Apparatus, method, and storage medium for transmitting uplink signal in front-haul interface

Abstract

An apparatus of a radio unit (RU) may comprise a memory for storing instructions, a transceiver, and at least one processor. The instructions, when executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor, may cause the apparatus to receive, from a distributed unit (DU), a control plane message including a section extension. The section extension may include transmission timing information for an uplink user plane message. The instructions, when executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor, may cause the apparatus to transmit the uplink user plane message to the DU on the basis of the transmission timing information included in the section extension. The transmission timing information may include identifiers of a plurality of transmission symbols for symbols in which uplink data has been received from a user equipment.

Description

Device, method, and storage medium for transmitting uplink signals within a fronthaul interface

[0001] The following descriptions relate to a device, method, and storage medium for transmitting an uplink signal within a fronthaul interface.

[0002] As transmission capacity increases in wireless communication systems, functional splitting, which functionally separates base stations, is being implemented. Through functional splitting, base stations can be divided into distributed units (DUs) and radio units (RUs). A fronthaul interface is defined for communication between the DUs and RUs.

[0003] As described above, a device of a radio unit (RU) may include a memory for storing instructions and including one or more storage media. The device may include a transceiver. The device may include at least one processor including a processing circuit. The instructions, when individually or collectively executed by the at least one processor, may cause the device to receive, from a distributed unit (DU), a control plane message including a section extension. The section extension may include transmission timing information for an uplink user plane message. The instructions, when individually or collectively executed by the at least one processor, may cause the device to transmit, to the DU, the uplink user plane message based on the transmission timing information included in the section extension. The above transmission timing information may include identifiers of a plurality of transmission symbols for symbols in which uplink data is received from a terminal (user equipment).

[0004] A device of a distributed unit (DU) may include a memory storing instructions and including one or more storage media. The device may include a transceiver. The device may include at least one processor including a processing circuit. The instructions, when individually or collectively executed by the at least one processor, may cause the device to transmit, to a radio unit (RU), a control plane message including a section extension. The section extension may include transmission timing information for an uplink user plane message. The instructions, when individually or collectively executed by the at least one processor, may cause the device to receive, from the RU, the uplink user plane message based on the transmission timing information included in the section extension. The above transmission timing information may include identifiers of a plurality of transmission symbols for symbols in which uplink data is received from a terminal (user equipment).

[0005] In a method performed by a radio unit (RU), the method may include receiving, from a distributed unit (DU), a control plane message including a section extension. The section extension may include transmission timing information for an uplink user plane message. The method may include transmitting, to the DU, the uplink user plane message based on the transmission timing information included in the section extension. The transmission timing information may include identifiers of a plurality of transmission symbols for symbols in which uplink data is received from a terminal.

[0006] A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may store one or more programs comprising instructions that, when individually or collectively executed by at least one processor of a radio unit (RU) including a transceiver, cause the RU to receive, from a distributed unit (DU), a control plane message comprising a section extension. The section extension may include transmission timing information for an uplink user plane message. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may store one or more programs comprising instructions that, when individually or collectively executed by the at least one processor, cause the RU to transmit, to the DU, the uplink user plane message based on the transmission timing information included in the section extension. The transmission timing information may include identifiers of a plurality of transmission symbols for symbols in which uplink data is received from a user equipment.

[0007] A method performed by a distributed unit (DU) may include transmitting, to a radio unit (RU), a control plane message including a section extension. The section extension may include transmission timing information for an uplink user plane message. The method may include receiving, from the RU, the uplink user plane message based on the transmission timing information included in the section extension. The transmission timing information may include identifiers of a plurality of transmission symbols for symbols in which uplink data is received from a user equipment.

[0008] A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may store one or more programs comprising instructions that, when individually or collectively executed by at least one processor of a distributed unit (DU) including a transceiver, cause the DU to transmit, to a radio unit (RU), a control plane message including a section extension. The section extension may include transmission timing information for an uplink user plane message. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may store one or more programs comprising instructions that, when individually or collectively executed by the at least one processor, cause the DU to receive, from the RU, the uplink user plane message based on the transmission timing information included in the section extension. The transmission timing information may include identifiers of a plurality of transmission symbols for symbols in which uplink data is received from a user equipment.

[0009] Figure 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system.

[0010] Figure 2a illustrates an example of a fronthaul interface.

[0011] Figure 2b illustrates an example of a fronthaul interface of an open-radio access network (O-RAN).

[0012] Figure 3a illustrates an example of the functional configuration of a DU (distributed unit).

[0013] Figure 3b illustrates an example of the functional configuration of a RU (radio unit).

[0014] Figure 4 illustrates an example of function split between DU and RU.

[0015] Figure 5a illustrates an example of how an RU processes a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) in Class A.

[0016] Figure 5b illustrates an example of how an RU processes DMRS in Class B.

[0017] Figure 6a illustrates an example of a signal flow for how an RU transmits a user plane message to a DU based on a control plane message received from the DU.

[0018] Figure 6b illustrates an example of a user plane message transmitted by the RU to the DU.

[0019] Figure 7a illustrates an example of a section extension indicating the transmission timing of an uplink user plane message.

[0020] Figure 7b illustrates an example of a section extension indicating the transmission timing of an uplink user plane message.

[0021] Figure 7c illustrates an example of a section extension indicating the transmission timing of an uplink user plane message.

[0022] Figures 8a to 8c illustrate examples of timings at which uplink user plane messages are transmitted based on section extensions indicating transmission timings of uplink user plane messages.

[0023] Figure 8d illustrates an example of a section including multiple section extensions.

[0024] Figure 9 illustrates an example of an operational flow for how an RU transmits an uplink user plane message based on a section extension indicating the transmission timing of the uplink user plane message.

[0025] The terms used in this disclosure are used only to describe specific embodiments and may not be intended to limit the scope of other embodiments. The singular expression may include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, may have the same meaning as commonly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art described in this disclosure. Terms defined in general dictionaries among the terms used in this disclosure may be interpreted as having the same or similar meaning in the context of the relevant technology, and shall not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless explicitly defined in this disclosure. In some cases, even if a term is defined in this disclosure, it cannot be interpreted to exclude embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0026] The various embodiments of the present disclosure described below illustrate a hardware-based approach as an example. However, since the various embodiments of the present disclosure include techniques utilizing both hardware and software, the various embodiments of the present disclosure do not exclude a software-based approach.

[0027] In the following description, terms referring to signals (e.g., packet, message, signal, information, signaling), terms referring to resources (e.g., section, symbol, slot, subframe, radio frame, subcarrier, RE (resource element), RB (resource block), BWP (bandwidth part), occasion), terms for operational states (e.g., step, operation, procedure), terms referring to data (e.g., packet, message, user stream, information, bit, symbol, codeword), terms referring to channels, terms referring to network entities (distributed unit (DU), radio unit (RU), central unit (CU), CU-CP (control plane), CU-UP (user plane), O-DU (O-RAN (open radio access network) DU), O-RU (O-RAN RU), O-CU (O-RAN Terms such as CU), O-CU-UP (O-RAN CU-CP), O-CU-CP (O-RAN CU-CP)), and components of the device are provided for convenience of explanation. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to the terms described below, and other terms having equivalent technical meanings may be used. In addition, terms such as '...part', '...machine', '...object', and '...body' used below may mean at least one shape structure or a unit that processes a function.

[0028] In addition, in the present disclosure, expressions such as "more than" or "less than" may be used to determine whether a specific condition is satisfied or fulfilled, but this is merely a description for expressing an example and does not exclude descriptions such as "more than" or "less than." A condition described as "more than" may be replaced with "more than," a condition described as "less than" may be replaced with "less than," and a condition described as "more than and less than" may be replaced with "more than and less than." In addition, hereinafter, "A" to "B" mean at least one of elements from A (including A) to B (including B). hereinafter, "C" and / or "D" mean at least one of "C" or "D," that is, including {"C", "D", "C" and "D"}.

[0029] Although this disclosure describes embodiments using terminology used in certain communication standards (e.g., 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)), this is merely an example for illustrative purposes. Embodiments of this disclosure can also be applied to other communication and broadcasting systems.

[0030] Figure 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system.

[0031] Referring to FIG. 1, FIG. 1 illustrates a base station (110) and a terminal (120) as some of the nodes utilizing a wireless channel in a wireless communication system. Although FIG. 1 illustrates only one base station, the wireless communication system may further include other base stations identical or similar to the base station (110).

[0032] The base station (110) is a network infrastructure that provides wireless access to the terminal (120). The base station (110) has coverage defined based on the distance at which a signal can be transmitted. In addition to the base station, the base station (110) may be referred to as an 'access point (AP)', 'eNodeB (eNB)', '5th generation node', 'next generation nodeB (gNB)', 'wireless point', 'transmission / reception point (TRP)', or other terms having equivalent technical meanings.

[0033] The terminal (120) is a device used by a user and communicates with the base station (110) via a wireless channel. The link from the base station (110) to the terminal (120) is referred to as a downlink (DL), and the link from the terminal (120) to the base station (110) is referred to as an uplink (UL). In addition, although not shown in FIG. 1, the terminal (120) and another terminal may communicate with each other via a wireless channel. In this case, the link between the terminal (120) and another terminal (device-to-device link, D2D) is referred to as a sidelink, and the sidelink may be used interchangeably with the PC5 interface. In some other embodiments, the terminal (120) may be operated without the involvement of a user. In one embodiment, the terminal (120) is a device that performs machine type communication (MTC) and may not be carried by the user. Additionally, according to one embodiment, the terminal (120) may be an NB (narrowband)-IoT (internet of things) device.

[0034] The terminal (120) may be referred to as a terminal, or other terms such as 'user equipment (UE),' 'customer premises equipment (CPE),' 'mobile station,' 'subscriber station,' 'remote terminal,' 'wireless terminal,' 'electronic device,' or 'user device,' or other terms having equivalent technical meanings.

[0035] The base station (110) and the terminal (120) can perform beamforming. The base station (110) and the terminal (120) can transmit and receive wireless signals in a relatively low frequency band (e.g., FR 1 (frequency range 1) of NR). In addition, the base station (110) and the terminal (120) can transmit and receive wireless signals in a relatively high frequency band (e.g., FR 2 (or, FR 2-1, FR 2-2, FR 2-3), FR 3 of NR), millimeter wave (mmWave) band (e.g., 28 GHz, 30 GHz, 38 GHz, 60 GHz)). To improve channel gain, the base station (110) and the terminal (120) can perform beamforming. Here, the beamforming can include transmission beamforming and reception beamforming. The base station (110) and the terminal (120) can impart directionality to the transmitted or received signal. To this end, the base station (110) and the terminal (120) can select serving beams through a beam search or beam management procedure. After the serving beams are selected, subsequent communication can be performed through resources that have a QCL relationship with the resource that transmitted the serving beams.

[0036] If large-scale characteristics of a channel carrying a symbol on a first antenna port can be inferred from a channel carrying a symbol on a second antenna port, the first antenna port and the second antenna port can be evaluated to have a QCL relationship. For example, the large-scale characteristics may include at least one of delay spread, Doppler spread, Doppler shift, average gain, average delay, and a spatial receiver parameter.

[0037] Although both the base station (110) and the terminal (120) are described as performing beamforming in FIG. 1, the embodiments of the present disclosure are not necessarily limited thereto. In some embodiments, the terminal may or may not perform beamforming. Furthermore, the base station may or may not perform beamforming. That is, either only one of the base station and the terminal may perform beamforming, or neither the base station nor the terminal may perform beamforming.

[0038] In the present disclosure, a beam refers to a spatial flow of a signal in a wireless channel, and is formed by one or more antennas (or antenna elements), and this forming process may be referred to as beamforming. Beamforming may include at least one of analog beamforming and digital beamforming (e.g., precoding). Reference signals transmitted based on beamforming may include, for example, a demodulation-reference signal (DM-RS), a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS), a synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel (SS / PBCH), and a sounding reference signal (SRS). In addition, as a configuration for each reference signal, an IE such as a CSI-RS resource or an SRS-resource may be used, and this configuration may include information associated with the beam. Information associated with a beam may mean whether the configuration (e.g., a CSI-RS resource) uses the same spatial domain filter as another configuration (e.g., another CSI-RS resource within the same CSI-RS resource set) or a different spatial domain filter, or whether it is quasi-co-located (QCL) with a reference signal, and if so, what type it is (e.g., QCL type A, B, C, D).

[0039] In the past, in communication systems with relatively large cell radius of base stations, each base station was installed to include the functions of a digital processing unit (or distributed unit (DU)) and a radio frequency (RF) processing unit (or radio unit (RU)). However, as higher frequency bands are used in 4G (4th generation) and / or subsequent communication systems (e.g., 5G) and the cell coverage of base stations becomes smaller, the number of base stations to cover a specific area has increased. The installation costs for operators to install base stations have also increased. In order to minimize the installation costs of base stations, a structure has been proposed in which the DU and RU of the base station are separated, one or more RUs are connected to one DU via a wired network, and one or more RUs are geographically distributed to cover a specific area. Hereinafter, the deployment structure and expansion examples of base stations according to various embodiments of the present disclosure are described through FIGS. 2A and 2B.

[0040] Figure 2a illustrates an example of a fronthaul interface. Unlike backhaul between a base station and the core network, fronthaul refers to the connection between entities within a wireless LAN and a base station.

[0041] Although FIG. 2A illustrates an example of a fronthaul structure between a DU (210) and one RU (220), this is merely for convenience of explanation and the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In other words, embodiments of the present disclosure can also be applied to a fronthaul structure between one DU and multiple RUs. For example, embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to a fronthaul structure between one DU and two RUs. Furthermore, embodiments of the present disclosure can also be applied to a fronthaul structure between one DU and three RUs.

[0042] Referring to FIG. 2A, a base station (110) may include a DU (210) and an RU (220). A fronthaul (215) between the DU (210) and the RU (220) may be operated via an FX interface. For operation of the fronthaul (215), an interface such as an enhanced common public radio interface (eCPRI) or radio over ethernet (ROE) may be used, for example.

[0043] As communications technology advances, mobile data traffic increases, significantly increasing the bandwidth requirements for the fronthaul between the digital unit and the radio unit. In deployments such as C-RAN (centralized / cloud radio access network), the DU performs functions for the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), radio link control (RLC), media access control (MAC), and physical layer (PHY), while the RU can be implemented to perform additional functions for the PHY layer in addition to its radio frequency (RF) functions.

[0044] The DU (210) may be responsible for upper layer functions of a wireless network. For example, the DU (210) may perform functions of the MAC layer and a part of the PHY layer. Here, a part of the PHY layer refers to functions performed at a higher level among the functions of the PHY layer, and may include, for example, channel encoding (or channel decoding), scrambling (or descrambling), modulation (or demodulation), and layer mapping (or layer demapping). According to an embodiment, if the DU (210) complies with the O-RAN standard, it may be referred to as an O-DU (O-RAN DU). The DU (210) may be replaced with a first network entity for a base station (e.g., gNB) in embodiments of the present disclosure, if necessary.

[0045] The RU (220) may be responsible for lower layer functions of a wireless network. For example, the RU (220) may perform a part of the PHY layer, an RF function. Here, a part of the PHY layer refers to functions of the PHY layer that are performed at a relatively lower level than the DU (210), and may include, for example, iFFT transformation (or FFT transformation), CP insertion (CP removal), and digital beamforming. The RU (220) may be referred to as an 'access unit (AU)', an 'access point (AP)', a 'transmission / reception point (TRP)', a 'remote radio head (RRH)', a 'radio unit (RU)', or other terms having an equivalent technical meaning thereto. According to an embodiment, when the RU (220) complies with the O-RAN standard, it may be referred to as an O-RU (O-RAN RU). RU (220) may be represented as a second network entity for a base station (e.g., gNB) in embodiments of the present disclosure, as needed.

[0046] Although the base station (110) is described in FIG. 2A as including a DU (210) and a RU (220), the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto. The base station according to the embodiments may be implemented in a distributed deployment according to a centralized unit (CU) configured to perform functions of upper layers of an access network (e.g., packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), radio resource control (RRC)) and a distributed unit (DU) configured to perform functions of lower layers. For example, the digital unit (DU) (210) may be implemented by separating into a centralized unit (CU) (or a control unit (CU)) and a distributed unit (DU). Between the core (e.g., 5GC (5G core) or NGC (next generation core)) network and the radio network (RAN), the base station can be implemented in a structure in which the CU (centralized unit), DU (distributed unit), and RU (radio unit) are arranged in that order. The interface between the CU (centralized unit) and the DU (distributed unit) can be referred to as the F1 interface.

