Base Bureau

Abstract

To make it possible to avoid interference between communication on a terrestrial network and communication on a service link of a non-terrestrial network (NTN).SOLUTION: A communication device includes: a communication unit that communicates on a service link of a non-terrestrial network; and a control unit that controls the direction or size of a beam formed by the communication unit to avoid interference between communication on the service link and communication on the terrestrial network.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 10

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to interference avoidance techniques in wireless communication systems. [Background technology]

[0002] The standardization project 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) is currently studying and creating specifications for NR (New Radio) (also known as "5G"), the successor to LTE (Long Term Evolution), that will enable high-capacity systems, high data transmission speeds, low latency, simultaneous connection of multiple devices, low cost, and low power consumption.

[0003] In addition, in recent years, technology has been considered to enable coverage of mountainous areas, remote areas, oceans, and other areas using non-terrestrial networks (NTN) that use high altitude platform stations (HAPS, or high altitude pseudo satellites) and the like (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Non-patent literature]

[0004] [Non-Patent Document 1] Konishi et al., "A Study on Downlink Spectrum Sharing in HAPS Mobile Communication Systems," Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers General Conference, B-17-1, 2020 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] When the terrestrial network and the NTN service link share the same frequency, there is a possibility that the communication quality at the terminal, for example, will be significantly degraded due to interference between the communication in the terrestrial network and the communication in the NTN service link.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and aims to provide a technique for avoiding interference between communications in a terrestrial network and communications in an NTN service link. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] According to the disclosed technology, a communication unit that communicates with terminals in a service area of ​​the terrestrial network; a control unit that controls a size of the service area formed by the communication unit to avoid interference between communication in a service link of a non-terrestrial network and communication in the service area, The control unit controls the size of the service area based on an instruction transmitted from a communication device in the non-terrestrial network. base station is provided. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] The disclosed technology provides a technique for avoiding interference between communications in a terrestrial network and communications in an NTN service link. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a first diagram for explaining a non-terrestrial network. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a second diagram for explaining a non-terrestrial network. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a retransmission type. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a regeneration type. [Figure 5] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating interference between NTN's service link and the terrestrial network. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating interference between NTN's service link and the terrestrial network. [Figure 7] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating interference between NTN's service link and the terrestrial network. [Figure 8] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating interference between NTN's service link and the terrestrial network. [Figure 9]FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating interference between NTN's service link and the terrestrial network. [Figure 10] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a first embodiment. [Figure 11] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a second embodiment. [Figure 12] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining Example 1 of an operation sequence. [Figure 13] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an example 2 of an operation sequence. [Figure 14] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 15] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a base station according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 16] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a communication device or a base station according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 17] 1 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the embodiment described below is an example, and the embodiment to which the present invention is applied is not limited to the following embodiment.

[0011] The wireless communication system according to the embodiment of the present disclosure may use known technologies as appropriate. The known technologies may be, for example, 5G or Beyond 5G. Note that the technology according to the present disclosure is not limited to 5G and may be applicable to any wireless communication system.

[0012] Furthermore, in the embodiments of the present invention, the duplex method may be a TDD (Time Division Duplex) method, an FDD (Frequency Division Duplex) method, or other methods (for example, Flexible Duplex, etc.).

[0013] Furthermore, in the embodiments of the present invention, "configuring" a parameter or the like may mean that a predetermined value is pre-configured, or that a parameter is set from one device to another device.

[0014] (For non-terrestrial networks) Figure 1 is the first diagram for explaining a non-terrestrial network (NTN). A non-terrestrial network uses non-terrestrial devices such as satellites to provide services to areas that cannot be covered by terrestrial networks, mainly due to cost considerations. NTNs can also provide more reliable services. For example, they are expected to be applied to IoT (Internet of Things), ships, buses, trains, and critical communications. NTNs also have scalability through efficient multicast or broadcast.

[0015] As an example of an NTN, as shown in FIG. 1, a satellite 10A can retransmit signals transmitted from a base station 10C to provide service to areas where no base stations are located, such as mountainous regions.

[0016] The terrestrial network (for example, a terrestrial 5G network) may have the following configuration. The terrestrial network includes one or more base stations 10E and terminals 20. The base station 10E is a communication device that provides one or more cells (service areas) and performs wireless communication with the terminals 20. The physical resources of a wireless signal are defined in the time domain and the frequency domain, and the time domain may be defined by the number of OFDM symbols, and the frequency domain may be defined by the number of subcarriers or the number of resource blocks. The base station 10E transmits a synchronization signal and system information to the terminals 20. The synchronization signal is, for example, NR-PSS and NR-SSS. The system information is transmitted, for example, on NR-PBCH, and is also called broadcast information.

[0017] The base station 10E transmits control signals or data to the terminal 20 via DL (Downlink) and receives control signals or data from the terminal 20 via UL (Uplink). Both the base station 10E and the terminal 20 are capable of transmitting and receiving signals by performing beamforming. Furthermore, both the base station 10E and the terminal 20 are capable of applying MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) communication to DL or UL. Furthermore, both the base station 10E and the terminal 20 may communicate via an SCell (Secondary Cell) and a PCell (Primary Cell) using CA (Carrier Aggregation). Note that a base station in a terrestrial network may also be called a terrestrial base station.

[0018] The terminal 20 is a communication device equipped with a wireless communication function, such as a smartphone, a mobile phone, a tablet, a wearable terminal, an M2M (Machine-to-Machine) communication module, etc. The terminal 20 receives control signals or data from the base station 10E via DL and transmits control signals or data to the base station 10E via UL, thereby utilizing various communication services provided by the wireless communication system.

[0019] Figure 2 is the second diagram to explain the non-terrestrial network (NTN). As shown in Figure 2, the NTN makes it possible to provide various services to areas that could not be covered by previous mobile communication networks (terrestrial networks).

[0020] In particular, it may be more economical to achieve area-wide deployment of millimeter waves (100% area coverage) by combining NTN and terrestrial networks rather than by terrestrial networks alone.

[0021] As shown in Figure 2, NTN is realized by a satellite in space or a vehicle in the air. For example, a GEO satellite may be a satellite located at an altitude of 35,786 km and having a geostationary orbit. For example, a LEO satellite may be a satellite located at an altitude of 500-2000 km and orbiting every 88-127 minutes. For example, a HAPS may be a vehicle located at an altitude of 8-50 km and performing circular flight, or a vehicle performing a separate flight.

[0022] The satellites or aircraft are equipped with repeaters (relay stations) or base stations, which form beams to communicate with devices on the ground. The areas formed on the ground by the beams of satellites or aircraft in an NTN may also be called "service areas" or "beam areas." Non-terrestrial objects that make up the NTN, such as satellites or aircraft, may also be called "non-terrestrial objects."

[0023] Below, an example configuration of an NTN will be described with reference to Figures 3 and 4. Both Figures 3 and 4 show, as an example, a case where the non-terrestrial object is a satellite. Also, Figures 3 and 4 show an NTN based on NR (5G). Note that the configurations shown in Figures 3 and 4 are examples, and NTNs to which the technology of the present invention can be applied are not limited to the configurations shown in Figures 3 and 4.

[0024] <Example of retransmission (transparent) type> 3 shows an example of a transparent NTN in which a non-ground object 10A has a repeater. In the example of FIG. 3, the NTN has a base station 10C installed on the ground, an NTN gateway (GW) 10B installed on the ground, and the non-ground object 10A.

