Configuring a repeater according to a selection of a communication type to use for a communication between devices

Abstract

There is provided a method for configuring a communication between first and second devices, performed by a network node. The method comprises determining a location of the first device, determining a location of the second device, and based on the locations of the first and second devices, selecting, from among the following communication types, a communication type to use for the communication between the first and second devices: a device-to-device, D2D, communication via a repeater node; a D2D communication without the repeater node; and a non-D2D communication via the network node. The method further comprises, after selecting the communication type, transmitting, to the first and second devices, configuration messages for configuring the first and second devices to communicate with each other using the selected communication type, and, to the repeater node, a configuration message for configuring the repeater node to operate in accordance with the selected communication type.

Description

CONFIGURING A REPEATER ACCORDING TO A SELECTION OF A COMMUNICATION TYPE TO USE FOR A COMMUNICATION BETWEEN DEVICESTECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] This disclosure relates to configuring a repeater according to a selection of a communication type to use for a communication between devices.BACKGROUND

[0002] The 3rd Generation Partnership Project, 3GPP, Beam Management

[0003] 5G is a beam-based system. In the beam-based system, multiple antenna elements may be configured to form a concentrated and directional beam pattern to perform directional data transmission. Regarding the deployment of beams, the beam-based system can be classified into codebook based or non-codebook based.

[0004] In the codebook-based system, a predefined set of possible values of antenna elements' amplitude and phase is provided. This means that, in the codebook-based system, signals can only be transmitted in predefined directions. On the contrary, in the non-codebook-based system, values of phase and amplitude of antenna elements can be dynamically adjusted, in order to transmit data in the direction that fits the best. In a summary, in the non-codebook-based system, beams can be formed in any directions while, in the codebook-based system, beams can be formed only in predefined directions.

[0005] In the codebook-based system, a beam finding procedure may be used for finding a pair of beams at a transmitter side and at a receiver side to use for sending data from the transmitter side to the receiver side. FIGS. 8A-C illustrate an exemplary beam finding procedure. The beam finding procedure may be split into three parts - P1, P2, and P3.

[0006] As shown in FIG. 8A, in the first part P1 of the beam finding procedure, a base station (e.g., gNB) 802 performs a first beam sweep using a set of wide beams in order to quickly find a wide beam 812 that can be used to serve the UE 804. Then, as shown in FIG. 8B, in the second part P2 of the beam finding procedure, the base station 802 performs a second beam sweep using a set of narrow beams which are in the same range of the wide beam found in the first part P1 , in order to find a narrow beam 814 to use for communicating with the UE 804. Finally, as shown in FIG. 8C, in the third part P3 of the beam finding procedure, the UE 804 performs a beam sweep using its own beams to select, from a plurality of UE beams, a UE beam 816 that is most suitable for communication with the base station 802.

[0007] The narrow beam 814 is selected from the set of narrow beams of the base station 802 because a reference signal transmitted via the narrow beam 814 results in the best quality at the UE 804 when the UE 804 received the reference signal. Similarly, the beam 816 is selected from the set of UE beams of the UE 804 becausea reference signal received via the beam 816 results in the best quality at the UE 804.

[0008] Even though FIG. 80 shows that the beams 814 and 816 that were found during the beam finding procedure physically point directly to each other, in some scenarios, the beams found during the beam finding procedure may not point directly to each other due to, for example, the presence of obstacle(s), such as buildings, between the base station 802 and the UE 804. For example, as shown in FIG. 8D, in case there is an obstacle 820 between the base station 802 and the UE 804, the beams 814 and 816 would not result in the UE 804 receiving the best quality reference signals. Instead, the beams 824 and 826 would result in the best quality of reference signals at the UE 804.

[0009] Examples of the reference signals used for the beam finding procedure may include but are not limited to Synchronization Signal Blocks (SSBs), Channel State Information Reference Signals (CSI-RSs), etc. During the beam finding procedure, each CSI-RS or SSB may be transmitted via a specific beam. After the UE 804 receives the CSI-RSs or the SSBs each of which is transmitted via a specific beam, the UE 804 may transmit to the base station 802 a CSI report for the beam that was used for transmitting CSI-RS or SSB.

[0010] The CSI report may comprise Channel Quality Information (CQI), Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI), CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI), Layer Indication (LI), Rank Indicator (Rl) and L1 - Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP). Based on the received CSI report, the base station 804 would know how good or bad the reported beam used for transmitting CSI-RS or SSB is. The set of reference signals to be measured (e.g., a set of SSBs or CSI-RSs) may be included in the non-zero power CSI-RS (NZP-CSI-RS) resource set associated with the report configuration. For uplink measurement, the UE 804 may transmit to the base station 802 Sounding Reference Signals (SRSs).

[0011] D2D Communication

[0012] D2D (a.k.a., sidelink) communication is a communication scheme that allows a direct communication between two UEs in a system without traversing a base station (“BS”) as in regular cellular networks. However, setting up a D2D communication is usually assisted by a BS. For example, a BS is responsible for defining, among other various parameters, the frequency resources that the D2D UEs can use to communicate each other without causing interference on other UEs.

[0013] One of the advantages of D2D communications is a higher spectral efficiency. The higher spectral efficiency is possible in D2D communications because the frequency resources used by the D2D UEs can also be reused by the BS to communicate with other UEs. Such reusing of the frequency resources does not interfere with the D2D communications and the BS's communications with other UEs. Another advantage of D2D communications is lower latency. Lower latency is possible in D2D communications because, in D2D communications, a delay caused by forwarding messages through the BS is eliminated.

[0014] D2D communication is supported by Proximity Services (ProSe) features, which are defined in3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 23.303. The ProSe features comprise i) ProSe Discovery and ii) ProSe Direct Communication. As disclosed in section 5.3.1.2 of TS 23.303 version 15.1.0, there are two models for the ProSe Discovery. A part of the section is reproduced below.

[0015] Regarding the radio resources used in the ProSe discovery procedure, two modes are defined in section 23.11.3 of 3GPP TS 36.300, version 16.1.0. A portion of the section is reproduced below.

[0016] Network-Controlled Repeater

[0017] As described in 3GPP Technical Reports (TR) § 38.867, a network-controlled repeater (NCR) is an enhancement over conventional radio frequency (RF) repeaters.

[0018] RF repeaters simply amplify-and-forward any signal that they receive. They have been used in a wide range of deployments in 2G, 3G, and 4G to supplement the coverage provided by regular full-stack cells. In 3GPP Release 17 (Rel-17), RAN4 specified RF and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) requirements for such RF repeaters for new radio (NR) / 5G targeting both Frequency Range 1 (FR1) and Frequency Range 2 (FR2).

