Method and apparatus for applying orthogonal covering code to non-terrestrial network uplink channel in wireless communication system

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for managing uplink synchronization for a non-terrestrial base station in a wireless communication system. An operation method of a terminal comprises: receiving downlink control information (DCI) including an uplink (UL) grant; generating a UL TB including data; applying an orthogonal covering code (OCC) to signals included in a plurality of slots including symbols including the data; and transmitting the signals, wherein the OCC is applied by using one of OCC sequences allocated to a terminal group including the terminal, and the terminal group may include a plurality of terminals at similar positions.

Description

Method and device for applying orthogonal covering codes to non-terrestrial network uplink channels in wireless communication systems

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a non-terrestrial network (NTN) in a wireless communication system, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for determining a terminal to which an orthogonal covering code (OCC) is to be applied for an uplink channel.

[0002] Communication networks (e.g., 5G communication networks, 6G communication networks, etc.) are being developed to provide improved communication services compared to existing communication networks (e.g., long term evolution (LTE) and advanced LTE-A). 5G communication networks (e.g., new radio (NR) communication networks) can support frequency bands above 6 GHz as well as frequency bands below 6 GHz. That is, 5G communication networks can support FR1 bands and / or FR2 bands. 5G communication networks can support a variety of communication services and scenarios compared to LTE communication networks. For example, usage scenarios of 5G communication networks may include enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC), and massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC).

[0003] Compared to 5G, 6G communication networks can support a wider range of communication services and scenarios. 6G communication networks can meet requirements for ultra-high performance, ultra-high bandwidth, ultra-high space, ultra-high precision, ultra-intelligence, and / or ultra-reliability. 6G communication networks can support diverse and wide frequency bands and be applied to various usage scenarios (e.g., terrestrial communications, non-terrestrial communications, sidelink communications, etc.).

[0004] Compared to 5G, 6G communication networks can support a wider range of communication services and scenarios. 6G communication networks can meet requirements for ultra-high performance, ultra-high bandwidth, ultra-high space, ultra-high precision, ultra-intelligence, and / or ultra-reliability. 6G communication networks can support diverse and wide frequency bands and be applied to various usage scenarios (e.g., terrestrial communications, non-terrestrial communications, sidelink communications, etc.).

[0005] Communication networks (e.g., 5G communication networks, 6G communication networks, etc.) can provide communication services to terminals located on the ground. Demand for communication services for not only terrestrial but also non-terrestrial devices such as aircraft, drones, and satellites is increasing, and technologies for non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) are being discussed to address this need. NTNs can be implemented based on 5G communication technologies, 6G communication technologies, etc. For example, in NTNs, communication between satellites and ground-based communication nodes or non-terrestrial communication nodes (e.g., aircraft, drones, etc.) can be performed based on 5G communication technologies, 6G communication technologies, etc. In NTNs, satellites can function as base stations in communication networks (e.g., 5G communication networks, 6G communication networks, etc.).

[0006] Meanwhile, the technology that serves as the background for the invention is written to promote understanding of the background for the invention, and may include content that is not a prior art already known to a person with ordinary skill in the field to which the technology belongs.

[0007] The present disclosure may provide a method and device for applying an orthogonal covering code (OCC) to an uplink channel in a wireless communication system supporting a non-terrestrial network (NTN).

[0008] The present disclosure may provide a method and device for determining at least one terminal to transmit an OCC-based signal in a specific time and frequency resource in a wireless communication system.

[0009] The present disclosure can provide a method and device for determining a plurality of terminals to transmit OCC-based signals in the same time and frequency resources in a wireless communication system.

[0010] The present disclosure can provide a method and device for determining a terminal group including at least one terminal for OCC application based on information collected from a plurality of terminals in a wireless communication system.

[0011] The present disclosure can provide a method and device for controlling at least one of a reception power or a TA value of a terminal using a plurality of OCC sequences in a wireless communication system.

[0012] The technical objectives to be achieved in the present disclosure are not limited to those mentioned above, and other technical tasks not mentioned can be considered by a person having ordinary skill in the technical field to which the technical configuration of the present disclosure is applied from the embodiments of the present disclosure described below.

[0013] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a method of operating a terminal in a wireless communication system includes receiving downlink control information (DCI) including an uplink (UL) grant, generating a UL TB including data, applying an orthogonal covering code (OCC) to signals included in a plurality of slots including symbols including the data, and transmitting the signals, wherein the OCC is applied using one of OCC sequences assigned to a plurality of terminals belonging to a terminal group including the terminal, and the terminal group may include a plurality of terminals located in similar positions.

[0014] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a method of operating a base station in a wireless communication system includes determining a terminal group including a plurality of terminals, transmitting downlink control information (DCI) including an uplink (UL) grant to the plurality of terminals, and receiving signals to which an orthogonal covering code (OCC) is applied from the plurality of terminals, wherein the terminal group may include the plurality of terminals at similar locations.

[0015] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, in a wireless communication system, a terminal includes at least one transceiver, at least one processor, and at least one memory operably connected to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, control the terminal to perform operations, the operations including receiving downlink control information (DCI) including an uplink (UL) grant, generating a UL TB including data, applying an orthogonal covering code (OCC) to signals included in a plurality of slots including symbols including the data, and transmitting the signals, wherein the OCC is applied using one of OCC sequences assigned to a plurality of terminals belonging to a terminal group including the terminal, and the terminal group may include a plurality of terminals in similar locations.

[0016] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, in a wireless communication system, a base station includes at least one transceiver, at least one processor, and at least one memory operably connected to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, control the base station to perform operations, the operations including determining a terminal group including a plurality of terminals, transmitting downlink control information (DCI) including an uplink (UL) grant to the plurality of terminals, and receiving signals to which an orthogonal covering code (OCC) is applied from the plurality of terminals, wherein the terminal group may include the plurality of terminals at similar locations.

[0017] The proposed technology prevents despreading failures caused by differences in uplink transmission power between terminals in wireless communication systems supporting non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) and improves uplink capacity. Furthermore, the limiting technology prevents performance degradation caused by the near-far problem when applying OCC in NTN uplinks, thereby enabling practical use of OCC.

[0018] The effects that can be obtained from the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to the effects mentioned above, and other effects not mentioned can be clearly derived and understood by those skilled in the art to which the technical configuration of the present disclosure is applied, from the description of the embodiments of the present disclosure below. In other words, unintended effects resulting from implementing the configuration described in the present disclosure can also be derived by those skilled in the art from the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0019] FIG. 1a and FIG. 1b illustrate the structure of a transparent-based non-terrestrial network (NTN) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0020] FIGS. 2A to 2C illustrate the structure of a regenerative-based NTN according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0021] FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of a communication node constituting an NTN according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0022] FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a communication node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0023] FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate block diagrams of a transmission path and a reception path of a communication node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0024] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a system frame in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0025] FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a subframe in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0026] FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a slot in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0027] FIG. 9 illustrates the timing relationship between uplink and downlink in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0028] FIG. 10A and FIG. 10B illustrate examples of protocol stacks of a user plane and a control plane in a transparent payload-based NTN in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0029] FIG. 11a and FIG. 11b illustrate examples of protocol stacks of a user plane and a control plane in a regenerative payload-based NTN in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0030] Figure 12 illustrates an example of an NTN providing non-terrestrial NR access to a UE by means of an NTN payload and an NTN gateway.

[0031] Figure 13 illustrates the timing relationship between objects included in NTN.

[0032] FIG. 14 illustrates an example of application of repetitive transmission and OCC in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0033] Figure 15 illustrates an example of a near-far problem in a wireless communication system.

[0034] FIG. 16 illustrates an example of a procedure for transmitting a signal using OCC in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0035] FIG. 17 illustrates an example of a procedure for receiving a signal to which OCC is applied in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0036] FIG. 18 illustrates an example of a procedure for selecting terminals for OCC application in a wireless communication system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0037] FIG. 19 illustrates the relationship between UE-specific TA and service link path loss in a wireless communication system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0038] FIG. 20 illustrates an example of reception power information in a wireless communication system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0039] FIG. 21 illustrates the relationship between location and beam related information and path loss of a service link in a wireless communication system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0040] FIG. 22 illustrates examples of selecting OCC terminals in a wireless communication system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0041] FIG. 23 illustrates an example of sequence allocation in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0042] FIG. 24 illustrates examples of selection of OCC terminals in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0043] FIG. 25 illustrates an example of a procedure for selecting OCC terminals in a wireless communication system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0044] FIG. 26 illustrates examples of OCC terminal selection when applying in-symbol OCC in a wireless communication system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0045] FIG. 27 illustrates examples of OCC terminal selection when applying symbol-based OCC (OCC across symbol) in a wireless communication system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0046] FIG. 28 illustrates examples of OCC terminal selection when applying slot-based OCC (OCC across slots) in a wireless communication system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0047] This disclosure may be subject to various modifications and various embodiments. Specific embodiments are illustrated and described in detail in the drawings. However, this is not intended to limit the disclosure to specific embodiments, but rather to encompass all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and technical scope of the disclosure.

[0048] While terms such as "first" and "second" may be used to describe various components, these components should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used solely to distinguish one component from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, a first component could be referred to as a "second component," and similarly, a second component could also be referred to as a "first component." The term "and / or" may refer to a combination of multiple related items described herein or to any of multiple related items described herein.

[0049] In the present disclosure, “at least one of A and B” may mean “at least one of A or B” or “at least one of combinations of one or more of A and B.” Additionally, in the present disclosure, “at least one of A and B” may mean “at least one of A or B” or “at least one of combinations of one or more of A and B.”

[0050] In the present disclosure, (re)transmission may mean “transmission,” “retransmission,” or “transmission and retransmission,” (re)setting may mean “setting,” “resetting,” or “setting and resetting,” (re)connection may mean “connection,” “reconnection,” or “connection and reconnection,” and (re)connection may mean “connection,” “reconnection,” or “connection and reconnection.”

[0051] When a component is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" to another component, it should be understood that it may be directly connected or connected to that other component, but that there may be other components intervening. Conversely, when a component is referred to as being "directly connected" or "connected" to another component, it should be understood that there are no other components intervening.

[0052] The terminology used in this disclosure is only used to describe specific embodiments and is not intended to limit the present disclosure. The singular expression includes the plural expression unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In this disclosure, it should be understood that the terms "comprises" or "has" indicate the presence of a feature, number, step, operation, component, part, or combination thereof described in the specification, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

[0053] Unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains. Terms defined in commonly used dictionaries should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant technology, and shall not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless explicitly defined herein.

