Terminals and communication methods

Abstract

This terminal comprises: a communication unit for transmitting and receiving signals via a non-terrestrial device to and from a base station constituting a non-terrestrial network (NTN); and a control unit for determining which of a first link that is directly connected from the non-terrestrial device to the host device, and a second link that is connected from the non-terrestrial device to the host device via a radio relay device, to use for transmission or reception of the signals.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a terminal and a communication method in a wireless communication system.

Background Art

[0002] In NR (New Radio), which is a successor system to LTE (Long Term Evolution) (also referred to as "5G"), technologies that meet requirements such as a large-capacity system, high data transmission speed, low latency, simultaneous connection of multiple terminals, low cost, and power saving are being studied (for example, Non-Patent Document 1).

[0003] Currently, NTN (Non-Terrestrial Network) is being studied. NTN uses a non-terrestrial network such as a satellite to provide services to areas that cannot be covered mainly in terms of cost in a terrestrial 5G network (for example, Non-Patent Documents 2 and 3).

[0004] In addition, in next-generation communication, the use of high-frequency bands is expected. From the viewpoints of a decrease in the number of scatterers, a reduction in the shadowing effect, and an increase in distance attenuation due to the characteristics of the high-frequency band, improvement of communication quality is required. Beam control and environment for ensuring communication quality are assumed to be necessary.

[0005] For example, in a high-frequency band, there is a problem that a dead zone is likely to occur due to the strong straightness of radio waves. Therefore, methods for improving communication quality in a multipath environment have been tried using a passive repeater or an active type of reflector (RIS: Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface), a smart repeater that receives, amplifies, and retransmits signals, etc. (for example, Non-Patent Document 4).

Prior Art Documents

Non-Patent Documents

[0006]

Non-Patent Document 1

[0007] In NTN, which provides communication via smart repeaters, an environment is envisioned where, in addition to service links that go through smart repeaters, there are also service links that do not go through smart repeaters, such as direct connections between satellites and terminals. In such an environment, it is necessary to use the appropriate service link.

[0008] This invention has been made in view of the above points, and aims to determine the service link to be used in an NTN (Non-Terrestrial Network) system. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] According to the disclosed technology, a base station constituting an NTN (Non-Terrestrial Network), a communication unit that transmits and receives signals via a non-terrestrial device, a first link directly connecting the non-terrestrial device to the self-device, and a control unit that determines which of the first link and a second link connecting the non-terrestrial device to the self-device via a wireless relay device is used for transmitting or receiving the signal are provided. Furthermore, the control unit determines that the base station constitutes the NTN when the communication unit receives parameters for determining the TA (Timing Advance) based on information from the non-terrestrial device. A terminal is provided.

Effects of the Invention

[0010] According to the disclosed technology, in an NTN (Non-Terrestrial Network) system, the service link to be used can be determined.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0011] [Figure 1] It is a diagram showing an example (1) of NTN. [Figure 2] It is a diagram showing an example (2) of NTN. [Figure 3] It is a diagram showing an example (3) of NTN. [Figure 4] It is a diagram showing an example (4) of NTN. [Figure 5] It is a diagram showing an example of NTN in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] It is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the base station 10 in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] It is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the terminal 20 in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] It is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the wireless relay device 30 in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] It is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the wireless relay device 30 in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] It is a diagram showing an example of communication in a high-frequency band. [Figure 11] It is a diagram showing an example of the reflective wireless relay device 30 in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 12]It is a diagram showing an example of the transparent wireless relay device 30 in the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 13] It is a diagram showing an example of communication in the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 14] It is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the base station 10, the terminal 20, or the wireless relay device 30 in the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 15] It is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the vehicle 2001 in the embodiment of the present invention.

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0012] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the embodiments described below are examples, and the embodiments to which the present invention is applied are not limited to the following embodiments.

[0013] In the operation of the wireless communication system according to the embodiment of the present invention, existing technologies are used as appropriate. However, the existing technology is, for example, existing LTE, but is not limited to existing LTE. In addition, the term "LTE" used in this specification shall have a broad meaning including LTE-Advanced and systems after LTE-Advanced (e.g., NR) unless otherwise specified.

[0014] Furthermore, in the embodiments of the present invention described below, terms such as SS (Synchronization signal), PSS (Primary SS), SSS (Secondary SS), PBCH (Physical broadcast channel), PRACH (Physical random access channel), PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel), PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel), PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel), and PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel), which are used in existing LTE systems, will be used. This is for convenience of description, and similar signals, functions, etc., may be called by other names. Also, the above terms in NR correspond to NR-SS, NR-PSS, NR-SSS, NR-PBCH, NR-PRACH, NR-PDCCH, NR-PDSCH, NR-PUCCH, NR-PUSCH, etc. However, even if a signal is used in NR, it is not necessarily explicitly stated as "NR-".

[0015] 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 any other method (for example, a Flexible Duplex).

[0016] Furthermore, in the embodiments of the present invention, "configuring" wireless parameters may mean that predetermined values ​​are pre-configured, or that wireless parameters notified from the base station 10 or terminal 20 are configured.

[0017] Figure 1 shows an example of NTN (1). NTN (Non-Terrestrial Network) uses non-terrestrial equipment such as satellites to provide services to areas that cannot be covered by terrestrial 5G networks, mainly due to cost constraints. Furthermore, NTN can provide more reliable services. For example, it is envisioned to be applied to IoT (Inter-of-Things), ships, buses, trains, and critical communications. NTN also has scalability through efficient multicast or broadcast.

[0018] As an example from NTN, as shown in Figure 1, satellite 10A can retransmit signals transmitted from ground base station 10B to provide service to areas where ground base stations are not located, such as mountainous regions.

[0019] The terrestrial 5G network may have the configuration described below. The terrestrial 5G network includes one or more base stations 10 and terminals 20. The base station 10 is a communication device that provides one or more cells and performs wireless communication with the terminals 20. The physical resources of the radio signal are defined in the time domain and the frequency domain, 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 resource blocks. The base station 10 transmits synchronization signals and system information to the terminals 20. The synchronization signals are, for example, NR-PSS and NR-SSS. The system information is transmitted, for example, in NR-PBCH and is also called broadcast information.

[0020] Base station 10 transmits control signals or data to terminal 20 via DL (Downlink) and receives control signals or data from terminal 20 via UL (Uplink). Both base station 10 and terminal 20 are capable of transmitting and receiving signals using beamforming. Both base station 10 and terminal 20 are also capable of applying MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) communication to DL or UL. Furthermore, both base station 10 and terminal 20 may communicate via SCell (Secondary Cell) and PCell (Primary Cell) using CA (Carrier Aggregation).

[0021] Terminal 20 is a communication device equipped with wireless communication capabilities, such as a smartphone, mobile phone, tablet, wearable device, or M2M (Machine-to-Machine) communication module. Terminal 20 receives control signals or data from base station 10 via DL and transmits control signals or data to base station 10 via UL, thereby utilizing various communication services provided by the wireless communication system.

[0022] Figure 2 shows an example of NTN (2). The area per cell or beam in NTN is very large compared to terrestrial networks (TN). Figure 2 shows an example of NTN configured by satellite retransmission. The connection between satellite 10A and NTN gateway 10B is called the feeder link, and the connection between satellite 10A and UE20 is called the service link.

[0023] As shown in Figure 2, the delay difference between the near-side UE20A and the far-side UE20B is, for example, 10.3 ms for GEO (Geosynchronous orbit) and 3.2 ms for LEO (Low Earth orbit). The beam size in NTN is, for example, 3500 km for GEO and 1000 km for LEO.