[0047] A centralized unit (CU) can be connected to one or more DUs and can be responsible for functions at a higher layer than the DU. For example, the CU can be responsible for functions at the RRC (radio resource control) and PDCP (packet data convergence protocol) layers, while the DU and RU can be responsible for functions at lower layers. The DU can perform some functions (high PHY) of the RLC (radio link control), MAC (media access control), and PHY (physical) layers, while the RU can be responsible for the remaining functions (low PHY) of the PHY layer. In addition, for example, a digital unit (DU) can be included in a distributed unit (DU) depending on the implementation of a distributed deployment of the base station. Hereinafter, unless otherwise defined, the operations of DU (digital unit) and RU are described, but various embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to both a base station arrangement including a CU and an arrangement in which a DU is directly connected to a core network (i.e., a base station in which the CU and DU are integrated into a single entity (e.g., an NG-RAN node)).

[0048] Figure 2b illustrates an example of a fronthaul interface of an open-radio access network (O-RAN). In Figure 2b, an eNB or gNB is exemplified as a base station (110) according to a distributed deployment.

[0049] Referring to FIG. 2b, the base station (110) may include an O-DU (251) and O-RUs (253-1, ..., 253-n). Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, the operation and function of the O-RU (253-1) may be understood as a description of each of the other O-RUs (e.g., O-RU (253-n)).

[0050] The O-DU (251) is a logical node that includes functions, excluding functions exclusively assigned to the O-RU (253-1), among the functions of a base station (e.g., eNB, gNB) according to FIG. 4 described below. The O-DU (251) can control the operation of the O-RUs (253-1, ..., 253-n). The O-DU (251) may be referred to as an LLS (lower layer split) CU (central unit). The O-RU (253-1) is a logical node that includes a subset of the functions of a base station (e.g., eNB, gNB) according to FIG. 4 described below. Real-time aspects of control plane (C-plane) communication and user plane (U-plane) communication with the O-RU (253-1) can be controlled by the O-DU (251).

[0051] The O-DU (251) can communicate with the O-RU (253-1) through an LLS interface. The LLS interface corresponds to a fronthaul interface. The LLS interface refers to a logical interface between the O-DU (251) and the O-RU (253-1) that utilizes lower layer functional split (i.e., intra-PHY based functional split). The LLS-C between the O-DU (251) and the O-RU (253-1) provides the C-plane through the LLS interface. The LLS-U between the O-DU (251) and the O-RU (253-1) provides the U-plane through the LLS interface.

[0052] In FIG. 2B, to explain the O-RAN, entities of the base station (110) are described as O-DU and O-RU. However, these names are not to be construed as limiting the embodiments of the present disclosure. In the embodiments described below, it is obvious that the operations of the DU (210) can be performed by the O-DU (251). The description of the DU (210) can be applied to the O-DU (251). Similarly, in the embodiments described below, it is obvious that the operations of the RU (220) can be performed by the O-RU (253-1). The description of the RU (220) can be applied to the O-DU (253-1).

[0053] Figure 3a illustrates an example of the functional configuration of a DU (distributed unit).

[0054] The configuration illustrated in Fig. 3a can be understood as a configuration of the DU (210) of Fig. 2a (or the O-DU (251) of Fig. 2b) as part of a base station. Terms such as "...unit" and "...unit" used hereinafter mean a unit that processes at least one function or operation, and this can be implemented by hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

[0055] Referring to FIG. 3a, DU (210) includes a transceiver (310), memory (320), and processor (330).

[0056] The transceiver (310) can perform functions for transmitting and receiving signals in a wired communication environment. The transceiver (310) can include a wired interface for controlling direct connections between devices via a transmission medium (e.g., copper wire, optical fiber). For example, the transceiver (310) can transmit electrical signals to other devices via copper wire, or perform conversion between electrical signals and optical signals. The DU (210) can communicate with a radio unit (RU) via the transceiver (310). The DU (210) can be connected to a core network or a CU in a distributed arrangement via the transceiver (310).

[0057] The transceiver (310) may perform functions for transmitting and receiving signals in a wireless communication environment. For example, the transceiver (310) may perform a conversion function between a baseband signal and a bit stream according to the physical layer specifications of the system. For example, when transmitting data, the transceiver (310) generates complex symbols by encoding and modulating the transmitted bit stream. In addition, when receiving data, the transceiver (310) restores the received bit stream by demodulating and decoding the baseband signal. In addition, the transceiver (310) may include multiple transmission and reception paths. In addition, according to one embodiment, the transceiver (310) may be connected to the core network or other nodes (e.g., an integrated access backhaul (IAB).

[0058] The transceiver (310) can transmit and receive signals. For example, the transceiver (310) can transmit a management plane (M-plane) message. For example, the transceiver (310) can transmit a management plane (S-plane) message. For example, the transceiver (310) can transmit a control plane (C-plane) message. For example, the transceiver (310) can transmit a user plane (U-plane) message. For example, the transceiver (310) can receive a user plane message. Although only the transceiver (310) is illustrated in FIG. 3A, in other implementations, the DU (210) may include two or more transceivers.

[0059] The transceiver (310) transmits and receives signals as described above. Accordingly, all or part of the transceiver (310) may be referred to as a "communication unit," a "transmitter," a "receiver," or a "transmitter-receiver unit." Furthermore, in the following description, transmission and reception performed via a wireless channel are used to mean that the transceiver (310) performs the processing described above.

[0060] Although not illustrated in FIG. 3A, the transceiver (310) may further include a backhaul transceiver for connection to the core network or other base stations. The backhaul transceiver provides an interface for communicating with other nodes within the network. That is, the backhaul transceiver converts a bit stream transmitted from the base station to other nodes, such as other access nodes, other base stations, upper nodes, the core network, etc., into a physical signal, and converts a physical signal received from other nodes into a bit stream.

[0061] The memory (320) stores data such as basic programs, application programs, and setting information for the operation of the DU (210). The memory (320) may be referred to as a storage unit. The memory (320) may be composed of volatile memory, nonvolatile memory, or a combination of volatile memory and nonvolatile memory. In addition, the memory (320) provides stored data upon request from the processor (330).

[0062] The processor (330) controls the overall operations of the DU (210). The processor (380) may be referred to as a control unit. For example, the processor (330) transmits and receives signals through the transceiver (310) (or through the backhaul communication unit). In addition, the processor (330) records and reads data from the memory (320). In addition, the processor (330) may perform the functions of the protocol stack required by the communication standard. Although only the processor (330) is illustrated in FIG. 3A, the DU (210) may include two or more processors according to other implementation examples.

[0063] For example, the processor (330) may include various processing circuits and / or multiple processors. For example, the term "processor" as used herein, including in the claims, may include various processing circuits including at least one processor, one or more of which may be configured to individually and / or collectively perform the various functions described below in a distributed manner. As used herein, when "processor," "at least one processor," and "one or more processors" are described as being configured to perform various functions, these terms encompass, for example, and without limitation, situations where one processor performs some of the recited functions and other processor(s) perform other parts of the recited functions, and also situations where one processor may perform all of the recited functions. Additionally, the at least one processor may include a combination of processors that perform the various functions enumerated / disclosed, for example, in a distributed manner. At least one processor may execute program instructions to achieve or perform the various functions.

[0064] The configuration of DU (210) illustrated in FIG. 3A is merely an example, and examples of DUs performing embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to the configuration illustrated in FIG. 3A. In some embodiments, some configurations may be added, deleted, or changed.

[0065] Figure 3b illustrates an example of the functional configuration of a RU (radio unit).

[0066] The configuration illustrated in Fig. 3b can be understood as a configuration of the RU (220) of Fig. 2a or the O-RU (253-1) of Fig. 2b as part of a base station. Terms such as "... unit" and "... unit" used hereinafter mean a unit that processes at least one function or operation, and this can be implemented by hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

[0067] Referring to FIG. 3b, the RU (220) includes an RF transceiver (360), a fronthaul transceiver (365), a memory (370), and a processor (380).

[0068] The RF transceiver (360) performs functions for transmitting and receiving signals via a wireless channel. For example, the RF transceiver (360) upconverts a baseband signal into an RF band signal and transmits it via an antenna, and downconverts an RF band signal received via the antenna into a baseband signal. For example, the RF transceiver (360) may include a transmit filter, a receive filter, an amplifier, a mixer, an oscillator, a DAC, an ADC, and the like.

[0069] The RF transceiver (360) may include multiple transmission and reception paths. Furthermore, the RF transceiver (360) may include an antenna unit. The RF transceiver (360) may include at least one antenna array composed of multiple antenna elements. In terms of hardware, the RF transceiver (360) may be composed of digital circuits and analog circuits (e.g., a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC)). Here, the digital circuits and analog circuits may be implemented in a single package. In addition, the RF transceiver (360) may include multiple RF chains. The RF transceiver (360) may perform beamforming. The RF transceiver (360) may apply beamforming weights to a signal to be transmitted and received in order to impart directionality according to the settings of the processor (380). According to one embodiment, the RF transceiver (360) may include an RF (radio frequency) block (or RF unit).

[0070] According to one embodiment, the RF transceiver (360) can transmit and receive signals on a radio access network. For example, the RF transceiver (360) can transmit a downlink signal. The downlink signal can include a synchronization signal (SS), a reference signal (RS) (e.g., a cell-specific reference signal (CRS), a demodulation (DM)-RS), system information (e.g., a MIB, a SIB, remaining system information (RMSI), other system information (OSI)), a configuration message, control information, or downlink data. In addition, for example, the RF transceiver (360) can receive an uplink signal. The uplink signal may include a random access related signal (e.g., a random access preamble (RAP) (or Msg1 (message 1)), Msg3 (message 3)), a reference signal (e.g., a sounding reference signal (SRS), DM-RS), or a power headroom report (PHR). Although only the RF transceiver (360) is illustrated in FIG. 3b, in other implementation examples, the RU (220) may include two or more RF transceivers.

[0071] The fronthaul transceiver (365) can transmit and receive signals. According to one embodiment, the fronthaul transceiver (365) can transmit and receive signals on the fronthaul interface. For example, the fronthaul transceiver (365) can receive a management plane (M-plane) message. For example, the fronthaul transceiver (365) can receive a management plane (S-plane) message. For example, the fronthaul transceiver (365) can receive a control plane (C-plane) message. For example, the fronthaul transceiver (365) can transmit a user plane (U-plane) message. For example, the fronthaul transceiver (365) can receive a user plane message. Although only the fronthaul transceiver (365) is shown in FIG. 3b, according to other implementation examples, the RU (220) may include two or more fronthaul transceivers.

[0072] The RF transceiver (360) and the fronthaul transceiver (365) transmit and receive signals as described above. Accordingly, all or part of the RF transceiver (360) and the fronthaul transceiver (365) may be referred to as a 'communication unit', a 'transmitter unit', a 'receiver unit', or a 'transmitter-receiver unit'. In addition, in the following description, transmission and reception performed through a wireless channel are used to mean that the processing as described above is performed by the RF transceiver (360). In the following description, transmission and reception performed through a wireless channel are used to mean that the processing as described above is performed by the RF transceiver (360).

[0073] The memory (370) stores data such as basic programs, application programs, and setting information for the operation of the RU (220). The memory (370) may be referred to as a storage unit. The memory (370) may be configured as volatile memory, non-volatile memory, or a combination of volatile memory and non-volatile memory. In addition, the memory (370) provides the stored data according to a request from the processor (380). According to one embodiment, the memory (370) may include a memory for conditions, commands, or setting values ​​related to the SRS transmission method.

[0074] The processor (380) controls the overall operations of the RU (220). The processor (380) may be referred to as a control unit. For example, the processor (380) transmits and receives signals through the RF transceiver (360) or the fronthaul transceiver (365). In addition, the processor (380) records and reads data in the memory (370). In addition, the processor (380) may perform functions of a protocol stack required by a communication standard. Although only the processor (380) is illustrated in FIG. 3B, the RU (220) may include two or more processors according to other implementation examples. The processor (380) may be a set of instructions or codes stored in the memory (370), or may be a storage space that stores instructions / codes or instructions / codes that are at least temporarily residing in the processor (380), or may be a part of the circuitry that constitutes the processor (380). Additionally, the processor (380) may include various modules for performing communication. The processor (380) may control the RU (220) to perform operations according to the embodiments described below.

[0075] For example, the processor (380) may include various processing circuits and / or multiple processors. For example, the term "processor" as used herein, including in the claims, may include various processing circuits including at least one processor, one or more of which may be configured to individually and / or collectively perform the various functions described below in a distributed manner. As used herein, when "processor," "at least one processor," and "one or more processors" are described as being configured to perform various functions, these terms encompass, for example, and without limitation, situations where one processor performs some of the recited functions and other processor(s) perform other parts of the recited functions, and also situations where one processor may perform all of the recited functions. Additionally, the at least one processor may include a combination of processors that perform the various functions enumerated / disclosed, for example, in a distributed manner. At least one processor may execute program instructions to achieve or perform the various functions.

[0076] The configuration of RU (220) illustrated in FIG. 3b is merely an example, and examples of RUs performing embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to the configuration illustrated in FIG. 3b. In some embodiments, some configurations may be added, deleted, or changed.

[0077] Figure 4 illustrates an example of function split between DU and RU.

[0078] As wireless communication technology develops (e.g., introduction of 5G (5th generation) communication system (or, NR (new radio) communication system), the frequency band used has increased further. As the cell radius of the base station has become very small, the number of RUs that need to be installed has also increased further. In addition, in 5G communication system, the amount of data transmitted has increased by a large amount, up to ten times, so the transmission capacity of the wired network transmitted to the fronthaul has increased significantly. Due to the factors described above, the installation cost of the wired network in the 5G communication system may increase significantly. Therefore, in order to lower the transmission capacity of the wired network and reduce the installation cost of the wired network, 'function split' can be used to lower the transmission capacity of the fronthaul by transferring some of the functions of the modem of the DU to the RU.

[0079] To reduce the burden on the DU, the role of the RU, which is traditionally solely responsible for RF functions, can be expanded to include some physical layer functions. As the RU performs higher-layer functions, its throughput increases, which can increase transmission bandwidth in the fronthaul while reducing latency requirements due to response processing. However, as the RU performs higher-layer functions, virtualization gains decrease, and the RU's size, weight, and cost increase. Considering the trade-offs between the advantages and disadvantages described above, implementing an optimal functional separation is required.

[0080] Referring to Figure 4, the functional separation in the physical layer below the MAC layer is illustrated. For the downlink (DL) that transmits a signal to a terminal through a wireless network, the base station can sequentially perform channel encoding / scrambling, modulation, layer mapping, antenna mapping, RE mapping, digital beamforming (e.g., precoding), iFFT transform / CP insertion, and RF transform. For the uplink (UL) that receives a signal from a terminal through a wireless network, the base station can sequentially perform RF transform, FFT transform / CP removal, digital beamforming (pre-combining), RE demapping, channel estimation, layer demapping, demodulation, and decoding / descrambling. The separation of uplink and downlink functions can be defined in various types depending on the needs of vendors, discussions in standards, etc., according to the above-mentioned trade-offs.

[0081] In the first functional separation (405), the RU performs the RF function, and the DU performs the PHY function. The first functional separation is one in which the PHY function is not substantially implemented in the RU, and may be referred to as Option 8, for example. In the second functional separation (410), the RU performs iFFT conversion / CP insertion in the DL and FFT conversion / CP removal in the UL of the PHY function, and the DU performs the remaining PHY functions. As an example, the second functional separation (410) may be referred to as Option 7-1. In the third functional separation (420a), the RU performs iFFT conversion / CP insertion in the DL and FFT conversion / CP removal and digital beamforming in the UL of the PHY function, and the DU performs the remaining PHY functions. As an example, the third functional separation (420a) may be referred to as Option 7-2x Category A. In the fourth functional separation (420b), the RU performs up to digital beamforming in both the DL and UL, and the DU performs upper PHY functions after the digital beamforming. For example, the fourth functional separation (420b) may be referred to as Option 7-2x Category B. In the fifth functional separation (425), the RU performs up to RE mapping (or RE demapping) in both the DL and UL, and the DU performs upper PHY functions after RE mapping (or RE demapping). For example, the fifth functional separation (425) may be referred to as Option 7-2. In the sixth functional separation (430), the RU performs up to modulation (or demodulation) in both the DL and UL, and the DU performs upper PHY functions after modulation (or demodulation). For example, the sixth functional separation (430) may be referred to as Option 7-3. In the seventh functional separation (440), the RU performs encoding / scrambling (or decoding / descrambling) in both the DL and UL, and the DU performs subsequent upper PHY functions up to modulation (or demodulation). For example, the seventh functional separation (440) may be referred to as Option 6.

[0082] In one embodiment, when a large amount of signal processing is expected, such as in the FR 1 MMU, functional separation at a relatively high layer (e.g., the fourth functional separation (420b)) may be required to reduce fronthaul capacity. In addition, functional separation at too high a layer (e.g., the sixth functional separation (430)) may complicate the control interface and cause a burden on the implementation of the RU due to the inclusion of a large number of PHY processing blocks within the RU. Therefore, appropriate functional separation may be required depending on the arrangement and implementation method of the DU and the RU.