[0054] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in more detail with reference to the attached drawings. In order to facilitate an overall understanding in describing the present disclosure, the same reference numerals will be used for identical components in the drawings, and redundant descriptions of identical components will be omitted. In addition to the embodiments explicitly described in the present disclosure, operations may be performed according to combinations of embodiments, extensions of embodiments, and / or modifications of embodiments. The performance of some operations may be omitted, and the order of operation may be changed.

[0055] In an embodiment, even if a method (e.g., transmitting or receiving a signal) performed by a first communication node among communication nodes is described, a corresponding second communication node can perform a method (e.g., receiving or transmitting a signal) corresponding to the method performed by the first communication node. That is, if an operation of a UE (user equipment) is described, a corresponding base station can perform an operation corresponding to the operation of the UE. Conversely, if an operation of a base station is described, a corresponding UE can perform an operation corresponding to the operation of the base station.

[0056] A base station may be referred to as a NodeB, an evolved NodeB, a gNodeB (next generation node B), a gNB, a device, an apparatus, a node, a communication node, a BTS (base transceiver station), a RRH (radio remote head), a TRP (transmission reception point), a RU (radio unit), an RSU (road side unit), a radio transceiver, an access point, an access node, etc. A UE may be referred to as a terminal, a device, an apparatus, a node, a communication node, an end node, an access terminal, a mobile terminal, a station, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a portable subscriber station, an OBU (on-broad unit), etc.

[0057] In the present disclosure, signaling may be at least one of upper layer signaling, MAC signaling, or PHY (physical) signaling. A message used for upper layer signaling may be referred to as an "upper layer message" or an "upper layer signaling message." A message used for MAC signaling may be referred to as a "MAC message" or a "MAC signaling message." A message used for PHY signaling may be referred to as a "PHY message" or a "PHY signaling message." Upper layer signaling may refer to a transmission and reception operation of system information (e.g., a master information block (MIB), a system information block (SIB)) and / or an RRC message. MAC signaling may refer to a transmission and reception operation of a MAC control element (CE). PHY signaling may refer to a transmission and reception operation of control information (e.g., downlink control information (DCI), uplink control information (UCI), sidelink control information (SCI)).

[0058] In the present disclosure, “an operation (e.g., a transmission operation) is set” may mean that “setting information for the operation (e.g., an information element, a parameter)” and / or “information instructing the performance of the operation” is signaled. “An information element (e.g., a parameter) is set” may mean that the information element is signaled. In the present disclosure, “a signal and / or a channel” may mean a signal, a channel, or “a signal and a channel,” and a signal may be used to mean “a signal and / or a channel.”

[0059] The communication system may include at least one of a terrestrial network (TN), an NTN, a 4G communication network (e.g., a long-term evolution (LTE) communication network), a 5G communication network (e.g., a new radio (NR) communication network), or a 6G communication network. Each of the 4G communication network, the 5G communication network, and the 6G communication network may include the terrestrial network and / or the NTN. The NTN may be operated based on at least one communication technology among the LTE communication technology, the 5G communication technology, and the 6G communication technology. The NTN may provide communication services in various frequency bands.

[0060] The communication networks to which the embodiments of the present disclosure are applied are not limited to those described below, and the embodiments may be applied to various communication networks (e.g., 4G communication networks, 5G communication networks, and / or 6G communication networks). Here, the term "communication network" may be used interchangeably with the term "communication system."

[0061] FIG. 1a and FIG. 1b illustrate the structure of a transparent-based non-terrestrial network (NTN) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0062] Referring to FIG. 1A, the NTN may include a satellite (110), a communication node (120), a gateway (130), a data network (140), etc. A unit including the satellite (110) and the gateway (130) may be referred to as a remote radio unit (RRU). The satellite (110) may be a low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite, a medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellite, a geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) satellite, a high elliptical orbit (HEO) satellite, or an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) platform. The UAS platform may include a high altitude platform station (HAPS). The non-GEO satellite may be a LEO satellite and / or a MEO satellite.

[0063] The communication node (120) may include a communication node located on the ground (e.g., a UE, a terminal) and a communication node located off the ground (e.g., an airplane, a drone). A service link may be established between the satellite (110) and the communication node (120), and the service link may be a radio link. The satellite (110) may be referred to as an NTN payload. The gateway (130) may support multiple NTN payloads. The satellite (110) may provide a communication service to the communication node (120) using one or more beams. The shape of the reception range (footprint) of the beam of the satellite (110) may be elliptical or circular.

[0064] In NTN, three types of service links can be supported as follows:

[0065] - Earth-fixed: The service link may be provided by beam(s) that continuously cover the same geographic area at all times (e.g. Geosynchronous Orbit (GSO) satellites).

[0066] - Quasi-earth-fixed: The service link may be provided by beam(s) that cover one geographic area for a limited period and another geographic area for another period (e.g., NGSO (non-GSO) satellites that produce steerable beams).

[0067] - Earth-moving: The service link may be provided by beam(s) moving over the Earth's surface (e.g., NGSO satellites producing fixed beams or non-steerable beams).

[0068] The communication node (120) can perform communication (e.g., downlink communication, uplink communication) with the satellite (110) using 4G communication technology, 5G communication technology, and / or 6G communication technology. Communication between the satellite (110) and the communication node (120) can be performed using an NR-Uu interface and / or a 6G-Uu interface. When DC (dual connectivity) is supported, the communication node (120) can be connected to not only the satellite (110) but also other base stations (e.g., base stations supporting 4G functions, 5G functions, and / or 6G functions), and can perform DC operations based on technologies defined in the 4G standard, the 5G standard, and / or the 6G standard.

[0069] The gateway (130) may be located on the ground, and a feeder link may be established between the satellite (110) and the gateway (130). The feeder link may be a wireless link. The gateway (130) may be referred to as an 'NTN gateway'. Communication between the satellite (110) and the gateway (130) may be performed based on a NR-Uu interface, a 6G-Uu interface, or a satellite radio interface (SRI). The gateway (130) may be connected to a data network (140). A "core network" may exist between the gateway (130) and the data network (140). In this case, the gateway (130) may be connected to the core network, and the core network may be connected to the data network (140). The core network may support 4G communication technology, 5G communication technology, and / or 6G communication technology. For example, the core network may include an access and mobility management function (AMF), a user plane function (UPF), a session management function (SMF), etc. Communication between the gateway (130) and the core network may be performed based on a NG-C / U interface or a 6G-C / U interface.

[0070] As shown in Fig. 1b, in a transparent payload-based NTN, a base station and a core network may exist between a gateway (130) and a data network (140).

[0071] Referring to FIG. 1B, a gateway may be connected to a base station, the base station may be connected to a core network, and the core network may be connected to a data network. Each of the base station and the core network may support 4G communication technology, 5G communication technology, and / or 6G communication technology. Communication between the gateway and the base station may be performed based on a NR-Uu interface or a 6G-Uu interface, and communication between the base station and the core network (e.g., AMF, UPF, SMF) may be performed based on a NG-C / U interface or a 6G-C / U interface.

[0072] FIGS. 2A to 2C illustrate the structure of a regenerative-based NTN according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0073] Referring to FIG. 2A, the NTN may include a first satellite (211), a second satellite (212), a communication node (220), a gateway (230), a data network (1240), etc. Each of the first satellite (211) and the second satellite (212) may perform a regeneration operation (e.g., a demodulation operation, a decoding operation, a re-encoding operation, a re-modulation operation, and / or a filtering operation) on a payload received from another entity constituting the NTN (e.g., a communication node (220), a gateway (230)) and transmit the regenerated payload.

[0074] Each of the first satellite (211) and the second satellite (212) may be a LEO satellite, an MEO satellite, a GEO satellite, an HEO satellite, or a UAS platform. The UAS platform may include a HAPS. Satellite #1 (211) may be connected to the second satellite (212), and an inter-satellite link (ISL) may be established between the first satellite (211) and the second satellite (212). The ISL may operate in a radio frequency (RF) frequency or an optical band. The ISL may be optional. The communication node (220) may include a ground-based communication node (e.g., a UE, terminal) and a non-ground-based communication node (e.g., an airplane, a drone). A service link (e.g., a wireless link) may be established between satellite #1 (211) and the communication node (220). The first satellite (211) may be referred to as an NTN payload. The first satellite (211) can provide communication services to a communication node (220) using one or more beams.

[0075] The communication node (220) can perform communication (e.g., downlink communication, uplink communication) with the first satellite (211) using 4G communication technology, 5G communication technology, and / or 6G communication technology. Communication between the first satellite (211) and the communication node (220) can be performed using an NR-Uu interface or a 6G-Uu interface. When DC is supported, the communication node (220) can be connected to other base stations (e.g., base stations supporting 4G functions, 5G functions, and / or 6G functions) as well as the first satellite (211), and can perform DC operations based on technologies defined in the 4G standard, the 5G standard, and / or the 6G standard.

[0076] The gateway (230) may be located on the ground, and a feeder link may be established between the first satellite (211) and the gateway (230), and a feeder link may be established between the second satellite (212) and the gateway (230). The feeder link may be a wireless link. If an ISL is not established between the first satellite (211) and the second satellite (212), the feeder link between the first satellite (211) and the gateway (230) may be established mandatorily. Communication between the first satellite (211) and satellite #2 (212) and the gateway (230) may be performed based on an NR-Uu interface, a 6G-Uu interface, or an SRI. The gateway (230) may be connected to a data network (240).

[0077] As in the embodiments of FIGS. 2b and 2c, a core network may exist between the gateway (230) and the data network (240).

[0078] Referring to FIGS. 2b and 2c, a gateway may be connected to a core network, and the core network may be connected to a data network. The core network may support 4G communication technology, 5G communication technology, and / or 6G communication technology. For example, the core network may include AMF, UPF, SMF, etc. Communication between the gateway and the core network may be performed based on the NG-C / U interface or the 6G-C / U interface. The function of the base station may be performed by a satellite. That is, the base station may be located on the satellite. Payloads may be processed by the base station located on the satellite. Base stations located on different satellites may be connected to the same core network. A single satellite may have one or more base stations. In the NTN of FIG. A-2b, an ISL between satellites may not be established, and in the NTN of FIG. A-2c, an ISL between satellites may be established.

