposed below for step S300, which includes steps S350 to S380 as shown in FIG. 5.

[0045] Step S350: Obtain state information reported by a user terminal, where the state information includes location information and / or channel state information of the user terminal.

[0046] Step S360: Obtain first phase adjustment information for indicating the phase state of the reflection unit group in the DCI.

[0047] Step S370: Determine second phase adjustment information according to the first phase adjustment information and the state information.

[0048] Step S380: Control the phase state of the reflection unit according to the second phase adjustment information. Through the above steps S350 to S380, the base station instructs the rough phase of the RIS panel with only limited signaling bits to obtain a wide beam. The RIS calculates and aligns a narrow beam to the UE based on the location information and / or channel state information (CSI) reported from the UE in response to the wide beam from the base station, thereby improving the signal strength received by the UE. Specifically, in order to reduce signaling overhead, the base station limits the bit length occupied by the field for controlling the phase state in the DCI. Therefore, after receiving the first phase adjustment information in the DCI, the RIS can only obtain rough coverage according to the first phase adjustment information. This coverage can cover the target UE but cannot provide sufficient signal strength to the target UE, so the RIS needs to further calculate and align a narrow beam to the target UE. In an embodiment of the present application, the RIS obtains state parameters reported from the target UE, including at least one parameter of the current location information and CSI of the target UE. The RIS controller further calculates second phase adjustment information according to the first phase adjustment information and the above state parameters, so as to obtain a narrow beam to align with the target UE, and improve the strength of the signal received by the target UE. The above method can reduce the signaling overhead of the base station sending signaling, and improve the speed and timeliness of the interaction between the base station and the RIS.

[0049] In some cases, in addition to the interaction between the base station, the RIS and the UE, a control center may be set in the communication network. The control center is connected to the RIS, and the control center separately provides control instructions to the RIS. For example, the RIS may receive instructions from the control center according to the following manner: receive a control instruction sent from the control center, and adjust the operation state or operation mode of the RIS according to the control instruction, or receive third phase adjustment information sent from the control center, and adjust the phase state of the reflection unit group according to the third phase adjustment information. The third phase adjustment information is obtained by being sent from the base station to the control center, or is obtained according to status information reported from the user terminal to the control center, or is obtained according to status information of the user terminal reported from the network node to the control center.

[0050] The control command adjusts the working state of the RIS as a whole. For example, when multiple RISs are connected to the control center, the control center can obtain the UEs to which each RIS is currently aligned and the current working state of each RIS. When two or more RISs are aligned to the same UE, in order to avoid that the signal strength is too large and prevents other UEs from using the communication network, the control center may send a control command to the RIS to align only one RIS to one UE. Also, for example, when one RIS fails, the control center instructs the other RIS to align to the UE it serves. Also, for example, for an active RIS device, when the idle state of the RIS device reaches a predetermined period, the control command may set the RIS device to a sleep state, thereby reducing the power consumption of the communication network. Of course, the control command often does not involve a specific phase state adjustment of the reflecting unit, so that the RIS may receive the phase adjustment information of the base station at the same time as receiving the control command.

[0051] In addition to the above control command, the control center can also directly send the third phase adjustment information to the RIS. At this time, the control center can connect with the RIS controller through wired connection, thus being suitable for transmitting a large amount of data, and therefore the third phase adjustment information can directly provide a narrow beam, thereby directly determining the alignment direction of the RIS. Both the control center and the base station can provide the phase adjustment information to the RIS, and the control center and the base station can synergize to achieve better network collaboration.

[0052] In order for the control center to better control the operation of the RIS according to the actual situation, the RIS needs to report its own operation parameters when accessing the communication network, which include at least one of the following: panel aperture ratio, reflector density, frequency characteristics, reciprocity characteristic information, diversity in each direction, adjustable angle interval, panel division strategy, number of physical arrays, number of virtual reflector units, and supported operation modes.

[0053] As shown in FIG. 6, the network node control method in steps S1 and S2 requires the base station to also cooperate with the control method. Therefore, the embodiment of the present application further provides a network node control method applied to the base station, which includes but is not limited to the following steps S3 and S4.

[0054] Step S3: Determine the operation mode and / or topological state of the network node. Step S4: Send signaling to the network node to indicate an operational mode and / or a phase state of the network node.