[0083] In one embodiment, if the precoding of data received from the DU cannot be processed (i.e., if the precoding capability of the RU is limited), the third functional separation (420a) or a lower functional separation (e.g., the second functional separation (410)) may be applied. Conversely, if the DU has the capability to process the precoding of data received from the DU, the fourth functional separation (420b) or a higher functional separation (e.g., the sixth functional separation (430)) may be applied.

[0084] Hereinafter, embodiments in the present disclosure are described based on the third functional separation (420a) (which may be referred to as category A (CAT-A)) or the fourth functional separation (420b) (which may be referred to as category B (CAT-B)) for performing beamforming processing in an RU unless otherwise specified. The O-RAN standard distinguishes the types of O-RUs depending on whether the precoding function is located at the interface of the O-DU or the O-RU interface. An O-RU that does not perform precoding (i.e., has low complexity) may be referred to as a CAT-A O-RU. An O-RU that performs precoding may be referred to as a CAT-B O-RU.

[0085] Hereinafter, the term "upper-PHY" refers to physical layer processing performed in the DU of the fronthaul interface. For example, the upper-PHY may include FEC encoding / decoding, scrambling, and modulation / demodulation. Hereinafter, the term "lower-PHY" refers to physical layer processing performed in the RU of the fronthaul interface. For example, the lower-PHY may include FFT / iFFT, digital beamforming, and PRACH (physical random access channel) extraction and filtering. However, the above-described criteria do not exclude embodiments through other functional separations.

[0086] Embodiments of the present disclosure exemplarily describe the standards of eCPRI and O-RAN as fronthaul interfaces when transmitting messages between a DU (e.g., DU (210) of FIG. 2A) and an RU (e.g., RU (220) of FIG. 2A). The Ethernet payload of the message may include an eCPRI header, an O-RAN header, and additional fields. Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present disclosure are described using standard terms of eCPRI or O-RAN, but other expressions having equivalent meanings to each term may be used instead in various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0087] The fronthaul transport protocol can use Ethernet and eCPRI, which are easy to share with networks. The Ethernet payload can include an eCPRI header and an O-RAN header. The eCPRI header can be located at the beginning of the Ethernet payload. The contents of the eCPRI header are as follows.

[0088] 1) ecpriVersion (4 bits): This parameter indicates the eCPRI protocol version.

[0089] 2) ecpriReserved (3 bits): This parameter is reserved for further use by eCPRI.

[0090] 3) ecpriConcatenation (1 bit): This parameter indicates when eCPRI concatenation is in use.

[0091] 4) ecpriMessage (1 byte): This parameter indicates the type of service carried by the message type. For example, the parameter indicates an IQ data message, a real-time control data message, or a transmission network delay measurement message.

[0092] 5) ecpriPayload (2 bytes): This parameter indicates the byte size of the payload portion of the eCPRI message.

[0093] 6) ecpriRtcid / ecpriPcid (2 bytes): This parameter is the eAxC (extended antenna-carrier) identifier (eAxC ID) and identifies a specific data flow associated with each C-plane (ecpriRtcid) or U-plane (ecpriPcid) message.

[0094] 7) ecpriSeqid (2 bytes): This parameter provides unique message identification and ordering at both levels. The first octet of this parameter is a sequence ID used to identify the order of messages within the eAxC message stream. The sequence ID is used to ensure that all messages are received and to reorder out-of-order messages. The second octet of this parameter is a subsequence ID. The subsequence ID is used to ensure ordering and implement reordering when radio-transport-level (eCPRI or IEEE-1914.3) fragmentation occurs.

[0095] The eAxC identifier (ID) includes a band and sector identifier ('BandSector_ID'), a component carrier identifier ('CC_ID'), a spatial stream identifier ('RU_Port_ID'), and a distributed unit identifier ('DU_Port_ID'). The bit allocation of the eAxC ID can be distinguished as follows.

[0096] 1) DU_port ID: The DU_port ID is used to distinguish processing units (e.g., different baseband cards) in the O-DU. The O-DU is expected to allocate bits for the DU_port ID, and the O-RU is expected to append the same value to the UL U-plane message carrying the same sectionId data.

[0097] 2) BandSector_ID: Aggregated cell identifier (band and sector distinction supported by O-RU).

[0098] 3) CC_ID: CC_ID identifies the carrier component supported by the O-RU.

[0099] 4) RU_port ID: The RU_port ID specifies logical flows such as data layer or spatial streams, and signaling channels that require separate numerologies (e.g. PRACH) or special antenna allocation such as SRS.

[0100] The application protocol of the fronthaul may include a control plane (C-plane), a user plane (U-plane), a synchronization plane (S-plane), and a management plane (M-plane).

[0101] The control plane may be configured to provide scheduling information and beamforming information via control messages. The control plane refers to real-time control between DUs and RUs. The user plane may include IQ sample data transmitted between DUs and RUs. The user plane may include user downlink data (IQ data or SSB / RS), uplink data (IQ data or SRS / RS), or PRACH data. A weight vector of the beamforming information described above may be multiplied by the user's data. The synchronization plane generally refers to traffic between DUs and RUs for a synchronization controller (e.g., IEEE grand master). The synchronization plane may be related to timing and synchronization. The management plane refers to non-real-time control between DUs and RUs. The management plane may be related to initial setup, non-realtime reset or reset, and non-realtime report.

[0102] Control plane messages, or C-plane messages, can be encapsulated based on a two-layer header approach. The first layer can consist of the eCPRI common header or the IEEE 1914.3 common header, which contains fields used to indicate the message type. The second layer is the application layer, which contains fields necessary for control and synchronization. Within the application layer, sections define the characteristics of U-plane data transmitted or received on a beam with a single pattern ID. The following section types are supported within the C-plane:

[0103] Section Type can indicate the purpose of control messages transmitted on the control plane. For example, the purposes of each Section Type are as follows.

[0104] 1) sectionType=0: Used to indicate resource blocks or symbols not used in DL or UL.

[0105] 2) sectionType=1: Used for most DL / UL wireless channels. Here, 'most' indicates channels that do not require time or frequency offsets, such as those required for mixed numerology channels.

[0106] 3) sectionType=2: reserved for further use

[0107] 4) sectionType=3: PRACH and mixed-numerology channels. Channels that require a time or frequency offset or differ from the nominal SCS value(s).

[0108] 5) sectionType=4: reserved for further use

[0109] 6) sectionType=5: UE scheduling information. Transmits UE scheduling information so that the RU can perform real-time BF weight calculations (O-RAN optional BF method).

[0110] 7) sectionType=6: Transmits UE-specific channel information. Periodically transmits UE channel information to enable the RU to perform real-time BF weight calculations (O-RAN optional BF method).

[0111] 8) sectionType=7: Used for LAA support

[0112] Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) is an organization that defines fronthaul interface standards between DUs and RUs according to various functional separation structures, and provides a standard interface in a separation structure that applies Ethernet (e.g., 7-2x functional separation structure).

[0113] Fig. 5a illustrates an example of how an RU processes a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) in Class A. The RU (220) of Fig. 5a may be an example of the RU (220) of Fig. 2a. The DU (210) of Fig. 5a may be an example of the DU (210) of Fig. 2a.

[0114] FIG. 5A illustrates an example (500) of how an RU (220) processes the DMRS in class A and provides the processed information to a DU (210). For example, class A may represent an example of functional separation in which DMRS processing is performed in the RU (220). Class A may be referred to as uplink performance improvement (ULPI) class A or DMRS beamforming-equalizing (DMRS BF-EQ). For example, the DMRS processing may include extraction, channel estimation, and weight calculation for the uplink DMRS.

[0115] Referring to example (500), when using the above class A, the RU (220) can perform FFT (fast Fourier transform) (520), SRS extraction (sounding reference signal extraction) (521), SRS channel estimation (522), SRS beamforming weight calculation (523), DMRS extraction (524), DMRS channel estimation (525), DMRS weight calculation (526), ​​beamforming (527), equalizing (528), and channel information-based BFW calculation (529). In example (500), operations (or functions) such as FFT (520), SRS extraction (521), SRS channel estimation (522), SRS BFW calculation (523), DMRS extraction (524), DMRS channel estimation (525), DMRS weight calculation (526), ​​beamforming (527), equalizing (528), and channel information-based BFW calculation (529) are depicted, but the RU (220) may be implemented based on hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software to perform the above operations.

[0116] Referring to example (500), the RU (220) can perform FFT (520) on an uplink signal received through an uplink channel. For example, the RU (220) can perform FFT (520) on the uplink signal received from the terminal (120). The RU (220) can determine a signal (y) associated with antenna elements based on the FFT (520). rx) can be obtained. For example, the uplink channel may include a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). For example, the uplink signal may include an SRS or a DMRS. The uplink signal may be referred to as uplink data.

[0117] For example, RU (220) is a signal (y rx ) can perform SRS extraction (521). For example, RU (220) can perform SRS extraction (521) on SRS (y SRS ) can perform SRS channel estimation (522). RU (220) generates a channel estimation matrix (H) based on the SRS channel estimation (522). SRS ) can be obtained. RU (220) is a channel estimation matrix (H SRS ) can perform SRS BFW calculation (523). RU (220) generates a matrix (W) representing the concatenation of beamforming weight vectors (e.g., N) based on the SRS BFW calculation (523). SRS )(NxK) can be obtained. The above K can represent the number of antenna elements of the RU (220).

[0118] For example, RU (220) is a signal (y rx ) and matrix (W SRS ) can perform DMRS extraction (524). For example, RU (220) can perform DMRS extraction (y`) based on DMRS extraction (524). dmrs) can be obtained. While performing DMRS extraction (524), the RU (220) may also perform dimension reduction. For example, the dimension reduction may be referred to as port reduction, pre-reduction, or pre-dimension reduction. Based on the dimension reduction, the order (or value) (e.g., K) of the dimension corresponding to the antenna elements of the RU (220) may be reduced. For example, the RU (220) may obtain the extracted DMRS (y` dmrs ), DMRS channel estimation (525) can be performed. RU (220) generates a channel estimation matrix (H) based on DMRS channel estimation (525). dmrs ) can be obtained. RU (220) is a channel estimation matrix (H dmrs ) can perform DMRS weight calculation (526). RU (220) can perform a matrix (W`) representing the concatenation of beamforming weight vectors (L) based on DMRS weight calculation (526). dmrs )(LxK) and a matrix (W`) representing the normalization weight matrix of the IQ data within each layer. eq )(LxL) can be obtained.

[0119] For example, RU (220) can perform beamforming (527). For example, RU (220) can perform matrix (W SRS ) and matrix (W` dmrs )(LxK) based on the signal (y rx ) can perform beamforming (527). The RU (220) performs beamforming based on the beamforming (527) signal (y bf ) can be obtained. At this time, the matrix (W SRS) can be obtained based on SRS BFW calculation (523), SRS BFW calculation (514), or channel information-based BFW calculation (529). For example, channel information-based BFW calculation (529) can be performed by RU (220). For example, SRS BFW calculation (514) can be performed by DU (210). For example, RU (220) can be obtained based on matrix (W`) eq ), based on the signal (y bf ) can perform equalization (528). The RU (220) can perform equalization (528) on the signal (y eq ) can be obtained. For example, RU (22) can obtain a signal (y eq ) can be provided (or transmitted) to DU (210). Signal (y eq ) may be referenced as an uplink message. For example, the uplink message may be a calculated SINR (SINR yeq ) may contain information about.

[0120] Referring to Example (500), when using the above Class A, DU (210) can perform layer demapping (511), demodulation and decoding (512), SRS channel estimation (513), and SRS BFW calculation (514). Although the operations (or functions) such as layer demapping (511), demodulation and decoding (512), SRS channel estimation (513), and SRS BFW calculation (514) are illustrated in Example (500), DU (210) can be implemented based on hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software to perform the above operations.

[0121] Referring to example (500), DU (210) receives (or acquires) a signal (y) from RU (220). eq) can perform layer demapping (511). DU (210) compares the result of layer demapping (511) with SINR (SINR yeq ) can perform demodulation and decoding (512). In addition, the DU (210) can perform the extracted SRS (y SRS ) can perform SRS channel estimation (513). The DU (210) can perform channel estimation matrix (H) based on the SRS channel estimation (513). SRS ) can be obtained. After this, DU (210) can perform scheduling through a scheduler.

[0122] FIG. 5b illustrates an example of how an RU processes DMRS in Class B. The RU (220) of FIG. 5b may be an example of the RU (220) of FIG. 2a. The DU (210) of FIG. 5b may be an example of the DU (210) of FIG. 2a.

[0123] FIG. 5B illustrates an example (550) of a method for providing information on how DMRS processing is performed in RU (220) and DU (210) in Class B. For example, Class B may represent an example of functional separation in which DMRS processing is performed in RU (220) and DU (210). Class B may be referred to as uplink performance improvement (ULPI) Class B or DMRS beamforming-nonequalizing (DMRS BF-NEQ). For example, the DMRS processing may include extraction, channel estimation, and weight calculation for uplink DMRS.

[0124] Referring to example (550), when using the above class B, the RU (220) can perform FFT (fast Fourier transform) (570), SRS extraction (sounding reference signal extraction) (571), SRS channel estimation (572), SRS beamforming weight calculation (573), DMRS extraction (574), DMRS channel estimation (575), DMRS weight calculation (576), beamforming (577), and channel information-based BFW calculation (578). In example (500), operations (or functions) such as FFT (570), SRS extraction (571), SRS channel estimation (572), SRS BFW calculation (573), DMRS extraction (574), DMRS channel estimation (575), DMRS weight calculation (576), beamforming (577), and channel information-based BFW calculation (578) are depicted, but the RU (220) may be implemented based on hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software to perform the above operations.

[0125] Referring to example (550), RU (220) can perform FFT (570) on an uplink signal received through an uplink channel. For example, RU (220) can perform FFT (570) on the uplink signal received from terminal (120). RU (220) can determine a signal (y) associated with antenna elements based on FFT (570). rx ) can be obtained. For example, the uplink channel may include a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). For example, the uplink signal may include an SRS or a DMRS. The uplink signal may be referred to as uplink data.

[0126] For example, RU (220) is a signal (y rx ) can perform SRS extraction (571). For example, RU (220) can perform SRS extraction (571) on SRS (y SRS ) can perform SRS channel estimation (572). RU (220) generates a channel estimation matrix (H) based on the SRS channel estimation (572). SRS ) can be obtained. RU (220) is a channel estimation matrix (H SRS ) can perform SRS BFW calculation (573). RU (220) generates a matrix (W) representing the concatenation of beamforming weight vectors (e.g., N) based on the SRS BFW calculation (573). SRS )(NxK) can be obtained. The above K can represent the number of antenna elements of the RU (220).

[0127] For example, RU (220) is a signal (y rx ) and matrix (W SRS ) can perform DMRS extraction (574). For example, RU (220) can perform DMRS extraction (y`) based on DMRS extraction (574). dmrs ) can be obtained. While performing DMRS extraction (574), the RU (220) may also perform dimension reduction. For example, the dimension reduction may be referred to as port reduction, pre-reduction, or pre-dimension reduction. Based on the dimension reduction, the order (or value) (e.g., K) of the dimension corresponding to the antenna elements of the RU (220) may be reduced. For example, the RU (220) may obtain the extracted DMRS (y` dmrs ), DMRS channel estimation (575) can be performed. RU (220) generates a channel estimation matrix (H) based on DMRS channel estimation (575). dmrs ) can be obtained. RU (220) is a channel estimation matrix (Hdmrs ) can perform DMRS weight calculation (576). RU (220) can perform a matrix (W`) representing the concatenation of beamforming weight vectors (L) based on DMRS weight calculation (576). dmrs )(LxK) can be obtained.

[0128] For example, RU (220) can perform beamforming (577). For example, RU (220) can perform matrix (W SRS ) and matrix (W` dmrs )(LxK) based on the signal (y rx ) can perform beamforming (577). The RU (220) performs beamforming based on the beamforming (577) signal (y bf ) can be obtained. At this time, the matrix (W SRS ) can be obtained based on SRS BFW calculation (573), SRS BFW calculation (569), or channel information-based BFW calculation (579). For example, channel information-based BFW calculation (579) can be performed by RU (220). For example, SRS BFW calculation (569) can be performed by DU (210). For example, RU (220) can obtain signal (y bf ) can be provided (or transmitted) to DU (210). Signal (y bf ) may be referenced as an uplink message. For example, the uplink message may be a calculated SINR (SINR yeq ) may contain information about.