[0079] Meanwhile, entities (e.g., satellites, base stations, UEs, communication nodes, gateways, etc.) constituting the NTN illustrated in FIGS. 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, and / or 2c may be configured as follows. In the present disclosure, entities may be referred to as communication nodes.

[0080] FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of a device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The structure illustrated in FIG. 3 may be understood as the structure of at least a portion of a communication node, base station, satellite, or core network entity. The wireless device (300) illustrated in FIG. A-3 may be a mobile terminal such as a smartphone, tablet PC, or wearable device, but is not limited thereto.

[0081] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a wireless device (300) in a wireless communication system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The wireless device (300) according to the embodiment of the present disclosure may be a mobile terminal such as a smartphone, tablet PC, or wearable device, but is not limited thereto.

[0082] Referring to FIG. 3, the wireless device (300) may include at least one control unit (310), at least one memory (320), at least one power unit (330), at least one transceiver unit (340), at least one input unit (350), at least one output unit (360), and / or at least one antenna (370).

[0083] The control unit (310) can control the memory (320) and / or the transceiver (340), and can be configured to implement the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. The memory (320) can be connected to the control unit (310) and can store various information related to the operation of the control unit (310). For example, the memory (320) can perform some or all of the controls controlled by the control unit (310), or store software code including commands for performing the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. The configuration of the memory is not limited in a specific manner. For example, it can be configured as at least one of a read-only memory (ROM) and a random access memory (RAM).

[0084] At least one control unit (310) may be referred to as a processor, microcontroller, microprocessor, or microcomputer. The descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure may be implemented using firmware or software in the form of codes, instructions, and / or a set of instructions. Here, the firmware or software may execute another program stored in the memory (320), such as an OS. The control unit (310) may be implemented to support beamforming or directional routing operations in which signals from at least one antenna (370) are weighted differently to effectively steer signals outgoing in a desired direction.

[0085] Additionally, at least one control unit (310) may be coupled to a backhaul or network interface. The wireless device (300) may communicate with other wireless devices through the backhaul or network interface. The control unit (310) may include at least one processor. The processor may refer to a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or a dedicated processor on which methods according to embodiments of the present disclosure are performed.

[0086] At least one transceiver (340) may be connected to the control unit (310) and may transmit and / or receive a wireless signal via at least one antenna (370). The transceiver (340) may include a transmitter and / or a receiver. The at least one transceiver (340) may transmit user data, control information, wireless signals / channels, etc. mentioned in the methods and / or operation flowcharts of the present disclosure to at least one other device. For example, the at least one transceiver (340) may be connected to at least one control unit (310) and may transmit and receive wireless signals. In addition, the at least one control unit (310) may control the at least one transceiver (340) to transmit user data, control information, or wireless signals to at least one other device. The at least one transmitter (340) may receive a signal transmitted by another wireless device from at least one antenna (370). Additionally, at least one transceiver (24) may downconvert or upconvert the received signal to generate a baseband signal. At least one antenna (370) may be a plurality of physical antennas or a plurality of logical antennas (e.g., antenna ports).

[0087] The input unit (350) can obtain information such as user input, video, and audio, and may include various input means such as various mechanical / electronic input means, cameras, and microphones. The output unit (360) is for providing information to users by generating output related to sight, hearing, or touch, and may include a display, a speaker, a vibration module, and the like. The wireless device (300) supplies power through the power supply unit (330), and the power supply unit (330) may include a wired / wireless charging circuit, a battery, and the like.

[0088] A more detailed example of the structure of the control unit (310) and / or the transceiver unit (340) is shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of devices performing communication according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 4 illustrates the structure of a first communication node (400a) and a second communication node (400b) that transmit and / or receive signals. In FIG. 4, each of the first communication node (400a) and the second communication node (400b) may be a base station or a UE.

[0089] Referring to FIG. 4, a first communication node (400a) can transmit a signal to a second communication node (400b). A transmission processor (411) included in the first communication node (400a) can receive data (e.g., a data unit) from a data source (410). The transmission processor (411) can receive control information from a controller (416). The control information can include at least one of system information, RRC configuration information (e.g., information configured by RRC signaling), MAC control information (e.g., MAC CE), or PHY control information (e.g., DCI, SCI).

[0090] The transmitting processor (411) may perform a processing operation (e.g., an encoding operation, a symbol mapping operation, etc.) on data to generate data symbol(s). The transmitting processor (411) may perform a processing operation (e.g., an encoding operation, a symbol mapping operation, etc.) on control information to generate control symbol(s). In addition, the transmitting processor (411) may generate synchronization / reference symbol(s) for a synchronization signal and / or a reference signal.

[0091] The Tx MIMO processor (412) may perform spatial processing operations (e.g., precoding operations) on data symbol(s), control symbol(s), and / or synchronization / reference symbol(s). The output (e.g., symbol stream) of the Tx MIMO processor (412) may be provided to modulators (MODs) included in the transceivers (413a to 413t). The modulators (MODs) may perform processing operations on the symbol streams to generate modulation symbols, and may perform additional processing operations (e.g., analog conversion operations, amplification operations, filtering operations, upconversion operations) on the modulation symbols to generate signals. The signals generated by the modulators (MODs) of the transceivers (413a to 413t) may be transmitted via the antennas (414a to 414t).

[0092] Signals transmitted by the first communication node (400a) may be received by antennas (464a to 464r) of the second communication node (400b). Signals received by the antennas (464a to 464r) may be provided to demodulators (DEMODs) included in transceivers (463a to 463r). The demodulator (DEMOD) may perform a processing operation (e.g., a filtering operation, an amplification operation, a downconversion operation, a digital conversion operation) on the signal to obtain samples. The demodulator (DEMOD) may perform an additional processing operation on the samples to obtain symbols. The MIMO detector (462) may perform a MIMO detection operation on the symbols. The receiving processor (461) may perform a processing operation (e.g., a deinterleaving operation, a decoding operation) on the symbols. The output of the receiving processor (461) may be provided to a data sink (460) and a controller (466). For example, data may be provided to the data sink (460) and control information may be provided to the controller (466).

[0093] Meanwhile, the second communication node (400b) can transmit a signal to the first communication node (400a). The transmitting processor (468) included in the second communication node (400b) can receive data (e.g., data units) from a data source (467) and perform a processing operation on the data to generate data symbol(s). The transmitting processor (468) can receive control information from the controller (466) and perform a processing operation on the control information to generate control symbol(s). In addition, the transmitting processor (468) can perform a processing operation on a reference signal to generate reference symbol(s).

[0094] The Tx MIMO processor (469) may perform spatial processing operations (e.g., precoding operations) on data symbol(s), control symbol(s), and / or reference symbol(s). The output (e.g., symbol stream) of the Tx MIMO processor (469) may be provided to modulators (MODs) included in the transceivers (463a to 463t). The modulators (MODs) may perform processing operations on the symbol streams to generate modulation symbols, and may perform additional processing operations (e.g., analog conversion operations, amplification operations, filtering operations, upconversion operations) on the modulation symbols to generate signals. The signals generated by the modulators (MODs) of the transceivers (463a to 463t) may be transmitted via the antennas (464a to 464t).

[0095] Signals transmitted by the second communication node (400b) may be received by the antennas (414a to 414r) of the first communication node (400a). The signals received by the antennas (414a to 414r) may be provided to demodulators (DEMODs) included in the transceivers (413a to 413r). The demodulator (DEMOD) may perform a processing operation (e.g., a filtering operation, an amplification operation, a downconversion operation, a digital conversion operation) on the signal to obtain samples. The demodulator (DEMOD) may perform an additional processing operation on the samples to obtain symbols. The MIMO detector (420) may perform a MIMO detection operation on the symbols. The receiving processor (419) may perform a processing operation (e.g., a deinterleaving operation, a decoding operation) on the symbols. The output of the receiving processor (419) may be provided to a data sink (418) and a controller (416). For example, data may be provided to the data sink (418) and control information may be provided to the controller (416).

[0096] Memories (415 and 465) can store data, control information, and / or program code. Scheduler (417) can perform scheduling operations for communication. Processors (411, 412, 419, 461, 468, 469) and controllers (416, 466) illustrated in FIG. 4 may be the processor (310) illustrated in FIG. 3 and may be used to perform the methods described in the present disclosure.

[0097] FIG. 5a and FIG. 5b illustrate block diagrams of a transmission path and a reception path of a communication node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0098] Referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B, a transmission path (510) may be implemented in a communication node that transmits a signal, and a reception path (520) may be implemented in a communication node that receives a signal. The transmission path (510) may include a channel coding and modulation block (511), an S-to-P (serial-to-parallel) block (512), an N IFFT (Inverse Fast Fourier Transform) block (513), a P-to-S (parallel-to-serial) block (514), a CP (cyclic prefix) addition block (515), and an UC (up-converter) (UC) (516). The receiving path (520) may include a DC (down-converter) (521), a CP removal block (522), an S-to-P block (523), an N FFT block (524), a P-to-S block (525), and a channel decoding and demodulation block (526). Here, N may be a natural number.

[0099] In the transmission path (510), information bits may be input to a channel coding and modulation block (511). The channel coding and modulation block (511) may perform a coding operation (e.g., low-density parity check (LDPC) coding operation, polar coding operation, etc.) and a modulation operation (e.g., quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), etc.) on the information bits. The output of the channel coding and modulation block (511) may be a sequence of modulation symbols.

[0100] The S-to-P block (512) can convert modulation symbols in the frequency domain into parallel symbol streams to generate N parallel symbol streams. N can be an IFFT size or an FFT size. The N IFFT block (513) can perform an IFFT operation on the N parallel symbol streams to generate signals in the time domain. The P-to-S block (514) can convert the output (e.g., parallel signals) of the N IFFT block (513) into a serial signal to generate a serial signal.

[0101] The CP addition block (515) can insert a CP into a signal. The UC (516) can up-convert the frequency of the output of the CP addition block (515) to an RF (radio frequency) frequency. Additionally, the output of the CP addition block (515) can be filtered at the baseband before up-conversion.

[0102] A signal transmitted from a transmission path (510) may be input to a reception path (520). An operation in the reception path (520) may be the reverse operation of the operation in the transmission path (510). A DC (521) may down-convert the frequency of the received signal to a baseband frequency. A CP removal block (522) may remove a CP from a signal. The output of the CP removal block (522) may be a serial signal. An S-to-P block (523) may convert the serial signal into parallel signals. An NFFT block (524) may perform an FFT algorithm to generate N parallel signals. A P-to-S block (525) may convert the parallel signals into a sequence of modulation symbols. A channel decoding and demodulation block (526) may perform a demodulation operation on the modulation symbols and perform a decoding operation on the result of the demodulation operation to restore data.