[0025] In the example of Figure 3, data transmitted from a core network (CN) 10D to a terminal 20 is first transmitted from the core network 10 to a base station 10C. The base station 10C then transmits the received data to a non-terrestrial object 10A as a downlink wireless signal via an NTN gateway 10B. The non-terrestrial object 10A then relays (transfers) the received downlink wireless signal to the terminal 20 using a repeater.

[0026] Furthermore, data transmitted from the terminal 20 to the core network 10D is first transmitted from the terminal 20 to the non-ground object 10A as an uplink wireless signal. The non-ground object 10A then relays (transfers) the received uplink wireless signal to the NTN gateway 10B using a repeater. The NTN gateway 10B then transmits the received uplink wireless signal to the base station 10C wirelessly or via a wired connection. The base station 10C then transmits the data received from the NTN gateway 10B to the core network 10D.

[0027] <Example of regenerative type> Figure 4 shows an example of a regenerative NTN in which a non-ground object 10A has a base station 10C. In the example of Figure 4, the NTN has a ground-based NTN gateway 10B and a non-ground object 10A with a base station 10C.

[0028] 4, data transmitted from the core network 10D to the terminal 20 is first transmitted as radio waves (wireless signals) from the core network 10D to the base station 10C of the non-terrestrial object 10A by the NTN gateway 10B. Then, the base station 10C of the non-terrestrial object 10A generates a downlink wireless signal based on the received data and transmits the generated wireless signal to the terminal 20.

[0029] Furthermore, data transmitted from the terminal 20 to the core network 10D is first transmitted as an uplink radio signal from the terminal 20 to the non-ground object 10A. Then, the base station 10C of the non-ground object 10A transmits the received data to the core network 10D via the NTN gateway 10B.

[0030] In the following description, the non-ground object 10A, the repeater mounted on the non-ground object 10A, and the base station 10C mounted on the non-ground object 10A will be collectively referred to as the "NTN device 10N." In other words, the NTN device 10N may be the non-ground object 10A equipped with a repeater or a base station, or may be the repeater mounted on the non-ground object 10A, or may be the base station 10C mounted on the non-ground object 10A. The "NTN device 10N" may also be referred to as a "communication device."

[0031] Moreover, the NTN gateway 10B and the "NTN gateway 10B + base station 10C" are collectively referred to as the "NTN ground station 40." Moreover, a base station in the ground network is referred to as the "terrestrial base station 10E."

[0032] The link between the NTN ground station 40 and the NTN device 10N is called a feeder link, and the link between the terminal 20 and the NTN device 10N is called a service link.

[0033] (About the assignment) Figure 5 shows an example of a system configuration including an NTN and a terrestrial network in this embodiment. In the example of Figure 5, the NTN device 10N supports multi-beams and can form areas on the ground with each of multiple beams. Figure 5 shows, as an example, a case where the NTN device 10N uses multi-beams to apply different beams to the feeder link and the service link, and supports these at the same frequency.

[0034] Hereinafter, an area formed on the ground by a beam applied to a service link will be referred to as an "NTN service area." Also, an area formed on the ground by the terrestrial base station 10E will be referred to as a "terrestrial service area." The "NTN service area" may be referred to as an "NTN cell," and the "terrestrial service area" may be referred to as a "terrestrial cell."

[0035] 5, the beams in the service link form an NTN service area 50. Also, a terrestrial service area 60 is formed by the terrestrial base station 10E.

[0036] In addition, there are terminals 20 and CPE stations 30 that communicate with the terrestrial base station 10E in the terrestrial service area 60. The location of the terminal 20 also falls within the NTN service area 50. Note that the "CPE station 30" may be considered as a type of terminal, and the "CPE station 30" may also be called a terminal.

[0037] In this embodiment, it is assumed that the terrestrial network (terrestrial service area 60) and the NTN service link share the same frequency (same frequency band). The shared frequency is, for example, a millimeter wave such as the 38 GHz band or the 28 GHz band. However, in this embodiment, the shared frequency is not limited to the 38 GHz band or the 28 GHz band. The shared frequency may be a frequency band lower than 28 GHz or a frequency band higher than 38 GHz.

[0038] As described above, when the same frequency is shared between the terrestrial network and the NTN, there is a risk that the communication quality at the terminal 20 and the like will be significantly degraded due to interference between the systems.

[0039] With reference to Figures 6 to 9, examples of interference that may occur between the terrestrial network and the service link of the NTN will be described. Note that in Figures 6 to 9, a HAPS is shown as an example of the NTN device 10N. Also, only the service link (SL) is shown in the NTN. Also, the direction from the HAPS to the ground is referred to as downlink, and the direction from the ground to the HAPS is referred to as uplink.

[0040] <Interference example A> 6 is a diagram showing an interference example A. In interference example A, it is assumed that the terrestrial base station 10E and the HAPS 10N both use FDD, and that the uplinks use the same frequency and the downlinks use the same frequency.

[0041] In this case, the following interferences S1 to S4 may occur: S1 to S4 in FIG.

[0042] S1) Interference between downstream SL signals S2) Interference between the downstream SL signal and the downstream signal of the terrestrial base station 10E as interference sources S3) Interference between upstream SL signals S4) Interference between the upstream SL signal and the upstream signal of the terminal 20A connected to the terrestrial base station 10E, which are mutual interference sources <Interference example B> 7 is a diagram showing an interference example B. In the interference example B, the terrestrial base station 10E uses TDD, and the frequency is the same as the frequency of the downlink SL of the HAPS 10N.

[0043] In this case, the following interferences S1 to S4 may occur: S1 to S4 in FIG.

[0044] S1) Interference between downstream SL signals S2) Interference between the downstream SL signal and the downstream signal of the terrestrial base station 10E as interference sources S3) Interference between upstream SL signals S4) The downstream SL signal and the upstream signal of the terminal 20A connected to the terrestrial base station 10E are interference sources with each other, specifically, the following (i) and (ii).

[0045] S4 (i) Interference caused by the downstream SL signal to the terrestrial base station 10E S4(ii) Interference caused by an uplink signal from a terminal 20A connected to the terrestrial base station 10E to another terminal 20B <Interference example C> FIG. 8 is a diagram showing interference example C. In interference example C, the terrestrial base station 10E uses TDD, and its frequency is the same as the uplink SL frequency of HAPS10N.

[0046] In this case, the following interferences S1 to S4 may occur. S1 to S4 in FIG. 8 correspond to the following S1 to S4.

[0047] S1) Interference between downlink SL signals S2) Interference between uplink SL signals S3) Interference where the uplink signal of the terminal 20A connected to the terrestrial base station 10E and the uplink SL signal become interference sources with each other S4) Interference where the uplink SL signal and the downlink signal of the terrestrial base station 10E become interference sources with each other. Specifically, there are the following (i) and (ii).

[0048] S4's (i) Interference caused by the downlink signal of the terrestrial base station 10E on HAPS10N S4's (ii) Interference caused by the uplink SL signal on the terminal 20A connected to the terrestrial base station 10E <Regarding the CPE station> Regarding the CPE station 30, it corresponds to the case where the terminal 20 in the above-described interference examples A to C is replaced with the CPE station 30. That is, for the CPE station 30, the interferences described in the above-described interference examples A to C may occur. FIG. 9 shows, as an example, interference example A for the CPE station 30. It is assumed that the access link (AL) between the CPE station 30 and the terminal 20 uses a different frequency from the frequencies of HAPS10N and the terrestrial base station 10E.