[0055] Similarly, the network node may be a different type of equipment other than a user equipment UE, such as a reflective intelligent surface with phase adjustment function or other phase adjustment equipment, equipment that adjusts the operation mode in response to signaling.

[0056] As shown in Fig. 7, the embodiment of the present application further provides a network node control method applied to a base station. The base station is connected to a reflective intelligent surface RIS, and a plurality of reflecting unit groups are arranged on the RIS, and the reflecting unit group includes at least one reflecting unit. The control method includes but is not limited to the following steps S500 and S600.

[0057] Step S500: Determine a scrambling code according to a network access state of a network node in a serving cell.

[0058] Step S600: Send signaling to a network node, where the signaling includes downlink control information DCI for indicating a phase state of a reflector unit group, and the DCI is scrambled by a scrambling code.

[0059] When the base station receives the random access preamble of the RIS, it negotiates with the RIS according to the network access state of the RIS in the current serving cell to determine the scrambling code type to be used. This scrambling code is an additional scrambling code type for distinguishing between the RIS device and the normal UE, and is a scrambling code dedicated to the RIS device. Therefore, when using this scrambling code to scramble the downlink channel of the DCI to transmit signaling, the UEs in the serving cell do not have this scrambling code, so they cannot successfully descramble even after receiving the signaling. Meanwhile, after receiving the signaling, the RIS device can successfully obtain the DCI by descrambling with this scrambling code, ensuring that the RIS can accurately identify the signaling sent by the base station without being interfered with by messages related to the UE.

[0060] The network access state of the RIS includes frequency domain and time domain information selected by the RIS during the random access preamble, and determines the type of scrambling code used between the base station and the RIS during the random access response process. In the embodiment of the present application, it is determined that the first scrambling code is used to scramble and descramble the signaling between the base station and the RIS. Similarly, the first scrambling code may be an RNTI, which is represented as a RIS-RNTI, and multiple RIS-RNTIs may be set. It should be noted that although it has been mentioned that the above-mentioned dedicated scrambling code is used to distinguish the RIS from the UE, some general-purpose scrambling codes may also be used to scramble the signaling for indicating the RIS, and no particular limitation is imposed here.

[0061] Steps S500 and S600 substantially correspond to steps S100 to S300 above, and in order to avoid duplication, reference may be made to the description of steps S100 to S300.

[0062] When a RIS device joins a serving cell of a base station in the form of a terminal, in a random access phase, the RIS needs to report corresponding information to the base station so that the base station can determine that the RIS device is not a UE but a UE. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the reporting of the device type may be realized by the following step S400.

[0063] Step S400: When the RIS accesses the base station, it is determined that the access object is a RIS device according to the user equipment capability information UE capability information reported from the RIS.

[0064] UE capability is an important part of the coordination between the base station and the UE, the UE indicates the capabilities it supports to the base station through UE capability information, in which case the base station can configure the UE with the capabilities, and if the UE does not support a certain capability, the base station cannot configure the UE with the capabilities. The RIS accessed by the base station in the form of a terminal also reports its capabilities to the base station through UE capability information, and the base station can determine that the current access object is a RIS device based on the signaling structure of the UE capability information.

[0065] From the above signaling overhead requirements, it can be seen that signaling is not suitable for carrying too long phase adjustment information, and it is necessary to reduce the bits occupied by phase adjustment information. Therefore, the base station side needs to use a different method to reduce the signaling overhead of phase adjustment information. The embodiment of the present application is realized in the following two examples.

[0066] In the first example, a huge number of reflection units are simplified based on the panel division strategy information of the RIS, thereby reducing the signaling overhead of phase adjustment information. For example, as shown in FIG. 9, this is realized by the following steps S710 to S730.

[0067] Step S710: receive panel division strategy information and controllable phase number reported by RIS. The panel division strategy information is used to indicate the grouping status of the reflection unit. The controllable phase number is the number of phase states supported by the reflection unit.

[0068] Step S720: The total number of phase controls of the RIS is determined according to the panel division strategy information and the number of controllable phases.

[0069] Step S730: Determine a bit length that a field corresponding to the phase adjustment information occupies in the DCI according to the total number of phase controls. The phase adjustment information is used to indicate the phase state of the reflection unit.