[0019] While an RF repeater presents a cost-effective means of extending network coverage, it has its limitations. For example, an RF repeater simply performs an amplify-and-forward (AF) operation without being able to take into account various factors that could improve network performance. Examples of such factors include information on semi-static and / or dynamic downlink / uplink configuration, adaptive transmitter / receiver spatial beamforming, ON-OFF status, and so on.

[0020] An NCR can be seen as a conventional RF repeater with the capability to receive and process side control information from the network. The side control information allows an NCR to perform the amplify-and-forward operation in a more efficient manner. Potential benefits of using an NCR over a conventional RF repeater include transmissions and receptions with better spatial directivity, mitigation of unnecessary noise amplification, and simplified network integration. Particularly, the main feature of NCR is beamforming capability which is of interest specially in FR2.

[0021] Using NCRs is an alternative way of improving network coverage when the deployment of full-stack cells is not an option, e.g., because of unavailability of backhaul or because the deployment of full-stack cells is not economically viable. In general, an NCR can be considered as a network-controlled “beam bended relative to a base station (e.g., gNB). In this way, an NCR is logically part of the gNB for all management purposes. In other words, it can be assumed that the NCR is deployed and under the control of the network operator.

[0022] In RAN4, different types of NCRs have been defined; At the UE-side of NCR, wide-area (WA), medium range (MR) and local-area (LA) have been defined. At the g NB-side, on the other hand, WA and LA types of links have been defined. These types of links' properties can be declared independently. The main differences between the WA and LA links are on the level of network planning and transmit power. WA links benefit from high transmit power / amplification gain and are well-planned where, for instance, the gNB-side of the node is located on the rooftop or similar, to achieve LOS over a longer distance to a serving gNB. For the LA type, on the other hand, the node may be mounted at low heights, e.g., lamppost, etc., and does not have higher power than a typical UE.

[0023] Intelligent Reflecting Surface (IRS)

[0024] IRS, also known as reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS), is an emerging technology that is capable of intelligently manipulating the propagation of electro-magnetic waves. An IRS is composed of a 2- dimensional array of reflecting elements, where each element acts as a passive reconfigurable scatterer, i.e., a piece of manufactured material, which can be programmed to change an impinging electro-magnetic wave in a customizable way.

[0025] Such elements are usually low-cost passive surfaces that do not require dedicated power sources, and the radio waves impinged upon them can be forwarded without the need of employing power amplifier or RF chain. Moreover, IRS can potentially work in full duplex mode without significant self-interference or increased noise level and requires only low-rate control link or backhaul connections.

[0026] IRS can be flexibly deployed due to its low weight and low power consumption. Specially, IRS is of interest in stationary or low-mobility networks, in which the transmission parameters can be well planned. Via IRS- assisted communication, blockages / tree foliage can be bypassed.

[0027] There are still ambiguities about the detailed differences between NCRs and IRSs (see reference[1] cited below for a conceptual comparison of NCRs and IRSs). A simple explanation of these ambiguities is that an IRS is an NCR with negative or small amplification.

[0028] Despite these ambiguities, in general, IRS is expected to be a simpler and cheaper node with less focused beamforming capability / accuracy and without active amplification. That is, IRS may be capable of performing signal reflection via adapting a phase matrix while NCR is capable of performing advanced beamforming with power amplification.

[0029] In this disclosure, a repeater refers to an NCR, an IRS, or a node capable of performing functions similar to the functions of the NCR and / or the IRS.SUMMARY

[0030] In case a UE ("sender UE”) wants to send data to another UE ("receiver UE”), there are at least three different communication types that can be used for sending data from the sender UE to the receiver UE.

[0031] The first communication type is that the sender UE sends data to the receiving UE via a serving base station as in a conventional way. More specifically, in the first communication type, the sender UE sends data to the base station which forwards the data to the core network. Upon receiving the data back from the core network, the base station forwards the data to the receiver UE.

[0032] The second communication type is that the sender UE and the receiver UE perform a D2D communication without a repeater node. In the D2D communication, the data the sender UE wants to send to the receiver UE does not go through the base station. Rather, the data is directly sent from the sender UE to the receiver UE.

[0033] The third communication type is that the sender UE and the receiver UE perform a repeater-assisted D2D communication, i.e., performing a D2D communication with a repeater node. In the third communication type, the sender UE sends data towards the repeater node which forwards the data to the receiver UE.

[0034] In many cases, one or more of the three communication types may not be appropriate for a communication between UEs. For example, there may be a scenario where the sender UE and the receiver UE are located far from each other. In such scenario, a D2D communication without a repeater node may not be appropriate. In another example, there may be a scenario where a line of sight of the receiver UE with respect to the base station is blocked. In such scenario, the conventional way of performing a communication via the base station (i.e., the first communication type) may not be appropriate.

[0035] Accordingly, there is a need for a way to select a communication type to use for a communication between a pair of UEs.

[0036] Accordingly, in one aspect of some embodiments of this disclosure, there is provided a method for configuring a communication between a first device and a second device. The method is performed by a network node. The method comprises determining a location of the first device and determining a location of the second device. Themethod also comprises, based on the locations of the first and second devices, selecting, from among the following communication types, a communication type to use for the communication between the first and second devices: i) a device-to-device, D2D, communication between the first and second devices via a repeater node; ii) a D2D communication between the first and second devices without the repeater node; and iii) a non-D2D communication between the first and second devices via the network node. The method further comprises, after selecting the communication type, transmitting, to the first and second devices, configuration messages for configuring the first and second devices to communicate with each other using the selected communication type, and, to the repeater node, a configuration message for configuring the repeater node to operate in accordance with the selected communication type.

[0037] In another aspect, there is provided a computer program comprising instructions which when executed by processing circuitry cause the processing circuitry to perform the method of any one of the above embodiments.

[0038] In a different aspect, there is provided a carrier containing the computer program of the above embodiment, wherein the carrier is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, a radio signal, and a computer readable storage medium.

[0039] In a different aspect, there is provided a network node for configuring a communication between a first device and a second device. The network node is configured to: determine a location of the first device; determine a location of the second device; and based on the locations of the first and second devices, select, from among the following communication types, a communication type to use for the communication between the first and second devices: i) a device-to-device, D2D, communication between the first and second devices via a repeater node; ii) a D2D communication between the first and second devices without the repeater node; and iii) a non-D2D communication between the first and second devices via the network node. The network node is further configured to, after selecting the communication type, transmit, to the first and second devices, configuration messages for configuring the first and second devices to communicate with each other using the selected communication type, and, to the repeater node, a configuration message for configuring the repeater node to operate in accordance with the selected communication type.