[0129] Referring to example (550), when using the above class B, the DU (210) can perform DMRS extraction (561), DMRS channel estimation (562), DMRS weight calculation (563), combining (564), equalizing (565), layer demapping (566), demodulation and decoding (567), SRS channel estimation (568), and SRS BFW calculation (569). In example (550), the operations (or functions) such as DMRS extraction (561), DMRS channel estimation (562), DMRS weight calculation (563), combining (564), equalizing (565), layer demapping (566), demodulation and decoding (567), SRS channel estimation (568), and SRS BFW calculation (569) are depicted, but the DU (210) may be implemented based on hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software to perform the above operations.

[0130] For example, DU(210) is a signal (y bf ) can perform DMRS extraction (561). For example, DU (210) can perform DMRS extraction (y) based on DMRS extraction (561). dmrs ) can be obtained. For example, DU (210) can obtain the extracted DMRS (y dmrs ), DMRS channel estimation (562) can be performed. DU (210) can perform channel estimation matrix (H) based on DMRS channel estimation (562). dmrs ) can be obtained. DU (210) is a channel estimation matrix (H dmrs ) can perform DMRS weight calculation (563). DU (210) generates a matrix (W) representing a normalization weight matrix of IQ data based on DMRS weight calculation (563). eq )(LxL) and the matrix (W`) where spatial streams (M+N) are mapped to layers (L).comb )(Lx(M+N)) can be obtained. For example, DU(210) is a matrix (W` comb ) based on the signal (y bf ) can perform a combination (564). The DU (210) performs a signal (y) of the non-equalized layer streams (M) based on the combination (564). comb ) can be obtained. For example, DU (210) is a matrix (W eq ), based on the signal (y comb ) can perform equalization (565). The DU (210) can perform equalization (565) on the signal (y eq ) and SINR (SINR yeq ) can be obtained. For example, DU (210) can obtain a signal (y eq ) can perform layer demapping (566). DU (210) compares the result of layer demapping (566) with SINR (SINR yeq ) can perform demodulation and decoding (567). In addition, the DU (210) can perform the extracted SRS (y SRS ) can perform SRS channel estimation (568). The DU (210) can perform channel estimation matrix (H) based on the SRS channel estimation (568). SRS ) can be obtained. After this, DU (210) can perform scheduling through a scheduler.

[0131] Referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B, in the uplink signal processing according to class A and class B, the RU (220) can perform DMRS processing. The class A and the class B can be defined for each category of the RU (220). For example, the class A and the class B can be defined for a category A (category A, Cat A) RU (220). In addition, for example, the class A and the class B can be defined for a category B (category B, Cat B) RU (220).

[0132] For example, RU (220) can receive an uplink signal (or uplink data) from a terminal (e.g., terminal (120) of FIG. 1). For example, when RU (220) receives the uplink signal within one slot, DMRS included in the uplink signal can be received at a specific location within the slot. For example, the specific location can be the latter part (e.g., the 12th symbol) based on one slot. In Class A and Class B, RU (220) can perform channel estimation based on the DMRS and process (e.g., equalizing, beamforming) the uplink signal within the one slot. Accordingly, RU (220) cannot process the uplink signal sequentially received across symbols within the one slot, and needs to wait until the DMRS within the one slot in order to process the uplink signal within the one slot. In other words, as the class A and class B that process the DMRS are used in RU (220), a delay (or buffering) may occur.

[0133] Hereinafter, in the present disclosure, an example is described of information for ordering (or rearranging) the order of symbols (or symbols within the one slot) for the uplink signal received by the RU (220) when the RU (220) transmits the uplink signal within the one slot to the DU (210). The information for ordering the order may be referred to as information indicating transmission timing (or indication information, transmission timing information). The device, method, and storage medium according to embodiments of the present disclosure may indicate the timing for transmitting an uplink message (e.g., an uplink user plane message) including the uplink signal (or uplink data) received by the RU (220). Accordingly, DU (210) first acquires the DMRS located at the rear end of the one slot and processes the uplink signal (or uplink data), so that uplink performance including processing speed can be improved from the perspective of a system (or base station) including DU (210) and RU (220).

[0134] In the above example, the processing speed is described with a focus on DMRS, but the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto. For example, when the RU (220) simultaneously receives an uplink signal from each of a plurality of terminals within the one slot, an uplink message including the uplink signal may be provided to the DU (210) for each specific terminal (or section identifier, section id). The DU (210) may perform decoding based on the uplink message sequentially received for each of the plurality of terminals. Accordingly, the DU (210) may effectively perform decoding for each terminal, thereby improving uplink performance.

[0135] FIG. 6A illustrates an example of a signal flow for a method in which an RU transmits a user plane message to a DU based on a control plane message received from the DU. FIG. 6B illustrates an example of a user plane message that an RU transmits to a DU. The RU (220) of FIGS. 6A and 6B may be an example of the RU (220) of FIG. 2A. The DU (210) of FIGS. 6A and 6B may be an example of the DU (210) of FIG. 2A. For example, the RU (220) may utilize Class A or Class B for uplink performance improvement (ULPI).

[0136] Referring to FIG. 6a, an example (600) of a method in which an RU (220) transmits a user plane message to a DU (210) based on a control plane message received from the DU (210) is illustrated. For example, the user plane message may be an uplink user plane message transmitted by the RU (220) to the DU (210).

[0137] Referring to example (600), RU (220) may receive control plane message (610) from DU (210). For example, control plane message (610) may indicate time resources to be controlled by control plane message (610). For example, the time resources may be indicated based on a start symbol identifier (start symbol id) and information indicating the number of symbols (number of symbols). For example, the start symbol identifier and the information indicating the number of symbols may be included in the control plane message (610). For example, the start symbol identifier may be included in common header fields of the control plane message (610). For example, the information indicating the number of symbols may be included in section fields of the control plane message (610). For example, the section fields may indicate fields including a section identifier and a section extension. In the example (600) of FIG. 6a, the control plane message (610) can be used for control over the time resource including symbol #M, symbol #M+1, ..., symbol #N.

[0138] Although not illustrated in example (600), RU (220) can receive uplink signal (or uplink data) from terminal (e.g., terminal (120) of FIG. 1). For example, RU (220) can receive the uplink signal within symbols. For example, the symbols can include symbol #M, symbol #M+1, ..., symbol #N indicated by control plane message (610). The symbols in which RU (220) receives the uplink signal from terminal (120) can be referred to as air symbols. For example, RU (220) can sequentially receive the uplink signal within the symbols. For example, RU (220) can receive the uplink signal in symbol #M and then receive the uplink signal in symbol #M+1.

[0139] Referring to example (600), RU (220) can transmit user plane message (621) including the uplink signal received at symbol #M. For example, user plane message (621) can be transmitted at a first transmission symbol. In addition, RU (220) can transmit user plane message (622) including the uplink signal received at symbol #M+1. For example, user plane message (622) can be transmitted at a second transmission symbol subsequent to the first transmission symbol. In addition, RU (220) can transmit user plane message (623) including the uplink signal received at symbol #N. For example, user plane message (623) can be transmitted at a third transmission symbol following the second transmission symbol. For example, the first transmission symbol, the second transmission symbol, and the third transmission symbol may represent symbols that the RU (220) transmits to the DU (210) via the fronthaul interface. For specific examples of each of the user plane messages (621, 622, 623), reference may be made to FIG. 6B.

[0140] Figure 6b illustrates an example of an uplink user plane message (650) transmitted by RU (220) to DU (210). For example, the uplink user plane message (650) may be an example of user plane messages (621, 622, 623).

[0141] Referring to FIG. 6B, the uplink user plane message (650) may include a symbol identifier (660). For example, the symbol identifier (660) may include identification information of a symbol (or radio symbol) from which the RU (220) received an uplink signal (or uplink data) from the terminal (120). For example, in the case of the user plane message (621), the symbol identifier (660) may indicate symbol #M. For example, in the case of the user plane message (622), the symbol identifier (660) may indicate symbol #M+1. For example, in the case of the user plane message (623), the symbol identifier (660) may indicate symbol #N.

[0142] Referring to FIG. 6B, an uplink user plane message (650) may include information (671, 672) about an uplink signal (or uplink data) for each section. For example, the uplink user plane message (650) may include information (671, 672) about an uplink signal received in a symbol indicated by a symbol identifier (660). For example, the information (671, 672) about an uplink signal may be distinguished by a section identifier (section id). For example, the uplink user plane message (650) may include information (671) about an uplink signal having a first section identifier and information (672) about an uplink signal having a second section identifier. FIG. 6B illustrates an example of an uplink user plane message (650) including two pieces of information (671, 672), but embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto. Each of the first section identifier and the second section identifier may be referred to as a terminal (or terminal identifier). In other words, the uplink user plane message (650) may include information (671) having the first section identifier provided from the first terminal in a symbol indicated by the symbol identifier (660) and information (672) having the second section identifier provided from the second terminal.

[0143] Referring to FIG. 6B, information (671, 672) may include IQ data (or IQ samples). For example, the IQ data may indicate the frequency domain of an uplink signal received in a symbol indicated by a symbol identifier (660). For example, the IQ data may be defined as a resource element (RE) (or an RE of a physical resource block (PRB)).

[0144] Referring to FIGS. 6A and 6B, the RU (220) can sequentially receive an uplink signal from the terminal (120) symbol by symbol across symbols (or wireless symbols). Thereafter, the RU (220) can perform processing on the uplink signal received across the symbols and then transmit an uplink user plane message to the DU (210) in the order in which it was received (i.e., symbol by symbol). At this time, the uplink user plane message can be transmitted symbol by symbol.

[0145] Referring to the above, the RU (220) using class A and class B can identify DMRS of some (e.g., the latter) of the symbols receiving the uplink signal from the terminal (120), and perform processing (e.g., equalizing or beamforming) on ​​the symbols based on the identified DMRS. Thereafter, the RU (220) can sequentially generate an uplink user plane message for the processed symbols and transmit it to the DU (210). At this time, the RU (220) can reorder (or allocate, change, arrange, distribute, map) the order of the processed symbols by utilizing the delay (or buffering) generated for the processing, rather than sequentially generating the processed symbols as the uplink user plane message. By means of uplink user plane messages having a sorted order, DU (210) can effectively decode uplink signals for the symbols by first receiving DMRS, or can effectively decode uplink signals for a specific terminal (or a specific section ID). Below, a section extension indicating the sorted order (or transmission timing) and an uplink user plane message transmitted accordingly are described.

[0146] Figure 7a illustrates an example of a section extension indicating the transmission timing of an uplink user plane message.

[0147] FIG. 7A illustrates an example of a section extension (700) indicating a transmission timing of the uplink user plane message. For example, the section extension (700) may be referred to as a section extension for indicating the transmission timing of the uplink user plane message for ULPI. For example, the RU (220) may be associated with class A or class B. For example, the transmission timing may indicate a timing (or transmission symbol) to be transmitted via the uplink user plane message for each of the symbols (or radio symbols) through which the RU (220) receives an uplink signal (or uplink data) from a terminal (e.g., terminal (120) of FIG. 1 ).

[0148] Referring to FIG. 7A, the section extension (700) may include information indicating the transmission timing of the uplink user plane message for the symbols (or radio symbols) for which the uplink signal received from the terminal (120) is received. The section extension (700) may be referred to as extension type information or an extension type.

[0149] According to one embodiment, the section extension (700) may be included in a control plane message. For example, the section extension (700) may be included in the control plane message including a specific section type. For example, the specific section type may include section type 5. Or, for example, the specific section type may include section type X for ULPI. The section type X may represent any section type number. In other words, the section extension (700) may be used (or associated) in conjunction with the specific section type. For example, the section extension (700) may be included in section fields of the control plane message. For example, the section fields may include at least one section identifier and at least one section extension.

[0150] According to one embodiment, the section extension (700) may include common parameters. For example, the common parameters may include ef (extension flag) (701), extType (extension type) (703), and extLen (extension length) (705).

[0151] For example, ef(701) can be used to indicate whether another section extension exists following section extension(700). For example, ef(701) can have a field length of 1 bit. For example, if the value of ef(701) is 1, the other section extension may exist. Conversely, if the value of ef(701) is 0, the other section extension may not exist. ef(701) can be referred to as an extension flag.

[0152] For example, extType (703) can be used to indicate a section extension (700). For example, extType (703) can provide a section extension that provides additional parameters specific to the subject data extension. For example, extType (703) can have a field length of 7 bits. For example, extType (703) can have different values ​​for each section extension. For example, extType (703) of the section extension (700) for DMRS processing can include 0xY. Y can represent any order or number. Y can represent a number of two or more digits (e.g., 25). A section extension (700) whose extType (703) is Y can be referred to as section extension Y. extType (703) can be referred to as an index of section extension information.

[0153] For example, extLen (705) may provide the length of the section extension (700). For example, extLen (705) may provide the length of the section extension (700) in units of 32 bits (or 4 bytes) words. For example, extLen (705) may have a field length of 8 bits. However, the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto. For example, depending on the information included in the section extension (700), extLen (705) may have a field length of 17 bits or more. extLen (705) may be referred to as the length of the section extension information. For example, the section extension (700) may have a length of 8 bytes indicated by extLen (705).

[0154] According to one embodiment, the section extension (700) may include transmission timing information (710). For example, the transmission timing information (710) may indicate a plurality of transmission symbols included in the transmission timing of the uplink user plane message. For example, the transmission timing information (710) may include identifiers (711, 712, 713) of the plurality of transmission symbols for symbols (or radio symbols) in which uplink data of the uplink user plane message is received.

[0155] For example, the number of identifiers (711, 712, 713) included in the transmission timing information (710) may be determined based on the time information of the control plane message for controlling the transmission of the uplink user plane message. For example, the number of identifiers (711, 712, 713) may correspond to information indicating the number of symbols included in the time information of the control plane message. For example, the maximum value of the number of identifiers (711, 712, 713) may correspond to the number of symbols included in one slot. For example, the maximum value may be 14. In other words, the section extension (700) may be set in units of one slot.

[0156] For example, among the identifiers (711, 712, 713) of the transmission timing information (710), the identifier (711) may include an identifier of a transmission symbol for a wireless symbol having a start symbol identifier (e.g., startSymbolid) of the time information. For example, identifier (712) may include an identifier of a transmission symbol for a wireless symbol having a symbol identifier (e.g., startSymbolid+1) following the start symbol identifier. The wireless symbol having the symbol identifier (e.g., startSymbolid+1) may be consecutive to the wireless symbol having the start symbol identifier (e.g., startSymbolid). For example, identifier (713) may include an identifier of a transmission symbol for a wireless symbol having a symbol identifier (e.g., startSymbolid+numSymbol-1). For example, the symbol identifier (e.g., startSymbolid+numSymbol-1) may be determined based on information indicating the start symbol identifier and the number of symbols. For example, each of identifiers (711, 712, 713) may have a length of 6 bits.

[0157] According to one embodiment, the transmission timing information (710) of the section extension (700) may be set based on the fronthaul bandwidth. For example, the identifiers (711, 712, 713) in the transmission timing information (710) may have their priorities set based on the fronthaul bandwidth. For example, the resource defined by the fronthaul bandwidth and one transmission symbol may represent the capacity of the fronthaul (e.g., the fronthaul (215) of FIG. 2A). For example, the priority of each of the identifiers (711, 712, 713) may be set based on the capacity. For example, among the symbols (or wireless symbols) of the uplink signal (or uplink data) that the RU (220) receives from the terminal (120), a symbol of a specific signal may be set to have a high priority. For example, the specific signal may include at least one of DMRS, ACK information, or PUCCH (physical uplink channel), UCI (uplink control information) of the uplink signal. For example, the identifier of the transmission timing information (710) for the symbol of the specific signal may indicate the earliest transmission symbol among the transmission symbols of the transmission timing.

[0158] According to one embodiment, the section extension (700) may be set for each section. For example, the control plane message may include a section extension (700) for a section identifier (section id). For example, if the control plane message includes a section (or section type) having a first section identifier and a section (or section type) having a second section identifier, the control plane message may include a section extension (700) for the first section identifier and a section extension (700) for the second section identifier, respectively. For example, the section having the first section identifier may be the same as or different from the section having the second section identifier. For example, if the section having the first section identifier is section type 5, the section having the second section identifier may be section type 5 or section type X for ULPI.

[0159] In one embodiment, when the control plane message including the section extension (700) is newly defined, a new definition of the section extension endpoint may be required. As described above, the supportable section extensions can be defined through the user plane configuration module (or YANG module) of the management plane. The module can define the supportable section extensions as follows.

[0160]

[0161] Referring to the above table, with respect to the control plane message, the value (uint8) of section-type may indicate 5 (i.e., section type 5) or X (i.e., section type X). Additionally, the value (uint8) of supported-section-extensions may indicate Y. For example, the Y may indicate a section extension (700).

[0162] According to one embodiment, the RU (220) may transmit a management plane message to the DU (210). For example, the management plane message may include capability information of the RU (220). The RU (220) may report the capability information of the RU (220) through the management plane message. For example, the capability information may include whether a function for setting up transmission timing of a user plane message (or uplink user plane message) for ULPI is supported. For example, examples of the capability information may be referred to the table below.