[0070] The operation parameters of the RIS may include panel division strategy information and the number of controllable phases. The panel division strategy information is used to indicate the grouping status of the reflection units of the RIS. For example, a 64x64 reflection unit array is divided into four sub-blocks according to a predefined rule, and each sub-block contains 4x4 reflection units, in which case the reflection units of the RIS panel are divided into 16x16 sub-blocks. The phase states of the sub-blocks are controlled uniformly to reduce the signaling overhead. The number of controllable phases indicates the phase states supported by each reflection unit. Based on the above division status, the total number of phase controls of the RIS can be obtained in combination with the phase states supported by the reflection units, thereby determining the bit length occupied by the phase adjustment information.

[0071] It should be noted that the above split control strategy is different from the strategy of turning off some of the reflecting units to reduce the signaling overhead, even though it reduces the number of controllable phases. For example, if some of the reflecting units are turned off and the remaining 16x16 reflecting units on the RIS surface are operated, the reflection area of ​​the RIS becomes smaller, and when the base station aligns with the RIS according to the original beam width, some of the beam will not be reflected, causing deviations in the beam for reconstruction of the RIS, and the desired reconstruction effect cannot be achieved. The split control strategy can flexibly adjust the total number of phase controls while maintaining the reflection area of ​​the RIS, and can adapt to the rapidly changing communication network environment.

[0072] In the second example, the base station provides the calculation result of the wide beam, and the narrow beam is calculated by the RIS by itself. The base station can calculate the accurate beam according to the existing parameters, but considering the bit length limit, it can only calculate the result of the wide beam and send it to the RIS for further processing. In this case, the base station side can realize the calculation of the wide beam result according to the following steps, which includes steps S740 to S770, as shown in FIG. 10.

[0073] Step S740: Obtain a bit length occupied by a field corresponding to phase adjustment information for indicating a phase state of a reflection unit group in DCI.

[0074] Step S750: obtain a controllable phase number of a reflection unit and status information of a user terminal UE, where the controllable phase number is the number of phase states supported by the reflection unit, and the status information includes location information and / or channel status information of the user terminal.

[0075] Step S760: Determine first phase adjustment information according to the controllable phase number, the state information and the bit length.

[0076] Step S770: Determine the DCI according to the first phase adjustment information, such that the RIS determines the second phase adjustment information according to the first phase adjustment information and the status information in the DCI.

[0077] In this example, the base station is limited by the bit length occupied by the field corresponding to the phase adjustment information, and needs to calculate the phase adjustment information based on the bit length. The base station calculates the wide beam using the controllable phase number of the reflecting unit and the status information of the UE without exceeding the bit length, and then determines the first phase adjustment information and sets the corresponding bit according to the first phase adjustment information.

[0078] When the RIS receives the first phase adjustment information, it calculates a narrow beam from a wide beam according to the status information reported from the UE to the RIS, thereby improving the signal strength provided by the RIS to the UE.

[0079] The above steps of the embodiment of the present application provide a communication standard for the RIS device. The first scrambling code, which is a dedicated DCI scrambling code, is added to the protocol to help the base station distinguish between the RIS device and ordinary user terminals. The first scrambling code is different from the scrambling code used by the user terminal, so that when the base station delivers the DCI instruction, the first scrambling code can avoid the user terminal from erroneously descrambling the signaling, and the RIS device can use the first scrambling code to ensure that the RIS device can accurately receive the DCI instruction from the base station, so that the base station and the RIS device can work together better. This enhances the signal coverage and network performance of the base station, and improves the cell reuse rate.

[0080] Hereinafter, a method for controlling a network node in an embodiment of the present application will be described with reference to an actual example.

[0081] The scene in this example includes a base station, a RIS and a UE. The RIS device is in the form of a terminal device and accesses the serving cell of the base station, and adjusts the beam incident on the RIS surface from the base station by its own reflecting unit or reflecting unit group, and reconfigures the beam and launches it to the UE.

[0082] As shown in FIG. 11, in order to ensure the normal operation of the RIS, the overall control method between the base station and the RIS according to this embodiment includes the following steps S801 to S806.

[0083] Step S801: RIS reports UE capability. When the RIS is accessed by the base station, the RIS reports UE capability information to the base station, so that the base station determines that the current access object is the RIS.

[0084] Step S802: determine RIS-RNTI. Through the random access process, the RIS and the base station negotiate to determine whether to use the RIS-RNTI to perform scrambling and descrambling of the DCI indication. The value range of the RIS-RNTI is different from the value range of any type of RNTI used in the UE.