[0040] In a different aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising processing circuitry; and a memory, said memory containing instructions executable by said processing circuitry, whereby the apparatus is operative to perform the method of any one of the above embodiments.

[0041] Some embodiments of this disclosure provide a method of selecting a communication type to use for a communication between a pair of UEs with reduced signaling. More explanation about the reduced signaling achieved by some embodiments of this disclosure is provided below.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0042] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form part of the specification, illustrate various embodiments.

[0043] FIG. 1 shows an exemplary scenario where some embodiments of this disclosure can be applied.

[0044] FIGS. 2A-2C illustrate different communication types of a communication between devices.

[0045] FIG. 3 shows a conceptual block diagram of a network-controlled repeater (NCR).

[0046] FIG. 4 shows a process according to some embodiments.

[0047] FIG. 5A shows a process of finding a location of a device according to some embodiments.

[0048] FIG. 5B shows a beam management procedure according to some embodiments.

[0049] FIG. 6 shows a process according to some embodiments.

[0050] FIG. 7 shows an apparatus according to some embodiments.

[0051] FIGS. 8A-8D illustrate an example of a beam management procedure.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0052] FIG. 1 shows an exemplary scenario 100 where some embodiments of this disclosure can be applied. In the scenario 100, a network node 102 (e.g., a base station such as gNB) is configured to provide a wireless network to network nodes 108 and 112 (e.g., user equipments (UEs)). For simple explanation purpose, in the rest of this disclosure, the network node 102 will be referred to as gNB 102 and the network nodes 108 and 112 will be referred to as UEs or devices 108 and 112. Examples of a UE / device include but are not limited to a mobile phone, a tablet, a watch, a laptop, an I nternet-of-Thing (loT) device, a vehicle, etc.

[0053] In the scenario 100, there are different ways for the UEs 108 and 112 to communicate with each other. In this disclosure, these different ways of the UEs to communicate with each other are called communication types. FIGS. 2A-2C illustrate three different communication types that can be used for a communication between UEs (e.g., the UEs 108 and 112).

[0054] FIG. 2A illustrates a first communication type. In the first communication type, as in a conventional way, the UEs 108 and 112 exchange data via the gNB 102. In this disclosure, the two UEs 108 and 112 which want to communicate with each other may be referred to as "target UEs.” As illustrated in FIG. 2A, in the traditional wireless network systems, in case the UE 108 needs to transmit data to the UE 112, the UE 108 transmits the data to the gNB 102 first via an RF link 202. Upon receiving the data from the UE 108, the gNB 102 forwards the received data to the core network I external internet protocol (IP) network via a backhaul link 204. Then, the data is sentback to the gNB 102 via the backhaul link 204, and the gNB 102 forwards the data it received from the core network I external IP network to the UE 112 via an RF link 206.

[0055] Since, in the traditional wireless network systems, the communication between the UEs 108 and 112 is performed via the gNB 102, the communication consumes not only radio resources (e.g., the resources used for transmitting data via the RF links 202 and 206) but also backhaul and computing resources (e.g., the resources used for transmitting data via the backhaul link 204), thereby resulting in a high end-to-end latency. Thus, in some scenarios, it may be desirable for the UEs 108 and 112 to perform a communication using a different type of communication.

[0056] FIG. 2B illustrates a second communication type - a D2D communication without a repeater node. As illustrated in FIG. 2B, in performing the D2D communication between the UEs 108 and 112, a direct RF link 208 having a good quality is formed between the UE 108 and the UE 112. This good quality direct link allows the UEs 108 and 112 to communicate directly with low latency.

[0057] In some scenarios, however, a direct link between the UEs 108 and 112 may not be available. For example, in the scenario 100 shown in FIG. 1 , because there is a building 126 in the line of sight (“LoS”) of the UE 108 with respect to the UE 112 (and vice versa), a direct link between the UEs 108 and 112 may not be available. In this scenario, it may be desirable for the UEs 108 and 112 to perform a communication using a third communication type - a repeater-assisted D2D communication.

[0058] FIG. 2C illustrates the third communication type - a repeater-assisted D2D communication. As illustrated in FIG. 2C, in the repeater-assisted D2D communication, a repeater node serves as a middle entity that receives data from a UE and forwards the data to another UE. More specifically, in FIG. 2C, the UE 108 may send data to a repeater node 114 (e.g., NCR, IRS, etc.). Then, the repeater node 114 may forward the received data to the UE 112.

[0059] FIG. 3 shows a conceptual block diagram of an example of the repeater node 114 implemented using an NCR. As shown in FIG. 3, the repeater node 114 is split into two functional parts: a mobile termination (MT) part 302 (NCR-MT 302) and a forwarding (Fwd) part 304 (NCR-Fwd 304).

[0060] The NCR-MT 302 is defined as a functional entity for communicating with the gNB 102 via a Control link (C-link) to enable an exchange of control information (e.g., side control information for the control of the NCR- Fwd 304). The NCR-Fwd 304 is defined as a functional entity for performing amplify-and-forwarding of uplink (UL) / downlink (DL) RF signals between the gNB 102 and a UE (e.g., one of the UEs 108 and 112) via backhaul link and access link. The behavior of the NCR-Fwd 304 is controlled according to the side control information the NCR-MT 302 receives from the gNB 102. As shown in FIG. 3, the repeater node 114 may have two sides - gNB-side andUE-side.

[0061] In case the repeater node 114 is implemented using IRS, the IRS may have the same structure as the structure of the NCR shown in FIG. 3. The MT module of the IRS may be responsible for exchanging information with its controlling gNB and receiving configurations for proper reflections.

[0062] As briefly mentioned above, in some scenarios, not all three communication types may be available for a communication between target UEs. For example, in the scenario 100 shown in FIG. 1, since the UE 112 is located far from the gNB 102, the first communication type - the conventional communication via the gNB 102 - may not be appropriate for a communication between the UEs 108 and 112. In another example, since the LoS of the UE 112 with respect to the UE 108 (and vice versa) is blocked by the building 126, the second communication type - a D2D communication without a repeater node - may also not be appropriate for the communication between the UEs 108 and 112.

[0063] Even when all three communication types are available for a communication between target UEs, because using different communication types for the communication could result in different signal qualities, it may be desirable to select an appropriate communication type, e.g., the communication type that results in the best signal quality, from among the different communication types. Accordingly, in some embodiments of this disclosure, a process 400 shown in FIG. 4 is provided for selecting a communication type use for a communication between target UEs and for configuring the communication between the target UEs. For simple explanation purpose, the UEs 108 and 112 are used as examples of the target UEs. The process 400 may begin with step s402.