[0024] Figure 3 shows an example of NTN (3). As shown in Figure 3, NTN is realized by a satellite in space or an aircraft in the air. For example, a GEO satellite may be located at an altitude of 35,786 km and have a geostationary orbit. For example, a LEO satellite may be located at an altitude of 500-2000 km and orbit with a period of 88-127 minutes. For example, a HAPS (High Altitude Platform Station) may be located at an altitude of 8-50 km and perform a circular flight.

[0025] As shown in Figure 3, GEO satellites, LEO satellites, and HAPS aircraft may be connected to ground stations gNB via gateways. Furthermore, the service area may increase in the order of HAPS, LEO, and GEO.

[0026] For example, NTN can extend the coverage of a 5G network to areas that are not yet serviced or are already serviced. Furthermore, NTN can improve the continuity, availability, and reliability of services in ships, buses, trains, or other critical communications. The fact that it is NTN may be indicated by the transmission of a special parameter to terminal 20, which may be, for example, a parameter related to the determination of Timing Advance (TA) based on information relating to satellites or aircraft.

[0027] Figure 4 shows an example of NTN's network architecture (4). Figure 4 shows an example of NTN's network architecture assumed in the case of a transparent payload. As shown in Figure 4, the CN (Core Network) 10D, gNB 10C, and gateway 10B are connected. Gateway 10B is connected to satellite 10A via a feeder link. Satellite 10A is connected to terminal 20A or VSAT (Very small aperture terminal) 20B via a service link. An NR Uu is established between gNB 10C and terminal 20A or VSAT 20B.

[0028] Furthermore, NTN's network architecture may employ FDD or TDD. Also, ground cells may be fixed or mobile. Terminal 20 may also have GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) capabilities. For example, a power class 3 handheld device may be assumed in FR1. Also, a VSAT device may be assumed in at least FR2.

[0029] Furthermore, NTN's network architecture may also assume a regenerative payload. For example, the gNB function may be mounted on a satellite or aircraft. Alternatively, the gNB-DU may be mounted on a satellite or aircraft, and the gNB-CU may be deployed as a ground station.

[0030] Figure 5 shows an example of NTN in an embodiment of the present invention. In future networks, a more flexible NTN configuration is envisioned. For example, as shown in Figure 5, gNB10C and terminal 20 may communicate via smart repeater 30. As shown in Figure 5, service link #1 may be set between satellite 10A and smart repeater 30, and service link #2 may be set between smart repeater 30 and terminal 20. Furthermore, service link #0 between satellite 10A and terminal 20 may be set as needed.

[0031] Since terminal 20 only needs to communicate using the power supplied to smart repeater 30, power consumption can be reduced. For example, this power consumption reduction allows IoT terminals and RedCap (Reduced capability) terminals to utilize the NTN.

[0032] Here, the smart repeater 30 may also be called a wireless relay device 30. The wireless communication system in the embodiment of the present invention may include the wireless relay device 30. In the embodiment of the present invention, for example, the wireless relay device 30 may be a reflector (RIS), a phase-controlled reflector, a passive repeater, an IRS (Intelligent Reflecting Surface), etc. Specific examples of a reflector (RIS: Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface) may be a metamaterial reflector, a dynamic metasurface, a metasurface lens, etc. (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 4).

[0033] In an embodiment of the present invention, the wireless relay device 30 relays, for example, a wireless signal transmitted from a base station 10A. In the description of the embodiments of the present invention, "relay" may refer to at least one of "reflection," "transmission," "aggregation (concentrating radio waves to approximately one point)," and "diffraction." The terminal 20 can receive the wireless signal relayed by the wireless relay device 30. Furthermore, the wireless relay device 30 may relay wireless signals transmitted from the terminal 20, or it may relay wireless signals transmitted from the base station 10.

[0034] As an example, the wireless relay device 30 can change the phase of the wireless signal relayed to the terminal 20. From this viewpoint, the wireless relay device 30 may also be called a phase-variable reflector. In this embodiment, the wireless relay device 30 may have the function of changing the phase of the wireless signal before relaying it, but is not limited to this. The wireless relay device 30 may also be called a repeater, relay device, reflect array, IRS, or transmit array, etc.

[0035] Furthermore, in embodiments of the present invention, the wireless repeater 30, such as a RIS, may also be called a battery-less device, a metamaterial functional device, an intelligent reflecting surface, a smart repeater, etc. As an example, the wireless repeater 30, such as a RIS or smart repeater, may be defined as having the functions shown in 1)-5) below.

[0036] 1) The base station 10 may have a function to receive signals transmitted from the base station 10. These signals may be DL signals, SSB (SS / PBCH block), PDCCH, PDSCH, DM-RS (Demodulation Reference Signal), PT-RS (Phase Tracking Reference Signal), CSI-RS (Channel Status Information Reference Signal), RIS-specific signals, etc. The base station 10 may also have a function to receive signals that carry information related to metamaterial functions. The base station 10 may also have a function to transmit these signals to the terminal 20.

[0037] 2) It may have a function to transmit signals to the base station 10. These signals may be UL signals such as PRACH, PUCCH, PUSCH, DM-RS, PT-RS, SRS, RIS-dedicated signals, etc. It may also have a function to transmit information related to metamaterial functions. It may also have a receiving function to receive these signals from the terminal 20.

[0038] 3) It may have a frame synchronization function with the base station 10. It may also have a frame synchronization function with the terminal 20.

[0039] 4) The base station 10 or terminal 20 may have a function to reflect signals transmitted from the base station 10 or terminal 20. For example, the reflection function may be a function related to phase change, a function related to beam control (e.g., a function related to the control of TCI (Transmission Configuration Indication)-state and QCL (Quasi Co Location), selective beam application, and selective application of spatial filters / precoding weights). 5) The base station 10 or terminal 20 may have a power modification function for the signal transmitted from the base station 10 or terminal 20. For example, the power modification function may be power amplification.

[0040] Furthermore, in the wireless relay device 30 such as an RIS or smart repeater, "receive and transmit" or "relay" may mean that the following functions A are performed, but the transmission is performed without performing functions B below. Function A: Apply a phase shifter. Function B: No compensation circuits (e.g., amplification, filtering) are used.

[0041] As another example, Function A: Apply a phase shifter and compensation circuit. Function B: No frequency conversion is involved.

[0042] Furthermore, in the wireless relay device 30 such as a RIS, the amplitude may be amplified when the phase is changed. Also, "relaying" in the wireless relay device 30 such as a RIS may mean transmitting the received signal as is without performing processing at the Layer 2 or Layer 3 level, transmitting the received signal as is at the physical layer level, or transmitting the received signal as is without interpreting the signal (in which case, phase changes or amplitude amplification may occur).

[0043] (Device configuration) Next, an example of the functional configuration of a base station 10, a terminal 20, and a wireless relay device 30 that perform the processing and operations in the embodiment of the present invention will be described. The base station 10, terminal 20, and wireless relay device 30 include functions that perform the embodiments described later. However, the base station 10, terminal 20, and wireless relay device 30 may each have only one of the functions from the embodiments.

[0044] <Base station 10> Figure 6 shows an example of the functional configuration of a base station 10. As shown in Figure 6, the base station 10 has a transmitting unit 110, a receiving unit 120, a setting unit 130, and a control unit 140. The functional configuration shown in Figure 6 is merely an example. The names of the functional categories and functional units can be anything as long as they can perform the operations according to the embodiment of the present invention. The transmitting unit 110 and the receiving unit 120 may be called the communication unit.