[0103] In FIGS. 5A and 5B , Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) and Inverse DFT (IDFT) may be used instead of FFT and IFFT. Each of the blocks (e.g., components) in FIGS. 5A and 5B may be implemented by at least one of hardware, software, or firmware. For example, in FIGS. 5A and 5B , some blocks may be implemented by software, and the remaining blocks may be implemented by hardware or a “combination of hardware and software.” In FIGS. 5A and 5B , a single block may be subdivided into multiple blocks, multiple blocks may be integrated into a single block, some blocks may be omitted, and blocks supporting other functions may be added.

[0104] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a system frame in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0105] Referring to Figure 6, time resources in a communication system can be divided into frame units. For example, system frames can be set consecutively in the time domain of the communication system. The length of a system frame can be 10 ms (milliseconds). The system frame number (SFN) can be set from #0 to #1023. In this case, 1024 system frames can be repeated in the time domain of the communication system. For example, the SFN of the system frame after system frame #1023 can be #0.

[0106] A system frame may include two half frames. A half frame may be 5 ms long. A half frame located at the beginning of the system frame may be referred to as "half frame #0," and a half frame located at the end of the system frame may be referred to as "half frame #1." A system frame may include 10 subframes. A subframe may be 1 ms long. The 10 subframes within a system frame may be referred to as "subframes #0-9."

[0107] FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a subframe in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0108] Referring to Fig. 7, one subframe can include n slots, where n can be a natural number. Therefore, one subframe can be composed of one or more slots.

[0109] FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a slot in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0110] Referring to Figure 8, a single slot may contain one or more symbols. A single slot, as illustrated in Figure A-8, may contain 14 symbols. The length of a slot may vary depending on the number and length of symbols contained in the slot. Alternatively, the length of a slot may vary depending on the numerology.

[0111] In a communication system, the numerology applied to physical signals and channels can be variable. The numerology can be variable to meet various technical requirements of the communication system. In a communication system applying CP (cyclic prefix)-based OFDM waveform technology, the numerology can include subcarrier spacing and CP length (or CP type). [Table 1] may be an embodiment of a method for configuring a numerology for a CP-OFDM-based communication system. At least some of the numerologies in [Table 1] may be supported depending on the frequency band in which the communication system operates. In addition, the communication system may additionally support numerologies not listed in [Table 1].

[0112] Subcarrier spacing 15kHz 30kHz 60kHz 120kHz 240kHz 480kHz OFDM symbol length [μs] 66.733.316.78.34.22.1 CP length [us] 4.762.381.190.600.300.151 Number of OFDM symbols in ms 142856112224448

[0113] When the subcarrier spacing is 15 kHz (e.g., μ=0), the slot length can be 1 ms. In this case, one system frame can contain 10 slots. When the subcarrier spacing is 30 kHz (e.g., μ=1), the slot length can be 0.5 ms. In this case, one system frame can contain 20 slots.

[0114] When the subcarrier spacing is 60 kHz (e.g., μ=2), the slot length can be 0.25 ms. In this case, one system frame can contain 40 slots. When the subcarrier spacing is 120 kHz (e.g., μ=3), the slot length can be 0.125 ms. In this case, one system frame can contain 80 slots. When the subcarrier spacing is 240 kHz (e.g., μ=4), the slot length can be 0.0625 ms. In this case, one system frame can contain 160 slots.

[0115] A symbol may be configured as a downlink (DL) symbol, a flexible (FL) symbol, or an uplink (UL) symbol. A slot consisting of only DL symbols may be referred to as a "DL slot," a slot consisting of only FL symbols may be referred to as an "FL slot," and a slot consisting of only UL symbols may be referred to as a "UL slot."

[0116] FIG. 9 illustrates the timing relationship of uplink and downlink in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0117] There is one frame set in the single link, and one frame set in the downlink of each carrier. The uplink frame number i for transmission from the UE is It must be started before, and must coincide with the start of the corresponding downlink frame observed at the UE.

[0118] Here, and can be provided by adjusting the transmission timing of the synchronization procedure. However, for msgA transmission on PUSCH (physical uplink shared channel), NTA = 0.

[0119] is derived from the upper layer parameters ta-Common, ta-CommonDrift, ta-CommonDriftVariant, which if not configured am.

[0120] is computed by the UE only if the UE's position and related upper layer parameters are configured according to the transmission timing adjustment of the synchronization procedure, otherwise am.

[0121] As described above, the timing of downlink and uplink can be adjusted based on the transmission timing adjustment of the synchronization procedure. For example, the terminal can receive the value of at least one timing advance (TA) offset for the serving cell and adjust the timing based on the received at least one TA offset value. Here, the at least one TA offset value can be configured differently depending on the TCI state, the carrier, or the TRP.

[0122] The aforementioned TA (timing advance) can be determined based on the signal transmission and reception times of the random access procedure. Specifically, the terminal can identify uplink resources and determine uplink transmission power based on control information and / or configuration information received from the base station. Then, the terminal can transmit a PUSCH using the identified resources and the determined power. For example, the base station can determine the TA based on the arrival time of the preamble transmitted by the terminal.

[0123] A terminal that has performed a random access procedure can receive configuration information from the base station and transmit a PUSCH based on the configuration information. Specifically, the terminal can identify uplink resources and determine uplink transmission power based on control information and / or configuration information received from the base station. Then, the terminal can transmit a PUSCH using the identified resources and the determined power. Section 7.11 of 3GPP TS 38.213 defines the PUSCH transmission procedure for the terminal as follows.

[0124]

[0125] The aforementioned PUSCH transmission can be controlled via a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH). In NR, a terminal transmits uplink control information (UCI) to a base station via the PUCCH. The control information may include at least one of a HARQ-ACK indicating whether demodulation / decoding of a TB (transport block) received by the terminal via the PDSCH was successful, a scheduling request (SR) for requesting resource allocation from a PUSCH base station for uplink data transmission by the terminal, and channel state information (CSI), which is information for reporting the channel status of the terminal. The PUCCH can be repeatedly transmitted, and the repeated transmission procedure can be performed based on the following section 9.2.6 of 3GPP TS 38.213.

[0126]

[0127] Meanwhile, NTN reference scenarios can be defined as shown in [Table 4] below.

[0128] NTN shown in Fig. 1 NTNGEO shown in Fig. 2 Scenario A Scenario BLEO (steerable beam) Scenario C1 Scenario D1 LEO (beam moving with satellite) Scenario C2 Scenario D2

[0129] If the satellite (110) in the NTN illustrated in FIG. 1a and / or FIG. 1b is a GEO satellite (e.g., a GEO satellite supporting transparent functionality), this may be referred to as “Scenario A.” If the first satellite (211) and the second satellite (212) in the NTN illustrated in FIG. 2a, FIG. 2b, and / or FIG. 2c are each GEO satellites (e.g., a GEO supporting regeneration functionality), this may be referred to as “Scenario B.”

[0130] If the satellite (110) in the non-terrestrial network illustrated in FIG. 1a and / or FIG. 1b is a LEO satellite having steerable beams, this may be referred to as “Scenario C1.” If the satellite (110) in the non-terrestrial network illustrated in FIG. 1a and / or FIG. 1b is a LEO satellite having beams move with the satellite, this may be referred to as “Scenario C2.” If each of satellite #1 (211) and satellite #2 (212) in the non-terrestrial network illustrated in FIG. 2a, FIG. 2b, and / or FIG. 2c is a LEO satellite having steerable beams, this may be referred to as “Scenario D1.” In the non-terrestrial network illustrated in FIG. 2a, FIG. 2b, and / or FIG. 2c, if each of satellite #1 (211) and satellite #2 (212) is a LEO satellite having beams that travel with the satellite, this may be referred to as “Scenario D2.”

[0131] Parameters for the NTN reference scenarios defined in [Table 4] can be defined as shown in [Table 5] below.

[0132] Scenario A and B Scenario C and D Altitude 35,786 km 600 km 1,200 km Spectrum (service link) <6 GHz (e.g., 2 GHz) > 6 GHz (e.g., DL 20 GHz, UL 30 GHz) Maximum channel bandwidth capability (service link) 30 MHz for band < 6 GHz 1 GHz for band > 6 GHz Maximum distance between satellite and communication node (e.g., UE) at minimum elevation angle 40,581 km 1,932 km (600 km altitude) 3,131 km (1,200 km altitude) Maximum round trip delay (RTD) (propagation delay only) Scenario A: 541.46 ms (service and feeder links) Scenario B: 270.73 ms (service link only) Scenario C: (Transparent payload: service and feeder links) -25.77 ms (600 km) Altitude) -41.77ms (1200km altitude) Maximum differential delay within a cell 10.3m3.12ms (600km altitude) 3.18ms (1200km altitude) Service link NR or 6G Feeder link Radio interface defined in 3GPP or non-3GPP

[0133] Additionally, in the NTN reference scenario defined in [Table 4], the delay constraint can be defined as in [Table 6] below.

[0134] Scenario A Scenario B Scenario C1-2 Scenario D1-2 Satellite altitude 35,768 km 600 km Maximum RTD on the air interface between the base station and the UE 541.75 ms (worst case) 270.57 ms 28.41 ms 12.88 ms Minimum RTD on the air interface between the base station and the UE 477.14 ms 238.57 ms 8 ms 4 ms

[0135] FIG. 10A and FIG. 10B illustrate examples of protocol stacks of a user plane and a control plane in a transparent payload-based NTN in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0136] Referring to FIGS. 10A and 10B , user data may be transmitted and / or received between a UE and a core network (e.g., UPF), and control data (e.g., control information) may be transmitted and / or received between a UE and a core network (e.g., AMF). Each of the user data and the control data may be transmitted and / or received via a satellite and / or a gateway. The protocol stack of the user plane illustrated in FIG. 10A may be applied identically or similarly to a 6G communication network. The protocol stack of the control plane illustrated in FIG. 10B may be applied identically or similarly to a 6G communication network.