[0064] The step s402 comprises the gNB 102 receiving capability report(s) indicating one or more of a capability of the repeater node 114, a capability of the UE 108, and a capability of the UE 112. The gNB 102 may receive the capability report(s) from a single entity or from multiple entities. In one example, the gNB 102 may receive from the repeater node 114 a capability report indicating the capability of the repeater node 114 and may receive from each of the UEs 108 and 112 a capability report indicating the capability of each of the UEs 108 and 112. Each arrow in the step s402 represents the receipt of the capability report from each of the UE 108, the repeater node 114, and the UE 112.

[0065] The capability report of the repeater node 114 may indicate a number of beams available at the repeater node 114. More specifically, in one example, the capability report of the repeater node 114 may indicate a list and / or a number of wide beams available at the repeater node 114 for assisting a D2D communication and a list and / or a number of narrow beams available at the repeater node 114 for assisting a D2D communication.

[0066] The capability report of the UE 108 may indicate whether the UE 108 supports a D2D communication and / or information related to beams available at the UE 108. More specifically, in one example, the capability reportof the UE 108 may indicate a list and / or a number of wide beams available at the UE 108 for a D2D communication and a list and / or a number of narrow beams available at the UE 108 for a D2D communication.

[0067] The capability report of the UE 112 may indicate whether the UE 112 supports a D2D communication and / or information related to beams available at the UE 112. More specifically, in one example, the capability report of the UE 112 may indicate a list and / or a number of wide beams available at the UE 112 for a D2D communication and a list and / or a number of narrow beams available at the UE 112 for a D2D communication.

[0068] In some embodiments, the capability report(s) of the repeater node 114 and the UEs 108 and 112 may indicate beam constellations and relations of the involved nodes.

[0069] After performing the step s402, the process 400 may proceed to step s404. Note that since the step s402 is an optional step, in some embodiments, the process 400 may begin with the step s404.

[0070] The step s404 comprises the gNB 102 detecting a triggering condition that triggers the gNB 102 to find an appropriate communication type to use for a communication between the UEs 108 and 112. One example of the triggering condition is the gNB 102 receiving from the UE 108 a request to communicate with the UE 112. Another example of the triggering condition is that the gNB 102 determines that it needs to offload its operations. Note that, by configuring the UEs 108 and 112 to communicate with each other via a D2D communication, network resources used by the gNB 102 for the communication between the UEs 108 and 112 can be saved.

[0071] Based at least on detecting the triggering condition, the process 400 may proceed to step s406. The step s406 comprises the gNB 102 determining locations of the UEs 108 and 112 and / or areas in which the UEs 108 and / or 112 are located. Each of the locations and / or the areas in which the UEs 108 and 112 are located may correspond to a part of an area covered by the gNB 102 and / or the repeater node 114. Note that the locations of the UEs 108 and 112, which are determined by the gNB 102 may not be as accurate as a GPS coordinate. Rather, the locations may be "rough” locations which identify a part of a geographical area.

[0072] One exemplary method of determining the locations of the UEs 108 and 112 is illustrated in FIG. 5A. As illustrated in FIG. 5A, first, the gNB 102 transmits reference signals via a plurality of transmit, TX, beams 502-506. Each arrow in the step s406 represents the transmission of reference signal (s) towards each of the UE 108, the repeater node 114, and the UE 112.

[0073] Even though various types of reference signals can be used here, for simple explanation purpose, the reference signal(s) transmitted via the TX beam 502 is referred to as SSB 1, the reference signal(s) transmitted via the TX beam 504 is referred to as SSBs 2 and 3, and the reference signal(s) transmitted via the TX beam 506 is referred to as SSB 4.

[0074] In FIG. 5A, since the direction of the TX beam 506 of the gNB 102 is towards the UE 108 while thedirections of the TX beams 502 and 504 are not, a measurement of the SSB 4 received at the UE 108 would be higher than measurements of the SSBs 1 -3 received at the UE 108. For example, the strength of the SSB 4 received and measured at the UE 108 would be higher than the strength of the SSBs 1 -3 received at the UE 108. Once the UE 108 transmits to the gNB 102 a measurement result of the SSB 4, the gNB 102 would know that the UE 108 is located in an area corresponding to the direction of the TX beam 506. The gNB 102 can also determine a rough distance between the gNB 102 and the UE 108 based on the measurement. Note that, in some scenarios, the UE 108 may not receive one or more of the SSBs 1 -3 because the directions of the TX beams 502 and 504 are not towards the UE 108.

[0075] In FIG. 5A, the direction of the TX beam 504 of the gNB 102 is towards the repeater node 114. Thus, the SSBs 2 and 3 transmitted through the TX beam 504 of the gNB 102 are received by the repeater node 114. After receiving the SSBs 2 and 3, the repeater node 114 may forward the SSBs 2 and 3 via different TX beams. For example, in FIG. 5A, the repeater node 114 forwards the SSBs 2 and 3 via the TX beams 512 and 514.

[0076] Since the direction of the TX beam 514 of the repeater node 114 is towards the UE 112 while the direction of the TX beam 512 is not, a measurement of the SSB 3 received at the UE 112 would be higher than the measurement of the SSB 2 received at the UE 112. Once the UE 112 transmits to the gNB 102 a measurement result of the SSB 3, the gNB 102 would know that the UE 112 is located in an area corresponding to the direction of the TX beam 514. The gNB 102 can also determine a rough distance between the gNB 102 and the UE 112 based on the measurement result. Note that, in some scenarios, the SSBs 1 and / or 4 transmitted by the gNB 102 via the TX beams 502 and 506 may reach the UE 112 without being forwarded by the repeater node 114. However, even in such scenario, the measurement of the SSB 3 received at the UE 112 would be higher than any of the measurements of the SSBs 1 and 4.

[0077] There are various ways for indicating the locations of the UEs 108 and 112. In one example, the location of the UE 108 is indicated by a beam identifier (ID) identifying the TX beam 504 of the gNB 102 and the location of the UE 112 is indicated by a beam ID identifying the TX beam 514 of the repeater node 114. In another example, the location of the UE 108 is indicated by a cell ID identifying a cell covered by the TX beam 504 of the gNB 102 and the location of the UE 112 is indicated by a cell ID identifying a cell covered by the TX beam 514 of the repeater node 114.

[0078] After determining the locations, e.g., rough locations, of the UEs 108 and 112, the process 400 may proceed to step s408. The step s408 comprises, based on the locations of the UEs 108 and 112, the gNB 102 determining which communication type to use for the communication between the UEs 108 and 112.