[0085] Step S803: receive the operation parameters of the RIS. The operation parameters reported by the RIS include at least one of the following: the aperture ratio of the panel, the density of the reflecting units, the frequency characteristics, the reciprocity characteristics information, the diversity in each direction, the adjustable angle interval, the panel division strategy, the number of the physical arrays, the number of the virtual reflecting units, and the operation modes supported. The object from which the RIS reports the operation parameters may be the base station, or may be transmitted to the base station via the control center.

[0086] Step S804: The base station sends the signaling to the RIS by scrambling it with the RIS-RNTI, determines the phase adjustment information of the reflection unit according to the current working state of the RIS, determines the field of the DCI in the signaling according to the phase adjustment information, scrambles the DCI with the RIS-RNTI, and then sends it through the PDCCH.

[0087] Step S805: When the RIS receives the signaling, it uses the RIS-RNTI to descramble and obtain the DCI. The RIS receives the signaling transmitted from the base station through the PDCCH, and the RIS performs blind detection on the PDCCH, determines that the descrambling using the RIS-RNTI is successful, and reads the phase adjustment information in the DCI.

[0088] Step S806: The RIS performs phase state adjustment for the reflection unit according to the DCI.

[0089] Based on the above steps of this example, the RIS device and the UE device are distinguished by the RIS-RNTI, so that the control of the RIS can be optimized based on the DCI format and specific fields, etc., thereby realizing good cooperation between the base station and the RIS and improving network performance.

[0090] In the control process, different control strategies are used to solve different interaction problems. Regarding the control of the operation mode, the operation mode of the RIS may be indicated by the PDCCH or the PDSCH, for example, including (1) to (2).

[0091] (1) Different types of RIS-RNTIs distinguish different operation modes. When multiple RIS-RNTIs (such as RIS-RNTI1, RIS-RNTI2, and RIS-RNTI3) are defined in a communication protocol, the RIS can only successfully obtain DCI by descrambling with one RIS-RNTI during the process of descrambling the PDCCH. The RIS can determine which operation mode to use based on the correspondence between the RIS-RNTI that successfully descrambles and the operation mode.

[0092] (2) Different operating modes are indicated by log2(K) bits in the DCI. In a specific field of the DCI, bits are set according to the K operating modes supported by the RIS, and after obtaining the DCI, the RIS determines which operating mode to use according to the value of the specific field.

[0093] The control of signaling overhead may be realized by the following several methods, including (1) to (3).

[0094] (1) Receive panel division strategy information and the controllable phase number of the reflecting unit in the operation parameters of the RIS. The panel division strategy information is used to indicate the grouping status of the reflecting unit, and the controllable phase number is the number of phase states supported by the reflecting unit. At this time, the base station knows that the RIS supports the overall control strategy of the sub-block. Therefore, the base station determines the number of sub-blocks after the division of the RIS and the number of phase states that each sub-block can support, and then determines the bit length for indicating the phase adjustment information in the DCI according to the total number of phase controls.

[0095] (2) First, the bit length for indicating the phase adjustment information in the DCI is limited. When the base station needs to deliver the DCI instruction, it calculates the wide beam according to the bit length. After receiving the signaling, the RIS further calculates the narrow beam by itself based on the wide beam and the location information and CSI of the target UE, thereby improving the strength of the received signal of the UE.

[0096] (3) The control center transmits the phase adjustment information to the RIS, and the control center is connected to the RIS by wire, which is suitable for transmitting a large amount of data. At this time, the bit length occupied by the phase control information is not a priority issue.

[0097] In this example, in order to better control the RIS device in the communication network, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication standard for the RIS device. The protocol adds a dedicated DCI scrambling code RIS-RNTI to help the base station distinguish between the RIS device and an ordinary user terminal. Because the RIS-RNTI and the scrambling code used by the UE are different, when the base station delivers the DCI indication, the RIS-RNTI can avoid the UE from erroneously descrambling the signaling, and ensure that the RIS device can use the RIS-RNTI to accurately receive the DCI indication from the base station. In addition, a control strategy between the base station and the RIS based on the RIS-RNTI is further provided, which allows the base station and the RIS device to work better together, thereby enhancing the signal coverage and network performance of the base station and improving the cell reuse rate.

[0098] An embodiment of the present application further provides a control device for a reflective intelligent surface, the control device including at least one processor and a memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, the memory storing instructions executable by the at least one processor, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, causing the at least one processor to perform the method for controlling the network node.