[0045] The transmitting unit 110 includes the function of generating a signal to be transmitted to the terminal 20 and transmitting the signal wirelessly. The receiving unit 120 includes the function of receiving various signals transmitted from the terminal 20 and obtaining information from the received signals, for example, information of a higher layer. The transmitting unit 110 also has the function of transmitting NR-PSS, NR-SSS, NR-PBCH, DL / UL control signals, DL data, etc. to the terminal 20. The transmitting unit 110 also transmits setting information, etc., as described in the embodiment.

[0046] The setting unit 130 stores pre-configured setting information and various setting information to be transmitted to the terminal 20 in a storage device and reads it from the storage device as needed. The control unit 140 performs tasks such as resource allocation and overall control of the base station 10. Note that the signal transmission function in the control unit 140 may be included in the transmission unit 110, and the signal reception function in the control unit 140 may be included in the reception unit 120. The transmission unit 110 and the reception unit 120 may also be referred to as the transmitter and receiver, respectively.

[0047] <Terminal 20> Figure 7 shows an example of the functional configuration of terminal 20. As shown in Figure 7, terminal 20 has a transmitting unit 210, a receiving unit 220, a setting unit 230, and a control unit 240. The functional configuration shown in Figure 7 is merely an example. The names of the functional categories and functional units can be anything as long as they can perform the operations according to the embodiment of the present invention. The transmitting unit 210 and the receiving unit 220 may be called the communication unit.

[0048] The transmitting unit 210 creates a transmission signal from the transmission data and transmits the transmission signal wirelessly. The receiving unit 220 wirelessly receives various signals and obtains signals from higher layers from the received physical layer signals. The transmitting unit 210 also transmits a HARQ (Hybrid automatic repeat request)-ACK, and the receiving unit 220 receives configuration information and the like, as described in the embodiment.

[0049] The setting unit 230 stores various setting information received from the base station 10 by the receiving unit 220 in a storage device and reads it from the storage device as needed. The setting unit 230 also stores pre-set setting information. The control unit 240 controls the entire terminal 20. The signal transmission function of the control unit 240 may be included in the transmission unit 210, and the signal reception function of the control unit 240 may be included in the reception unit 220. The transmission unit 210 and the reception unit 220 may also be called the transmitter and receiver, respectively.

[0050] <Wireless relay device 30> Figure 8 shows an example of the functional configuration of a wireless relay device 30 in an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 8, the wireless relay device 300 has a transmitting unit 310, a receiving unit 320, a control unit 330, a variable unit 340, and an antenna unit 350. The names of the functional classifications and functional units can be anything as long as they can perform the operations according to the embodiment of the present invention. The transmitting unit 310 and the receiving unit 320 may be called the communication unit.

[0051] The antenna section 350 includes at least one antenna connected to the variable section 340. For example, the antenna section 350 may be arranged as an array antenna. In embodiments of the present invention, the antenna section 350 may be specifically referred to as a relay antenna. The variable section 340 and the antenna section 350 may also be referred to as a relay section.

[0052] The variable unit 340 is connected to the antenna unit 350 and can change the phase, load, amplitude, etc. For example, the variable unit 340 may be a variable phase shifter, a phase shifter, an amplifier, etc. For example, by changing the phase of the radio waves that arrive at the relay antenna from the radio wave source, the direction or beam of the radio waves can be changed.

[0053] The control unit 330 is a control means for controlling the variable unit 340. In an embodiment of the present invention, the control unit 330 functions as a control unit that controls the relay state when relaying radio waves from the base station 10 or terminal 20 without signal interpretation. Here, the control unit 330 may change the relay state based on control information received from the base station 10 or terminal 20 via the communication unit, or it may change the relay state based on the reception state of radio waves from the base station 10 or terminal 20. For example, the control unit 330 may select an appropriate receiving beam and transmitting beam (direction) based on control information such as SSB, and control the variable unit 340. Similarly, the control unit 330 may select an appropriate combination of receiving direction and transmitting direction based on the reception state, based on criteria such as the highest reception quality or highest received power, and control the variable unit 340.

[0054] Furthermore, in embodiments of the present invention, the control unit 330 can control the variable unit 340 based on information relating to the propagation path between the terminal 20 or base station 10A and the antenna unit 350 (including information estimated from the reception status and control information; the same applies hereinafter). For example, the control unit 330 can relay radio waves received from the base station 10A to a specific direction such as the radio wave receiving destination (in this case, the terminal 20) by changing the phase without using transmission power, using a known method such as an active repeater or RIS. Specifically, the control unit 330 uses estimated propagation path information H PT and H RP Based on this, the phase of the radio signal is controlled in order to relay it toward terminal 20 or base station 10A. In other words, by changing the phase of an array antenna, etc., using a principle similar to beamforming, radio waves can be relayed in a specific direction. The radio relay device 30 controls (changes) only the phase of the radio signal (radio wave) by the control unit 330, and may relay without power supply without amplifying the power of the relayed radio signal.

[0055] Furthermore, in the embodiment of the present invention, the control unit 330 may acquire information based on the reception status. Also, the receiving unit 320 may acquire control information from the base station 10A or the terminal 20. For example, the receiving unit 320 may receive various signals such as SSB (including the various signals exemplified in the above-described functions) transmitted from the base station 10A or the terminal 20 as control information.

[0056] Furthermore, the control unit 330, based on the reception state during control of the variable unit 340 (for example, changes in received power, etc.), generates propagation path information (H) between the radio wave source (for example, base station 10A or terminal 20) and the antenna unit 350. PT and H RP ) may be estimated.

[0057] The propagation path information (propagation channel information) for each propagation path specifically refers to information such as amplitude or phase, and in the embodiment of the present invention, it is information estimated regarding the propagation path of radio waves arriving at the antenna section 350. As an example, the control unit 330 may estimate the propagation path information of the antenna section 350 based on the change in received power when the phase of the variable section 340 of the array-shaped antenna section 350 is switched orthogonally, using a principle similar to I / Q (In-phase / Quadrature) detection.

[0058] Figure 9 shows an example of the operation of the wireless relay device 30 in an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 9, as an example, the wireless relay device 30 is interposed between a base station 10A (or other base station 10, etc.) and a terminal 20, and relays (reflects, transmits, aggregates, diffracts, etc.) wireless signals transmitted and received between the base station 10A and the terminal 20.

[0059] As a specific example, when the wireless quality is good, the base station 10A and the terminal 20 transmit and receive wireless signals directly without going through the wireless relay device 30. On the other hand, if the wireless quality deteriorates, such as when there is an obstruction between the base station 10A and the terminal 20, the wireless relay device 30 relays the wireless signals transmitted and received between the base station 10A and the terminal 20.

[0060] Specifically, the wireless relay device 30 receives propagation path information H between the base station 10A or terminal 20 and the relay antenna based on the change in received power when controlling the variable unit 340 such as a variable phase meter. PT H RT The system estimates the propagation path information and, based on the estimated propagation path information, controls the variable unit 340, such as a variable phase shifter, to relay the wireless signal to the radio wave receiving destination, such as the terminal 20. PT H RT The wireless relay device 30 is not limited to estimating the radio frequency, but may also relay the wireless signal to the radio wave receiving destination such as the base station 10A or terminal 20 by controlling a variable unit 340 such as a variable phase shifter based on control information received from the base station 10A or terminal 20.