[0049] Here, the frequency of HAPS10N will be described. For example, assume a case where FDD is used above and below FL and FDD is used above and below SL. FL and SL may have the same frequency or different frequencies.

[0050] When FL and SL have the same frequency, interference may occur in the downlink of FL and the downlink of SL. The same applies to the uplink. When FL and SL have different frequencies, the interference that occurred when FL and SL had the same frequency does not occur.

[0051] In this embodiment, we will explain an interference avoidance method that satisfies the performance required for realizing use cases expected of NTN while keeping the impact on terrestrial networks within an acceptable range. Note that "interference avoidance" includes not only complete elimination of interference but also reduction of interference.

[0052] (Interference Avoidance Technology: Example 1) A first example of the interference avoidance technique according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 10. The configuration shown in Fig. 10 is applicable to both a transparent type and a regenerative type.

[0053] In the first embodiment, the NTN device 10N controls the direction (or the size of the beam, or the size and direction of the beam) of the beam that forms the NTN service area 50, thereby avoiding interference between communication in the NTN service area 50 (communication on the service link) and communication in the terrestrial service area 60. For example, overlap between the NTN service area 50 and the terrestrial service area 60 is prevented.

[0054] Note that the "beam" in this embodiment may be either a beam directed from the NTN device 10N to the ground (a transmitting beam of the NTN device 10N) or a beam directed from the ground to the NTN device 10N (a receiving beam of the NTN device 10N). Furthermore, the size of the beam may be the size of the NTN service area formed on the ground by the beam (such as the radius if it is a circle).

[0055] The "NTN service area" may be a range over which a signal with a reception strength equal to or greater than a certain threshold can reach the ground from the NTN device 10N. The "NTN service area" may also be a range over which a signal with a predetermined transmission power can reach the NTN device 10N from the ground.

[0056] The "terrestrial service area" may be a range over which a signal with a reception strength equal to or greater than a certain threshold can reach the ground from the terrestrial base station 10E. The "terrestrial service area" may be a range over which a signal with a predetermined transmission power can reach the terrestrial base station 10E from the ground.

[0057] 10, an NTN service area 50 in an NTN service link is formed at a position away from a terrestrial service area 60. This makes it possible to avoid interference between, for example, a terminal 20A present in the terrestrial service area 60 and a terminal 20B present in the NTN service area 50.

[0058] The above control is an example of control to prevent the beam of the NTN device 10N from being directed toward the periphery of the terrestrial base station 10E. In addition to this control, it is also possible to control the CPE stations 30 around the terrestrial base station 10E so that they do not communicate with the NTN device 10N.

[0059] Specific control methods include, for example, the following examples 1 and 2.

[0060] <Example 1> Position information of the terrestrial base station 10E is transmitted from the NTN ground station 40 to the NTN device 10N, and the NTN device 10N executes control so as not to direct a beam toward that position. Specifically, for example, the NTN device 10N controls the beam so that there is no overlap between the terrestrial service area 60 and the NTN service area 50. This control is, for example, control of the beam direction, control of the beam size, or control of the beam direction and size.

[0061] The source of the location information of the terrestrial base station 10E may be the terrestrial base station 10E, the NTN ground station 40, any node device in the core network, the terminal 20, or an application server in the data network.

[0062] <Example 2> In the NTN device 10N, the positions of the respective ground base stations 10E are set in advance, and the NTN device 10N executes control so as not to direct the beam toward the positions of the terrestrial base stations 10E. The control content is the same as in Example 1.

[0063] According to the method of the first embodiment described above, interference can be avoided without area control in the terrestrial base station 10E.

[0064] (Interference Avoidance Technology: Example 2) A second example of the interference avoidance technique according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 11. The configuration shown in Fig. 11 is also applicable to both the retransmission (transparent) type and the regenerative type.

[0065] In the second embodiment, the size (e.g., radius) of the terrestrial service area 60 is adjusted so that the NTN device 10N does not direct a beam toward the terrestrial service area 60 (which may also be called a beam irradiation prohibited area). In the example of Fig. 11, the size of the terrestrial service area 60 is adjusted so that there is no overlap between the terrestrial service area 60 and the NTN service area 50. This makes it possible to avoid interference between, for example, a terminal 20A present in the terrestrial service area 60 and a terminal 20B present in the NTN service area 50.

[0066] Specific control methods for adjusting the size of the ground service area 60 include, for example, the following examples 1 and 2.

[0067] <Example 1> The terrestrial base station 10E actively (autonomously) controls the area size based on the communication quality on the terrestrial base station 10E side. For example, when the terrestrial base station 10E detects interference from the NTN (e.g., interference due to the DL signal of the NT device 10N, or interference due to the UL signal of the terminal 20B) based on communication quality information reported from the terminal 20A present in the terrestrial service area 60, the terrestrial base station 10E performs control to reduce the size of the terrestrial service area 60.

[0068] <Example 2> The NTN device 10N instructs the terrestrial base station 10E to adjust the size of the terrestrial service area 60, and the terrestrial base station 10E adjusts the size of the terrestrial service area 60 in accordance with the instruction. The instruction from the NTN device 10N to the terrestrial base station 10E is sent, for example, via the NTN ground station 40 and the core NW 10D. In addition, in the case where the NTN device 10N is a repeater (a retransmission type case), the terrestrial base station 10C may instruct the terrestrial base station 10E to adjust the size of the terrestrial service area 60 via the core NW 10D.

[0069] For example, it is assumed that the NTN device 10N knows the position of the terrestrial base station 10E in advance. Then, for example, when the NTN device 10N determines that it will direct a beam near the terrestrial base station 10E based on its own air route, it executes an instruction to the terrestrial base station 10E to reduce the size of the terrestrial service area 60.

[0070] (Information sharing method) In the first and second embodiments, the location information of the terrestrial base station, or the information on the beam irradiation prohibited area, or both of these pieces of information may be shared between the NTN side (e.g., NTN ground station 40, NTN device 10N) and the terrestrial NW (e.g., terrestrial base station 10E, node device of core NW 10D). Here, "the location information of the terrestrial base station, or the information on the beam irradiation prohibited area, or both of these pieces of information" will be referred to as location / area information.

[0071] FIG. 11 shows an image of sharing location / area information between the NTN ground station 40 and the terrestrial base station 10E.

[0072] As a specific sharing method, for example, the node device of the core NW 10D may compile the position / area information for a plurality of terrestrial base stations and transmit it to the NTN device 10N via the NTN ground station 40.

[0073] According to the method of the second embodiment described above, interference can be avoided without performing beam control in the NTN device 10N.

[0074] (Operation sequence) Next, examples 1 and 2 of the operation sequence in this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 12 and Fig. 13. Basically, the operation corresponding to Example 1 will be described for the case in Fig. 12, and the operation corresponding to Example 2 will be described for the case in Fig. 13. However, as will be described later, it is also possible to perform the operation of Example 2 in the case in Fig. 12, and it is also possible to perform the operation of Example 1 in the case in Fig. 13.

[0075] <Example 1> An example 1 of the operation sequence will be described with reference to Fig. 12. In S101, the terrestrial base station 10E determines that interference avoidance operation by the NTN device 10N is necessary. For example, the terrestrial base station 10E determines that interference avoidance operation by the NTN device 10N is necessary based on receiving a report of interference from a terminal 20 in the terrestrial service area 60.