[0163]

[0164] Referring to the above table, the ru-supported-U-plane-timing-setup may indicate whether the RU (220) supports a function of reordering (or allocating, changing, arranging, distributing, mapping) received radio symbols based on the section extension (700) and transmitting them via the indicated transmission symbols. For example, the ru-supported-U-plane-timing-setup may have one of a first value indicating that the function is supported, a second value indicating that the function is not supported, or a third value indicating that the function is conditionally supported. In the above example, a case where the value of the ru-supported-U-plane-timing-setup has three values ​​is described, but the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto. For example, the value of the ru-supported-U-plane-timing-setup may have four values. In this case, a fourth value indicating that the function is conditionally supported may be further included. For example, the third value may indicate that the function can be supported only in a limited manner when the same transmission symbol identifier (transmissionSymbolid) is not supported within the section (or terminal). For example, the fourth value may indicate that the function can be supported only in a limited manner when the same transmission symbol identifier (transmissionSymbolid) is not supported within the section (or terminal) and has a pattern of one transmission symbol identifier per slot. An example of a timing (or transmission symbol) at which an uplink user plane message is transmitted through a section extension (700) set based on the third value is specifically described in FIG. 8c below. An example of a timing (or transmission symbol) at which an uplink user plane message is transmitted through a section extension (700) set based on the fourth value is specifically described in FIG. 8b below.

[0165] Referring to the above table, the max-number-of-advanced-symbols may indicate the maximum number of advanced symbols. For example, the max-number-of-advanced-symbols may be included (or reported) when the ru-supported-U-plane-timing-setup has the first value, the third value, or the fourth value. In other words, the max-number-of-advanced-symbols may be provided to the DU (210) when the RU (220) supports the function. For example, the maximum number of advanced symbols may be determined based on the capacity (or maximum capacity) of a buffer (or memory) of the RU (220).

[0166] For example, the advanced symbol may indicate the maximum number of transmission symbols between one transmission symbol in one slot corresponding to one of the wireless symbols in which an uplink signal (or uplink data) is received, to another transmission symbol in the slot to be changed based on transmission timing information (710) (or one of the identifiers (711, 712, 713) in the transmission timing information (710)) of the section extension (700). For example, the number of transmission symbols between a first transmission symbol (e.g., symbol #13) in one slot (e.g., symbol #0 to symbol #13) corresponding to a first wireless symbol in the wireless symbols, to a second transmission symbol (e.g., symbol #1) in one slot (e.g., symbol #0 to symbol #13) to be changed based on transmission timing information (710) (or the identifier (711) of the transmission timing information (710)) may be 12. The number of transmission symbols between the third transmission symbol (e.g., symbol #10) in the one slot (e.g., symbol #0 to symbol #13) corresponding to the second wireless symbol among the wireless symbols and the fourth transmission symbol (e.g., symbol #3) in the one slot (e.g., symbol #0 to symbol #13) that is to be changed based on the transmission timing information (710) (or the identifier (712) of the transmission timing information (710)) may be 7. In the example, the maximum number that the RU (220) can support may be 12.

[0167] Alternatively, for example, the capability information may include whether the RU (220) supports a class (e.g., class A or class B) for supporting ULPI and whether the RU supports a function for setting up transmission timing of a user plane message (or uplink user plane message) for ULPI. For example, examples of the capability information may be referenced in the table below.

[0168]

[0169] Referring to the above-described table, the ru-supported-U-plane-timing-setup and the max-number-of-advanced-symbols may be provided together with capability information (e.g., the rusupported-classses and the class-type) indicating whether a class (e.g., class A or class B) for supporting ULPI of the RU (220) is supported. The contents of the above-described Table 2 may be substantially identically applied to the ru-supported-U-plane-timing-setup and the max-number-of-advanced-symbols. The section extension (700) of FIG. 7A is merely exemplary, and the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto. For example, the positions and lengths of the parameters within the section extension (700) may be changed.

[0170] Figure 7b illustrates an example of a section extension indicating the transmission timing of an uplink user plane message.

[0171] FIG. 7B illustrates an example of a section extension (750) indicating a transmission timing of the uplink user plane message. For example, the section extension (750) may be referred to as a section extension for indicating the transmission timing of the uplink user plane message for ULPI. For example, the RU (220) may be associated with class A or class B. For example, the transmission timing may indicate a timing (or transmission symbol) to be transmitted via the uplink user plane message for each of the symbols (or radio symbols) through which the RU (220) receives an uplink signal (or uplink data) from a terminal (e.g., terminal (120) of FIG. 1 ).

[0172] Referring to FIG. 7b, the section extension (750) may include information indicating the transmission timing of the uplink user plane message for the symbols (or radio symbols) in which the uplink signal received from the terminal (120) is received. The section extension (750) may be referred to as extension type information or an extension type.

[0173] According to one embodiment, the section extension (750) may be included in a control plane message. For example, the section extension (750) may be included in the control plane message including a specific section type. For example, the specific section type may include section type 5. Or, for example, the specific section type may include section type X for ULPI. The section type X may represent any section type number. In other words, the section extension (750) may be used (or associated) in conjunction with the specific section type. For example, the section extension (750) may be included in section fields of the control plane message. For example, the section fields may include at least one section identifier and at least one section extension.

[0174] According to one embodiment, the section extension (750) may include common parameters. For example, the common parameters may include ef (extension flag) (751), extType (extension type) (753), and extLen (extension length) (755).

[0175] For example, ef(751) can be used to indicate whether another section extension following section extension(750) exists. For example, ef(751) can have a field length of 1 bit. For example, if the value of ef(751) is 1, the other section extension may exist. Conversely, if the value of ef(751) is 0, the other section extension may not exist. ef(751) can be referred to as an extension flag.

[0176] For example, extType (753) can be used to indicate a section extension (750). For example, extType (753) can provide a section extension that provides additional parameters specific to the subject data extension. For example, extType (753) can have a field length of 7 bits. For example, extType (753) can have different values ​​for each section extension. For example, extType (753) of the section extension (750) for DMRS processing can include 0xY. Y can represent any order or number. Y can represent a number of two or more digits (e.g., 25). A section extension (750) whose extType (753) is Y can be referred to as section extension Y. extType (753) can be referred to as an index of section extension information.

[0177] For example, extLen (755) may provide the length of the section extension (750). For example, extLen (755) may provide the length of the section extension (750) in units of 32 bits (or 4 bytes) words. For example, extLen (755) may have a field length of 8 bits. However, the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto. For example, depending on the information included in the section extension (750), extLen (755) may have a field length of 17 bits or more. extLen (755) may be referred to as the length of the section extension information. For example, the section extension (750) may have a length of 8 bytes indicated by extLen (755).

[0178] According to one embodiment, the section extension (750) may include transmission timing information (760). For example, the transmission timing information (760) may indicate a plurality of transmission symbols included in the transmission timing of the uplink user plane message. For example, the transmission timing information (760) may include identifiers (761, 762, 763, 764) of the plurality of transmission symbols for symbols (or radio symbols) in which uplink data of the uplink user plane message is received.

[0179] For example, the number of identifiers (761, 762, 763, 764) included in the transmission timing information (760) may be determined based on the time information of the control plane message for controlling the transmission of the uplink user plane message. For example, the number of identifiers (761, 762, 763, 764) may correspond to information indicating the number of symbols included in the time information of the control plane message. For example, the maximum value of the number of identifiers (761, 762, 763, 764) may correspond to the number of symbols included in one slot. For example, the maximum value may be 14. In other words, the section extension (750) may be set in units of one slot.

[0180] For example, among the identifiers (761, 762, 763, 764) of the transmission timing information (760), the identifier (761) may include an identifier of a transmission symbol for a wireless symbol having a start symbol identifier (e.g., startSymbolid) of the time information. For example, identifier (762) may include an identifier of a transmission symbol for a radio symbol having a symbol identifier (e.g., startSymbolid+1) following the start symbol identifier. The radio symbol having the symbol identifier (e.g., startSymbolid+1) may be continuous to the radio symbol having the start symbol identifier (e.g., startSymbolid). For example, identifier (763) may include an identifier of a transmission symbol for a radio symbol having a symbol identifier (e.g., startSymbolid+numSymbol-2). For example, identifier (764) may include an identifier of a transmission symbol for a radio symbol having a symbol identifier (e.g., startSymbolid+numSymbol-1). The radio symbol having the symbol identifier (e.g., startSymbolid+numSymbol-1) may be continuous to the radio symbol having the start symbol identifier (e.g., startSymbolid+numSymbol-2). For example, the symbol identifier (e.g., startSymbolid+numSymbol-1) can be determined based on the information indicating the start symbol identifier and the number of symbols. Unlike the section extension (700) illustrated in the example of FIG. 7a, each of the identifiers (761, 762, 763, 764) of the section extension (750) illustrated in the example of FIG. 7b can have a length of 4 bits.Since the size of each of the identifiers (761, 762, 763, 764) included in the section extension (750) of FIG. 7b is 4 bits, which is smaller than the size of each of the identifiers (711, 712, 713) included in the section extension (700) of FIG. 7a, which is 6 bits, the size of the section extension (750) of FIG. 7b may be smaller than the size of the section extension (700) of FIG. 7a. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, the section extension (750) may be formed to have the same size as the section extension (700) by padding bits of the section extension (750).

[0181] According to one embodiment, the transmission timing information (760) of the section extension (750) may be set based on the fronthaul bandwidth. For example, the identifiers (761, 762, 763, 764) in the transmission timing information (760) may have their priorities set based on the fronthaul bandwidth. For example, the resource defined by the fronthaul bandwidth and one transmission symbol may represent the capacity of the fronthaul (e.g., the fronthaul (215) of FIG. 2A). For example, the priority of each of the identifiers (761, 762, 763, 764) may be set based on the capacity. For example, among the symbols (or wireless symbols) of the uplink signal (or uplink data) that the RU (220) receives from the terminal (120), a symbol of a specific signal may be set to have a high priority. For example, the specific signal may include at least one of DMRS, ACK information, or PUCCH (physical uplink channel), UCI (uplink control information) of the uplink signal. For example, the identifier of the transmission timing information (760) for the symbol of the specific signal may indicate the earliest transmission symbol among the transmission symbols of the transmission timing.

[0182] According to one embodiment, the section extension (750) may be set for each section. For example, the control plane message may include a section extension (750) for a section identifier (section id). For example, if the control plane message includes a section (or section type) having a first section identifier and a section (or section type) having a second section identifier, the control plane message may include a section extension (750) for the first section identifier and a section extension (750) for the second section identifier, respectively. For example, the section having the first section identifier may be the same as or different from the section having the second section identifier. For example, if the section having the first section identifier is section type 5, the section having the second section identifier may be section type 5 or section type X for ULPI.

[0183] In one embodiment, when the control plane message including the section extension (750) is newly defined, a new definition of the section extension endpoint may be required. As described above, the supportable section extensions can be defined through the user plane configuration module (or YANG module) of the management plane. The module can define the supportable section extensions as follows.

[0184]

[0185] Referring to the above table, with respect to the control plane message, the value (uint8) of section-type may indicate 5 (i.e., section type 5) or X (i.e., section type X). Additionally, the value (uint8) of supported-section-extensions may indicate Y. For example, the Y may indicate a section extension (750).

[0186] According to one embodiment, the RU (220) may transmit a management plane message to the DU (210). For example, the management plane message may include capability information of the RU (220). The RU (220) may report the capability information of the RU (220) through the management plane message. For example, the capability information may include whether a function for setting up transmission timing of a user plane message (or uplink user plane message) for ULPI is supported. For example, examples of the capability information may be referred to the table below.

[0187]

[0188] Referring to the above table, the ru-supported-U-plane-timing-setup may indicate whether the RU (220) supports a function of reordering (or allocating, changing, arranging, distributing, mapping) received radio symbols based on the section extension (750) and transmitting them via the indicated transmission symbols. For example, the ru-supported-U-plane-timing-setup may have one of a first value indicating that the function is supported, a second value indicating that the function is not supported, or a third value indicating that the function is conditionally supported. In the above example, a case where the value of the ru-supported-U-plane-timing-setup has three values ​​is described, but the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto. For example, the value of the ru-supported-U-plane-timing-setup may have four values. In this case, a fourth value indicating that the function is conditionally supported may be further included. For example, the third value may indicate that the function can be supported only in a limited manner when the same transmission symbol identifier (transmissionSymbolid) is not supported within the section (or terminal). For example, the fourth value may indicate that the function can be supported only in a limited manner when the same transmission symbol identifier (transmissionSymbolid) is not supported within the section (or terminal) and has a pattern of one transmission symbol identifier per slot. An example of a timing (or transmission symbol) at which an uplink user plane message is transmitted through a section extension (750) set based on the third value is specifically described in FIG. 8c below. An example of a timing (or transmission symbol) at which an uplink user plane message is transmitted through a section extension (750) set based on the fourth value is specifically described in FIG. 8b below.

[0189] Referring to the above table, the max-number-of-advanced-symbols may indicate the maximum number of advanced symbols. For example, the max-number-of-advanced-symbols may be included (or reported) when the ru-supported-U-plane-timing-setup has the first value, the third value, or the fourth value. In other words, the max-number-of-advanced-symbols may be provided to the DU (210) when the RU (220) supports the function. For example, the maximum number of advanced symbols may be determined based on the capacity (or maximum capacity) of a buffer (or memory) of the RU (220).

[0190] For example, the advanced symbol may indicate the maximum number of transmission symbols between one transmission symbol in one slot corresponding to one of the radio symbols in which an uplink signal (or uplink data) is received, to be changed based on transmission timing information (760) (or one of the identifiers (761, 762, 763, 764) in the transmission timing information (760) of the section extension (750). For example, the number of transmission symbols between a first transmission symbol (e.g., symbol #13) in one slot (e.g., symbol #0 to symbol #13) corresponding to a first radio symbol in the radio symbols, to a second transmission symbol (e.g., symbol #1) in one slot (e.g., symbol #0 to symbol #13) to be changed based on transmission timing information (760) (or the identifier (761) of the transmission timing information (760)) may be 12. The number of transmission symbols between the third transmission symbol (e.g., symbol #10) in the one slot (e.g., symbol #0 to symbol #13) corresponding to the second wireless symbol among the wireless symbols and the fourth transmission symbol (e.g., symbol #3) in the one slot (e.g., symbol #0 to symbol #13) that is to be changed based on the transmission timing information (760) (or the identifier (762) of the transmission timing information (760)) may be 7. In the above example, the maximum number that the RU (220) can support may be 12.

[0191] Alternatively, for example, the capability information may include whether the RU (220) supports a class (e.g., class A or class B) for supporting ULPI and whether the RU supports a function for setting up transmission timing of a user plane message (or uplink user plane message) for ULPI. For example, examples of the capability information may be referenced in the table below.

[0192]

[0193] Referring to the above-described table, the ru-supported-U-plane-timing-setup and the max-number-of-advanced-symbols may be provided together with capability information (e.g., the rusupported-classses and the class-type) indicating whether a class (e.g., class A or class B) for supporting ULPI of the RU (220) is supported. The contents of the above-described Table 5 may be substantially identically applied to the ru-supported-U-plane-timing-setup and the max-number-of-advanced-symbols. The section extension (750) of FIG. 7b is merely exemplary, and the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto. For example, the positions and lengths of the parameters within the section extension (750) may be changed.

[0194] Figure 7c illustrates an example of a section extension indicating the transmission timing of an uplink user plane message.

[0195] FIG. 7C illustrates an example of a section extension (770) indicating a transmission timing of the uplink user plane message. For example, the section extension (770) may be referred to as a section extension for indicating the transmission timing of the uplink user plane message for ULPI. For example, the RU (220) may be associated with class A or class B. For example, the transmission timing may indicate a timing (or transmission symbol) to be transmitted via the uplink user plane message for each of the symbols (or radio symbols) through which the RU (220) receives an uplink signal (or uplink data) from a terminal (e.g., terminal (120) of FIG. 1 ).

[0196] Referring to FIG. 7c, the section extension (770) may include information indicating the transmission timing of the uplink user plane message for the symbols (or radio symbols) in which the uplink signal received from the terminal (120) is received. The section extension (770) may be referred to as extension type information or extension type.

[0197] According to one embodiment, the section extension (770) may be included in a control plane message. For example, the section extension (770) may be included in the control plane message including a specific section type. For example, the specific section type may include section type 5. Or, for example, the specific section type may include section type X for ULPI. The section type X may represent any section type number. In other words, the section extension (770) may be used (or associated) in conjunction with the specific section type. For example, the section extension (770) may be included in section fields of the control plane message. For example, the section fields may include at least one section identifier and at least one section extension.

[0198] According to one embodiment, the section extension (770) may include common parameters. For example, the common parameters may include ef (extension flag) (771), extType (extension type) (773), and extLen (extension length) (775).