[0099] As shown in FIG. 12, the control processor 1001 and the memory 1002 of the control device 1000 may be connected via a bus. The memory 1002 may be used as a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium to store non-transitory software programs and non-transitory computer-executable programs. In addition, the memory 1002 may include a high-speed random access memory, and may further include non-transitory memories such as at least one magnetic disk memory, a flash memory device, or other non-transitory solid-state memory device. In some embodiments, the memory 1002 may optionally include memories located remotely with respect to the control processor 1001, and these remote memories may be connected to the control device 1000 via a network. Examples of the above networks include, but are not limited to, the Internet, a corporate intranet, a local area network, a mobile communication network, and combinations thereof.

[0100] The device configuration shown in FIG. 12 is not intended to limit the control device 1000, which may include more components than are shown, may combine some components, or may include components from different components.

[0101] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium has computer-executable instructions stored therein, which are executed by one or more control processors, and when executed, for example, by one control processor 1001 in FIG. 12, the one or more control processors can execute the control method of the network node in the above method embodiment, for example, executing steps S1 to S2 of the method in FIG. 1, steps S100 to S300 of the method in FIG. 2, steps S310 to S320 of the method in FIG. 3, steps S330 to S340 of the method in FIG. 4, steps S350 to S380 of the method in FIG. 5, steps S3 to S4 of FIG. 6, steps S500 to S600 of the method in FIG. 7, step S400 of the method in FIG. 8, steps S710 to S730 of the method in FIG. 9, and steps S740 and S770 of the method in FIG. 10 described above.

[0102] The above-described device examples are merely schematic, and the units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, i.e., may be located in one place or distributed in multiple network nodes. Some or all of these modules may be selected to achieve the objectives of the present embodiment according to actual needs.

[0103] The method for controlling a network node according to the embodiment of the present application has at least the following beneficial effects: In order to better control a network node, such as a device such as a reflective intelligent surface (RIS) in a communication network, the embodiment of the present application provides a signaling dedicated to the network node, which is used to adjust the operation mode and / or phase state of the network node, and achieves better coordination between the base station and the network node, thereby enhancing the signal coverage and network performance of the base station and improving the cell reuse rate.

[0104] The embodiments of the present application can improve the network performance and coverage of a base station.

[0105] All or part of the steps in the methods disclosed above, the system may be implemented as software, firmware, hardware, and appropriate combinations thereof. Some or all of the physical components may be implemented as software executed by a processor such as a central processing unit, digital signal processor, microprocessor, or as hardware, or as an integrated circuit such as an application specific integrated circuit. Such software may be distributed on a computer readable medium, which may include a computer readable medium (or non-transitory medium) and a communication medium (or transitory medium). As known to those skilled in the art, the term computer readable storage medium includes volatile and non-volatile, removable, and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storing information (e.g., computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data). Computer readable storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disk (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cartridge, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to store the desired information and can be accessed by a computer. Additionally, communication media typically includes computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transmission mechanism and may include any information delivery media.

[0106] Although the above describes several embodiments of the present application in detail, the present application is not limited to the above embodiments, and a person skilled in the art may make various equivalent modifications or substitutions without departing from the spirit of the present application, and these equivalent modifications or substitutions are included in the scope defined by the claims of the present application.

Claims

1. A network node control method applied to a network node, comprising: receiving signaling sent from a base station, the signaling being used to indicate an operation mode and a phase state of a reflecting unit group of the network node, the operation mode including at least one of a reflecting mode, a transparent mode, an active mode, and a passive mode; adjusting an operation mode and a phase state of the reflecting unit group of the network node in response to the signaling.

2. The step of receiving signaling transmitted from a base station includes:

2. The method of claim 1, comprising the step of receiving signaling transmitted by a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) or a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) from a base station.

3. The reflection unit group includes at least one reflection unit, and the signaling includes downlink control information (DCI) for indicating a phase state of the reflection unit group, and the DCI is scrambled by the base station with a scrambling code; The step of adjusting the operation mode and phase state of the reflector unit group of the network node in response to the signaling further comprises: descrambling the signaling with the scrambling code to obtain the DCI; and adjusting a phase state of the reflecting unit group according to the DCI.

4. the scrambling code corresponds to an operation mode of the group of reflector units of the network node; The step of adjusting the phase state of the reflection unit group according to the DCI includes: determining an operation mode of the reflector unit group of the network node in response to the scrambling code; and controlling a phase state of the reflecting unit group in response to the DCI in the operation mode.