[0137] FIG. 11a and FIG. 11b illustrate examples of protocol stacks of a user plane and a control plane in a regenerative payload-based NTN in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0138] Referring to FIGS. 11A and 11B , user data and control data (e.g., control information) may be transmitted and / or received via an interface between a UE and a satellite (e.g., a base station). The user data may include a user protocol data unit (PDU). The protocol stack of the satellite radio interface (SRI) may be used to transmit and / or receive the user data and / or control data between the satellite and the gateway. The user data may be transmitted and / or received via a GPRS (general packet radio service) tunneling protocol (GTP)-U tunnel between the satellite and the core network.

[0139] In relation to NTN communication, an NTN may be configured to provide non-terrestrial NR access to a UE via an NTN payload and an NTN gateway. A service link may refer to a connection between an NTN payload and a UE, and a feeder link may refer to a link between an NTN gateway and an NTN payload. The configuration and procedures for the NTN, service link, and feeder link may be implemented in combination with, or partially performed or modified from, the configuration and procedures disclosed in section 16.14 of 3GPP TS 38.300.

[0140] Figure 12 illustrates an example of an NTN providing non-terrestrial NR access to a UE via an NTN payload and an NTN gateway. Figure 12 shows a service link between the NTN payload and the UE, and a feeder link between the NTN gateway and the NTN payload.

[0141] The NTN payload transparently transmits wireless protocols received from the UE via the service link to the NTN gateway via the feeder link, or vice versa. The connectivity supported by the NTN payload is as follows.

[0142] - NTN gateway can serve multiple NTN payloads.

[0143] - A single NTN payload can be served by multiple NTN gateways.

[0144] - NTN payloads can change carrier frequency before being retransmitted on the service link, or vice versa (on each feeder link).

[0145] In NTN, in addition to the network identifier, the following may apply:

[0146] - A tracking area corresponds to a fixed geographic area. Each mapping is configured in the RAN.

[0147] - Mapped cell ID as defined in Section 16.14.5.

[0148] Three types of service links are supported:

[0149] - Earth-fixed: The service link may be provided by beam(s) that continuously cover the same geographic area at all times (e.g. Geosynchronous Orbit (GSO) satellites).

[0150] - Quasi-earth-fixed: The service link may be provided by beam(s) that cover one geographic area for a limited period and another geographic area for another period (e.g., NGSO (non-GSO) satellites producing steerable beams).

[0151] - Earth-moving: The service link may be provided by beam(s) moving over the surface of the Earth (e.g., NGSO satellites producing fixed beams or non-steerable beams).

[0152] A gNB operating as an NGSO satellite can provide a quasi-Earth fixed service link or an Earth mobile service link, and a gNB operating as a GSO satellite can provide an Earth fixed service link.

[0153] Timing and synchronization are as follows:

[0154] Regarding scheduling and timing, downlink and uplink frames are aligned using an offset given by the NTA offset (see Section 4.2 of TS 38.213) from the uplink time synchronization reference point (RP). To accommodate the propagation delay of the NTN, some timing relationships are enhanced by a common timing advance (TA) and two offsets, K_offset and k_mac.

[0155] - Common TA is a timing offset configured equal to the round trip time (RTT) between the RP and NTN payloads.

[0156] - K offset is a configured scheduling offset that must be greater than or equal to the sum of the service link RTT and common TA.

[0157] - k mac is an offset that is configured to be approximately equal to the RTT between the RP and gNB.

[0158] Scheduling offset K offset is used to allow the UE sufficient processing time between downlink reception and uplink transmission (see TS 38.213). Offset k mac is used to delay the application of downlink configuration indicated by MAC CE command on PDSCH (see TS 38.213) and for estimation of UE-gNB RTT (see TS 38.321). If downlink and uplink frame timing are not aligned at the gNB, offset k mac can be provided by the network. Also, the offset k mac is used to determine the RAR window / MsgB window start time after sending Msg1 / MsgA in the random access procedure (see TS 38.213). Service link RTT, feeder link RTT, RP, common TA, k mac And TTA is as shown in Fig. 13. Fig. 13 shows the timing relationship between objects included in NTN.

[0159] The network can configure HARQ operation as follows:

[0160] - For downlink, HARQ feedback can be enabled or disabled on a per-HARQ process basis. Disabling HARQ feedback allows scheduling a HARQ process before one HARQ RTT has elapsed since the last scheduling.

[0161] - For uplink, HARQ modes (e.g., HARQ mode A or HARQ mode B) can be configured for each HARQ process. HARQ mode B allows scheduling a HARQ process before one HARQ RTT has elapsed since the last scheduling.

[0162] For HARQ processes configured to have HARQ feedback enabled / disabled, it is up to the network implementation to ensure the appropriate HARQ feedback configuration (e.g., all enabled or all disabled) for the HARQ processes used in the SPS configuration. For HARQ processes configured in HARQ mode, it is up to the network implementation to ensure the appropriate HARQ mode configuration (e.g., all HARQ mode A or all HARQ mode B) for the HARQ processes used in the configured grant (CG) configuration.

[0163] Meanwhile, in NTN, a base station can transmit system information (e.g., SIB19) containing satellite assistance information for NTN access. A UE can receive system information (e.g., SIB19) from the base station, check the satellite assistance information included in the system information, and perform communication (e.g., non-terrestrial communication) based on the satellite assistance information. SIB19 can include the information element(s) defined in [Table 7] below.

[0164] SIB19-r17 :: = SEQUENCE {ntn-Config-r17 NTN-Config-r17 OPTIONAL,t-service-r17 INTEGER(1..549755813887) OPTIONAL,referenceLocation-r17 ReferenceLocation-r17 OPTIONAL,distanceThresh-r17 INTEGER(1..65525) OPTIONAL,ntn-NeighCellConfigList-r17 NTN-NeighCellConfigList-r17 OPTIONAL,lateNonCRiticalExtension OCTET STRING...,[[ntn-NeighCellConfigListExt-v1720 NTN-NeighCellConfigList-r17 OPTIONAL,]],[[movingReferenceLocation-r18 ReferenceLocation-r17 OPTIONAL,satSwitchWithReSync-r18 SatSwitchWithReSync-r18 OPTIONAL,]]}NTN-NeighCellConfigList-r17 :: = SEQUENCE (SIZE(1..maxCellNTN-r17)) OFNTN-NeighCellConfig-r17NTN-NeighCellConfig-r17 :: = SEQUENCE {ntn-Config-r17 NTN-Config-r17 OPTIONAL,carrierFreq-r17 ARFCN-ValueNR OPTIONAL,physCellId-r17 PhysCellId OPTIONAL}SatSwitchWithReSync-r18 :: = SEQUENCE {ntn-Config-r18 NTN-Config-r17,t-ServiceStart-r18 INTEGER(1..549755813887) OPTIONAL,ssb-TimeOffset-r18 INTEGER(1..159) OPTIONAL}

[0165] NTN-Config defined in [Table 7] may include information element(s) defined in [Table 8] below.

[0166] NTN-Config-r17 ::= SEQUENCE {epochTime-r17 EpochTime-r17ntn-UISyncValidityDuration-r17 ENUMERATED {s5, s10, s15, s20, s25, s30, s35, s40, s45, s50, s55, s60, s120, s180, s240, s900}cellSpecificKoffset-r17 INTEGER(1..1023)kmac-r17 INTEGER(1..512)ta-Info-r17 TA-Info-r17ntn-PolarizationDL-r17 ENUMERATED {rhcp, lhcp, linear}ntn-PolarizationUL-r17 ENUMERATED {rhcp, lhcp, linear}ephemerisInfo-r17 EphemerisInfo-r17ta-Report-r17 ENUMERATED {enabled}...}EpochTime-r17 ::= SEQUENCE {sfn-r17 INTEGER(1..1023)subFrameNR-r17 INTEGER(1..9)}TA-Info-r17 ::= SEQUENCE {ta-Common-r17 INTEGER(1..66485757)ta-CommonDrift-r17 INTEGER(-257303..257303)ta-CommonDriftVarant-r17 INTEGER(0..28949)}

[0167] EphemerisInfo defined in [Table 8] may include information element(s) defined in [Table 9] below.

[0168] EphemerisInfo-r17 ::= CHOICE {positionVelocity-r17 PositionVelocity-r17,orbital-r17 Orbital-r17}PositionVelocity-r17 ::= SEQUENCE {positionX-r17 PositionStateVector-r17,positionY-r17 PositionStateVector-r17,positionZ-r17 PositionStateVector-r17, velocity V INTEGER (0..1048575),periapsis-r17 INTEGER (0..268435455),longitude-r17 INTEGER (0..268435455),incliating-r17 INTEGER (-67108864..67108863),meanAnomaly-r17 INTEGER (0..268435455)}PositionStateVector-r17 ::= INTEGER (-33554432..33554431)VelocityStateVector-r17 ::= INTEGER (-131072..131071)

[0169] Additionally, if there is a difference in the NTN connection setup compared to the TN connection, the NTN-parameter may include the information elements defined in [Table 10] below to convey the UE wireless connection capability parameters applicable to the NTN connection.

[0170] NTN-parameters-r17 ::= SEQUENCE {inactiveStateNTN-r17 ENUMERATED {supported} OPTIONAL,ra-SDT-NTN-r17 ENUMERATED {supported} OPTIONAL,srb-SDT-NTN-r17 ENUMERATED {supported} OPTIONAL,measAndMobParametersNTN-r17 MeasAndMobParameters OPTIONAL,mac-ParametersNTN-r17 Mac-Parameters OPTIONAL,phy-ParametersNTN-r17 Phy-Parameters OPTIONAL,fdd-ADD-UE-NR-CapabilitiesNTN-r17 UE-NR-CapabilityNTNAddXDD-Mode OPTIONAL,frl-ADD-UE-NR-CapabilitiesNTN-r17 UE-NR-CapabilityNTNAddFRX-Mode OPTIONAL,ue-BasedPerfMeas-ParametersNTN-r17 UE-BasedPerfMeas-Parameters-r16 OPTIONAL,son-ParametersNTN-r17 SON-Parameters-r16 OPTIONAL}

[0171] The coverage of Phase 3 NTN discussed in Rel-19 RAN WG1 is presented in the work item description (WID), and the contents regarding uplink capacity enhancement are as follows.