[0199] For example, ef(771) can be used to indicate whether another section extension following section extension(770) exists. For example, ef(771) can have a field length of 1 bit. For example, if the value of ef(771) is 1, the other section extension may exist. Conversely, if the value of ef(771) is 0, the other section extension may not exist. ef(771) can be referred to as an extension flag.

[0200] For example, extType(773) can be used to indicate a section extension(770). For example, extType(773) can provide a section extension that provides additional parameters specific to the subject data extension. For example, extType(773) can have a field length of 7 bits. For example, extType(773) can have different values ​​for each section extension. For example, extType(773) of the section extension(770) for DMRS processing can include 0xY. Y can represent any order or number. Y can represent a number of two or more digits (e.g., 25). A section extension(770) whose extType(773) is Y can be referred to as section extension Y. extType(773) can be referred to as an index of section extension information.

[0201] For example, extLen (775) may provide the length of the section extension (770). For example, extLen (775) may provide the length of the section extension (770) in units of 32 bits (or 4 bytes) words. For example, extLen (775) may have a field length of 8 bits. However, the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto. For example, depending on the information included in the section extension (770), extLen (775) may have a field length of 17 bits or more. extLen (775) may be referred to as the length of the section extension information. For example, the section extension (770) may have a length of 8 bytes indicated by extLen (775).

[0202] According to one embodiment, the section extension (770) may include transmission timing information (780). For example, the transmission timing information (780) may indicate a plurality of transmission symbols included in the transmission timing of the uplink user plane message. For example, the transmission timing information (780) may include identifiers (781, 782, 783, 784) of the plurality of transmission symbols for symbols (or radio symbols) in which uplink data of the uplink user plane message is received.

[0203] For example, the number of identifiers (781, 782, 783, 784) included in the transmission timing information (780) may be fixed. For example, the number of identifiers (781, 782, 783, 784) may correspond to the total number of symbols included in the slot included in the time information of the control plane message (e.g., 14). In other words, the number of identifiers (781, 782, 783, 784) included in the transmission timing information (780) of FIG. 7c may be a fixed value of 14, unlike the number of identifiers (711, 712, 713, 714) included in the transmission timing information (710) of FIG. 7a and the number of identifiers (761, 762, 763, 764) included in the transmission timing information (760) of FIG. 7b.

[0204] For example, among the identifiers (781, 782, 783, 784) of the transmission timing information (780), the identifier (781) may include an identifier of a transmission symbol for a wireless symbol having a start symbol identifier (e.g., 0) included in a slot of the time information. For example, the identifier (782) may include an identifier of a transmission symbol for a wireless symbol having a symbol identifier (e.g., 1) following the start symbol identifier. The wireless symbol having the symbol identifier (e.g., 1) may be continuous to the wireless symbol having the start symbol identifier (e.g., 0). For example, the identifier (783) may include an identifier of a transmission symbol for a wireless symbol having a symbol identifier (e.g., 12). For example, the identifier (784) may include an identifier of a transmission symbol for a wireless symbol having a symbol identifier (e.g., 13). A wireless symbol having the symbol identifier (e.g., 12) may be consecutive to a wireless symbol having the starting symbol identifier (e.g., 13). For example, the symbol identifier (e.g., 13) may be the last symbol in the slot.

[0205] Unlike the section extension (700) illustrated in the example of FIG. 7a, each of the identifiers (781, 782, 783, 784) of the section extension (770) illustrated in the example of FIG. 7c may have a length of 4 bits. Since the size of each of the identifiers (781, 782, 783, 784) included in the section extension (770) of FIG. 7b is 4 bits, which is smaller than the size of each of the identifiers (711, 712, 713) included in the section extension (700) of FIG. 7a, which is 6 bits, the size of the section extension (770) of FIG. 7b may be smaller than the size of the section extension (700) of FIG. 7a. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, by the padding bits of the section extension (770), the section extension (770) may be formed to have the same size as the section extension (700). In addition, unlike the section extensions (700) and (750) of FIGS. 7A and 7B, the transmission timing information (780) of the section extension (770) illustrated in the example of FIG. 7C may have a fixed size. Accordingly, the octets of the section extension (770) including the identifier (781) and the identifier (782) may be N+2, and the octets of the section extension (770) including the identifier (783) and the identifier (784) may be N+8.

[0206] According to one embodiment, the transmission timing information (780) of the section extension (770) may be set based on the fronthaul bandwidth. For example, the identifiers (781, 782, 783, 784) in the transmission timing information (780) may have their priorities set based on the fronthaul bandwidth. For example, the resource defined by the fronthaul bandwidth and one transmission symbol may represent the capacity of the fronthaul (e.g., the fronthaul (215) of FIG. 2A). For example, the priority of each of the identifiers (781, 782, 783, 784) may be set based on the capacity. For example, among the symbols (or wireless symbols) of the uplink signal (or uplink data) that the RU (220) receives from the terminal (120), a symbol of a specific signal may be set to have a high priority. For example, the specific signal may include at least one of DMRS, ACK information, or PUCCH (physical uplink channel), UCI (uplink control information) of the uplink signal. For example, the identifier of the transmission timing information (780) for the symbol of the specific signal may indicate the earliest transmission symbol among the transmission symbols of the transmission timing.

[0207] According to one embodiment, the section extension (770) may be set for each section. For example, the control plane message may include a section extension (770) for a section identifier (section id). For example, if the control plane message includes a section (or section type) having a first section identifier and a section (or section type) having a second section identifier, the control plane message may include a section extension (770) for the first section identifier and a section extension (770) for the second section identifier, respectively. For example, the section having the first section identifier may be the same as or different from the section having the second section identifier. For example, if the section having the first section identifier is section type 5, the section having the second section identifier may be section type 5 or section type X for ULPI.

[0208] In one embodiment, when the control plane message including the section extension (770) is newly defined, a new definition of the section extension endpoint may be required. As described above, the supportable section extensions can be defined through the user plane configuration module (or YANG module) of the management plane. The module can define the supportable section extensions as follows.

[0209]

[0210] Referring to the above table, with respect to the control plane message, the value (uint8) of section-type may indicate 5 (i.e., section type 5) or X (i.e., section type X). Additionally, the value (uint8) of supported-section-extensions may indicate Y. For example, the Y may indicate a section extension (770).

[0211] According to one embodiment, the RU (220) may transmit a management plane message to the DU (210). For example, the management plane message may include capability information of the RU (220). The RU (220) may report the capability information of the RU (220) through the management plane message. For example, the capability information may include whether a function for setting up transmission timing of a user plane message (or uplink user plane message) for ULPI is supported. For example, examples of the capability information may be referred to the table below.

[0212]

[0213] Referring to the above table, the ru-supported-U-plane-timing-setup may indicate whether the RU (220) supports a function of reordering (or allocating, changing, arranging, distributing, mapping) received radio symbols based on the section extension (770) and transmitting them via the indicated transmission symbols. For example, the ru-supported-U-plane-timing-setup may have one of a first value indicating that the function is supported, a second value indicating that the function is not supported, or a third value indicating that the function is conditionally supported. In the above example, a case where the value of the ru-supported-U-plane-timing-setup has three values ​​is described, but the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto. For example, the value of the ru-supported-U-plane-timing-setup may have four values. In this case, a fourth value indicating that the function is conditionally supported may be further included. For example, the third value may indicate that the function can be supported only in a limited manner when the same transmission symbol identifier (transmissionSymbolid) is not supported within the section (or terminal). For example, the fourth value may indicate that the function can be supported only in a limited manner when the same transmission symbol identifier (transmissionSymbolid) is not supported within the section (or terminal) and has a pattern of one transmission symbol identifier per slot. An example of a timing (or transmission symbol) at which an uplink user plane message is transmitted through a section extension (770) set based on the third value is specifically described in FIG. 8c below. An example of a timing (or transmission symbol) at which an uplink user plane message is transmitted through a section extension (770) set based on the fourth value is specifically described in FIG. 8b below.Referring to the above table, the max-number-of-advanced-symbols may indicate the maximum number of advanced symbols. For example, the max-number-of-advanced-symbols may be included (or reported) when the ru-supported-U-plane-timing-setup has the first value, the third value, or the fourth value. In other words, the max-number-of-advanced-symbols may be provided to the DU (210) when the RU (220) supports the function. For example, the maximum number of advanced symbols may be determined based on the capacity (or maximum capacity) of a buffer (or memory) of the RU (220).

[0214] For example, the advanced symbol may indicate the maximum number of transmission symbols between one transmission symbol in one slot corresponding to one of the radio symbols in which an uplink signal (or uplink data) is received, to be changed based on transmission timing information (780) (or one of the identifiers (781, 782, 783, 784) in the transmission timing information (780) of the section extension (770). For example, the number of transmission symbols between a first transmission symbol (e.g., symbol #13) in one slot (e.g., symbol #0 to symbol #13) corresponding to a first radio symbol in the radio symbols, to a second transmission symbol (e.g., symbol #1) in one slot (e.g., symbol #0 to symbol #13) to be changed based on transmission timing information (780) (or the identifier (781) in the transmission timing information (780)) may be 12. The number of transmission symbols between the third transmission symbol (e.g., symbol #10) in the one slot (e.g., symbol #0 to symbol #13) corresponding to the second wireless symbol among the wireless symbols and the fourth transmission symbol (e.g., symbol #3) in the one slot (e.g., symbol #0 to symbol #13) that is to be changed based on the transmission timing information (780) (or the identifier (782) of the transmission timing information (780)) may be 7. In the example, the maximum number that the RU (220) can support may be 12.

[0215] Alternatively, for example, the capability information may include whether the RU (220) supports a class (e.g., class A or class B) for supporting ULPI and whether the RU supports a function for setting up transmission timing of a user plane message (or uplink user plane message) for ULPI. For example, examples of the capability information may be referenced in the table below.

[0216]

[0217] Referring to the above-described table, the ru-supported-U-plane-timing-setup and the max-number-of-advanced-symbols may be provided together with capability information (e.g., the rusupported-classses and the class-type) indicating whether a class (e.g., class A or class B) for supporting ULPI of the RU (220) is supported. The contents of the above-described Table 8 may be substantially identically applied to the ru-supported-U-plane-timing-setup and the max-number-of-advanced-symbols. The section extension (770) of FIG. 7c is merely exemplary, and the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto. For example, the positions and lengths of the parameters within the section extension (770) may be changed.

[0218] Figures 8a to 8c illustrate examples of timings at which uplink user plane messages are transmitted based on section extensions indicating transmission timings of uplink user plane messages.

[0219] Figures 8a to 8c illustrate examples (800, 830, 850) of timings (or transmission timings) at which the uplink user plane message is transmitted. In examples (800, 830, 850), examples of the uplink user plane message being transmitted in multiple transmission symbols included in one slot are illustrated, but embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto.

[0220] According to one embodiment, the RU (220) may transmit the uplink user plane message to the DU (210). For example, the RU (220) may transmit the uplink user plane message including an identifier of a radio symbol in a specific transmission symbol. At this time, when transmitting an uplink signal (or uplink data) for a plurality of radio symbols on the specific transmission symbol, the RU (220) may generate an uplink user plane message separated for each radio symbol and transmit a plurality of uplink user plane messages on the specific transmission symbol. Each of the plurality of uplink user plane messages may include an uplink signal (or uplink data) for each of the radio symbols. Alternatively, for example, the RU (220) may transmit one uplink user plane message on the specific transmission symbol based on a section extension (e.g., section extension (700) of FIG. 7a, section extension (750) of FIG. 7b, or section extension (770) of FIG. 7c) for indicating transmission timing for an uplink user plane message for ULPI. In this case, the one uplink user plane message may include an uplink signal (or uplink data) received on a plurality of radio symbols. In this case, the one uplink user plane message may be generated based on the section extension (700) in which identifiers of the plurality of radio symbols are mapped to identifiers of one transmission symbol. When the uplink signals (or uplink data) of the plurality of radio symbols overlap in the frequency domain, they may be distinguished by a section identifier (section id) (or terminal identifier).

[0221] Referring to example (800) of FIG. 8A, transmission symbols (801) may include 14 transmission symbols. For example, in example (800), for convenience of explanation, a case is illustrated where the first identifier (or index) among the transmission symbols is 0 and the last identifier (or index) is 13, but the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto.

[0222] Referring to example (800), RU (220) may receive a control plane message from DU (210). For example, the control plane message may include two section extensions (810, 820). For example, each of section extensions (810, 820) may be an example of section extension (700) of FIG. 7A (or section extension (750) of FIG. 7B, section extension (770) of FIG. 7C). For example, section extension (810) may be associated with a first section having a section identifier (SectionId 0). For example, section extension (820) may be associated with a second section having a section identifier (SectionId 1). For example, the section type of the first section may correspond to or be different from the section type of the second section.

[0223] For example, the section extension (810) may include transmission timing information (815) for indicating transmission timing (or transmission symbols) for wireless symbols (wireless symbols #0 to #13) controlled by the first section. Also, for example, the section extension (820) may include transmission timing information (825) for indicating transmission timing (or transmission symbols) for wireless symbols (wireless symbols #0 to #13) controlled by the second section. In this case, the wireless symbols controlled by the first section and the wireless symbols controlled by the second section may correspond (or overlap).

[0224] For example, the transmission timing information (815) of the section extension (810) may include an identifier (#0) of a transmission symbol for a wireless symbol (wireless symbol #0) among the wireless symbols (wireless symbols #0 to #13), an identifier (#0) of a transmission symbol for a wireless symbol (wireless symbol #1), an identifier (#6) of a transmission symbol for a wireless symbol (wireless symbol #12), and an identifier (#6) of a transmission symbol for a wireless symbol (wireless symbol #13). In addition, the transmission timing information (825) of the section extension (820) may include an identifier (#7) of a transmission symbol for a wireless symbol (wireless symbol #0) among the wireless symbols (wireless symbols #0 to #13), an identifier (#7) of a transmission symbol for a wireless symbol (wireless symbol #1), an identifier (#13) of a transmission symbol for a wireless symbol (wireless symbol #12), and an identifier (#13) of a transmission symbol for a wireless symbol (wireless symbol #13). In other words, multiple wireless symbols can be mapped to one transmission symbol (or identifier of a transmission symbol).

[0225] Referring to example (800), the radio symbols (803) associated with the first section having a section identifier (SectionId 0) may be mapped (or reordered) to some of the transmission symbols (801) (e.g., transmission symbols having identifiers 0 to 6). An uplink signal (or uplink data) received in the radio symbols (803) associated with the first section may be transmitted in some of the transmission symbols (801). For example, an uplink user plane message including an uplink signal (or uplink data) received in the radio symbols (radio symbol #0, radio symbol #1) associated with the first section may be transmitted in the transmission symbol (transmission symbol #0). Alternatively, an uplink user plane message including an uplink signal (or uplink data) received in the radio symbols (radio symbol #2, radio symbol #3) associated with the first section may be transmitted in the transmission symbol (transmission symbol #1). Alternatively, an uplink user plane message including an uplink signal (or uplink data) received in the wireless symbols (wireless symbol #12, wireless symbol #13) related to the first section may be transmitted in a transmission symbol (transmission symbol #6).

[0226] Also, referring to example (800), the radio symbols (805) associated with the second section having the section identifier (SectionId 1) may be mapped (or reordered) with another portion of the transmission symbols (801) (e.g., the transmission symbols having identifiers #7 to #13). An uplink signal (or uplink data) received in the radio symbols (805) associated with the second section may be transmitted in the other portion of the transmission symbols (801). For example, an uplink user plane message including an uplink signal (or uplink data) received in the radio symbols (radio symbol #0, radio symbol #1) associated with the second section may be transmitted in the transmission symbol (#7). Alternatively, an uplink user plane message including an uplink signal (or uplink data) received in wireless symbols (wireless symbol #2, wireless symbol #3) associated with the second section may be transmitted in a transmission symbol (transmission symbol #8). Alternatively, an uplink user plane message including an uplink signal (or uplink data) received in wireless symbols (wireless symbol #12, wireless symbol #13) associated with the second section may be transmitted in a transmission symbol (transmission symbol #13).

[0227] Referring to example (830) of FIG. 8B, transmission symbols (831) may include 14 transmission symbols. For example, in example (830), for convenience of explanation, a case is illustrated where the first identifier (or index) among the transmission symbols is 0 and the last identifier (or index) is 13, but the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto.

[0228] Referring to example (830), RU (220) may receive a control plane message from DU (210). For example, the control plane message may include two section extensions. For example, each of the two section extensions may be an example of section extension (700) of FIG. 7A (or section extension (750) of FIG. 7B, or section extension (770) of FIG. 7C). For example, one of the two section extensions may be associated with a first section having a section identifier (SectionId 0). For example, the other of the two section extensions may be associated with a second section having a section identifier (SectionId 1). For example, the section type of the first section may correspond to or be different from the section type of the second section.