5. When the signaling is used to indicate an operation mode of the reflection unit group of the network node, The step of adjusting the operation mode of the reflector unit group of the network node in response to the signaling further comprises: determining a mode indication field in a radio resource control (RRC), a media access control (MAC) or a downlink control information (DCI) according to the type of the signaling; 2. The method for controlling a network node according to claim 1, further comprising: determining an operation mode of the reflecting unit group of the network node according to the mode indication field, the mode indication field corresponding to the operation mode of the reflecting unit group of the network node.

6. The step of adjusting the phase state of the reflection unit group according to the DCI includes: obtaining state information reported by a user terminal, the state information including location information and / or channel state information of the user terminal; Obtaining first phase adjustment information in the DCI for indicating a phase state of the reflection unit group; determining second phase adjustment information according to the first phase adjustment information and the state information; The method for controlling a network node according to claim 3, further comprising the step of: controlling a phase state of the reflection unit in response to the second phase adjustment information.

7. the network node is communicatively connected to a control center; The control method includes: receiving a control command sent from the control center, and adjusting an operation state or an operation mode of the reflecting unit group of the network node according to the control command; Or, receiving third phase adjustment information transmitted from the control center, and adjusting the phase state of the reflection unit group according to the third phase adjustment information, the third phase adjustment information being obtained by being transmitted from the base station to the control center, or being obtained according to status information reported from a user terminal to the control center, or being obtained according to status information of the user terminal reported from the network node to the control center; The method for controlling a network node according to claim 1 , wherein the state information includes location information and / or channel state information of the user terminal.

8. The control method includes: The method further comprises the step of reporting the operational parameters of the reflector unit group of the network node to a control center or the base station in communication with the network node; The operating parameters are: The network node control method of claim 6, including at least one of the following: panel aperture ratio, reflection unit density, frequency characteristics, reciprocity characteristic information, diversity in each direction, adjustable angle interval, panel division strategy, number of physical arrays, number of virtual reflection units, and supported operation modes.

9. The method for controlling a network node according to claim 3, wherein the scrambling code is a Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RIS-RNTI) for identifying the network node.

10. A network node control method applied to a base station, comprising: determining an operation mode and a phase state of a group of reflecting units of the network node, the operation mode including at least one of a reflecting mode, a transparent mode, an active mode, and a passive mode; A method for controlling a network node, comprising: transmitting signaling to the network node, the signaling being for indicating an operation mode and a phase state of the reflection unit group of the network node.

11. The reflective unit group includes at least one reflective unit, The step of transmitting signaling to the network node comprises: determining a scrambling code in response to a network access state of the network node in a serving cell; 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising: transmitting signaling to the network node, the signaling including downlink control information (DCI) for indicating a phase state of the network node, the DCI being scrambled by the scrambling code.

12. receiving panel division strategy information and a controllable phase number reported from the network node, the panel division strategy information being used to indicate the grouping status of the reflection unit, and the controllable phase number being the number of phase states supported by the reflection unit; determining a total number of phase controls of the network node according to the panel division strategy information and the number of controllable phases; The method for controlling a network node according to claim 11, further comprising: a step of determining a bit length occupied in the DCI by a field corresponding to phase adjustment information according to a total number of phase controls, the phase adjustment information being used to indicate a phase state of the reflection unit group.

13. obtaining a bit length occupied by a field corresponding to phase adjustment information in the DCI, the phase adjustment information being used to indicate a phase state of the reflection unit group; obtaining a controllable phase number of the reflection unit and state information of a user terminal UE, the controllable phase number being a number of phase states supported by the reflection unit, and the state information including location information and / or channel state information of the user terminal; determining first phase adjustment information according to the number of controllable phases, the state information, and the bit length; The method for controlling a network node according to claim 11, further comprising: determining the DCI in response to the first phase adjustment information, such that the network node determines second phase adjustment information in response to the first phase adjustment information and the status information in the DCI.

14. A control device for a reflective intelligent surface comprising at least one processor and a memory communicatively connected to the at least one processor, wherein the memory stores instructions executable by the at least one processor, and when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor, the at least one processor executes the network node control method described in any one of claims 1 to 9 or the network node control method described in any one of claims 10 to 13.

15. A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to execute the network node control method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 or the network node control method according to any one of claims 10 to 13.

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