[0061] Here, a propagation path or propagation channel refers to an individual communication path in wireless communication, and in this case, it refers to the communication path between each transmitting and receiving antenna (such as the base station antenna and terminal antenna in the diagram).

[0062] As an example, the wireless relay device 30 includes an antenna section 350 having a small multi-element antenna compatible with massive MIMO, and a variable section 340 having a variable phase shifter or phase changer that changes the phase of a wireless signal, essentially a radio wave, to a specific phase. The variable section 340 is used to control the phase of the radio wave relayed to the terminal 20 or base station 10A.

[0063] Figure 10 shows an example of communication in the high-frequency band. As shown in Figure 10, when using high-frequency bands of several GHz to tens of GHz or higher, dead zones are likely to occur due to the strong directivity of radio waves. When there is a line of sight between the base station 10A and the terminal 20, the use of the high-frequency band does not affect wireless communication between the base station 10A and the terminal 20. On the other hand, if the line of sight between the base station 10A and the terminal 20 is blocked by an obstruction such as a building or tree, the wireless quality deteriorates significantly. In other words, if the terminal 20 moves into a dead zone where it is blocked by an obstruction, communication may be interrupted.

[0064] Considering the existence of applications that take advantage of high speed, large capacity, and low latency characteristics (such as remote control), it is important to eliminate dead zones and ensure that communication between base stations and terminals is not interrupted within the wireless communication system.

[0065] Therefore, technologies have been developed that can relay radio waves between the base station 10A and the terminal 20, such as RIS or smart repeater radio wave propagation control devices. In this way, communication characteristics can be improved by controlling the propagation characteristics of the base station signal, expanding coverage without the need for a signal source, and reducing installation and operating costs by adding base stations.

[0066] Conventional radio wave propagation control devices come in two types: passive and active. Passive devices have the advantage of not requiring control information, but they cannot track moving objects or environmental changes. Active devices, on the other hand, require control information and have the disadvantage of increased overhead, but they can variably control the radio wave propagation characteristics by changing the load (phase) state of the control antenna, and can track moving objects and environmental changes.

[0067] There are two types of active radio wave propagation control devices and control methods: feedback (FB) norms and propagation path information norms. In the FB norm, a variable radio wave propagation control device randomly changes the load (phase) state and receives feedback on the communication state to terminal 20, etc., to search for optimal conditions. On the other hand, in the propagation path information norm, the load state is determined based on propagation path information between the base station and the radio wave propagation control device, enabling optimal radio wave propagation control. In embodiments of the present invention, either type is applicable.

[0068] Furthermore, while there are various types of relay methods, such as reflection, transmission, diffraction, and aggregation, in this embodiment, as an example, configurations of the reflection type and the transmission type will be described below (for diffraction type and aggregation type, see Non-Patent Document 4, etc.).

[0069] Figure 11 shows an example of a reflective wireless relay device 30 in an embodiment of the present invention. An example of the system configuration of the reflective wireless relay device 30 will be explained using Figure 11. Figure 11 shows the relationship between a transmitting antenna Tx such as a base station 10A, a relay antenna Sx of a transmissive wireless relay device 30, and a receiving antenna Rx such as a terminal 20. As shown in Figure 7, in an embodiment of the present invention, MIMO is used as an example, and there are multiple propagation paths between Tx and Sx and multiple propagation paths between Sx and Rx, and the wireless relay device 30 relays radio waves by controlling a variable unit 340 having a variable phase meter of the relay antenna Sx.

[0070] As shown in Figure 11, in the case of a reflective antenna, the array of repeater antennas are arranged facing the same direction. This makes it possible to estimate the propagation path of the repeater antennas based on the reception state observed when the phase conditions of the repeater antennas are changed multiple times.

[0071] Figure 12 shows an example of a transparent wireless relay device 30 in an embodiment of the present invention. An example of the system configuration of the transparent wireless relay device 30 will be explained using Figure 12. Figure 12 shows the relationship between a transmitting antenna Tx such as a base station 10A, a relay antenna Sx of the transparent wireless relay device 30, and a receiving antenna Rx such as a terminal 20. As shown in Figure 8, in an embodiment of the present invention, MIMO is used as an example, and there are multiple propagation paths between Tx and Sx and multiple propagation paths between Sx and Rx, and the wireless relay device 30 relays radio waves arriving from one side to the other side via a variable part 340 such as a variable phase shifter of the relay antenna Sx, as shown in the figure. Thus, in the case of a transparent type, the reference antenna on the left side of the figure and the relay antenna on the right side of the figure are arranged in pairs facing opposite directions so that radio waves arriving from one side can be relayed to the other side. In either the transparent or reflective type, the system may be configured to detect the power received by the relay antenna using a power detector or the like, and the reception state may be measured. Furthermore, the propagation path of the relay antenna can be estimated based on the received signals observed when the phase conditions of the relay antenna are changed in multiple ways.

[0072] Figure 13 shows an example of communication in an embodiment of the present invention. In NTN, which provides communication via a smart repeater 30, an environment is assumed in which, as shown in Figure 13, in addition to service links #1 and #2 that go through the smart repeater, there is also a service link #0 that does not go through the smart repeater. It is necessary to consider a method for selecting an appropriate link from case 1, which goes through the smart repeater 30, or case 2, which does not go through the smart repeater 30, and / or a method for specifying an appropriate link. For example, terminal 20 or base station 10 may select an appropriate link based on DL, UL, channel, signal, priority, terminal type, etc.

[0073] Option 1) Based on the type of signal, it may be specified or determined which of the two links, Case 1 or Case 2, will be used for transmitting and receiving the signal.

[0074] Terminal 20 may decide which of Case 1 or Case 2 to apply to send and receive a signal, depending on the type of signal to be sent or received.

[0075] For example, terminal 20 may receive DL signals by applying Case 2. For example, terminal 20 may transmit UL signals by applying Case 1. For example, terminal 20 may send and receive cell common signals by applying Case 2. For example, terminal 20 may send and receive UE individual signals by applying Case 1. For example, terminal 20 may send and receive high-priority signals by applying Case 1. For example, terminal 20 may send and receive low-priority signals by applying Case 2.

[0076] In addition, similar to the terminal 20, the base station 10 and / or smart repeater 30 may decide which of Case 1 and Case 2 to apply when transmitting and receiving a signal, depending on the type of signal to be transmitted or received.

[0077] Option 2) The base station 10 may specify or determine which of Case 1 and Case 2 is to be used for transmitting and receiving signals, based on its settings or notification.

[0078] The link used for transmitting and receiving signals may be set up or notified to the terminal 20 by at least one of the following: broadcast information from the base station 10, RRC (Radio Resource Control) signaling, MAC-CE (Medium Access Control - Control Element), and DCI (Downlink Control Information).

[0079] For example, the link to be used for the cell common signal may be announced in one of the cell common signals, and that link may be used for subsequent transmission and reception of the cell common signal. The cell common signal may be a PBCH, one of the SIBs (System Information Block) (SIB-X), or a RAR (Random Access Response).

[0080] For example, in the TDD configuration, base station 10 may configure or notify terminal 20 of the link to be used for each slot and / or symbol, in addition to DL, UL, or flexible, which indicates the transmission direction. Such configuration or notification may be a semi-static configuration by RRC signaling or a dynamic notification by SFI (Slot Format Indicator).

[0081] For example, base station 10 may set or notify terminal 20 of the link to be used to at least one of terminal 20's initial DL-BWP, initial UL-BWP, active DL-BWP, and active UL-BWP.

[0082] For example, the base station 10 may configure or notify the terminal 20 of the link to be used for the scheduled DL or UL by the DCI performing the scheduling.