[0079] For example, in FIG. 1 , since the UE 112 is located far from the location of the gNB 102, it may not be desirable to use the first communication type - the traditional way of communicating between the UEs via thegNB 102 - for a communication between the UEs 108 and 112. Also, in FIG. 1, since the LoS of the UE 108 with respect to 112 is blocked by the building 126, it may not be desirable to use the second communication type - a D2D communication without the repeater node 114 - for the communication between the UEs 108 and 112. Thus, for the communication between the UEs 108 and 112, the gNB 102 may select the third communication type - i.e., a D2D communication via the repeater node 114.

[0080] There are different ways for the gNB 102 to determine the communication type to use for the communication between the UEs 108 and 112. In determining the communication type to use, the gNB 102 may evaluate compatibility of each communication type with the communication between the UEs 108 and 112.

[0081] In some embodiments, the gNB 102 may store information about previous communications performed between UEs and may determine which communication type to use for the communication between the UEs 108 and 112 based on the information about the previous communications. The information about the previous communications may be provided as a dataset.

[0082] The dataset may include a plurality of tuples each of which indicates I) a past location / area of a transmitter UE, ii) a past location / area of a receiver UE, and ill) a communication type used for a communication between the transmitter and receiver UEs. Each tuple may also indicate which method is used for selecting the communication type. For example, the tuple may indicate that the second communication type was selected based on the highest RSRP of SSBs. The table provided below illustrates content of the information about previous communications performed between UEs.

[0083] In case the gNB determines that the location of the UE 108 corresponds to the area 4 while the location of the UE 112 corresponds to the area 3, based on the information about the previous communication 3, the gNB 102 may determine to use the third communication type for the communication between the UEs 108 and 112. In the table above, each tuple contains RSRP metric. However, in some embodiments, each tuple may contain one or more metrics indicating how efficient the communication was. Examples of such metric includes data rate, packet error rate, etc.

[0084] In some embodiments, a machine learning (ML) model may be used. More specifically, in those embodiments, the ML model may be trained to select an ideal communication type to use for a communicationbetween two target UEs given the locations of the target UEs.

[0085] In training the ML model, in some embodiments, the information about previous communications performed between UEs (e.g., see the table provided above) may be used. For instance, in the example provided in the table above, the ML model may be trained to select the third communication type in case the target UEs are in the areas 3 and 4 while the ML model may be trained to select the second communication type in case the target UEs are in the areas 2 and 3.

[0086] In some scenarios, in the step s406, the gNB 102 may determine that more than one communication type can support the communication between the UEs 108 and 112. In such scenario, according to some embodiments, the gNB 102 may select, according to a criterion, a communication type to use for the communication between the UEs 108 and 112.

[0087] In some embodiments, the criterion is a priority level associated with each communication type. More specifically, each communication type may be given a priority level and the gNB 102 may select the communication type that has the highest priority level among the communication types that are determined to be able to support the communication between the UEs 108 and 112.

[0088] More specifically, let's assume that the gNB 102 determined that only the first and second communication types support the communication between the UEs 108 and 112. Let's further assume that the first communication type's priority level is higher than the priority level of the second communication type. I n such case, according to some embodiments, the gNB 102 may select the first communication type to use for the communication between the UEs 108 and 112 because its priority level is higher than the priority level of the second communication type. In some embodiments, the quality of the communication between the UEs 108 and 112 is monitored after the communication type is selected, and, in case the quality is not good, the next high priority communication type may be selected.

[0089] In some embodiments, the criterion is a load condition of the gNB 102. More specifically, in some embodiments, the gNB 102 may check its current status and may determine whether it is overloaded. In case the gNB 102 determines that it is overloaded, the gNB 102 may prioritize selecting a D2D communication (with or without the repeater node) over the traditional method (i.e., the first communication type) whenever possible. On the contrary, if the gNB 102 determines that it is not overloaded, then the gNB 102 may prioritize selecting the first communication type (i.e., the traditional cellular communication).

[0090] In some embodiments, the criterion is a characteristic (e.g., traffic mode, QoS requirement) of the communication to be performed between the UEs 108 and 112. For example, for a single transmission of small size of data, the gNB 102 may prioritize selecting the first communication type, i.e., the communication via the gNB. Onthe contrary, for transmissions of a considerable amount of data and / or frequent transmissions, the gNB 102 may prioritize selecting the second or third communication type, i.e., a D2D communication.

[0091] Referring back to FIG. 4, after performing the step s408, the process 400 may proceed to step s410. In the step s410, the communication between the UEs 108 and 112 is initiated. Initiating the communication may comprise setting up the communication and actually performing the communication. During the setup of the communication, the gNB 102 may transmit to, each of the UEs 108 and 112 and the repeater node 114, a configuration message for configuring the UE 108, 112, and the repeater node 114 to perform the communication. In one example, the configuration message may configure the UE 108, 112, and the repeater node 114 to perform a beam finding procedure corresponding to a selected communication type, as described below. The communication may occur I) via the gNB 102, ii) via the repeater node 114, or ill) without going through the gNB 102 and / or the repeater node 114.

[0092] The First Communication Type

[0093] The first communication type is a traditional communication through the gNB 102. In the traditional communication, a beam management procedure, e.g., a beam finding process, may need to be performed to find the best narrow beam(s) to use for the communication between the gNB 102 and each of the UEs 108 and 112.

[0094] For example, as explained with respect to FIGS. 8A-8C, in the exemplary beam finding procedure illustrated in FIGS. 8A-8C, a wide TX beam of the gNB that is directed towards a UE is first selected, and then a narrow TX beam is selected from a plurality of narrow TX beam covering the selected wide TX beam. Thus, in the beam finding procedure illustrated in FIGS. 8A-8C, a beam selection process for a wide beam and a beam selection process for a narrow beam are performed.

[0095] On the contrary, in the embodiments of this disclosure, during the beam management procedure, only the beam selection process for a narrow beam needs to be performed. This is because, as explained above, since the wide TX beam that is directed towards the UE is already found in the step s406. More specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 5B, during the beam management procedure, only the narrow beams 522-526 corresponding to the wide beam 506 need to be sweep for the UE 108. In other words, the narrow beams corresponding to each of the wide beams 502 and 504 don't need to be swept for the UE 108. Note that in some embodiments, the frequency of measurement signals used in the step s406, i.e., used for finding a wide TX beam, may be lower than the frequency of measurement signals used for finding a narrow TX beam.

[0096] Alternatively, in some embodiments, the beam management procedure of the gNB 102 may be skipped. More specifically, in those embodiments, the gNB 102 may continue to use the wide TX beam that the gNB 102 determined to be directed towards the UE 108 for a communication with the UE 108, without finding anarrow beam.