[0172] Uplink Capacity / Throughput Enhancement for FR1-NTN [RAN1, RAN2, RAN4]* Study then specify, if beneficial, DFT-s-OFDM PUSCH enhancements via Orthogonal Cover Codes (OCC)- Determine the achievable capacity improvement to be targeted taking into account realistic impairments (e.g. Doppler, time variation, phase distortion, etc)Specify necessary signalling, if needed- Update RF requirements accordingly, if needed- Note: The study can consider orthogonal cover codes across OFDM symbols, across slots, and / or within an OFDM symbol.- Note: the study phase is targeted to be completed by RAN#104* Notes for this objective:- The enhancement is not targeting improvements / impacts of MU-MIMO capability- The enhancement is not targeted to PUSCH DMRS- No enhancement for initial access- Enhancements to PRACH are not in scope.- This feature may be applicable for UEs operating in terrestrial networks based on a common design

[0173] Referring to the above WID in [Table 11], for DFT-s-OFDM PUSCH, applying OCC (orthogonal cover codes) to the PUSCH payload to increase uplink capacity and throughput is currently under discussion.

[0174] Typically, cells supported by NTN base stations have a wider radius than cells supported by TNs. Furthermore, the distance between an NTN terminal and a base station, or between a terminal and a satellite relaying signals between the base station and the terminal, is much longer than the distance between a TN terminal and a base station. Accordingly, techniques have been proposed to enhance the transmission signal power and coverage of terminals with limited transmission power in an NTN cell uplink environment for uplink signal transmission. For example, a repetition scheme has been proposed, in which a terminal transmits a specific symbol multiple times across multiple time and / or frequency resources.

[0175] Repeated transmission utilizes more time and / or frequency resources to transmit the same signal than when repeated transmission is not applied. Therefore, repeated transmission by a specific terminal may reduce the time and / or frequency resources available to other terminals. In particular, NTN cells have a very wide cell radius, resulting in a large number of potential serviceable terminals within the cell. However, repeated transmission to improve the transmission power of a specific terminal may result in a decrease in the total number of terminals accessible to the NTN base station. Therefore, a method that can increase uplink capacity by considering these issues is needed.

[0176] To increase capacity during uplink repetitive transmission in NTN, orthogonal cover code (OCC) can be applied. OCC is a method used for transmission of some PUCCH formats in Release-18, in which signals from multiple terminals sharing the same time and / or frequency resources are distinguished by orthogonal codes such as Hadamard sequences and DFT sequences. That is, the symbols that each terminal wishes to transmit are spread using different sequences, and the spread symbols can be mapped to the same time and / or frequency resources and transmitted. The base station that receives this can detect the signals transmitted by each terminal by performing despreading on the signals in all time and / or frequency resources transmitted via OCC.

[0177] Figure 14 illustrates an example of repeated transmission and OCC application in a wireless communication system. Figure 14 is an example of using a Hadamard sequence of length 4 as an OCC sequence.

[0178] Referring to FIG. 14, the first case (case 1) is an example of conventional repetitive transmission, and the second case (case 2) is an example of repetitive transmission using an OCC sequence. In the case of repetitive transmission using an OCC sequence, each terminal obtains spread symbols for a symbol to be transmitted by applying an OCC sequence of length 4 to the symbol to be transmitted, and transmits the spread symbols. At this time, the spread symbols refer to repetitive symbols obtained using the OCC sequence. For example, UE1 may apply the OCC sequence '+1 -1 -1 +1' to the transmitted symbol, UE2 may apply the OCC sequence '+1 -1 +1 -1' to the transmitted symbol, UE3 may apply the OCC sequence '+1 +1 -1 -1' to the transmitted symbol, and UE4 may apply the OCC sequence '+1 +1 +1 +1' to the transmitted symbol. Each UE may obtain spread symbols for the symbol to be transmitted using a different OCC sequence. At this time, the base station can obtain the symbol of UE1 by performing despreading using the OCC sequence '+1 -1 -1 +1'.

[0179] As mentioned above, OCC allows the transmission symbols of multiple terminals to be distinguished through OCC sequences, which are different orthogonal sequences, in the same time-frequency resource. In a situation where OCC is applied, if the distance from each terminal to the base station or satellite is different, or if there is a difference in the received power between the signals transmitted from each terminal within the same OCC transmission unit, a near-far problem may occur, in which a weak signal is not properly despread. The near-far problem refers to a phenomenon in which a weak signal among the entire received signal is not properly detected due to a strong signal, interference from an adjacent channel, and a limitation of the dynamic range of the analog-to-digital converter (ADC).

[0180] Figure 15 illustrates an example of a near-far problem in a wireless communication system. Referring to Figure 15, a far UE (1510-1) is located at a relatively far distance from a base station (1520) and / or a satellite (1530), and a near UE (1510-2) is located at a relatively close distance from the base station (1520) and / or the satellite (1530). In this case, the uplink signal of the far UE (1510-1) that reaches the satellite (1530) and / or the base station (1520) has relatively weaker power than the uplink signal of the near UE (1510-2). Therefore, the satellite (1530) and / or the base station (1520) may not recognize the signal of the far UE (1510-1).

[0181] For spreading-based techniques such as OCC and CDMA (code division multiple access), it is known that channel capacity is maximized when the power of the received signals from multiple terminals at the base station is the same. Furthermore, when a near-field problem occurs, even if despreading is performed on a weak signal, demodulation becomes difficult because the signal strength is relatively weak compared to a strong signal. In particular, unlike a typical TN, the radius of an NTN cell is very wide, so when OCC is applied, the performance degradation due to the near-field problem described above can occur even more significantly. Furthermore, a method can be applied in a TN to ensure that the received power from multiple terminals is constant through power control. For example, a base station in a TN environment can adjust the transmit power of a distant terminal to be high and that of a nearby terminal to be low. However, in an NTN environment, the distance from the terminal to the satellite and / or base station is much longer than the distance between the terminal and the base station in a typical TN, making it difficult to adjust the terminal power to accommodate the near-far problem.

[0182]

[0183] Accordingly, the present disclosure proposes a technique for preventing the occurrence of a near-far problem when applying OCC in an NTN. Specifically, the present disclosure proposes a technique for selecting terminals that utilize OCC in the same time and frequency resources when applying OCC in an NTN uplink. In other words, a method and apparatus for selecting terminals for OCC application are described based on information about each of a plurality of terminals (e.g., information related to at least one of reception power, distance, or location). The present disclosure selects terminals for OCC application based on information about each of a plurality of terminals, thereby enabling transmission signals transmitted from the terminals based on different OCC sequences in the same time-frequency resource to arrive at the base station with similar levels of reception power. By selecting or grouping multiple terminals for OCC application based on information about each of the multiple terminals, smooth expansion of uplink capacity through OCC in an NTN is possible. The selection of terminals for OCC application may be performed by a base station and / or a network. The information for each of the plurality of terminals may include at least one of information for TA compensation of each of the plurality of terminals, reception power information, location information, beam-related information, or transmission power information. The terminals for OCC application may be understood as a plurality of terminals that perform uplink transmission based on OCC in the same time-frequency resource. Hereinafter, in the present disclosure, the terminals for OCC application may be referred to as OCC terminals, OCC groups, or terminal groups.

[0184]

[0185] Figure 16 illustrates an example of a procedure for transmitting a signal using OCC in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 16 also illustrates an operation method of a terminal. The terminal may be understood as a UE.

[0186] Referring to FIG. 16, in step S1601, a terminal receives DCI including an UL grant (uplink grant). The UL grant may include information on uplink resources for PUSCH transmission of the terminal. In other words, the terminal may receive DCI including information on uplink resources for PUSCH transmission from the base station. According to one embodiment, the DCI may further include information on an OCC. The information on the OCC may include information necessary for the terminal to apply the OCC to the PUSCH. For example, the information on the OCC may include at least one of an OCC length, a basic OCC sequence ID, the number of OCC sequences to be used by each terminal, multiple OCC sequence IDs for terminals using multiple sequences, or a power adjustment value for each terminal. The listed information on the OCC is merely an example to help understanding, and embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto.

[0187] In step S1603, the terminal generates an uplink transport block (UL TB). The terminal generates the UL TB containing data to be transmitted via the PUSCH.

[0188] In step S1605, the terminal applies the OCC. The terminal applies the OCC to signals included in a plurality of slots including symbols including at least one UL TB. The OCC may be applied using one of the code sequences assigned to a plurality of terminals belonging to a terminal group including the terminal. In this case, the plurality of terminals belonging to the terminal group may be selected by the base station and / or the network as terminals to transmit signals based on the OCC in the same time and frequency resources. The OCC may include at least one of an in-symbol OCC, an OCC across symbols, or an OCC across slots. According to one embodiment, the terminal may apply the OCC based on information about the OCC received through UE-specific signaling. The UE-specific signaling may include at least one of a DCI, a MAC CE, or an RRC message. Information for TA compensation is TA pre-compensation information for a service link used to adjust the transmission timing of an uplink signal from a terminal, and can be understood as terminal-specific TA information.

[0189] In step S1607, the terminal transmits a signal. The terminal transmits the signal to which the OCC has been applied to the base station. In one embodiment, the terminal's signal may be transmitted overlapping with signals transmitted by other terminals belonging to the same group as the terminal at a specific time and frequency resource.

[0190] According to the embodiment described with reference to FIG. 16, a terminal, as one terminal belonging to a terminal group, can apply OCC using an assigned code sequence. According to various embodiments, a plurality of terminals belonging to a terminal group can be determined based on at least one of the location, frequency offset, carrier frequency offset (CFO), path loss, reception power information, information for TA compensation, location information, beam information, or transmission power information of each terminal.

[0191] According to one embodiment, a terminal group may include a plurality of terminals in similar locations, i.e., a plurality of terminals in adjacent locations. According to one embodiment, a plurality of terminals in similar locations may include terminals that experience similar levels of frequency offset or carrier frequency offset, or have similar levels of path loss of a service link. Here, for an element (e.g., location, frequency offset, carrier offset, or path loss) to be similar means that at least one of the difference, variance, standard deviation, or average error of values ​​for the element is less than or equal to a corresponding threshold (e.g., variance threshold, standard deviation threshold, or average error threshold). For example, for a plurality of terminals to have similar levels of carrier frequency offsets means that the standard deviation value for the carrier frequency offsets of the plurality of terminals is less than or equal to the threshold. As another example, for a plurality of terminals to have similar levels of carrier frequency offsets means that the maximum differential value of carrier frequency offsets between the plurality of terminals is less than or equal to the threshold.

[0192]

[0193] Figure 17 illustrates an example of a procedure for receiving a signal to which OCC is applied in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 17 illustrates an operating method of a base station. The base station may be understood as an NTN base station.