[0229] The RU (220) of the example (830) may provide capability information of the RU (220) to the DU (210) via a management plane message before transmitting the control plane message. At this time, the capability information may include the ru-supported-U-plane-timing-setup having a fourth value. For example, the fourth value may indicate that the function may be supported only in a limited manner when the same transmission symbol identifier (transmissionSymbolid) is not supported within a section (or terminal) and a pattern of one transmission symbol identifier per slot is present.

[0230] Referring to example (830), the wireless symbols (833) associated with the first section having a section identifier (SectionId 0) may be transmitted via transmission symbols (831). At this time, the order of the wireless symbols (833) associated with the first section may be reordered. For example, rather than the wireless symbols being mapped to the transmission symbols (831) in the order in which they are received (e.g., wireless symbol #0, wireless symbol #1, ..., wireless symbol #12, wireless symbol #13), the wireless symbol (wireless symbol #13) may be mapped to the transmission symbol (transmission symbol #1), and the wireless symbol (wireless symbol #12) may be mapped to the transmission symbol (transmission symbol #2). For example, an uplink user plane message including an uplink signal (or uplink data) received in a wireless symbol (wireless symbol #0) associated with the first section may be transmitted in a transmission symbol (transmission symbol #0). Additionally, an uplink user plane message including an uplink signal (or uplink data) received in a wireless symbol (wireless symbol #13) related to the first section may be transmitted in a transmission symbol (transmission symbol #1).

[0231] Also, referring to example (830), the wireless symbols (835) associated with the second section having the section identifier (SectionId 1) may be transmitted via transmission symbols (831). At this time, the order of the wireless symbols (835) associated with the second section may be reordered. For example, rather than the wireless symbols being mapped to the transmission symbols (831) in the order in which they are received (e.g., wireless symbol #0, wireless symbol #1, ..., wireless symbol #12, wireless symbol #13), the wireless symbol (wireless symbol #13) may be mapped to the transmission symbol (1), and the wireless symbol (wireless symbol #12) may be mapped to the transmission symbol (transmission symbol #2). For example, an uplink user plane message including an uplink signal (or uplink data) received in a wireless symbol (wireless symbol #0) associated with the second section may be transmitted in the transmission symbol (0). Additionally, an uplink user plane message including an uplink signal (or uplink data) received in a wireless symbol (wireless symbol #13) related to the second section may be transmitted in a transmission symbol (transmission symbol #1).

[0232] Referring to example (830), based on the capability information including the ru-supported-U-plane-timing-setup having the fourth value being provided to the DU (210) via a management plane message, the DU (210) can control the RU (220) to transmit an uplink user plane message as in example (830) using the two section extensions. At this time, according to the ru-supported-U-plane-timing-setup having the fourth value, the order of the radio symbols (833) related to the first section and the order of the radio symbols (835) related to the second section may correspond (or be the same). For example, the order of the radio symbols (833) (or the radio symbols (835)) may be referenced as a pattern of a transmission symbol identifier. Additionally, in the case of example (830), unlike example (800), one radio symbol per section (or terminal) can be mapped to one transmission symbol according to the ru-supported-U-plane-timing-setup having the fourth value.

[0233] Referring to example (850) of FIG. 8c, transmission symbols (851) may include 14 transmission symbols. For example, in example (850), for convenience of explanation, a case is illustrated where the first identifier (or index) among the transmission symbols is 0 and the last identifier (or index) is 13, but the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto.

[0234] Referring to example (850), RU (220) may receive a control plane message from DU (210). For example, the control plane message may include two section extensions. For example, each of the two section extensions may be an example of section extension (700) of FIG. 7A (or section extension (750) of FIG. 7B, section extension (770) of FIG. 7C). For example, one of the two section extensions may be associated with a first section having a section identifier (SectionId 0). For example, the other of the two section extensions may be associated with a second section having a section identifier (SectionId 1). For example, the section type of the first section may correspond to or be different from the section type of the second section.

[0235] The RU (220) of the example (850) may provide capability information of the RU (220) to the DU (210) via a management plane message before transmitting the control plane message. At this time, the capability information may include the ru-supported-U-plane-timing-setup having a third value. For example, the third value may indicate that the function may be supported only in a limited manner when the same transmission symbol identifier (transmissionSymbolid) is not supported within the section (or terminal).

[0236] Referring to example (850), wireless symbols (853) associated with the first section having a section identifier (SectionId 0) may be transmitted via transmission symbols (851). At this time, the order of the wireless symbols (853) associated with the first section may be reordered. For example, rather than wireless symbols being mapped to transmission symbols (851) in the order in which they are received (e.g., wireless symbol #0, wireless symbol #1, ..., wireless symbol #12, wireless symbol #13), wireless symbol (wireless symbol #13) may be mapped to transmission symbol (1), wireless symbol (wireless symbol #12) may be mapped to transmission symbol (transmission symbol #2), wireless symbol (wireless symbol #11) may be mapped to transmission symbol (transmission symbol #3), and wireless symbol (wireless symbol #10) may be mapped to transmission symbol (transmission symbol #4). For example, an uplink user plane message including an uplink signal (or uplink data) received in a radio symbol (radio symbol #0) associated with the first section may be transmitted in a transmission symbol (transmission symbol #0). Furthermore, an uplink user plane message including an uplink signal (or uplink data) received in a radio symbol (radio symbol #13) associated with the first section may be transmitted in a transmission symbol (transmission symbol #1). Furthermore, an uplink user plane message including an uplink signal (or uplink data) received in a radio symbol (radio symbol #12) associated with the first section may be transmitted in a transmission symbol (transmission symbol #2). Furthermore, an uplink user plane message including an uplink signal (or uplink data) received in a radio symbol (radio symbol #11) associated with the first section may be transmitted in a transmission symbol (transmission symbol #3). Additionally, an uplink user plane message including an uplink signal (or uplink data) received in a wireless symbol (wireless symbol #10) related to the first section may be transmitted in a transmission symbol (transmission symbol #4).

[0237] Also, referring to example (850), wireless symbols (855) associated with the second section having a section identifier (SectionId 1) may be transmitted via transmission symbols (851). At this time, the order of the wireless symbols (855) associated with the second section may be reordered. For example, rather than wireless symbols being mapped to transmission symbols (851) in the order in which they are received (e.g., wireless symbol #0, wireless symbol #1, ..., wireless symbol #12, wireless symbol #13), wireless symbol (wireless symbol #13) may be mapped to transmission symbol (transmission symbol #1), wireless symbol (wireless symbol #12) may be mapped to transmission symbol (transmission symbol #2), wireless symbol (wireless symbol #11) may be mapped to transmission symbol (transmission symbol #3), and wireless symbol (wireless symbol #10) may be mapped to transmission symbol (transmission symbol #4). For example, an uplink user plane message including an uplink signal (or uplink data) received in a radio symbol (radio symbol #0) associated with the second section may be transmitted in a transmission symbol (transmission symbol #0). Furthermore, an uplink user plane message including an uplink signal (or uplink data) received in a radio symbol (radio symbol #13) associated with the second section may be transmitted in a transmission symbol (transmission symbol #1). Furthermore, an uplink user plane message including an uplink signal (or uplink data) received in a radio symbol (radio symbol #12) associated with the second section may be transmitted in a transmission symbol (transmission symbol #2). Furthermore, an uplink user plane message including an uplink signal (or uplink data) received in a radio symbol (radio symbol #10) associated with the second section may be transmitted in a transmission symbol (transmission symbol #3). Additionally, an uplink user plane message including an uplink signal (or uplink data) received in a wireless symbol (wireless symbol #1) related to the second section may be transmitted in a transmission symbol (transmission symbol #4).

[0238] Referring to example (850), based on the capability information including the ru-supported-U-plane-timing-setup having the third value being provided to the DU (210) via a management plane message, the DU (210) can control the RU (220) to transmit an uplink user plane message as in example (850) using the two section extensions. At this time, according to the ru-supported-U-plane-timing-setup having the third value, the order of the radio symbols (853) related to the first section and the order of the radio symbols (855) related to the second section may not correspond (or be different). For example, the order of the radio symbols (853) (or the radio symbols (855)) may be referenced by a pattern of a transmission symbol identifier. Additionally, in the case of example (850), unlike example (800), one radio symbol per section (or terminal) can be mapped to one transmission symbol according to the ru-supported-U-plane-timing-setup having the third value.

[0239] As described above, the DU (210) can control the transmission timing of the uplink user plane message through a control plane message including the section extension (e.g., the section extension (700) of FIG. 7A, the section extension (750) of FIG. 7B, or the section extension (770) of FIG. 7C). The examples (800, 830, 850) of FIGS. 8A to 8C are merely exemplary for convenience of description, and the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to the transmission timing illustrated in the examples (800, 830, 850).

[0240] Figure 8d illustrates an example of a section including multiple section extensions.

[0241] FIG. 8D illustrates an example of a section (870) including multiple section extensions (810, 820). The section extensions (810, 820) of FIG. 8D may represent examples of the section extensions (810, 820) of FIG. 8A. In FIG. 8D, an example of section (870) including two section extensions (810, 820) is illustrated, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, three or more section extensions may be included in section (870).

[0242] The section type of section (870) of FIG. 8d may include section type X for ULPI. The section type X may represent any section type number. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, the section type of section (870) of FIG. 8d may include section type 5, or may include other section types.

[0243] For example, section extension (810) may be associated with section (870) having section identifier (SectionId 0). For example, section extension (820) may be associated with section (870) having section identifier (SectionId 1). For example, section (870) may be a section in which a function that can be associated with multiple section identifiers is activated. Although not illustrated in FIG. 8D, section (870) may further include information for indicating activation of the function.

[0244] For example, section (870) may include section extensions (810, 820) for multiple section identifiers as the above function is activated. For example, section extensions (810, 820) may be configured for different terminals. In FIG. 8d, an example is shown in which each of section extensions (810, 820) is configured with a structure similar to that of section extension (700) of FIG. 7a, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, section extensions (810, 820) may also be configured with a structure similar to that of section extension (750) of FIG. 7b or section extension (770) of FIG. 7c. Alternatively, for example, among the section extensions (810, 820), the section extension (810) may be configured with the structure of the section extension (750) of FIG. 7b, and the section extension (820) may be configured with the structure of the section extension (770) of FIG. 7c.

[0245] Figure 9 illustrates an example of an operational flow for how an RU transmits an uplink user plane message based on a section extension indicating the transmission timing of the uplink user plane message.

[0246] At least some of the methods of FIG. 9 may be performed by the RU (220) of FIG. 3B. For example, at least some of the methods may be controlled by the processor (380) of the RU (220). In the embodiments described below, each operation may be performed sequentially, but is not necessarily performed sequentially. For example, the order of each operation may be changed, and at least two operations may be performed in parallel. For example, the RU (220) may be associated with class A or class B.

[0247] According to one embodiment, in operation (910), the RU (220) may receive a control plane message including a section extension from a DU (e.g., DU (210) of FIG. 2A). For example, the RU (220) may receive a control plane message including the section extension including transmission timing information of an uplink user plane message for ULPI. For example, the RU (220) may receive the control plane message including the section extension from the DU (210). For example, the section extension may include information indicating the transmission timing of the uplink user plane message for symbols (or radio symbols) at which an uplink signal received from the terminal (120) is received. The section extension may be referred to as extension type information or an extension type.

[0248] In one embodiment, the section extension may be included in a control plane message. For example, the section extension may be included in the control plane message including a specific section type. For example, the specific section type may include section type 5. Or, for example, the specific section type may include section type X for ULPI. The section type X may indicate any section type number. In other words, the section extension may be used (or associated) in conjunction with the specific section type.

[0249] According to one embodiment, the section extension may include common parameters. For example, the common parameters may include ef (extension flag), extType (extension type), and extLen (extension length). For specific details related thereto, reference may be made to the contents of FIGS. 7A to 7C.

[0250] In one embodiment, the section extension may include transmission timing information. For example, the transmission timing information may indicate a plurality of transmission symbols included in the transmission timing of the uplink user plane message. For example, the transmission timing information may include identifiers of the plurality of transmission symbols for symbols (or radio symbols) in which uplink data of the uplink user plane message is received.

[0251] For example, the number of identifiers included in the transmission timing information may be determined based on the time information of a control plane message for controlling transmission of the uplink user plane message. For example, the number of identifiers may correspond to information indicating the number of symbols included in the time information of the control plane message. For example, the maximum value of the number of identifiers may correspond to the number of symbols included in one slot. For example, the maximum value may be 14. In other words, the section extension may be set in units of one slot.

[0252] For example, among the identifiers of the transmission timing information, the identifier may include an identifier of a transmission symbol for a radio symbol having a start symbol identifier (e.g., startSymbolid) of the time information. For example, the identifier may include an identifier of a transmission symbol for a radio symbol having a symbol identifier (e.g., startSymbolid+1) following the start symbol identifier. The radio symbol having the symbol identifier (e.g., startSymbolid+1) may be consecutive to the radio symbol having the start symbol identifier (e.g., startSymbolid). For example, the identifier (713) may include an identifier of a transmission symbol for a radio symbol having a symbol identifier (e.g., startSymbolid+numSymbol-1). For example, the symbol identifier (e.g., startSymbolid+numSymbol-1) may be determined based on information indicating the start symbol identifier and the number of symbols. For example, each of the identifiers may have a length of 6 bits.

[0253] According to one embodiment, the transmission timing information of the section extension may be set based on the fronthaul bandwidth. For example, the identifiers in the transmission timing information may be prioritized based on the fronthaul bandwidth. For example, the fronthaul bandwidth and one transmission symbol may represent the capacity of the fronthaul (e.g., the fronthaul (215) of FIG. 2A). For example, the priority of each of the identifiers may be set based on the capacity. For example, among the symbols (or wireless symbols) of the uplink signal (or uplink data) received by the RU (220) from the terminal (120), a symbol of a specific signal may be set to have a high priority. For example, the specific signal may include at least one of a DMRS, ACK information, a physical uplink channel (PUCCH), or uplink control information (UCI) of the uplink signal. For example, the identifier of the transmission timing information for the symbol of the specific signal may indicate the earliest transmission symbol among the transmission symbols of the transmission timing.

[0254] In one embodiment, the section extension may be set for each section. For example, the control plane message may include the section extension for a section identifier (section id). For example, if the control plane message includes a section (or section type) having a first section identifier and a section (or section type) having a second section identifier, the control plane message may include the section extension for the first section identifier and the section extension for the second section identifier, respectively. For example, the section having the first section identifier may be the same as or different from the section having the second section identifier. For example, if the section having the first section identifier is section type 5, the section having the second section identifier may be section type 5 or section type X for ULPI.

[0255] According to one embodiment, the RU (220) may transmit a management plane message to the DU (210). For example, the management plane message may include capability information of the RU (220). The RU (220) may report the capability information of the RU (220) through the management plane message. For example, the capability information may include whether a function for setting up transmission timing of a user plane message (or uplink user plane message) for ULPI is supported. Examples of the capability information included in the management plane message may refer to Table 2 or Table 3.

[0256] According to one embodiment, after receiving the control plane message in operation (910), the RU (220) may receive an uplink signal (or uplink data) from the terminal (120) on the radio symbols indicated by the control plane message. For example, after receiving the uplink signal, the RU (220) may perform processing on the uplink signal. For example, the processing may include beamforming or equalizing.

[0257] According to one embodiment, in operation (920), the RU (220) may transmit an uplink user plane message based on the transmission timing information included in the section extension.

[0258] For example, the RU (220) may transmit one uplink user plane message on the specific transmission symbol based on the section extension for indicating transmission timing for an uplink user plane message for ULPI. At this time, the one uplink user plane message may include an uplink signal (or uplink data) received on a plurality of radio symbols. At this time, the one uplink user plane message may be generated based on the section extension in which identifiers of the plurality of radio symbols are mapped to identifiers of one transmission symbol. When the uplink signals (or uplink data) of the plurality of radio symbols overlap in the frequency domain, they may be distinguished by a section identifier (or terminal identifier).

[0259] Examples of transmission timing (or transmission symbols) at which the uplink user plane message is transmitted based on the above section extension may be referred to in FIGS. 8a to 8c.

[0260] The device, method, and storage medium according to embodiments of the present disclosure can order (or rearrange) the order of symbols (or symbols within the one slot) for the uplink signal received by the RU (220) when the RU (220) transmits the uplink signal within the one slot received from the terminal (120) to the DU (210). For example, the device, method, and storage medium according to embodiments of the present disclosure can indicate a timing for transmitting an uplink message (e.g., an uplink user plane message) including the uplink signal (or uplink data) received by the RU (220). Accordingly, the DU (210) first acquires the DMRS located at the latter part of the one slot and processes the uplink signal (or uplink data), so that uplink performance including processing speed can be improved from the perspective of a system (or base station) including the DU (210) and the RU (220).