[0076] In addition, the terrestrial base station 10E may determine, based on the flight route of the NTN device 10N that it has previously determined, that interference avoidance operation by the NTN device 10N is necessary when the time comes for the NTN device 10N to approach the terrestrial base station 10E.

[0077] In S102, the terrestrial base station 10E transmits the position / area information of the terrestrial base station 10E. The position information of the terrestrial base station 10E may be position information acquired by a GNSS function provided in the terrestrial base station 10E.

[0078] The location / area information of the terrestrial base station 10E is transmitted to the NTN ground station 40 via the core NW 10D, and then transmitted from the NTN ground station 40 to the NTN device 10N, which receives the location / area information (S103, S104). A control signal, for example, is used to transmit information from the NTN ground station 40 to the NTN device 10N.

[0079] In S105, the NTN device 10N applies the interference avoidance technique based on the received location / area information and adjusts the direction / size of the beam as described in Example 1. The NTN device 10N returns a response indicating that the interference avoidance technique has been applied to the terrestrial base station 10E (S106, S107, S108).

[0080] In the example of Figure 12, in addition to applying the interference avoidance technology by the NTN device 10N, or instead of applying the interference avoidance technology by the NTN device 10N, in S101, the terrestrial base station 10E may determine that it is necessary to adjust the size of the terrestrial service area 60, and may adjust the size as described in Example 2.

[0081] Furthermore, in the case where both the NTN device 10N controls the beam direction / size and the terrestrial base station 10E controls the size of the terrestrial service area 60, the response transmitted from the NTN device 10N to the terrestrial base station 10E in S106 to S108 includes the control result of the beam direction / size by the NTN device 10N (e.g., the position and size of the NTN service area after control). The terrestrial base station 10E that received the control result in S108 adjusts the size of the terrestrial service area 60, for example, when it determines that the beam adjustment by the NTN device 10N alone is not sufficient to avoid interference.

[0082] <Example 2> An example 2 of the operation sequence will be described with reference to Fig. 13. In S201, the NTN device 10N determines that interference avoidance operation by the terrestrial base station 10E is necessary. For example, when the NTN device 10N detects that the NTN service area 50 is approaching the terrestrial service area 60 based on the aerial (space) route of the NTN device 10N, it determines that interference avoidance operation by the terrestrial base station 10E is necessary.

[0083] In S202, the NTN device 10N transmits an instruction signal (which may be called a control signal) to the terrestrial base station 10E to instruct it to apply interference avoidance technology. The instruction signal reaches the terrestrial base station 10E via the NTN ground station 40 and the core NW 10D (S203, S204).

[0084] Upon receiving the instruction signal, the terrestrial base station 10E applies the interference avoidance technique in S205 to adjust the size of the terrestrial service area 60 as described in Example 2. The terrestrial base station 10E returns a response indicating that the interference avoidance technique has been applied to the NTN device 10N (S206, S207, S208).

[0085] In the operation of Example 2 above, in the case of a retransmission type, the "NTN device 10N" may be replaced with a "base station 10C" located on the ground. In this case, communication is performed between the base station 10C and the terrestrial base station 10E via the core NW 10D, not via the NTN ground station 40.

[0086] In the example of Figure 13, in addition to or instead of applying the interference avoidance technology by the terrestrial base station 10E, in S201, the NTN device 10N may determine that adjustment of the beam direction / size is necessary, and may adjust the direction / size as described in Example 1.

[0087] Furthermore, in a case where both the NTN device 10N controls the beam direction / size and the terrestrial base station 10E controls the size of the terrestrial service area 60, for example, the response transmitted from the terrestrial base station 10E to the NTN device 10N in S206 to S208 includes the control result of the terrestrial base station 10E on the terrestrial service area 60 (e.g., the size of the area after control). The NTN device 10N that received the control result in S208 adjusts the beam direction / size if, for example, it determines that the size adjustment by the terrestrial base station 10E alone is not sufficient to avoid interference.

[0088] (Device configuration) Next, a functional configuration example of the NTN device 10N and the terrestrial base station 10E that execute the processes and operations described so far will be described. The NTN device 10N and the terrestrial base station 10E include functions for executing the above-described embodiments. However, the NTN device 10N and the terrestrial base station 10E may each be provided with only the functions of any one of the proposals in the embodiments.

[0089] <NTN device 10N> FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the NTN device 10N. Note that the NTN device 10N shown in FIG. 14 is assumed to be a repeater mounted on a non-terrestrial object, a base station mounted on a non-terrestrial object, or a functional unit related to communication in a non-terrestrial object. As shown in FIG. 14, the NTN device 10N includes a transmission unit 110, a reception unit 120, a setting unit 130, and a control unit 140. The functional configuration shown in FIG. 14 is merely an example. As long as the operations according to the embodiments of the present invention can be executed, the functional divisions and the names of the functional units may be anything. The "transmission unit 110 + reception unit 120" may be called a communication unit.

[0090] The transmission unit 110 creates a transmission signal from the transmission data and wirelessly transmits the transmission signal. The reception unit 120 wirelessly receives various signals and acquires signals of a higher layer from the received physical layer signals. Also, both the transmission unit 110 and the reception unit 120 can control the direction / size of the beam according to commands from the control unit 140.

[0091] The setting unit 130 stores various setting information received from other devices by the reception unit 120 in the storage device and reads it out from the storage device as necessary. The setting unit 130 also stores preset setting information. The control unit 140 controls the entire NTN device 10N and so on. The control unit 140 also controls the beam. Also, the transmission unit 110 and the reception unit 120 may be called a transmitter and a receiver, respectively. The control unit 140 may be called a processor or a controller.

[0092] <Terrestrial base station 10E> FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of a terrestrial base station 10E. The configuration of a terrestrial base station 10C is also similar to the configuration shown in FIG. 15. As shown in FIG. 15, the terrestrial base station 10E has a transmitting unit 210, a receiving unit 220, a setting unit 230, and a control unit 240. The functional configuration shown in FIG. 15 is merely an example. The names of the functional divisions and functional units may be any as long as they can perform the operations related to the embodiment of the present invention. The "transmitting unit 210 + receiving unit 220" may be called a communication unit.

[0093] The transmitter 210 has a function of generating a signal to be transmitted to the terminal 20 and transmitting the signal wirelessly. The receiver 220 has a function of receiving various signals transmitted from the terminal 20 and acquiring, for example, information of a higher layer from the received signals. The transmitter 210 also has a function of transmitting, to the terminal 20, an NR-PSS, an NR-SSS, an NR-PBCH, a DL / UL control signal, DL data, etc.

[0094] Both the transmitting unit 210 and the receiving unit 220 can adjust (control) the size of the service area in response to commands from the control unit 240. In addition, both the transmitting unit 210 and the receiving unit 220 include a function for communicating with a core NW.

[0095] The setting unit 230 stores preset setting information and various setting information to be transmitted to the terminal 20 in a storage device, and reads out the information from the storage device as needed. The control unit 240 controls the entire terrestrial base station 10E. The control unit 240 also adjusts the size of the service area. The transmitting unit 210 and the receiving unit 220 may also be called a transmitter and a receiver, respectively. The control unit 240 may also be called a processor or a controller.