[0097] How some embodiments of this disclosure can improve the efficiency of the beam management procedure is explained below.

[0098] Let's assume that the best wide beams for the UEs 108 and 112 are known. Then, during the beam management procedure according to some embodiments, 2 ■ number of narrow beam combinationswould be swept, where Gnis the number of narrow beams of the gNB 102, Gwis the number of wide beams of the gNB 102, I —GWI is the number of narrow beams covered by a single wide beam from the gNB 102 which was identified in the step s406, Unis the number of narrow beams of the UE 108 / 112, Uwis the number of wide beams of the UE 108 / 112, and — is the number of narrow beams covered by a single wide beam from the UE 108 / 112.I uwI

[0099] On the contrary, in the conventional beam management procedure, an exhaustive search is performed over all narrow beams of the gNB 102 and the UE 108 / 112. Thus, in the conventional beam management procedure, Gn. Unnumber of narrow beam combinations of would be swept. More specifically, in the best case for the exhaustive search, the gNB broadcasts its SSBs in Gnbeams, while UEs 108 and 112 simultaneously sweep their Unbeams, i.e., UEs 108 and 112 sweep their / -th beam at the same time. Thus, the exhaustive search takes at least the time necessary to sweep Gn■ Unnarrow beam combinations.

[0100] As a numerical example, assume that Gw= 16 , Gn= 48 , Uw= 2 and Un= 4. Then the embodiments of this disclosure would require the sweep of 12 beam combinations. On the other hand, the exhaustive search over narrow beams would take the sweep of 192 beam combinations.

[0101] The Second Communication Type

[0102] The second communication type is a direct D2D communication, i.e., a D2D communication without the repeater node 114. As explained above, in the step s406 of the process 400, the locations of the UEs 108 and 112 are determined. Using these determined locations, during the beam finding procedure, not all narrow beams of the UE 108 and not all narrow beams of the UE 112 need to be evaluated.

[0103] Instead, the gNB 102 may configure the UE 108 to perform a beam sweep over a subset of narrow beams directed towards the UE 112 and the UE 112 to perform a beam sweep over a subset of narrow beams directed towards the UE 108. Here, since the second communication type was selected based on the locations of the UEs 108 and 112, there is a good chance that a direct D2D communication between the UEs 108 and 112 will work, and thus it is possible to avoid wasting resources, e.g., time, frequency, transmit power, etc.

[0104] How some embodiments of this disclosure can improve the efficiency of the beam managementprocedure is explained below.

[0105] Let's assume that the best wide beam of each the UEs 108 and 112 is known. Then, during the beam management procedure, i.e., a beam finding process, number of narrow beam combinations would beswept. On the contrary, if an exhaustive search is performed over all narrow beams of the UEs 108 and 112, (t / „)2number of narrow beam combinations would be swept.

[0106] As a numerical example, assume that Uw= 2 and Un= 4. The narrow beam finding process according to some embodiments of this disclosure would require the sweep of 4 beam combinations. On the contrary, the narrow beam finding process in the traditional beam finding process would require the sweep of 16 beam combinations.

[0107] The Third Communication Type

[0108] The third communication type is a D2D communication with a repeater node. Since the repeater node 114 is used in this communication type, the gNB 102 needs to configure the repeater node 114 as well as the UEs 108 and 112.

[0109] As explained above with respect to the first communication type, in the embodiments of this disclosure, during the beam management procedure, only the beam selection process for a narrow beam needs to be performed. This is because, as explained above, since the wide TX beam that is directed towards the UE is already found in the step s406. More specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 5B, during the beam management procedure, only the narrow beams 532-536 corresponding to the wide beam 514 of the repeater node 114 need to be swept for the UE 112. In other words, the narrow beams corresponding to the wide beam 512 don't need to be swept for the UE 112. Note that in some embodiments, the frequency of measurement signals used in the step s406, i.e., used for finding a wide TX beam, may be lower than the frequency of measurement signals used for finding a narrow TX beam.

[0110] How some embodiments of this disclosure can improve the efficiency of the beam management procedure is explained below.[OHl] Let's assume that the best wide beams of the gNB 102 and the repeater node 114 are known, e.g., determined as a result of performing the step s406. Then, during the narrow beam finding process,( number of narrow beam combinations would be swept. Here, is the number of narrow beams coveredby the wide beam of the repeater node 114.

[0112] On the contrary, if an exhaustive search is performed over all narrow beams of the UEs 108, 112,and the repeater node 114, Rn■ (L / n)2number of narrow beam combinations would need to be swept.

[0113] As a numerical example, assume that Uw= 2, Un= 4, Rw= 8, and Rn= 24. The narrow beam finding process according to some embodiments of this disclosure would require the sweep of 16 beam combinations. On the contrary, the narrow beam finding process in the traditional beam finding process would require the sweep of 384 beam combinations.

[0114] FIG. 6 shows a process 600 for configuring a communication between a first device (e.g., 108) and a second device (e.g., 112). The method is performed by a network node (e.g., 102). The process 600 may begin with step s602. The step s602 comprises determining a location of the first device. Step s604 comprises determining a location of the second device. Step s606 comprises, based on the locations of the first and second devices, selecting, from among the following communication types, a communication type to use for the communication between the first and second devices: I) a device-to-device, D2D, communication between the first and second devices via a repeater node; ii) a D2D communication between the first and second devices without the repeater node; and ill) a non-D2D communication between the first and second devices via the network node. Step s608 comprises, after selecting the communication type, transmitting, to the first and second devices, configuration messages for configuring the first and second devices to communicate with each other using the selected communication type, and, to the repeater node, a configuration message for configuring the repeater node to operate in accordance with the selected communication type.

[0115] In some embodiments, determining the location of the first device or the second device comprises: transmitting a first set of reference signals via a set of beams of the network node; receiving measurement results of at least some of the first set of reference signals, which were received at the first and / or the second device; and based on the received measurement results, determining the location of the first and / or the second device.

[0116] In some embodiments, the set of beams of the network node comprises one or more beams directed towards the repeater node, the first set of reference signals comprises a subset of reference signals transmitted via said one or more beams directed towards the repeater node, and the received measurement results comprise measurement results of at least some of the subset of reference signals, which were received at the first and / or the second device via a first set of beams of the repeater node.

[0117] In some embodiments, determining the location of the first or second device further comprises: based on the measurement results of said at least some of the subset of reference signals, identifying, from among the first set of beams of the repeater node, a first beam that is directed towards the first and / or the second device; and based on a direction of the first beam, determining the location of the first and / or the second device.