[0083] For example, base station 10 may configure or notify terminal 20 of the link to be used for configured DL and / or configured UL.

[0084] In addition, the terminal 20 in option 2) may be replaced with a smart repeater 30. That is, the link used for transmitting and receiving signals may be set up or notified to the smart repeater 30 by at least one of the following: broadcast information from the base station 10, RRC signaling, MAC-CE, and DCI.

[0085] Option 3) Based on the User Equipment Type (UE), it may be specified or determined which of Case 1 and Case 2 is to be used for transmitting and receiving signals. This specification or determination based on the UE type may be performed at the terminal 20, the base station 10, or the smart repeater 30.

[0086] For example, if the UE type is a High Power UE or a VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal), Case 2 may be applied to both the transmission and reception of DL and UL signals. For example, if the UE type is a normal UE, Case 2 may be applied to the reception of DL signals and Case 1 to the transmission of UL signals. For example, if the UE type is an IoT-UE, Case 2 may be applied to both the transmission and reception of DL and UL signals.

[0087] Note that the UE type may be replaced with a UE capability or a UE category. The UE capability may be, for example, a power class or whether or not it is RedCap (Reduced capability). The UE category may be, for example, category M1 or category NB1.

[0088] Options 1), 2), and 3) above may be used in combination. For example, if the setting or notification under option 2) is not performed, option 1) may be used. For example, the IoT-UE may use option 1) without the setting or notification under option 2), and may not even assume the setting or notification under option 2).

[0089] In the above embodiment, the terminal 20, base station 10, or smart repeater 30 can determine at NTN whether to use a link that goes through the smart repeater 30 or a link that does not go through the smart repeater 30 for transmitting and receiving a predetermined signal.

[0090] In other words, it is possible to determine which service link to use in the NTN (Non-Terrestrial Network) system.

[0091] (Hardware configuration) The block diagrams used in the description of the above embodiments (Figures 6, 7, and 8) show functional units. These functional blocks (components) are realized by any combination of at least one of hardware and software. Furthermore, the method of realizing each functional block is not particularly limited. That is, each functional block may be realized using one device that is physically or logically coupled, or it may be realized using two or more physically or logically separated devices that are directly or indirectly connected (for example, using wired or wireless connections). A functional block may be realized by combining the above one device or the above multiple devices with software.

[0092] Functions include, but are not limited to, judgment, decision, judgment, calculation, calculation, processing, derivation, investigation, exploration, confirmation, reception, transmission, output, access, resolution, selection, selection, establishment, comparison, assumption, expectation, assumption, broadcasting, notifying, communicating, forwarding, configuring, reconfiguring, allocating (mapping), and assigning. For example, a functional block (configuration part) that enables transmission is called a transmitting unit or transmitter. In all cases, as mentioned above, the method of implementation is not particularly limited.

[0093] For example, the base station 10, terminal 20, and wireless relay device 30 in one embodiment of the present disclosure may function as a computer that processes the wireless communication method of the present disclosure. Figure 14 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the base station 10, terminal 20, and wireless relay device 30 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The base station 10, terminal 20, and wireless relay device 30 described above may be physically configured as a computer device including a processor 1001, storage device 1002, auxiliary storage device 1003, communication device 1004, input device 1005, output device 1006, bus 1007, etc.

[0094] In the following explanation, the term "device" can be read as "circuit," "device," "unit," etc. The hardware configuration of the base station 10, terminal 20, and wireless relay device 30 may include one or more of the devices shown in the figure, or it may be configured to omit some of the devices.

[0095] Each function in the base station 10, terminal 20, and wireless relay device 30 is realized by loading predetermined software (programs) onto hardware such as the processor 1001 and storage device 1002, which allows the processor 1001 to perform calculations, control communication by the communication device 1004, and control at least one of the reading and writing of data in the storage device 1002 and auxiliary storage device 1003.

[0096] The processor 1001 controls the entire computer, for example, by running an operating system. The processor 1001 may consist of a central processing unit (CPU) that includes interfaces with peripheral devices, control devices, arithmetic units, registers, etc. For example, the control unit 140, control unit 240, etc., described above may be implemented by the processor 1001.

[0097] Furthermore, the processor 1001 reads programs (program code), software modules, or data from at least one of the auxiliary storage device 1003 and the communication device 1004 into the storage device 1002, and executes various processes accordingly. The program used is one that causes a computer to execute at least a part of the operations described in the above embodiment. For example, the control unit 140 of the base station 10 shown in Figure 2 may be implemented by a control program stored in the storage device 1002 and operated by the processor 1001. Also, for example, the control unit 240 of the terminal 20 shown in Figure 3 may be implemented by a control program stored in the storage device 1002 and operated by the processor 1001. Although the above processes have been described as being executed by one processor 1001, they may be executed simultaneously or sequentially by two or more processors 1001. The processor 1001 may be implemented by one or more chips. The program may be transmitted from the network via a telecommunications line.

[0098] The storage device 1002 is a computer-readable recording medium and may consist of at least one of the following: ROM (Read Only Memory), EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM), RAM (Random Access Memory), etc. The storage device 1002 may also be called a register, cache, main memory, etc. The storage device 1002 can store executable programs (program code), software modules, etc., for implementing a communication method according to one embodiment of this disclosure.

[0099] The auxiliary storage device 1003 is a computer-readable recording medium and may consist of at least one of the following: an optical disc such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc ROM), a hard disk drive, a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk (e.g., a compact disc, a digital multipurpose disc, a Blu-ray® disc), a smart card, flash memory (e.g., a card, a stick, a key drive), a floppy® disk, a magnetic strip, etc. The above-mentioned storage medium may also be a database, server, or other suitable medium that includes at least one of the storage device 1002 and the auxiliary storage device 1003.

[0100] The communication device 1004 is hardware (transmitting / receiving device) for communicating between computers via at least one of a wired network and a wireless network, and is also referred to as a network device, network controller, network card, communication module, etc. The communication device 1004 may be configured to include high-frequency switches, duplexers, filters, frequency synthesizers, etc., in order to implement at least one of frequency division duplex (FDD) and time division duplex (TDD). For example, the transmitting and receiving antennas, amplifier section, transmitting and receiving section, transmission path interface, etc., may be implemented by the communication device 1004. The transmitting and receiving section may be implemented in a physically or logically separated manner, with a transmitting section and a receiving section.

[0101] The input device 1005 is an input device that accepts input from an external source (e.g., a keyboard, mouse, microphone, switch, button, sensor, etc.). The output device 1006 is an output device that outputs to an external source (e.g., a display, speaker, LED lamp, etc.). The input device 1005 and the output device 1006 may be configured as an integrated unit (e.g., a touch panel).

[0102] 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 different buses may be configured for each device.

[0103] Furthermore, the base station 10, terminal 20, and wireless relay device 30 may be configured to include hardware such as a microprocessor, digital signal processor (DSP), application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), programmable logic device (PLD), and field programmable gate array (FPGA), and some or all of each functional block may be realized by such hardware. For example, the processor 1001 may be implemented using at least one of these hardware components.

[0104] Furthermore, the wireless relay device 30 may include, as necessary, hardware components constituting the variable section 340 and the antenna section 350, such as a variable phase shifter, a phase shifter, an amplifier, an antenna, an array antenna, etc.

[0105] Figure 15 shows an example of the configuration of vehicle 2001. As shown in Figure 15, 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 2021-2029, an information service unit 2012, and a communication module 2013. Each aspect / embodiment described in this disclosure may be applied to a communication device mounted on vehicle 2001, for example, to the communication module 2013.