[0096] <Additional Notes> This application discloses at least the following communication devices, base stations, communication systems, and communication methods. (Section 1) a communication unit for performing communication in a service link of a non-terrestrial network; a control unit that controls a direction or a size of a beam formed by the communication unit to avoid interference between communication in the service link and communication in a terrestrial network; A communication device comprising: (Section 2) The control unit controls the direction or size of the beam based on location information of a base station in the terrestrial network. 2. The communication device according to claim 1. (Section 3) a communication unit that communicates with terminals in a service area of ​​the terrestrial network; a control unit that controls a size of the service area formed by the communication unit to avoid interference between communication in a service link of a non-terrestrial network and communication in the service area; A base station comprising: (Section 4) The control unit adjusts the size of the service area autonomously or based on instructions sent from a communication device in the non-terrestrial network. 4. The base station according to claim 3. (Section 5) a first communication unit that communicates with a terminal in a service area of ​​the terrestrial network; a base station including a first control unit that controls a size of the service area formed by the first communication unit to avoid interference between communication in a service link of a non-terrestrial network and communication in the service area; a second communication unit that communicates via the service link; a second control unit that controls a direction or a size of a beam formed by the second communication unit to avoid interference between communication in the service link and communication in the service area; A communication system comprising: (Section 6) obtaining location information of a base station in a terrestrial network; controlling a direction or size of a beam in a service link of a non-terrestrial network to avoid interference between communications in the service link and communications in a service area formed by the base station; A communication method performed by a communication device, comprising:

[0097] Any of the above configurations provides a technique for avoiding interference between communications in the terrestrial network and communications in NTN's service link. According to the second item, the location information of base stations in the terrestrial network is used, making the control target clear. According to the third item, control can be achieved in various ways.

[0098] (Hardware configuration) The block diagrams (FIGS. 14 and 15) used to explain the above embodiments show functional blocks. These functional blocks (components) are realized by any combination of at least one of hardware and software. Furthermore, the method for realizing each functional block is not particularly limited. That is, each functional block may be realized using a single device that is physically or logically coupled, or may be realized using two or more physically or logically separated devices that are connected directly or indirectly (for example, by wire, wirelessly, etc.) and these multiple devices. The functional block may be realized by combining the single device or the multiple devices with software.

[0099] Functions include, but are not limited to, judgment, determination, judgment, calculation, computation, processing, derivation, investigation, search, confirmation, reception, transmission, output, access, resolution, selection, election, establishment, comparison, assumption, expectation, consideration, broadcasting, notifying, communicating, forwarding, configuring, reconfiguring, allocation, mapping, and assignment. For example, a functional block (component) that performs transmission is called a transmitting unit or transmitter. As mentioned above, there are no particular limitations on how these functions are implemented.

[0100] For example, the NTN device 10N, terrestrial base station 10E, etc. in one embodiment of the present disclosure may function as a computer that performs processing of the wireless communication method of the present disclosure. Fig. 16 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the NTN device 10N and terrestrial base station 10E according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The NTN device 10N and terrestrial base station 10E described above may be physically configured as a computer device including a processor 1001, a storage device 1002, an auxiliary storage device 1003, a communication device 1004, an input device 1005, an output device 1006, a bus 1007, etc.

[0101] In the following description, the term "device" can be read as a circuit, a device, a unit, etc. The hardware configuration of the NTN device 10N and the terrestrial base station 10E may be configured to include one or more of the devices shown in the figure, or may be configured to exclude some of the devices.

[0102] Each function in the NTN device 10N and the terrestrial base station 10E is realized by loading specified software (programs) onto hardware such as the processor 1001, the memory device 1002, etc., so that the processor 1001 performs calculations, controls communication by the communication device 1004, and controls at least one of reading and writing data in the memory device 1002 and the auxiliary memory device 1003.

[0103] The processor 1001 controls the entire computer by running, for example, an operating system. The processor 1001 may be configured as a central processing unit (CPU) including an interface with peripheral devices, a control device, an arithmetic unit, a register, etc. For example, the above-mentioned control unit 140, control unit 240, etc. may be realized by the processor 1001.

[0104] The processor 1001 also loads programs (program codes), software modules, data, etc. from at least one of the auxiliary storage device 1003 and the communication device 1004 into the storage device 1002 and executes various processes in accordance with the programs. The programs used are those that cause a computer to execute at least some of the operations described in the above-described embodiments. For example, the control unit 140 shown in FIG. 14 may be implemented by a control program stored in the storage device 1002 and executed by the processor 1001. Furthermore, for example, the control unit 240 shown in FIG. 15 may be implemented by a control program stored in the storage device 1002 and executed by the processor 1001. While the above-described various processes have been described as being executed by one processor 1001, they may also be executed simultaneously or sequentially by two or more processors 1001. The processor 1001 may be implemented by one or more chips. The programs may also be transmitted from a network via a telecommunications line.

[0105] The storage device 1002 is a computer-readable recording medium and may be configured, for example, by at least one of a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), a random access memory (RAM), etc. The storage device 1002 may also be called a register, a cache, a main memory, etc. The storage device 1002 can store executable programs (program codes), software modules, etc. for implementing a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0106] The secondary storage device 1003 is a computer-readable recording medium, and may be, for example, at least one of an optical disk such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc ROM), a hard disk drive, a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk (e.g., a compact disk, a digital versatile disk, a Blu-ray disc), a smart card, a flash memory (e.g., a card, a stick, a key drive), a floppy disk, a magnetic strip, etc. The above-mentioned storage medium may be, for example, a database, a server, or other suitable medium including at least one of the storage device 1002 and the secondary storage device 1003.

[0107] The communication device 1004 is hardware (transmission / reception device) for communicating between computers via at least one of a wired network and a wireless network, and is also referred to as, for example, a network device, a network controller, a network card, or a communication module. The communication device 1004 may be configured to include a high-frequency switch, a duplexer, a filter, a frequency synthesizer, etc. to realize at least one of frequency division duplex (FDD) and time division duplex (TDD). For example, a transmission / reception antenna, an amplifier unit, a transmission / reception unit, a transmission path interface, etc. may be realized by the communication device 1004. The transmission / reception unit may be implemented as a transmission unit and a reception unit that are physically or logically separated.

[0108] The input device 1005 is an input device (for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, a switch, a button, a sensor, etc.) that receives input from the outside. The output device 1006 is an output device (for example, a display, a speaker, an LED lamp, etc.) that outputs to the outside. The input device 1005 and the output device 1006 may be integrated into one device (for example, a touch panel).

[0109] Furthermore, each device such as the processor 1001 and the storage device 1002 is connected by a bus 1007 for communicating information. The bus 1007 may be configured using a single bus, or may be configured using different buses between each device.

[0110] Furthermore, base station 10 and terminal 20 may be configured to include hardware such as a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), or a field programmable gate array (FPGA), and some or all of the functional blocks may be realized by the hardware. For example, processor 1001 may be implemented using at least one of these pieces of hardware.

[0111] 17 shows an example of the configuration of a vehicle 2001. As shown in FIG. 17, the vehicle 2001 includes a drive unit 2002, a steering unit 2003, an accelerator pedal 2004, a brake pedal 2005, a shift lever 2006, front wheels 2007, rear wheels 2008, an axle 2009, an electronic control unit 2010, various sensors 2021 to 2029, an information service unit 2012, and a communication module 2013. Each aspect / embodiment described in the present disclosure may be applied to a communication device mounted on the vehicle 2001, and may be applied to the communication module 2013, for example. For example, the function of the terrestrial base station 10E or the function of the terminal 20 may be provided in the communication module 2013.