[0118] In some embodiments, said at least some of the subset of reference signals comprise a first referencesignal and a second reference signal, the first set of beams of the repeater node comprises a first beam and a second beam, and the measurement results of said at least some of the subset of reference signals comprise: a first measurement result of the first reference signal received at the first or second device via the first beam of the repeater node; and a second measurement result of the second reference signal received at the first or second device via the second beam of the repeater node.

[0119] In some embodiments, the process 600 comprises determining a difference between the first measurement result and the second measurement result, wherein the communication type to use for the communication between the first device and the second device is selected based on the difference.

[0120] In some embodiments, the process 600 comprises determining that the difference between the first measurement result and the second measurement result is greater than a threshold value, wherein based at least on determining that the difference between the first measurement result and the second measurement result is greater than the threshold value, a D2D communication via the repeater node is selected as the communication type to use for the communication between the first device and the second device.

[0121] In some embodiments, the process 600 comprises obtaining historical data which indicates historical locations of a plurality of pairs of devices and a communication type used for a communication between each pair of the plurality of pairs, wherein the communication type to use for the communication between the first and second devices is selected based on comparisons of at least some of the historical locations of the plurality of pairs of devices and the locations of the first and second devices.

[0122] In some embodiments, the process 600 comprises obtaining a machine learning, ML, model for determining a communication type to use for a communication between two devices based on locations of the two devices; and providing the locations of the first and second devices to the ML model, thereby determining the communication type to use for the communication between the first and second devices.

[0123] In some embodiments, the process 600 comprises determining that two or more of the communication types (i)-(iii) are available for the communication between the first device and the second devices, wherein the communication type to use for the communication between the first device and the second device is selected from said two or more of the communication types (i)-(iii) based on one or more of: a priority level associated with each of the communication types (i)-(iii); a current state of the network node; and / or a characteristic of the communication between the first and second devices.

[0124] In some embodiments, the selected communication type to use for the communication between the first device and the second device is a D2D communication via the repeater node, and the process 600 comprises: transmitting a second set of reference signals to the repeater node via a beam directed towards the repeater node;and receiving measurement results of at least some of the second set of reference signals, which were received at the first or second device via a second set of beams of the repeater node. The first beam of the repeater node substantially covers the second set of beams of the repeater node.

[0125] In some embodiments, the process 600 comprises based on the measurement results of said at least some of the second set of reference signals, selecting, from the second set of beams of the repeater node, a second beam to use for the D2D communication between the first and second devices via the repeater node.

[0126] In some embodiments, a frequency of the first set of reference signals lower than a frequency of the second set of reference signals.

[0127] In some embodiments, the process 600 comprises obtaining capability information which indicates a capability of the repeater node, a capability of the first device, and / or a capability of the second device, wherein the capability information indicates one or more of: whether the first device supports a D2D communication: whether the second device supports a D2D communication; a number of a first group of beams of the first device; a number of a first group of beams of the second device; a number of a second group of beams of the first device; a number of a second group of beams of the second device; a number of a first group of beams of the repeater node; and / or a number of second group of beams of the repeater node. A width of each beam in the first group of beams of the first device is greater than a width of each beam in the second group of beams of the first device. A width of each beam in the first group of beams of the second device is greater than a width of each beam in the second group of beams of the second device. A width of each beam in the first group of beams of the repeater node is greater than a width of each beam in the second group of beams of the repeater node.

[0128] In some embodiments, the process 600 comprises, based on the received capability information, configuring the repeater node how to forward reference signals that the repeater node receives from the network node.

[0129] In some embodiments, the process 600 comprises receiving, from the first device, a request to communicate with the second device, wherein determining the locations of the first and second devices is performed based at least on receiving the request.

[0130] In some embodiments, the process 600 comprises determining a load status of the network node; and determining whether the load status of the network node satisfies a condition, wherein determining the locations of the first and second devices is performed based at least on determining that the load status of the network node satisfies the condition.

[0131] FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the gNB 102, according to some embodiments. As shown in FIG. 7, the gNB 102 may comprise: processing circuitry (PC) 702, which comprises one or more processors (P) 755 (e.g., a general purpose microprocessor and / or one or more other processors, such as an application specific integratedcircuit (ASIC), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and the like), which processors may be co-located in a single housing or in a single data center or may be geographically distributed (i.e. , the gNB may be a distributed computing apparatus or a monolithic computing apparatus); a network interface 768 comprising a transmitter (Tx) 765 and a receiver (Rx) 767 for enabling the gNB 102 to transmit data to and receive data from other nodes connected to a network 110 (e.g., an Internet Protocol (IP) network) to which network interface 768 is connected; communication circuitry 748 (e.g., radio transceiver circuitry comprising an Rx 747 and a Tx 745) coupled to an antenna system 749 for wireless communication with UEs or other nodes; and a storage unit (a.k.a., "data storage system”) 708, which may include one or more non-volatile storage devices and / or one or more volatile storage devices. In embodiments where PC 702 includes a programmable processor, a computer readable storage medium (CRSM) 742 may be provided. CRSM 742 may store a computer program (CP) 743 comprising computer readable instructions (CRI) 744. CRSM 742 may be a non-transitory computer readable medium, such as, magnetic media (e.g., a hard disk), optical media, memory devices (e.g., random access memory, flash memory), and the like. In some embodiments, the CRI 744 of computer program 743 is configured such that when executed by PC 702, the CRI causes the gNB 102 to perform steps described herein (e.g., steps described herein with reference to one or more flow charts). In other embodiments, the gNB 102 may be configured to perform steps described herein without the need for code. That is, for example, PC 702 may consist merely of one or more ASICs. Hence, the features of the embodiments described herein may be implemented in hardware and / or software.

[0132] While various embodiments are described herein, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not limitation. Thus, the breadth and scope of this disclosure should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments. Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the disclosure unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.

[0133] As used herein transmitting a message "to” or "toward” an intended recipient encompasses transmitting the message directly to the intended recipient or transmitting the message indirectly to the intended recipient (i.e., one or more other nodes are used to relay the message from the source node to the intended recipient). Likewise, as used herein receiving a message "from” a sender encompasses receiving the message directly from the sender or indirectly from the sender (i.e., one or more nodes are used to relay the message from the sender to the receiving node). Further, as used herein "a” means "at least one” or "one or more.”

[0134] Additionally, while the processes described above and illustrated in the drawings are shown as a sequence of steps, this was done solely for the sake of illustration. Accordingly, it is contemplated that some steps may be added, some steps may be omitted, the order of the steps may be re-arranged, and some steps may be performed in parallel.