[0106] The drive unit 2002 consists of, for example, 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, which is operated by the user.

[0107] The electronic control unit 2010 consists of a microprocessor 2031, memory (ROM, RAM) 2032, and communication ports (IO ports) 2033. Signals from various sensors 2021 to 2029 installed in the vehicle 2001 are input to the electronic control unit 2010. The electronic control unit 2010 may also be called an ECU (Electronic Control Unit).

[0108] Signals from various sensors 2021-2029 include current signals from current sensor 2021 which senses motor current, front and rear wheel rotation speed signals obtained by rotation speed sensor 2022, front and rear wheel air pressure signals obtained by air pressure sensor 2023, vehicle speed signals obtained by vehicle speed sensor 2024, acceleration signals obtained by acceleration sensor 2025, accelerator pedal depression signals obtained by accelerator pedal sensor 2029, brake pedal depression signals obtained by brake pedal sensor 2026, shift lever operation signals obtained by shift lever sensor 2027, and detection signals obtained by object detection sensor 2028 for detecting obstacles, vehicles, pedestrians, etc.

[0109] The Information Services Unit 2012 consists of various devices for providing various types of information, such as driving information, traffic information, and entertainment information, including a car navigation system, audio system, speakers, television, and radio, and one or more ECUs that control these devices. The Information Services Unit 2012 uses information acquired from external devices via a communication module 2013, etc., to provide various multimedia information and multimedia services to the occupants of the vehicle 2001.

[0110] The driver assistance system unit 2030 consists of various devices that provide functions to prevent accidents or reduce the driver's workload, such as millimeter-wave radar, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), cameras, positioning locators (e.g., GNSS), map information (e.g., high-definition (HD) maps, autonomous vehicle (AV) maps, etc.), gyro systems (e.g., IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit), INS (Inertial Navigation System), etc.), AI (Artificial Intelligence) chips, and AI processors, as well as one or more ECUs that control these devices. The driver assistance system unit 2030 also sends and receives various information via the communication module 2013 to realize driver assistance functions or autonomous driving functions.

[0111] The communication module 2013 can communicate with the microprocessor 2031 and components of the vehicle 2001 via its communication port. For example, the communication module 2013 sends and receives data via its communication port 2033 to the drive unit 2002, steering unit 2003, accelerator pedal 2004, brake pedal 2005, shift lever 2006, front wheels 2007, rear wheels 2008, axle 2009, the microprocessor 2031 and memory (ROM, RAM) 2032 in the electronic control unit 2010, and sensors 2021-29 provided in the vehicle 2001.

[0112] 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 external devices. For example, it can send and receive various types of information to and from external devices 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 or a mobile station.

[0113] The communication module 2013 transmits current signals from current sensors input to the electronic control unit 2010 to an external device via wireless communication. The communication module 2013 also transmits, via wireless communication, other signals input to the electronic control unit 2010, including front and rear wheel rotation speed signals obtained by the rotation speed sensor 2022, front and rear wheel air pressure signals obtained by the air pressure sensor 2023, vehicle speed signals obtained by the vehicle speed sensor 2024, acceleration signals obtained by the acceleration sensor 2025, accelerator pedal depression signals obtained by the accelerator pedal sensor 2029, brake pedal depression signals obtained by the brake pedal sensor 2026, shift lever operation signals obtained by the shift lever sensor 2027, and detection signals obtained by the object detection sensor 2028 for detecting obstacles, vehicles, pedestrians, etc.

[0114] The communication module 2013 receives various information (traffic information, signal information, distance information, etc.) transmitted from an external device and displays it on the information service unit 2012 installed in the vehicle 2001. The communication module 2013 also stores the various information received from the external device in memory 2032, which is available to the microprocessor 2031. Based on the information stored in 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, axles 2009, sensors 2021-2029, etc., installed in the vehicle 2001.

[0115] (Summary of the embodiments) As described above, according to an embodiment of the present invention, a terminal is provided which includes a base station constituting an NTN (Non-Terrestrial Network), a communication unit that transmits and receives signals via a non-terrestrial device, and a control unit that determines whether to use a first link directly connected from the non-terrestrial device to the terminal itself, or a second link connected from the non-terrestrial device to the terminal itself via a wireless relay device, for transmitting or receiving the signal.

[0116] With the above configuration, the terminal 20, base station 10, or smart repeater 30 can determine whether to use a link that goes through the smart repeater 30 or a link that does not go through the smart repeater 30 for transmitting and receiving a predetermined signal within the NTN (Non-Terrestrial Network) system. In other words, it is possible to determine which service link to use within the NTN (Non-Terrestrial Network) system.

[0117] The control unit may determine, based on the type of signal, whether to use the first link or the second link for transmitting or receiving the signal. With this configuration, the terminal 20, base station 10, or smart repeater 30 can determine at NTN whether to use the link that goes through the smart repeater 30 or the link that does not go through the smart repeater 30 for transmitting or receiving a predetermined signal.

[0118] The control unit may decide to use the first link for receiving the signal if the signal is a downlink signal, and to use the second link for transmitting the signal if the signal is an uplink signal. With this configuration, the terminal 20, base station 10, or smart repeater 30 can determine at NTN whether to use the link that goes through the smart repeater 30 or the link that does not go through the smart repeater 30 for transmitting and receiving a predetermined signal.

[0119] The control unit may decide, based on information notified by the base station, whether to use the first link or the second link for transmitting or receiving the signal. With this configuration, the terminal 20, base station 10, or smart repeater 30 can determine at NTN whether to use the link that goes through smart repeater 30 or the link that does not go through smart repeater 30 for transmitting and receiving a predetermined signal.

[0120] The control unit may determine, based on the User Equipment Type (UE), whether to use the first link or the second link for transmitting or receiving the signal. With this configuration, the terminal 20, base station 10, or smart repeater 30 can determine, at NTN, whether to use the link that goes through the smart repeater 30 or the link that does not go through the smart repeater 30 for transmitting or receiving a predetermined signal.

[0121] Furthermore, according to an embodiment of the present invention, a communication method is provided in which a terminal performs a communication procedure for transmitting and receiving signals via a base station constituting an NTN (Non-Terrestrial Network) and a non-terrestrial device, and a control procedure for determining whether to use a first link directly connected from the non-terrestrial device to the terminal or a second link connected from the non-terrestrial device to the terminal via a wireless relay device to transmit or receive the signal.

[0122] With the above configuration, the terminal 20, base station 10, or smart repeater 30 can determine whether to use a link that goes through the smart repeater 30 or a link that does not go through the smart repeater 30 for transmitting and receiving a predetermined signal within the NTN (Non-Terrestrial Network) system. In other words, it is possible to determine which service link to use within the NTN (Non-Terrestrial Network) system.

[0123] (Supplement to the embodiment) While 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, substitutions, etc. Specific numerical examples have been used to facilitate understanding of the invention, but 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, and matters described in two or more items may be combined as needed, and matters described in one item may be applied to matters described in another item (as long as they do not contradict each other). The boundaries of functional units or processing units in the functional block diagram do not necessarily correspond to the boundaries of physical parts. The operation of multiple functional units may be physically performed by one part, or the operation of one functional unit may be physically performed by multiple parts. Regarding the processing procedures described in the embodiments, the order of processing may be changed as long as it does not contradict each other. For the convenience of explaining the processing, the base station 10 and terminal 20 have been described using functional block diagrams, but such devices may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof. The software operated by the processor of the base station 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention and the software operated by the processor of the terminal 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention may 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.