[0112] The drive unit 2002 is configured, for example, by an engine, a motor, or a hybrid of an engine and a motor. The steering unit 2003 includes at least a steering wheel (also called a handle), and is configured to steer at least one of the front wheels and the rear wheels based on the operation of the steering wheel operated by the user.

[0113] The electronic control unit 2010 is composed of a microprocessor 2031, a memory (ROM, RAM) 2032, and a communication port (IO port) 2033. Signals are input to the electronic control unit 2010 from various sensors 2021 to 2029 provided in the vehicle 2001. The electronic control unit 2010 may also be called an ECU (Electronic Control Unit).

[0114] The signals from the various sensors 2021 to 2029 include a current signal from a current sensor 2021 that senses the current of the motor, a rotation speed signal of the front and rear wheels obtained by a rotation speed sensor 2022, an air pressure signal of the front and rear wheels obtained by an air pressure sensor 2023, a vehicle speed signal obtained by a vehicle speed sensor 2024, an acceleration signal obtained by an acceleration sensor 2025, an accelerator pedal depression amount signal obtained by an accelerator pedal sensor 2029, a brake pedal depression amount signal obtained by a brake pedal sensor 2026, a shift lever operation signal obtained by a shift lever sensor 2027, and a detection signal for detecting obstacles, vehicles, pedestrians, etc. obtained by an object detection sensor 2028.

[0115] The information service unit 2012 is composed of various devices, such as a car navigation system, an audio system, speakers, a television, and a radio, for providing various types of information such as driving information, traffic information, and entertainment information, and one or more ECUs for controlling these devices. The information service unit 2012 uses information obtained from external devices via the communication module 2013, etc., to provide various types of multimedia information and multimedia services to the occupants of the vehicle 2001.

[0116] The driving assistance system unit 2030 is composed of various devices that provide functions for preventing accidents and reducing the driver's driving burden, such as a millimeter-wave radar, a LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), a camera, a positioning locator (e.g., GNSS, etc.), map information (e.g., high-definition (HD) map, autonomous vehicle (AV) map, etc.), a gyro system (e.g., an IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit), an INS (Inertial Navigation System), etc.), an AI (Artificial Intelligence) chip, and an AI processor, as well as one or more ECUs that control these devices. The driving assistance system unit 2030 also transmits and receives various information via the communication module 2013 to realize the driving assistance function or the autonomous driving function.

[0117] The communication module 2013 can communicate with the microprocessor 2031 and components of the vehicle 2001 via the communication port. For example, the communication module 2013 transmits and receives data via the communication port 2033 to and from the drive unit 2002, steering unit 2003, accelerator pedal 2004, brake pedal 2005, shift lever 2006, front wheels 2007, rear wheels 2008, axle 2009, microprocessor 2031 and memory (ROM, RAM) 2032 in the electronic control unit 2010, and sensors 2021 to 29, which are provided in the vehicle 2001.

[0118] The communication module 2013 is a communication device that can be controlled by the microprocessor 2031 of the electronic control unit 2010 and can communicate with an external device. For example, it transmits and receives various information to and from the external device via wireless communication. The communication module 2013 may be located either inside or outside the electronic control unit 2010. The external device may be, for example, a base station, a mobile station, an NTN device 10, or the like.

[0119] The communication module 2013 transmits, via wireless communication to an external device, a current signal from the current sensor that is input to the electronic control unit 2010. The communication module 2013 also transmits, via wireless communication to an external device, the rotation speed signals of the front and rear wheels acquired by a rotation speed sensor 2022, the air pressure signals of the front and rear wheels acquired by an air pressure sensor 2023, the vehicle speed signal acquired by a vehicle speed sensor 2024, the acceleration signal acquired by an acceleration sensor 2025, the accelerator pedal depression amount signal acquired by an accelerator pedal sensor 2029, the brake pedal depression amount signal acquired by a brake pedal sensor 2026, the shift lever operation signal acquired by a shift lever sensor 2027, and the detection signals for detecting obstacles, vehicles, pedestrians, etc. acquired by an object detection sensor 2028, which are input to the electronic control unit 2010.

[0120] The communication module 2013 receives various information (traffic information, traffic signal information, inter-vehicle information, etc.) transmitted from external devices and displays it on an information service unit 2012 provided in the vehicle 2001. The communication module 2013 also stores the various information received from the external devices in a memory 2032 that can be used by the microprocessor 2031. Based on the information stored in the memory 2032, the microprocessor 2031 may control the drive unit 2002, steering unit 2003, accelerator pedal 2004, brake pedal 2005, shift lever 2006, front wheels 2007, rear wheels 2008, axle 2009, sensors 2021 to 2029, etc. provided in the vehicle 2001.

[0121] (Supplementary explanation of the embodiment) Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the disclosed invention is not limited to such embodiments, and those skilled in the art will understand various modifications, alterations, alternatives, and substitutions. While specific numerical examples have been used to facilitate understanding of the invention, unless otherwise specified, these numerical values ​​are merely examples, and any appropriate values ​​may be used. The division of items in the above description is not essential to the present invention; items described in two or more items may be used in combination as needed, and items described in one item may apply to items described in another item (unless inconsistent). The boundaries between functional units or processing units in the functional block diagram do not necessarily correspond to the boundaries of physical components. The operations of multiple functional units may be performed by a single physical component, or the operations of a single functional unit may be performed by multiple physical components. The order of the processing steps described in the embodiments may be reversed as long as there is no contradiction. For convenience of processing explanation, the NTN device 10N and the terrestrial base station 10E have been described using functional block diagrams. However, such devices may be implemented using hardware, software, or a combination thereof. The software operated by the processor of the base station 10 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention and the software operated by the processor of the terminal 20 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention may each be stored in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), EPROM, EEPROM, registers, hard disk (HDD), removable disk, CD-ROM, database, server or any other suitable storage medium.

[0122] Furthermore, the notification of information is not limited to the aspects / embodiments described in the present disclosure, and may be performed using other methods. For example, the notification of information may be performed by physical layer signaling (e.g., Downlink Control Information (DCI), Uplink Control Information (UCI)), higher layer signaling (e.g., Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, Medium Access Control (MAC) signaling, broadcast information (Master Information Block (MIB), System Information Block (SIB)), other signals, or a combination thereof. Furthermore, the RRC signaling may be referred to as an RRC message, and may be, for example, an RRC Connection Setup message, an RRC Connection Reconfiguration message, or the like.

[0123] Each aspect / embodiment described in the present disclosure may be any of the following: LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), SUPER 3G, IMT-Advanced, 4G (4th generation mobile communication system), 5G (5th generation mobile communication system), 6th generation mobile communication system (6G), xth generation mobile communication system (xG) (xG (x is, for example, an integer or decimal number)), FRA (Future Radio Access), NR (new Radio), New radio access (NX), Future generation radio access (FX), W-CDMA (registered trademark), GSM (registered trademark), CDMA2000, UMB (Ultra Mobile Broadband), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi (registered trademark)), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX (registered trademark)), IEEE The present invention may be applied to at least one of systems using 802.20, UWB (Ultra-Wideband), Bluetooth (registered trademark), or other appropriate systems, and next-generation systems that are extended, modified, created, or defined based on these systems. The present invention may also be applied to a combination of multiple systems (e.g., a combination of at least one of LTE and LTE-A with 5G).