[0135] Reference

Claims

CLAIMS1 . A method (600) for configuring a communication between a first device (108) and a second device (112), the method being performed by a network node (102), the method comprising: determining (s602) a location of the first device; determining (s604) a location of the second device; based on the locations of the first and second devices, selecting (s606), from among the following communication types, a communication type to use for the communication between the first and second devices: i) a device-to-device, D2D, communication between the first and second devices via a repeater node (114); ii) a D2D communication between the first and second devices without the repeater node; and iii) a non-D2D communication between the first and second devices via the network node; and after selecting the communication type, transmitting (s608), to the first and second devices, configuration messages for configuring the first and second devices to communicate with each other using the selected communication type, and, to the repeater node, a configuration message for configuring the repeater node to operate in accordance with the selected communication type.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the location of the first device or the second device comprises: transmitting a first set of reference signals via a set of beams of the network node; receiving measurement results of at least some of the first set of reference signals, which were received at the first and / or the second device; and based on the received measurement results, determining the location of the first and / or the second device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the set of beams of the network node comprises one or more beams directed towards the repeater node, the first set of reference signals comprises a subset of reference signals transmitted via said one or more beams directed towards the repeater node, and the received measurement results comprise measurement results of at least some of the subset of reference signals, which were received at the first and / or the second device via a first set of beams of the repeater node.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein determining the location of the first or second device further comprises: based on the measurement results of said at least some of the subset of reference signals, identifying, from among the first set of beams of the repeater node, a first beam that is directed towards the first and / or the second device; and based on a direction of the first beam, determining the location of the first and / or the second device.

5. The method of claim 3 or 4, wherein said at least some of the subset of reference signals comprise a first reference signal and a second reference signal, the first set of beams of the repeater node comprises a first beam and a second beam, and the measurement results of said at least some of the subset of reference signals comprise: a first measurement result of the first reference signal received at the first or second device via the first beam of the repeater node; and a second measurement result of the second reference signal received at the first or second device via the second beam of the repeater node.

6. The method of claim 5, the method comprising: determining a difference between the first measurement result and the second measurement result, wherein the communication type to use for the communication between the first device and the second device is selected based on the difference.

7. The method of claim 6, the method comprising: determining that the difference between the first measurement result and the second measurement result is greater than a threshold value, wherein based at least on determining that the difference between the first measurement result and the second measurement result is greater than the threshold value, a D2D communication via the repeater node is selected as the communication type to use for the communication between the first device and the second device.

8. The method of any one of claims 1-5, the method comprising: obtaining historical data which indicates historical locations of a plurality of pairs of devices and a communication type used for a communication between each pair of the plurality of pairs, wherein the communication type to use for the communication between the first and second devices is selected based on comparisons of at least some of the historical locations of the plurality of pairs of devices and the locations of the first and second devices.

9. The method of any one of claims 1-5, the method comprising: obtaining a machine learning, ML, model for determining a communication type to use for a communication between two devices based on locations of the two devices; and providing the locations of the first and second devices to the ML model, thereby determining the communication type to use for the communication between the first and second devices.

10. The method of any one of claims 1-9, the method comprising: determining that two or more of the communication types (i)-(iii) are available for the communication between the first device and the second devices, wherein the communication type to use for the communication between the first device and the second device is selected from said two or more of the communication types (i)-(iii) based on one or more of: a priority level associated with each of the communication types (i)-(iii); a current state of the network node; and / or a characteristic of the communication between the first and second devices.11 . The method of any one of claims 4-10, wherein the selected communication type to use for the communication between the first device and the second device is a D2D communication via the repeater node, and the method comprises: transmitting a second set of reference signals to the repeater node via a beam directed towards the repeater node; and receiving measurement results of at least some of the second set of reference signals, which were received at the first or second device via a second set of beams of the repeater node, and the first beam of the repeater node substantially covers the second set of beams of the repeater node.

12. The method of claim 11, the method comprising: based on the measurement results of said at least some of the second set of reference signals, selecting, from the second set of beams of the repeater node, a second beam to use for the D2D communication between the first and second devices via the repeater node.

13. The method of claim 11 or 12, wherein a frequency of the first set of reference signals lower than a frequency of the second set of reference signals.

14. The method of any one of claims 1-13, further comprising: obtaining capability information which indicates a capability of the repeater node, a capability of the first device, and / or a capability of the second device, wherein the capability information indicates one or more of: whether the first device supports a D2D communication; whether the second device supports a D2D communication; a number of a first group of beams of the first device; a number of a first group of beams of the second device; a number of a second group of beams of the first device; a number of a second group of beams of the second device; a number of a first group of beams of the repeater node; and / or a number of second group of beams of the repeater node, a width of each beam in the first group of beams of the first device is greater than a width of each beam in the second group of beams of the first device, a width of each beam in the first group of beams of the second device is greater than a width of each beam in the second group of beams of the second device, and a width of each beam in the first group of beams of the repeater node is greater than a width of each beam in the second group of beams of the repeater node.

15. The method of claim 14, the method comprising: based on the received capability information, configuring the repeater node how to forward reference signals that the repeater node receives from the network node.

16. The method of any one of claims 1-15, the method comprising: receiving, from the first device, a request to communicate with the second device, wherein determining the locations of the first and second devices is performed based at least on receiving the request.

17. The method of any one of claims 1-16, the method comprising: determining a load status of the network node; and determining whether the load status of the network node satisfies a condition, wherein determining the locations of the first and second devices is performed based at least on determining that the load status of the network node satisfies the condition.

18. A computer program (700) comprising instructions (744) which when executed by processing circuitry (702) cause the processing circuitry to perform the method of any one of claims 1-17.

19. A carrier containing the computer program of claim 18, wherein the carrier is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, a radio signal, and a computer readable storage medium.

20. A network node (102) for configuring a communication between a first device (108) and a second device (112), the network node being configured to: determine (s602) a location of the first device; determine (s604) a location of the second device; based on the locations of the first and second devices, select (s606), from among the following communication types, a communication type to use for the communication between the first and second devices: iv) a device-to-device, D2D, communication between the first and second devices via a repeater node (114); v) a D2D communication between the first and second devices without the repeater node; and vi) a non-D2D communication between the first and second devices via the network node; and after selecting the communication type, transmit (s608), to the first and second devices, configuration messages for configuring the first and second devices to communicate with each other using the selected communication type, and, to the repeater node, a configuration message for configuring the repeater node to operate in accordance with the selected communication type.21 . The network node of claim 20, wherein the network node is further configured to perform the method of any one of claims 2-17.

22. An apparatus (700) comprising: processing circuitry (702); and a memory (741), said memory containing instructions executable by said processing circuitry, whereby the apparatus is operative to perform the method of any one of claims 1-17.

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