[0124] Furthermore, the notification of information is not limited to the embodiments / models described herein and may be carried out by other methods. For example, the notification of information may be carried out by physical layer signaling (e.g., DCI (Downlink Control Information), UCI (Uplink Control Information)), upper layer signaling (e.g., RRC (Radio Resource Control) signaling, MAC (Medium Access Control) signaling), broadcast information (MIB (Master Information Block), SIB (System Information Block)), other signals, or combinations thereof. Also, RRC signaling may be called RRC messages, and may be, for example, RRC Connection Setup messages, RRC Connection Reconfiguration messages, etc.

[0125] Each aspect / embodiment described in this disclosure includes LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE-A (LTE-Advanced), 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 (where x is, for example, an integer or decimal)), 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)), and IEEE This may apply to at least one system utilizing 802.20, UWB (Ultra-WideBand), Bluetooth®, or other appropriate systems, and to next-generation systems extended, modified, created, or defined based thereon. It may also apply to a combination of multiple systems (for example, a combination of at least one of LTE and LTE-A with 5G).

[0126] The processing procedures, sequences, flowcharts, etc., of each aspect / embodiment described herein may be reordered, provided they are consistent with each other. For example, the methods described herein present various step elements in an exemplary order and are not limited to that specific order.

[0127] In this specification, specific operations performed by the base station 10 may, in some cases, be performed by its upper node. In a network consisting of one or more network nodes having a base station 10, it is clear that various operations performed for communication with the terminal 20 can be performed by the base station 10 and at least one of the other network nodes (for example, an MME or S-GW, but not limited to these). Although the above example illustrates the case where there is one other network node besides the base station 10, the other network node may be a combination of multiple other network nodes (for example, an MME and an S-GW).

[0128] The information or signals described in this disclosure may be output from a higher layer (or lower layer) to a lower layer (or higher layer). They may also be input and output via multiple network nodes.

[0129] Input and output information may be stored in a specific location (e.g., memory) or managed using a management table. Input and output information may be overwritten, updated, or appended to. Output information may be deleted. Input information may be transmitted to other devices.

[0130] The determination in this disclosure may be made by a value represented by one bit (0 or 1), by a boolean value (true or false), or by a numerical comparison (for example, a comparison with a predetermined value).

[0131] Software should be broadly interpreted to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, execution threads, procedures, functions, and so on, whether they are called software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or by any other name.

[0132] Furthermore, software, instructions, information, etc., may be transmitted and received via a transmission medium. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using at least one of wired technology (such as coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, or digital subscriber line (DSL)) and wireless technology (such as infrared or microwave), then at least one of these wired and wireless technologies is included in the definition of a transmission medium.

[0133] The information, signals, etc. described in this disclosure may be represented using any of the various different techniques. For example, the data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, chips, etc. that may be referred to throughout the above description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or photons, or any combination thereof.

[0134] In addition, terms used 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 the channel and symbol may be a signal (signaling). Also, a signal may be a message. Furthermore, a component carrier (CC) may be called a carrier frequency, cell, frequency carrier, etc.

[0135] The terms “system” and “network” as used in this disclosure are interchangeable.

[0136] Furthermore, the information, parameters, etc., described in this disclosure may be expressed using absolute values, relative values ​​from a given value, or other corresponding information. For example, wireless resources may be indicated by an index.

[0137] The names used for the parameters described above are not restrictive in any way. Furthermore, the formulas and other expressions using these parameters may differ from those expressly disclosed in this disclosure. Various channels (e.g., PUCCH, PDCCH, etc.) and information elements can be identified by any suitable name, and therefore, the various names assigned to these various channels and information elements are not restrictive in any way.

[0138] In this disclosure, terms such as "base station (BS)", "wireless base station", "base station equipment", "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.

[0139] A base station can house one or more (e.g., three) cells. If a base station houses multiple cells, the entire coverage area of ​​the base station can be divided into several smaller areas, each of which may also be provided with communication services by a base station subsystem (e.g., a Remote Radio Head (RRH)). The terms “cell” or “sector” refer to part or all of the coverage area of ​​at least one of the base station and / or base station subsystems that provide communication services in that coverage.

[0140] In this disclosure, terms such as "Mobile Station (MS)," "user terminal," "User Equipment (UE)," and "terminal" may be used interchangeably.

[0141] 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 several other appropriate terms.

[0142] 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, the mobile body itself, etc. 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 be a device that does not necessarily move during communication operation. 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.

[0143] Furthermore, the term "base station" in this disclosure may be interpreted as "user terminal." For example, the various aspects / embodiments of this disclosure may be applied to a configuration in which communication between a base station and a user terminal is replaced with communication between multiple terminals 20 (which may be called, for example, D2D (Device-to-Device), V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything), etc.). In this case, the terminals 20 may have the functions that the base station 10 has. Also, terms such as "uplink" and "downlink" may be interpreted as terms corresponding to terminal-to-terminal communication (for example, "side"). For example, uplink channel, downlink channel, etc., may be interpreted as side channel.

[0144] Similarly, the term "user terminal" in this disclosure may be replaced with "base station." In this case, the base station may be configured to have the same functions as the user terminal described above.

[0145] As used in this disclosure, the terms “determining” and “determining” may encompass a wide variety of actions. “Determining” may include, for example, judging, calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up, searching, inquiry (e.g., searching in a table, database, or other data structure), and ascertaining. “Determining” may also include, for example, receiving (e.g., receiving information), transmitting (e.g., sending information), input, output, and accessing (e.g., accessing data in memory). Furthermore, "judgment" and "decision" can include considering something as having been "judged" or "decided" after resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, comparing, etc. In other words, "judgment" and "decision" can include considering something as having been "judged" or "decided" after some action. Also, "judgment (decision)" can be reinterpreted as "assuming," "expecting," or "considering."

[0146] The terms “connected,” “coupled,” or any variation thereof, mean 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” with each other. The coupling or connection between elements may be physical, logical, or a combination thereof. For example, “connection” may be reinterpreted as “access.” As used in this disclosure, two elements may be considered to be “connected” or “coupled” with each other using at least one of one or more wires, cables, and printed electrical connections, and, in some non-limiting and non-exclusive examples, electromagnetic energy having wavelengths in the radio frequency domain, microwave domain, and optical (both visible and invisible) domain.

[0147] The reference signal can also be abbreviated as RS (Reference Signal), and may be called a pilot depending on the applicable standard.

[0148] In this disclosure, the phrase "based on" does not mean "based solely on" unless otherwise specified. In other words, the phrase "based on" means both "based solely on" and "based at least on."

[0149] Any reference to elements using the designations “first,” “second,” etc., as used in this disclosure does not generally limit the quantity or order of those elements. These designations may be used in this disclosure as a convenient way to distinguish between two or more elements. Accordingly, references to the first and second elements do not imply that only two elements may be employed, or that the first element must precede the second element in any way.

[0150] In the configuration of each of the above devices, "means" may be replaced with "part," "circuit," "device," etc.

[0151] Where the terms “include,” “including,” and variations thereof are used in this disclosure, these terms are intended to be inclusive, as is the term “comprising.” Furthermore, the term “or” as used in this disclosure is not intended to mean exclusive OR.

[0152] A wireless frame may consist of one or more frames in the time domain. Each of these frames in the time domain may be called a subframe. A subframe may further consist 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.