[0124] The order of the procedures, sequences, flowcharts, etc. of each aspect / embodiment described herein may be changed unless it is consistent. For example, the methods described in this disclosure present elements of various steps using an example order and are not limited to the particular order presented.

[0125] In this specification, a specific operation described as being performed by the NTN device 10N or the terrestrial base station 10E may, in some cases, be performed by its upper node. In a network consisting of one or more network nodes including the base station 10E, it is clear that various operations performed for communication with the terminal 20 may be performed by at least one of the base station 10E and another network node other than the base station 10E (such as, but not limited to, an MME or an S-GW). While the above example illustrates a case where there is one other network node other than the base station 10E, the other network node may be a combination of multiple other network nodes (such as an MME and an S-GW).

[0126] The information, signals, etc. described in the present disclosure may be output from a higher layer (or a lower layer) to a lower layer (or a higher layer), or may be input / output via multiple network nodes.

[0127] Input and output information may be stored in a specific location (for example, memory) or may be managed using a management table. Input and output information may be overwritten, updated, or added to. Output information may be deleted. Input information may be sent to another device.

[0128] In the present disclosure, the determination may be made based on a value represented by one bit (0 or 1), a Boolean value (true or false), or a numerical comparison (e.g., comparison with a predetermined value).

[0129] Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise.

[0130] Software, instructions, information, etc. may also be transmitted or received over a transmission medium. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using wired technologies (such as coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)), and / or wireless technologies (such as infrared, microwave), then these wired and / or wireless technologies are included within the definition of transmission media.

[0131] The information, signals, etc. described in this disclosure may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, chips, etc. that may be referred to throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or photons, or any combination thereof.

[0132] Note that terms explained in this disclosure and terms necessary for understanding this disclosure may be replaced with terms having the same or similar meanings. For example, at least one of a channel and a symbol may be a signal (signaling). Furthermore, a signal may be a message. Furthermore, a component carrier (CC) may be called a carrier frequency, a cell, a frequency carrier, etc.

[0133] As used in this disclosure, the terms "system" and "network" are used interchangeably.

[0134] Furthermore, the information, parameters, etc. described in the present disclosure may be expressed using absolute values, relative values ​​from a predetermined value, or other corresponding information. For example, a radio resource may be indicated by an index.

[0135] The names used for the above-described parameters are not intended to be limiting in any way. Furthermore, the mathematical expressions using these parameters may differ from those explicitly disclosed in this disclosure. The various channels (e.g., PUCCH, PDCCH, etc.) and information elements may be identified by any suitable names, and therefore the various names assigned to these various channels and information elements are not intended to be limiting in any way.

[0136] In this disclosure, terms such as "base station (BS)," "radio base station," "base station," "fixed station," "NodeB," "eNodeB (eNB)," "gNodeB (gNB)," "access point," "transmission point," "reception point," "transmission / reception point," "cell," "sector," "cell group," "carrier," and "component carrier" may be used interchangeably. Base stations may also be referred to by terms such as macrocell, small cell, femtocell, and picocell.

[0137] A base station can accommodate one or more (e.g., three) cells. When a base station accommodates multiple cells, the overall coverage area of ​​the base station can be divided into multiple smaller areas, and each smaller area can be provided with communication service by a base station subsystem (e.g., a small indoor base station (RRH: Remote Radio Head)). The term "cell" or "sector" refers to a part or the entire coverage area of ​​a base station and / or base station subsystem that provides communication service within this coverage.

[0138] In this disclosure, the terms "Mobile Station (MS)," "user terminal," "User Equipment (UE)," "terminal," etc. may be used interchangeably.

[0139] A mobile station may also be referred to by those skilled in the art as a subscriber station, mobile unit, subscriber unit, wireless unit, remote unit, mobile device, wireless device, wireless communication device, remote device, mobile subscriber station, access terminal, mobile terminal, wireless terminal, remote terminal, handset, user agent, mobile client, client, or some other suitable terminology.

[0140] At least one of the base station and the mobile station may be called a transmitting device, a receiving device, a communication device, etc. At least one of the base station and the mobile station may be a device mounted on a mobile body, or the mobile body itself. The mobile body may be a vehicle (e.g., a car, an airplane, etc.), an unmanned mobile body (e.g., a drone, an autonomous vehicle, etc.), or a robot (manned or unmanned). At least one of the base station and the mobile station may also include devices that do not necessarily move during communication operations. For example, at least one of the base station and the mobile station may be an IoT (Internet of Things) device such as a sensor.

[0141] Furthermore, a base station in the present disclosure may be read as a user terminal. For example, the aspects / embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to a configuration in which communication between a base station and a user terminal is replaced with communication between a plurality of terminals 20 (which may be called, for example, D2D (Device-to-Device) or V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything)). In this case, the terminal 20 may be configured to have the functions of the base station 10 described above. Furthermore, terms such as "uplink" and "downlink" may be read as terms corresponding to terminal-to-terminal communication (for example, "side"). For example, terms such as an uplink channel and a downlink channel may be read as a side channel.

[0142] Similarly, the user terminal in the present disclosure may be read as a base station, in which case the base station may be configured to have the functions of the user terminal described above.

[0143] As used in this disclosure, the terms "determining" and "determining" may encompass a wide variety of actions. "Determining" and "determining" may include, for example, judging, calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up, searching, inquiring (e.g., searching in a table, database, or other data structure), ascertaining, and the like. "Determining" and "determining" may also include receiving (e.g., receiving information), transmitting (e.g., sending information), input, output, accessing (e.g., accessing data in memory), and the like. Furthermore, "judgment" and "decision" can include regarding resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, comparing, etc. as having been "judged" or "decided." In other words, "judgment" and "decision" can include regarding some action as having been "judged" or "decided." Furthermore, "judgment (decision)" can be interpreted as "assuming," "expecting," "considering," etc.

[0144] The terms "connected," "coupled," or any variation thereof, refer to any direct or indirect connection or coupling between two or more elements, and may include the presence of one or more intermediate elements between two elements that are "connected" or "coupled" to each other. The coupling or connection between elements may be physical, logical, or a combination thereof. For example, "connected" may be read as "access." As used in this disclosure, two elements may be considered to be "connected" or "coupled" to each other using one or more wires, cables, and / or printed electrical connections, as well as electromagnetic energy having wavelengths in the radio frequency range, microwave range, and optical (both visible and invisible) range, as some non-limiting and non-exhaustive examples.

[0145] The reference signal may be abbreviated as RS (Reference Signal) or may be called a pilot depending on the applicable standard.

[0146] As used in this disclosure, the phrase "based on" does not mean "based only on," unless expressly stated otherwise. In other words, the phrase "based on" means both "based only on" and "based at least on."

[0147] As used in this disclosure, any reference to an element using a designation such as "first," "second," etc. does not generally limit the quantity or order of those elements. These designations may be used in this disclosure as a convenient method of distinguishing between two or more elements. Thus, a reference to a first and a second element does not imply that only two elements may be employed or that the first element must in some way precede the second element.

[0148] The "means" in the configuration of each of the above devices may be replaced with "part," "circuit," "device," etc.

[0149] When used in this disclosure, the terms "include," "including," and variations thereof are intended to be inclusive, similar to the term "comprising." Furthermore, when used in this disclosure, the term "or" is not intended to be an exclusive or.

[0150] A radio frame may be composed of one or more frames in the time domain. Each of the one or more frames in the time domain may be called a subframe. A subframe may further be composed of one or more slots in the time domain. A subframe may have a fixed time length (e.g., 1 ms) that is independent of numerology.