[0194] Referring to FIG. 17, in step S1701, a base station determines a terminal group. The base station determines a terminal group including a plurality of terminals that will perform OCC-based transmission in the same time and frequency resources. The base station may obtain at least one of reception power information, information for TA compensation, location information, beam information, or transmission power information of each of the plurality of terminals, select a plurality of terminals based on the obtained at least one piece of information, and determine the selected plurality of terminals as a terminal group that will perform OCC-based transmission in the same time and frequency resources. According to one embodiment, the base station may select a plurality of terminals located adjacent to each other based on the location information of each terminal, and determine the selected plurality of terminals as one terminal group. The plurality of terminals located adjacent to each other may experience a similar level of frequency offset or carrier frequency offset, or may have a similar level of service link path loss. Therefore, in order to determine the plurality of terminals located adjacent to each other as one terminal group, the base station may determine the plurality of terminals that experience a similar level of frequency offset or carrier frequency offset, or have a similar level of service link path loss, as one terminal group. In other words, the base station can determine the terminal group based on at least one of the frequency offset, the carrier frequency offset, or the path loss. For example, the base station can determine a plurality of terminals having a similar level of carrier frequency as one terminal group such that at least one of the difference, variance, standard deviation, or average of the carrier frequency offsets of the plurality of terminals included in the terminal group is less than or equal to a corresponding threshold (e.g., a difference threshold, a variance threshold, a standard deviation threshold, or an average error threshold).According to one embodiment, the base station may convert at least one of reception power information, information for TA compensation, location information, beam information, or transmission power information of each terminal, and then select a plurality of terminals to be included in the terminal group based on the converted information. For example, the base station may convert the information for TA compensation of each terminal into path loss or a distance of a service link, and then select a plurality of terminals to be included in the terminal group based on the path loss or the distance of the service link. According to one embodiment, the base station may select a plurality of terminals to be included in the terminal group based on at least one of variance, standard deviation, or average error based on at least one of reception power information of each terminal or information for TA compensation.

[0195] In step S1703, the base station transmits DCI including an UL grant (uplink grant). The UL grant may include information about uplink resources for PUSCH transmission of the terminal. In other words, the base station may transmit DCI including information about uplink resources for PUSCH transmission of the terminal to the terminal. According to one embodiment, the DCI may further include information about an OCC. The information about the OCC may include information necessary for the terminal to apply the OCC to the PUSCH. For example, the information about the OCC may include at least one of an OCC length, a basic OCC sequence ID, the number of OCC sequences to be used by each terminal, a plurality of OCC sequence IDs for a terminal using a plurality of sequences, or a power adjustment value for each terminal. The listed information about the OCC is merely an example to help understanding, and embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto.

[0196] In step S1705, the base station receives a signal with OCC applied. The base station can receive signals with OCC applied from multiple terminals within the same time and frequency resources. The base station can obtain the transmission signals of each of the multiple terminals by performing despreading on the received signal using the OCC sequence assigned to each terminal.

[0197]

[0198] Figure 18 illustrates an example of a procedure for selecting terminals for OCC application in a wireless communication system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. At least some of the operations in Figure 18 can be understood as detailed operations of step S1701. Figure 18 illustrates an operating method of a base station.

[0199] Referring to FIG. 18, in step S1801, the base station collects information on a plurality of terminals. The base station may collect information necessary for selecting OCC terminals from a plurality of terminals connected to the base station. The information necessary for selecting OCC terminals may include at least one of reception power information of each terminal, information for TA compensation, location information, beam information, transmission power information, frequency offset information, carrier frequency offset information, or path loss of a service link. The information necessary for selecting OCC terminals may be obtained from each terminal through a report (e.g., a measurement report or a TA report) or may be estimated by the base station. For example, the base station may receive beam index information from the terminal and estimate location information of the terminal based on the beam index information.

[0200] In step S1803, the base station groups or orders the plurality of terminals based on the collected information. The base station may group the plurality of terminals into at least one group based on at least one piece of information collected, or may order the plurality of terminals in ascending or descending order. For example, the base station may group terminals having similar reception power values ​​among the plurality of terminals based on reception power information of each terminal, or may order the plurality of terminals in descending order in order of largest reception power value. Here, if at least one of the variance, standard deviation, or average error of the reception power values ​​of some terminals is below a corresponding threshold, the base station may determine some terminals as terminals having similar reception power values. As another example, the base station may group terminals in adjacent locations among the plurality of terminals based on at least one piece of location information or beam information of each terminal, or may order the plurality of terminals in order of terminals in relatively close locations with respect to a specific terminal. As another example, the base station may group terminals having similar carrier frequency offset values ​​among a plurality of terminals based on the carrier frequency offsets of each terminal, or may sort the plurality of terminals in descending order of the largest carrier frequency offset value. Here, if at least one of the difference, variance, standard deviation, or average error of the carrier frequency offset values ​​of some terminals is less than or equal to the threshold, the base station may determine some terminals as terminals having similar carrier frequency offset values. When grouping a plurality of terminals into at least one group, the base station may determine the number of terminals included in each group based on the OCC length. For example, the number of terminals included in each group may be determined to be less than or equal to the number corresponding to the OCC length.

[0201] In step S1805, the base station selects OCC terminals. If multiple terminals are grouped into at least one group, the base station may select terminals included in one group as OCC terminals. If multiple terminals are sorted in ascending or descending order, the base station may select OCC terminals based on the sorted order. At this time, the number of selected terminals may be less than or equal to the number corresponding to the OCC length. According to one embodiment, the base station may select terminals by further considering the number of OCC sequences available to each terminal. At this time, a terminal using N OCC sequences may be treated as N terminals.

[0202] In step S1807, the base station performs resource allocation for the selected OCC terminals. The base station may determine uplink resources for PUSCH transmission of the selected OCC terminals and transmit information about the determined uplink resources to the selected OCC terminals. The selected OCC terminals may be managed as a single terminal group as terminals that perform OCC-based uplink transmission in the same time and frequency resources. The base station may provide information about the OCC to the OCC terminals belonging to the terminal group. The information about the OCC may include at least one of a length, a basic OCC sequence ID, the number of OCC sequences to be used by each terminal, multiple OCC sequence IDs for terminals using multiple sequences, or a power adjustment value of each terminal.

[0203]

[0204] Below, information required to select OCC terminals according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is specifically described.

[0205] UE-specific TA information

[0206] Path loss in a wireless communication environment is the most important factor in determining the received signal power in a wireless communication system. In an NTN environment connecting a terminal, satellite, and terrestrial base station, the path loss between the satellite and the base station applies equally to all terminals. Therefore, the path loss between the terminal and the satellite causes differences in the degree of path loss among terminals. In other words, the relative difference in uplink signal path loss between multiple terminals can be determined by the path loss according to the distance of the service link, which is the link between the terminal and the satellite. This path loss degree increases in proportion to the nth power of the distance depending on the channel environment, and the received signal power due to path loss is inversely proportional to the nth power of the distance. Here, n can typically be a value between 2 and 6.

[0207] Meanwhile, in an NTN environment, TA (timing advance) pre-compensation is performed to adjust the transmission timing of uplink signals compared to downlink signals.

[0208] FIG. 19 illustrates the relationship between UE-specific TA and service link path loss in a wireless communication system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0209] Referring to FIG. 19, TA pre-compensation may be performed based on a TA pre-compensation value for a feeder link between a base station (1920) and a satellite (1930), and a TA pre-compensation value for a service link between each terminal (1910-1, 1910-2) and the satellite (1930). At this time, the TA pre-compensation value for the service link is calculated based on the distance of the service link from each terminal (1910-1, 1910-2). The TA pre-compensation value for the service link calculated for each terminal is a UE-specific TA value, which may represent a relative path loss according to the distance of the service link of each terminal. For example, a larger UE-specific TA value may represent a relatively higher path loss due to a longer distance between the terminal and the satellite, and a smaller UE-specific TA value may represent a relatively lower path loss due to a shorter distance between the terminal and the satellite. Since this information about UE-specific TAs is basically determined based on the distance of the service link of each terminal, it can be applied to all frequency bands available in the NTN system.

[0210] The UE-specific TA values ​​described above can be used to determine whether each terminal has similar reception power based on its path loss level when applying OCC. Accordingly, the present disclosure can select OCC terminals using information about UE-specific TAs.

[0211] According to the current specification, in an NTN environment, a terminal reports a UE-specific TA to a base station through a TA report during an RRC connection procedure, or reports a UE-specific TA to a base station through a TA report when a TA variation value increases in an RRC connected state. Therefore, in an NTN environment, the UE-specific TA information reported from each terminal can be used to select OCC terminals. To correct errors in the UE-specific TA, the base station can estimate or calculate the UE-specific TA value for each terminal. In this case, the base station can use the UE-specific TA value for each terminal estimated or calculated by the base station to select OCC terminals.

[0212] The UE-specific TA values ​​described above may be used without a conversion process or after a conversion process. The conversion process may be performed to improve the accuracy of terminal selection.

[0213] In one embodiment, when used without conversion, the base station may perform a procedure for selecting OCC terminals using the most recently acquired UE-specific TA value for each terminal.

[0214] In one embodiment, when used after conversion, the base station can use the information after going through the following conversion process.

[0215] For example, the base station may use the most recently acquired UE-specific TA information for each terminal, or the UE-specific TA information acquired at a given specific time resource (e.g., information acquired at equally spaced time intervals from the OCC transmission time), or perform a transformation such as calculating a moving average value for the UE-specific TA information acquired for each terminal to remove the effect of fluctuations over short periods of time.

[0216] As another example, the base station can convert UE-specific TA information into path loss or service link distance. At this time, the base station can additionally consider transmit power information in addition to the converted path loss or service link distance to select OCC terminals. In this case, the relative receive power for each terminal can be calculated by reflecting the terminal's transmit power and the path loss for the service link, without effects such as fast fading. Only one of the conversion processes for the UE-specific TA information described above may be applied, or multiple conversion processes may be applied in duplicate. For example, the base station can calculate a moving average for the UE-specific TA information, convert the moving average value into path loss, and then perform a terminal selection procedure using the converted path loss and transmit power.

[0217]

[0218] received power information

[0219] To prevent near-field and far-field issues, the base station can monitor the received power of each terminal and use this observed received power information in the process of selecting OCC terminals. In other words, the base station can use the received power information of each terminal to select terminals for uplink transmission based on OCC within the same time-frequency resources.