[0153] Numerical logic may be communication parameters applied to at least one of the transmission and reception of a signal or channel. Numerical logic may include, for example, at least one of the following: subcarrier spacing (SCS), bandwidth, symbol length, cyclic prefix length, transmission time interval (TTI), number of symbols per TTI, radio frame configuration, specific filtering processes performed by the transceiver in the frequency domain, and specific windowing processes performed by the transceiver in the time domain.

[0154] A slot may consist of one or more symbols in the time domain (such as OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) symbols, SC-FDMA (Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access) symbols, etc.). A slot may also be a time unit based on neurology.

[0155] A slot may include multiple minislots. Each minislot may consist of one or more symbols in the time domain. Minislots may also be called subslots. Minislots 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.

[0156] Wireless frames, subframes, slots, minislots, and symbols all represent units of time when transmitting a signal. Different names may be used for each of these terms.

[0157] 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 mini-slot may be called a TTI. In other words, at least one of a subframe and a TTI may be a subframe (1 ms) in existing LTE, a period shorter than 1 ms (e.g., 1-13 symbols), or a period longer than 1 ms. Note that the unit representing the TTI may be called a slot, mini-slot, etc., instead of a subframe.

[0158] Here, TTI refers to, for example, the smallest unit of time for scheduling in wireless communication. For example, in an LTE system, the base station schedules each terminal 20 to allocate wireless resources (such as the frequency bandwidth and transmission power available to each terminal 20) in TTI units. However, the definition of TTI is not limited to this.

[0159] TTI may be a transmission time unit for channel-encoded data packets (transport blocks), code blocks, code words, etc., or it may be a processing unit for scheduling, link adaptation, etc. Given a TTI, the actual time interval (e.g., number of symbols) to which the transport block, code block, code word, etc. are mapped may be shorter than the given TTI.

[0160] Furthermore, if one slot or one mini-slot is referred to as TTI, then one or more TTIs (i.e., one or more slots or one or more mini-slots) may constitute the minimum time unit of scheduling. In addition, the number of slots (number of mini-slots) that constitute the minimum time unit of scheduling may be controlled.

[0161] A TTI with a time length of 1ms may also be called a normal TTI, long TTI, normal subframe, long subframe, slot, etc. A TTI shorter than a normal TTI may also be called a shortened TTI, short TTI, partial or fractional TTI, shortened subframe, short subframe, mini slot, sub slot, slot, etc.

[0162] Furthermore, long TTIs (e.g., normal TTIs, subframes, etc.) may be interpreted as TTIs with a time length exceeding 1 ms, and short TTIs (e.g., shortened TTIs, etc.) may be interpreted as TTIs with a TTI length less than that of a long TTI but 1 ms or more.

[0163] A resource block (RB) is a resource allocation unit in the time domain and frequency domain, and in the frequency domain, it may contain one or more consecutive subcarriers. The number of subcarriers in an RB may be the same regardless of the neurology, for example, 12. The number of subcarriers in an RB may be determined based on the neurology.

[0164] Furthermore, the time domain of RB may contain one or more symbols and may be the length of one slot, one minislot, one subframe, or one TTI. One TTI, one subframe, etc., may each consist of one or more resource blocks.

[0165] One or more RBs may also be called a Physical RB (PRB), Sub-Carrier Group (SCG), Resource Element Group (REG), PRB pair, RB pair, etc.

[0166] Furthermore, a resource block may consist of one or more resource elements (REs). For example, one RE may be a radio resource area comprising one subcarrier and one symbol.

[0167] A Bandwidth Part (BWP), also known as a partial bandwidth, may represent a subset of consecutive common resource blocks (RBs) for a particular neurology system in a given carrier. These common RBs may be identified by an index of the RBs relative to a common reference point of the carrier. A Bandwidth Part (PRB) may be defined and numbered within a given BWP.

[0168] A BWP may include BWPs for UL (UL BWP) and BWPs for DL ​​(DL BWP). One or more BWPs may be configured within a single carrier for a UE.

[0169] At least one of the configured BWPs may be active, and the UE does not need to assume that it will send or receive a given signal / channel outside of the active BWP. In this disclosure, terms such as "cell" and "carrier" may be read as "BWP".

[0170] The structures described above, such as wireless frames, subframes, slots, minislots, and symbols, are merely illustrative. For example, the number of subframes included in a wireless frame, the number of slots per subframe or wireless 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, and the number of symbols, symbol length, and cyclic prefix (CP) length within a TTI can be varied in various ways.

[0171] In this disclosure, if articles are added through translation, such as a, an, and the in English, this disclosure may include the fact that the noun following these articles is plural.

[0172] In this 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 "combine" may be interpreted similarly to "different."

[0173] Each aspect / embodiment described herein may be used individually, in combination, or switched between as needed during implementation. Furthermore, notification of specific information (e.g., notification that "X is") is not limited to explicit notification, but may also be implicit (e.g., by not providing such notification).

[0174] Although the present disclosure has been described in detail above, it will be 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 intent and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the claims. Therefore, the descriptions in the present disclosure are illustrative and not intended to be restrictive in any way. [Explanation of symbols]

[0175] 10 base station 110 Transmitter 120 Receiver 130 Setting section 140 Control Unit 20 devices 210 Transmitter 220 Receiver 230 Setting section 240 Control Unit 30 Wireless relay device 310 Transmitter 320 Receiver 330 Control Unit 340 Variable part 350 Antenna section 1001 Processor 1002 Storage device 1003 Auxiliary storage device 1004 Communication device 1005 Input device 1006 Output device 2001 Vehicle 2002 Drive Unit 2003 Steering Department 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 Rotation speed sensor 2023 Pneumatic Sensor 2024 Vehicle Speed ​​Sensor 2025 Accelerometer 2026 Brake Pedal Sensor 2027 Shift lever sensor 2028 Object Detection Sensor 2029 Accelerator pedal sensor 2030 Driver Support Systems Department 2031 Microprocessor 2032 memory (ROM, RAM) 2033 Communication port (I / O port)

Claims

1. A base station that constitutes an NTN (Non-Terrestrial Network), and a communication unit that transmits and receives signals via non-terrestrial equipment, The device has a control unit that determines whether to use a first link that connects directly from the non-terrestrial device to the device itself, or a second link that connects from the non-terrestrial device to the device itself via a wireless relay device, for transmitting or receiving the signal. The control unit determines that the base station constitutes the NTN when the communication unit receives parameters for determining the TA (Timing Advance) based on information from the non-terrestrial device. Terminal.

2. The terminal according to claim 1, wherein the control unit determines, based on the type of signal, whether to use the first link or the second link for transmitting or receiving the signal.

3. The terminal according to claim 2, wherein the control unit determines to use the first link for receiving the signal when the signal is a downlink signal, and determines to use the second link for transmitting the signal when the signal is an uplink signal.

4. The terminal according to claim 1, wherein the control unit determines, based on information notified from the base station, whether to use the first link or the second link for transmitting or receiving the signal.

5. The terminal according to claim 1, wherein the control unit determines, based on the UE type (User Equipment Type), whether to use the first link or the second link for transmitting or receiving the signal.

6. A communication procedure for transmitting and receiving signals between base stations constituting an NTN (Non-Terrestrial Network) and non-terrestrial equipment, The terminal performs a control procedure to determine whether to use a first link that connects directly from the non-terrestrial device to its own device, or a second link that connects from the non-terrestrial device to its own device via a wireless relay device, for transmitting or receiving the signal. The terminal determines that the base station constitutes the NTN when it receives parameters for determining the TA (Timing Advance) based on information from the non-terrestrial device. Communication method.

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