[0151] Numerology may be communication parameters that apply to at least one of transmission and reception of a signal or channel, such as subcarrier spacing (SCS), bandwidth, symbol length, cyclic prefix length, transmission time interval (TTI), number of symbols per TTI, radio frame structure, specific filtering operations performed by the transceiver in the frequency domain, and specific windowing operations performed by the transceiver in the time domain.

[0152] A slot may be composed of one or more symbols (such as an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol or a Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) symbol) in the time domain. A slot may be a time unit based on numerology.

[0153] A slot may include multiple minislots. Each minislot may consist of one or multiple symbols in the time domain. A minislot may also be called a subslot. A minislot may consist of fewer symbols than a slot. A PDSCH (or PUSCH) transmitted in a time unit larger than a minislot may be called PDSCH (or PUSCH) mapping type A. A PDSCH (or PUSCH) transmitted using a minislot may be called PDSCH (or PUSCH) mapping type B.

[0154] The radio frame, subframe, slot, minislot, and symbol all represent time units for transmitting signals, and may be referred to by other names corresponding to the radio frame, subframe, slot, minislot, and symbol.

[0155] For example, one subframe may be called a transmission time interval (TTI), multiple consecutive subframes may be called a TTI, or one slot or one minislot may be called a TTI. That is, at least one of the subframe and the TTI may be a subframe (1 ms) in existing LTE, a period shorter than 1 ms (for example, 1-13 symbols), or a period longer than 1 ms. Note that the unit representing the TTI may be called a slot, minislot, etc. instead of a subframe.

[0156] Here, TTI refers to, for example, the smallest time unit for scheduling in wireless communication. For example, in an LTE system, a base station performs scheduling to allocate wireless resources (such as frequency bandwidth and transmission power that can be used by each terminal 20) to each terminal 20 in TTI units. Note that the definition of TTI is not limited to this.

[0157] The TTI may be a transmission time unit for a channel-encoded data packet (transport block), a code block, a code word, etc., or may be a processing unit for scheduling, link adaptation, etc. When a TTI is given, the time interval (e.g., the number of symbols) to which a transport block, a code block, a code word, etc. is actually mapped may be shorter than the TTI.

[0158] When one slot or one minislot is called a TTI, one or more TTIs (i.e., one or more slots or one or more minislots) may be the minimum time unit for scheduling. Also, the number of slots (minislots) constituting the minimum time unit for scheduling may be controlled.

[0159] A TTI having a time length of 1 ms may be called a regular TTI (TTI in LTE Rel. 8-12), normal TTI, long TTI, regular subframe, normal subframe, long subframe, slot, etc. A TTI shorter than a regular TTI may be called a shortened TTI, short TTI, partial or fractional TTI, shortened subframe, short subframe, minislot, subslot, slot, etc.

[0160] In addition, a long TTI (e.g., a normal TTI, a subframe, etc.) may be interpreted as a TTI having a time length of more than 1 ms, and a short TTI (e.g., a shortened TTI, etc.) may be interpreted as a TTI having a TTI length shorter than the TTI length of a long TTI and equal to or greater than 1 ms.

[0161] A resource block (RB) is a resource allocation unit in the time domain and frequency domain, and may include one or more consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain. The number of subcarriers included in an RB may be the same regardless of numerology, for example, 12. The number of subcarriers included in an RB may also be determined based on numerology.

[0162] The time domain of an RB may include one or more symbols and may have a length of one slot, one minislot, one subframe, or one TTI. One TTI, one subframe, etc. may each be composed of one or more resource blocks.

[0163] Note that one or more RBs may also be called a physical resource block (PRB), a sub-carrier group (SCG), a resource element group (REG), a PRB pair, an RB pair, or the like.

[0164] Furthermore, a resource block may be composed of one or more resource elements (REs). For example, one RE may be a radio resource region of one subcarrier and one symbol.

[0165] A Bandwidth Part (BWP) (which may also be referred to as a fractional bandwidth) may represent a subset of contiguous common resource blocks (RBs) for a given numerology on a given carrier, where the common RBs may be identified by their index relative to a common reference point of the carrier. PRBs may be defined in a given BWP and numbered within that BWP.

[0166] The BWP may include a BWP for UL (UL BWP) and a BWP for DL ​​(DL BWP). One or more BWPs may be set for the terminal 20 within one carrier.

[0167] At least one of the configured BWPs may be active, and the terminal 20 may not expect to transmit or receive a predetermined signal / channel outside the active BWP. Note that the terms "cell," "carrier," and the like in this disclosure may be read as "BWP."

[0168] The above-described structures of radio frames, subframes, slots, minislots, symbols, etc. are merely examples. For example, the number of subframes included in a radio frame, the number of slots per subframe or radio frame, the number of minislots included in a slot, the number of symbols and RBs included in a slot or minislot, the number of subcarriers included in an RB, the number of symbols in a TTI, the symbol length, the cyclic prefix (CP) length, etc. may be changed in various ways.

[0169] In this disclosure, where articles are added by translation, such as a, an, and the in English, the disclosure may include that the nouns following these articles are in the plural form.

[0170] In the present disclosure, the term "A and B are different" may mean "A and B are different from each other." The term may also mean "A and B are each different from C." Terms such as "separate" and "coupled" may also be interpreted in the same way as "different."

[0171] Each aspect / embodiment described in this disclosure may be used alone, in combination, or switched depending on the implementation. Furthermore, notification of predetermined information (e.g., notification that "X is true") is not limited to being done explicitly, but may be done implicitly (e.g., by not notifying the predetermined information).

[0172] Although the present disclosure has been described in detail above, it is clear to those skilled in the art that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described herein. The present disclosure can be implemented in modified and altered forms without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the claims. Therefore, the description of the present disclosure is intended to be illustrative and does not have any limiting meaning on the present disclosure. [Explanation of symbols]

[0173] 10A Non-terrestrial object 10B Gateway 10C base station 10D CN 10E Ground Base Station 10N NTN device 110 Transmitter 120 Receiver 130 Setting section 140 Control Unit 210 Transmitter 220 Receiving unit 230 Setting Section 240 Control Unit 30 CPE stations 40 NTN ground station 50 NTN Service Area 60 Ground Service Area 1001 processor 1002 Storage device 1003 Auxiliary storage device 1004 Communication equipment 1005 Input Device 1006 Output Device 2001 Vehicle 2002 Drive unit 2003 Steering Section 2004 accelerator pedal 2005 brake pedal 2006 Shift Lever 2007 front wheel 2008 rear wheel 2009 Axle 2010 Electronic Control Unit 2012 Information Services Department 2013 Communication Module 2021 Current Sensor 2022 RPM Sensor 2023 Air Pressure Sensor 2024 Vehicle speed sensor 2025 Acceleration Sensor 2026 Brake pedal sensor 2027 Shift lever sensor 2028 Object Detection Sensor 2029 Accelerator pedal sensor 2030 Driving Assistance Systems Department 2031 microprocessor 2032 memory (ROM, RAM) 2033 Communication port (IO port)

Claims

[Claim 1] a communication unit that communicates with terminals in a service area of ​​the terrestrial network; a control unit that controls a size of the service area formed by the communication unit to avoid interference between communication in a service link of a non-terrestrial network and communication in the service area, The control unit controls the size of the service area based on an instruction transmitted from a communication device in the non-terrestrial network. Base station.

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