[0261] In addition, for example, the device, method, and storage medium according to embodiments of the present disclosure can provide an uplink message including an uplink signal for each specific terminal (or section identifier, section id) to the DU (210) when the RU (220) simultaneously receives an uplink signal from each of a plurality of terminals within the one slot. The DU (210) can perform decoding based on the uplink message sequentially received for each of the plurality of terminals. Accordingly, the DU (210) can effectively perform decoding for each terminal, so that uplink performance can be improved.

[0262] The effects that can be obtained from the present disclosure are not limited to the effects mentioned above, and other effects that are not mentioned can be clearly understood by a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure belongs from the description below.

[0263] As described above, a device of a radio unit (RU) may include a memory for storing instructions and including one or more storage media. The device may include a transceiver. The device may include at least one processor including a processing circuit. The instructions, when individually or collectively executed by the at least one processor, may cause the device to receive, from a distributed unit (DU), a control plane message including a section extension. The section extension may include transmission timing information for an uplink user plane message. The instructions, when individually or collectively executed by the at least one processor, may cause the device to transmit, to the DU, the uplink user plane message based on the transmission timing information included in the section extension. The above transmission timing information may include identifiers of a plurality of transmission symbols for symbols in which uplink data is received from a terminal (user equipment).

[0264] According to one embodiment, the instructions, when individually or collectively executed by the at least one processor, may cause the device to receive the uplink data from the terminal. The instructions, when individually or collectively executed by the at least one processor, may cause the device to generate the uplink user plane message to be transmitted to the DU based on the uplink data. The symbols may be determined based on information indicating a start symbol identifier in common header fields of the control plane message and a number of symbols in section fields of the control plane message. The section extension may be included in the section fields of the control plane message.

[0265] According to one embodiment, when the symbols in which the uplink data is received include a first symbol, a second symbol, and a third symbol, the identifiers of the transmission timing information may include a first identifier of a first transmission symbol among the plurality of transmission symbols mapped to the first symbol, the first identifier of the first transmission symbol mapped to the second symbol, and a second identifier of a second transmission symbol among the plurality of transmission symbols mapped to the third symbol.

[0266] According to one embodiment, the control plane message may be associated with section type 5 or a section type for ULPI.

[0267] In one embodiment, the control plane message may further include another section extension including different transmission timings for different uplink user plane messages. The section extension may be associated with a first section having a first section identifier. The other section extension may be associated with a second section having a second section identifier.

[0268] According to one embodiment, the other transmission timing information may include other identifiers of a plurality of other transmission symbols for the symbols in which other uplink data is received from other terminals. The plurality of other transmission symbols may be consecutive to the plurality of transmission symbols. The plurality of transmission symbols and the plurality of other transmission symbols may be included in one slot.

[0269] In one embodiment, the instructions, when individually or collectively executed by the at least one processor, may cause the device to receive the other uplink data from the other terminal. The instructions, when individually or collectively executed by the at least one processor, may cause the device to generate the other uplink user plane message to be transmitted to the DU based on the other uplink data.

[0270] According to one embodiment, the instructions, when individually or collectively executed by the at least one processor, may cause the device to transmit, to the DU, a management plane message including capability information indicating whether the RU supports the section extension for ULPI. The capability information may include one of a first value indicating that the RU does not support the section extension, a second value indicating that the RU supports the section extension, and a third value indicating that the RU conditionally supports the section extension.

[0271] According to one embodiment, when the capability information has the second value or the third value, the management plane message may further include a maximum number of advanced symbols. The maximum number of advanced symbols may represent a maximum value of the number of transmission symbols between a first transmission symbol in a slot corresponding to one of the symbols in which the uplink data is received and a second transmission symbol in the slot to be changed based on the indication information from the first transmission symbol. For example, the maximum number of advanced symbols may be determined based on a capacity (or maximum capacity) of a buffer (or memory) of the RU (220).

[0272] According to one embodiment, the section extension may include an extension flag, an index of the section extension, and a length of the section extension.

[0273] As described above, a device of a distributed unit (DU) may include a memory for storing instructions and including one or more storage media. The device may include a transceiver. The device may include at least one processor including a processing circuit. The instructions, when individually or collectively executed by the at least one processor, may cause the device to transmit, to a radio unit (RU), a control plane message including a section extension. The section extension may include transmission timing information for an uplink user plane message. The instructions, when individually or collectively executed by the at least one processor, may cause the device to receive, from the RU, the uplink user plane message based on the transmission timing information included in the section extension. The above transmission timing information may include identifiers of a plurality of transmission symbols for symbols in which uplink data is received from a terminal (user equipment).

[0274] According to one embodiment, the uplink data may be received from the terminal by the RU. The symbols may be determined based on information indicating a start symbol identifier in common header fields of the control plane message and a number of symbols in section fields of the control plane message. The section extension may be included in the section fields of the control plane message.

[0275] According to one embodiment, when the symbols in which the uplink data is received include a first symbol, a second symbol, and a third symbol, the identifiers of the transmission timing information may include a first identifier of a first transmission symbol among the plurality of transmission symbols mapped to the first symbol, the first identifier of the first transmission symbol mapped to the second symbol, and a second identifier of a second transmission symbol among the plurality of transmission symbols mapped to the third symbol.

[0276] According to one embodiment, the control plane message may further include another section extension indicating another transmission timing for another uplink user plane message. The section extension may be associated with a first section having a first section identifier. The other section extension may be associated with a second section having a second section identifier. The other transmission timing information may include other identifiers of a plurality of other transmission symbols for the symbols in which other uplink data is received from another terminal. The plurality of other transmission symbols may be consecutive to the plurality of transmission symbols. The plurality of transmission symbols and the plurality of other transmission symbols may be included in one slot.

[0277] According to one embodiment, the instructions, when individually or collectively executed by the at least one processor, may cause the device to receive, from the RU, a management plane message including capability information indicating whether the RU supports the section extension for ULPI. The capability information may include one of a first value indicating that the RU does not support the section extension, a second value indicating that the RU supports the section extension, and a third value indicating that the RU conditionally supports the section extension.

[0278] In a method performed by a radio unit (RU) as described above, the method may include receiving, from a distributed unit (DU), a control plane message including a section extension. The section extension may include transmission timing information for an uplink user plane message. The method may include transmitting, to the DU, the uplink user plane message based on the transmission timing information included in the section extension. The transmission timing information may include identifiers of a plurality of transmission symbols for symbols in which uplink data is received from a terminal.

[0279] According to one embodiment, the method may include an operation of receiving the uplink data from the terminal. The method may include an operation of generating the uplink user plane message to be transmitted to the DU based on the uplink data. The symbols may be determined based on information indicating a start symbol identifier in common header fields of the control plane message and a number of symbols in section fields of the control plane message. The section extension may be included in the section fields of the control plane message.

[0280] According to one embodiment, when the symbols in which the uplink data is received include a first symbol, a second symbol, and a third symbol, the identifiers of the transmission timing information may include a first identifier of a first transmission symbol among the plurality of transmission symbols mapped to the first symbol, the first identifier of the first transmission symbol mapped to the second symbol, and a second identifier of a second transmission symbol among the plurality of transmission symbols mapped to the third symbol.

[0281] According to one embodiment, the control plane message may be associated with section type 5 or a section type for ULPI.

[0282] The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as described above may store one or more programs comprising instructions that, when individually or collectively executed by at least one processor of a radio unit (RU) including a transceiver, cause the RU to receive, from a distributed unit (DU), a control plane message comprising a section extension. The section extension may include transmission timing information for an uplink user plane message. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may store one or more programs comprising instructions that, when individually or collectively executed by the at least one processor, cause the RU to transmit, to the DU, the uplink user plane message based on the transmission timing information included in the section extension. The transmission timing information may include identifiers of a plurality of transmission symbols for symbols in which uplink data is received from a user equipment.

[0283] The method performed by a distributed unit (DU) as described above may include transmitting, to a radio unit (RU), a control plane message including a section extension. The section extension may include transmission timing information for an uplink user plane message. The method may include receiving, from the RU, the uplink user plane message based on the transmission timing information included in the section extension. The transmission timing information may include identifiers of a plurality of transmission symbols for symbols in which uplink data is received from a user equipment.

[0284] The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as described above may store one or more programs including instructions that, when individually or collectively executed by at least one processor of a distributed unit (DU) including a transceiver, cause the DU to transmit, to a radio unit (RU), a control plane message including a section extension. The section extension may include transmission timing information for an uplink user plane message. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may store one or more programs including instructions that, when individually or collectively executed by the at least one processor, cause the DU to receive, from the RU, the uplink user plane message based on the transmission timing information included in the section extension. The transmission timing information may include identifiers of a plurality of transmission symbols for symbols in which uplink data is received from a user equipment.

[0285] The methods according to the embodiments described in the claims or specification of the present disclosure may be implemented in the form of hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

[0286] When implemented in software, a computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs (software modules) may be provided. The one or more programs stored in the computer-readable storage medium are configured to be executed by one or more processors in an electronic device. The one or more programs include instructions that cause the electronic device to execute methods according to embodiments described in the claims or specification of the present disclosure. The one or more programs may be provided as a computer program product. The computer program product may be traded between a seller and a buyer as a commodity. The computer program product may be distributed in the form of a machine-readable storage medium (e.g., compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM)), or may be distributed online (e.g., downloaded or uploaded) via an application store (e.g., Play Store™) or directly between two user devices (e.g., smart phones). In the case of online distribution, at least a portion of the computer program product may be temporarily stored or temporarily created in a device-readable storage medium, such as the memory of a manufacturer's server, an application store's server, or an intermediary server.

[0287] These programs (software modules, software) may be stored in random access memory, non-volatile memory including flash memory, read only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disc storage devices, compact disc-ROM (CD-ROM), digital versatile discs (DVDs) or other forms of optical storage devices, magnetic cassettes, or may be stored in memories formed by a combination of some or all of these. In addition, each configuration memory may include multiple copies.

[0288] Additionally, the program may be stored on an attachable storage device that is accessible via a communication network, such as the Internet, an intranet, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a storage area network (SAN), or a combination thereof. Such a storage device may be connected to a device implementing an embodiment of the present disclosure via an external port. Additionally, a separate storage device on the communication network may be connected to a device implementing an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0289] In the specific embodiments of the present disclosure described above, components included in the disclosure are expressed singularly or plurally, depending on the specific embodiment presented. However, the singular or plural expressions are selected to suit the presented situation for convenience of explanation, and the present disclosure is not limited to singular or plural components. Components expressed in plural may be composed of singular elements, or components expressed in singular may be composed of plural elements.

[0290] According to embodiments, one or more of the components or operations of the aforementioned components may be omitted, or one or more other components or operations may be added. Alternatively or additionally, a plurality of components (e.g., modules or programs) may be integrated into a single component. In such a case, the integrated component may perform one or more functions of each of the plurality of components identically or similarly to those performed by the corresponding component among the plurality of components prior to the integration. According to embodiments, the operations performed by a module, program, or other component may be executed sequentially, in parallel, iteratively, or heuristically, or one or more of the operations may be executed in a different order, omitted, or one or more other operations may be added.

[0291] Meanwhile, although the detailed description of the present disclosure has described specific embodiments, it is obvious that various modifications are possible within the scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. In the RU (radio unit) device, A memory that stores instructions and includes one or more storage media; transceiver; and comprising at least one processor, The above instructions, when individually or collectively executed by the at least one processor, cause the device to: Receiving a control plane message including a section extension from a distributed unit (DU), wherein the section extension includes transmission timing information for an uplink user plane message; and Causing the uplink user plane message to be transmitted to the DU based on the transmission timing information included in the above section extension, The above transmission timing information includes identifiers of a plurality of transmission symbols for symbols in which uplink data is received from a terminal (user equipment). device.

2. In claim 1, The above instructions, when individually or collectively executed by the at least one processor, cause the device to: Receiving the uplink data from the terminal; and Causing to generate the uplink user plane message to be transmitted to the DU based on the uplink data. The above symbols are determined based on information indicating a start symbol identifier in common header fields of the control plane message and a number of symbols in section fields of the control plane message, and The above section extension is included in the above section fields of the above control plane message, device.

3. In claim 2, When the symbols in which the above uplink data is received include a first symbol, a second symbol, and a third symbol, the identifiers of the transmission timing information are: A first identifier of a first transmission symbol among the plurality of transmission symbols mapped to the first symbol, The first identifier of the first transmission symbol mapped to the second symbol, and A second identifier of a second transmission symbol among the plurality of transmission symbols mapped to the third symbol, device.

4. In claim 1, The above control plane message is related to section type 5 or section type for uplink performance improvement (ULPI). device.

5. In claim 1, The above control plane message further includes another section extension containing different transmission timings for different uplink user plane messages, The above section extension relates to a first section having a first section identifier, and The above other section extension relates to a second section having a second section identifier, device.

6. In claim 5, The above different transmission timing information includes different identifiers of a plurality of different transmission symbols for the symbols for which different uplink data is received from different terminals, The above plurality of other transmission symbols are continuous to the above plurality of transmission symbols, and The above plurality of transmission symbols and the above plurality of other transmission symbols are included in one slot, device.

7. In claim 1, The above instructions, when individually or collectively executed by the at least one processor, cause the device to: Causes the DU to transmit a management plane message including capability information indicating whether the RU supports the section extension for uplink performance improvement (ULPI), The above ability information is: A first value indicating that the above RU does not support the above section extension, a second value indicating that the above RU supports the above section extension, and wherein the RU includes one of the third values ​​indicating that the RU conditionally supports the section extension; device.

8. In claim 7, If the above capability information has the second value or the third value, the management plane message further includes a maximum number of advanced symbols, and The maximum number of the above advanced symbols represents the maximum value of the number of transmission symbols between a first transmission symbol in a slot corresponding to one of the symbols in which the uplink data is received and a second transmission symbol in the slot to be changed based on the indication information from the first transmission symbol. device. In the device of 9.DU(distributed unit), A memory that stores instructions and includes one or more storage media; transceiver; and comprising at least one processor including a processing circuit; The above instructions, when individually or collectively executed by the at least one processor, cause the device to: Transmitting, to a radio unit (RU), a control plane message including a section extension, wherein the section extension includes transmission timing information for an uplink user plane message; and Based on the transmission timing information included in the above section extension, cause the uplink user plane message to be received from the RU, The above transmission timing information includes identifiers of a plurality of transmission symbols for symbols in which uplink data is received from a terminal (user equipment). device.

10. In claim 9, The above uplink data is received from the terminal by the RU, and The above symbols are determined based on information indicating a start symbol identifier in common header fields of the control plane message and a number of symbols in section fields of the control plane message, and The above section extension is included in the above section fields of the above control plane message, device.

11. In claim 10, When the symbols in which the above uplink data is received include a first symbol, a second symbol, and a third symbol, the identifiers of the transmission timing information are: A first identifier of a first transmission symbol among the plurality of transmission symbols mapped to the first symbol, The first identifier of the first transmission symbol mapped to the second symbol, and A second identifier of a second transmission symbol among the plurality of transmission symbols mapped to the third symbol, device.

12. In claim 9, The above control plane message further includes another section extension indicating another transmission timing for another uplink user plane message, The above section extension relates to the first section having the first section identifier, The above other section extension relates to a second section having a second section identifier, The above different transmission timing information includes different identifiers of a plurality of different transmission symbols for the symbols for which different uplink data is received from different terminals, The above plurality of other transmission symbols are continuous to the above plurality of transmission symbols, and The above plurality of transmission symbols and the above plurality of other transmission symbols are included in one slot, device.

13. In claim 9, The above instructions, when individually or collectively executed by the at least one processor, cause the device to: Causes the RU to receive a management plane message including capability information indicating whether the RU supports the section extension for uplink performance improvement (ULPI), The above ability information is: A first value indicating that the above RU does not support the above section extension, a second value indicating that the above RU supports the above section extension, and wherein the RU includes one of the third values ​​indicating that the RU conditionally supports the section extension; device. In a method performed by 14.RU (radio unit), the method comprises: An operation of receiving, from a distributed unit (DU), a control plane message including a section extension, the section extension including transmission timing information for an uplink user plane message; and An operation of transmitting the uplink user plane message to the DU based on the transmission timing information included in the above section extension, The above transmission timing information includes identifiers of a plurality of transmission symbols for symbols in which uplink data is received from the terminal. method.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, when individually or collectively executed by at least one processor of a radio unit (RU) including a transceiver, wherein the RU: Receiving a control plane message including a section extension from a distributed unit (DU), wherein the section extension includes transmission timing information for an uplink user plane message; and storing one or more programs including instructions causing the uplink user plane message to be transmitted to the DU based on the transmission timing information included in the section extension; The above transmission timing information includes identifiers of a plurality of transmission symbols for symbols in which uplink data is received from a terminal (user equipment). A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium.

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