[0220] FIG. 20 illustrates an example of reception power information in a wireless communication system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0221] Referring to FIG. 20, in the first case (case 1), the base station obtains uplink reception power information by measuring the reception power of an uplink signal transmitted from the UE. At this time, the base station can select OCC terminals using the obtained uplink reception power information. In other words, the uplink reception power information can be used in the procedure for selecting OCC terminals. For example, the UL RSRP (uplink signal received power) and UL RSRPP (reference signal received path power) information of each terminal can be used as information for selecting OCC terminals. According to one embodiment, the reception power information obtained in the process in which the base station receives at least one of a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), data, or uplink control information (UCI) included in a PUSCH and / or PUCCH in a recent uplink transmission of the terminal can be additionally used.

[0222] In the second case (case 2), the UE obtains downlink reception power information by measuring the reception power of a downlink signal transmitted from the base station. The UE feeds back the downlink reception power information to the base station. For example, the downlink reception power information can be transmitted to the base station through a measurement report. The base station can select OCC terminals using the downlink reception power information. In other words, the reception power at each terminal for the downlink signal of the base station can be used as an indicator for determining the reception power at the base station for the uplink signal of each terminal. In other words, the downlink reception power information can be used as information for OCC terminal selection. The downlink reception power information may include at least one of synchronization (SS)-RSRP, reference signal received quality (SS-RSRQ), signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SS-SINR), channel state information (CSI)-RSRP, CSI-RSRQ, CSI-SINR, sound referencing signal (SRS)-RSRP, PSBCH-RSRP, PSSCH-RSRP, PSCCH-RSRP, DL Positioning Reference Signal (PRS)-RSRP, or sidelink (SL) PRS-RSRP.

[0223]

[0224] The reception power information described above can be used without a conversion process or after undergoing a conversion process. The conversion process can be performed to improve the accuracy of OCC terminal selection.

[0225] In one embodiment, when used without conversion, the base station can perform an OCC terminal selection procedure using the most recently acquired reception power information for each terminal.

[0226] In one embodiment, when used after conversion, the base station can use the information after going through the following conversion process.

[0227] For example, when using uplink reception power information, the base station can obtain the difference between the transmission power of the terminal and / or satellite corresponding to the uplink reception power information and the transmission power of the terminal and / or satellite when OCC is applied, and can convert the uplink reception power information of each terminal based on the obtained transmission power difference.

[0228] As another example, when using downlink reception power information, the base station can obtain the difference between the transmission power of the base station and / or satellite corresponding to the downlink reception power information and the transmission power of the base station and / or satellite when OCC is applied, and convert the downlink reception power information of each terminal based on the obtained transmission power difference.

[0229] In addition to the conversion based on the transmission power difference as described above, the base station may perform a conversion such as utilizing the most recent received power information acquired for each terminal, or the received power information acquired at a given specific time resource (e.g., information acquired at equally spaced time intervals from the OCC transmission time), or calculating a moving average value for the received power information acquired for each terminal to remove small-scale fading effects. Here, the number of information items for determining the time interval degree or the moving average may be predefined in the specification or set by the base station.

[0230] Alternatively, the base station may perform a conversion process to obtain information related to the received power at a desired time and / or frequency resource by interpolating the received power information at a specific time and / or frequency resource. These conversion processes may be applied in duplicate. For example, the base station may convert the received power information based on the transmit power and then calculate a moving average.

[0231]

[0232] Location & beam related information

[0233] Regarding the path loss in the aforementioned service link, terminals located in adjacent areas are expected to have similar service link distances (the distance between the terminal and the satellite). Accordingly, terminals located in close proximity are expected to experience similar levels of service link path loss. Therefore, information regarding the proximity of terminals can be utilized to identify terminals with similar service link path loss, similar frequency offsets, or expected to experience similar carrier frequency offsets when applying OCC.

[0234] FIG. 21 illustrates the relationship between location and beam related information and path loss of a service link in a wireless communication system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0235] Referring to Figure 21, UEs (2110-1, 2110-2) are located adjacent to each other and are therefore expected to have similar service link distances. Based on the location information of UEs (2110-1, 2110-2), the base station can predict that UEs (2110-1, 2110-2) will have similar service link path losses.

[0236] In one embodiment, location-related information for each terminal may be reported by each terminal or estimated by the base station. The base station may use the location-related information for each terminal to select nearby terminals during the OCC terminal selection process.

[0237] In one embodiment, each terminal can implicitly and / or explicitly inform the base station of the beam index information used by each terminal. Adjacent terminals can utilize the same beam index. Therefore, the base station can utilize the beam index information of each terminal to select nearby terminals during the OCC terminal selection process.

[0238]

[0239] Transmitted power information

[0240] Considering the cell size of NTN, the transmission power information may be used in the conversion process of other information rather than being used solely in the OCC terminal selection process, or may be used as an additional information element to be reflected for the secondary terminal selection process after the primary terminal selection process based on other information.

[0241] According to one embodiment, the transmission power information may be used to select OCC terminals for OCC application, and to improve the accuracy of the relative reception power of each terminal being compared. For example, in a situation where uplink reception power information is used in the OCC terminal selection process, if the transmission power of the terminal and / or satellite corresponding to the uplink reception power information and the transmission power of the terminal and / or satellite when OCC is applied are different, the base station may convert the uplink reception power information of each terminal to reflect the difference in the corresponding transmission powers.

[0242] As another example, in a situation where downlink reception power information is used in the OCC terminal selection process, if the transmission power of the base station and / or satellite corresponding to the downlink reception power information and the transmission power of the terminal / satellite when OCC is applied are different, the base station can convert the downlink reception power information of each terminal to reflect the difference in the corresponding transmission powers.

[0243] As another example, when UE-specific TA information is used in the OCC terminal selection process, the base station can calculate the relative reception power reflecting the transmission power and service link path loss for each terminal by converting the UE-specific TA information for each terminal into path loss and then additionally reflecting the terminal transmission power.

[0244] If the transmission power information is used as an additional information element after the OCC terminal selection process using other information, it may be as follows. For example, the base station may select a plurality of candidate terminals having relatively similar UE-specific TAs using the UE-specific TA information of each terminal, and select terminals among the plurality of candidate terminals that have similarities in terms of UE-specific TA and transmission power as OCC terminals. As another example, the base station may select a plurality of candidate terminals within a relatively adjacent area using the location information of each terminal, and select terminals among the plurality of candidate terminals within the selected adjacent area that have similar transmission powers as OCC terminals.

[0245] In the above description, when uplink reception power information is used, if there is a TPC (transmit power control) that is not currently reflected in the uplink transmission power but should be reflected before applying OCC, the uplink transmission power must be calculated by taking into account the TPC.

[0246]

[0247] As described above, at least some of the UE-specific TA information, reception power information, location and beam information, and transmission power information must be implicitly and / or explicitly transmitted from the terminal to the base station. In an NTN environment, the UE-specific TA of each terminal is reported to the base station from the terminal through a TA report during the RRC connection procedure, or is reported to the base station through a TA report when the TA change value increases in the RRC connection state. Alternatively, the UE-specific TA of each terminal may be reported to the base station immediately when a TA change occurs. Alternatively, the UE-specific TA of each terminal may be reported to the base station at every period defined in the standard. Alternatively, the UE-specific TA of each terminal may be reported from each terminal to the base station based on a TA reporting period configured through cell-specific signaling such as SIB or UE-specific signaling. Alternatively, the UE-specific TA of each terminal may be reported upon the request of the base station. For example, a base station may request a UE-specific TA to a specific UE using UE-specific signaling such as downlink control information (DCI), MAC CE, or RRC message, and the specific UE may transmit a TA report including the UE-specific TA to the base station in response to the request of the base station. Alternatively, the UE may transmit a TA report including its UE-specific TA value always or based on the number of UCI transmissions when transmitting a UCI such as a scheduling request (SR). For example, the UE may transmit a TA report every n times it transmits a UCI, or may transmit a TA report every n times it transmits a UCI including an SR. n may be a value greater than or equal to 1.

[0248] The aforementioned UE-specific TA reporting methods can be equally applied when at least one of reception power information, location information, or transmission power information must be obtained by reporting from the UE. For example, at least one of reception power information, location information, or transmission power information can be implicitly and / or explicitly transmitted to the base station using any one of the aforementioned UE-specific TA reporting methods.

[0249] According to one embodiment, the conversion processes may be performed at the terminal instead of the base station. Information converted at the terminal may be transmitted to the base station via the aforementioned reporting methods. For example, the terminal may obtain at least one of a service link distance, a path loss exponent, a path loss decibel (dB), or an expected reception power considering only the transmission power and the service link path loss through a conversion process for UE-specific TA information, and transmit the obtained at least one piece of information as converted UE-specific TA information. In this case, whether or not to convert the information and / or the conversion method may be defined in the standard. Alternatively, whether or not to convert the information and / or the conversion method may be determined by the base station and then transmitted to the terminal via cell-specific signaling, group signaling, and / or UE-specific signaling.

[0250]

[0251] As previously explained, the base station selects OCC terminals using individual or multiple pieces of information acquired from each terminal. The process of selecting OCC terminals can be divided into Step A and Step B. Step A performs the process of acquiring and converting necessary information, and Step B selects OCC terminals from among multiple candidate terminals based on the necessary information. At this time, scheduling processes such as scheduling request (SR), buffer status report (BSR), and / or frequency resource allocation per terminal may be reflected in each step, or the corresponding scheduling process may be included in each step.

[0252] In step A, the base station may obtain at least one of information required to select OCC terminals, such as UE-specific TA information, reception power information, location and beam-related information, or transmission power information, as described above. The information required to select OCC terminals may be defined in the specification. The base station may collect information currently available and obtainable at the base station among the information required to select OCC terminals, and may convert and / or process the collected information. Here, the conversion and / or processing of the information may be performed at the terminal. For example, after converting and / or processing the information required by the base station to select OCC terminals in each terminal, the information may be reported to the base station. In this case, the base station may omit the conversion and / or processing procedure.

[0253] In step B, the base station may select, group, or order terminals for OCC application based on the information acquired through step A.

[0254] According to one embodiment, the length of the OCC sequence (e.g., the maximum number of terminals that can be supported within an OCC transmission unit) may be determined prior to performing step B. In this case, in step B, the base station may select a number of terminals corresponding to the length of the OCC sequence, i.e., the maximum number of terminals that can be supported within an OCC transmission unit, based on the information acquired through step A. For example, if the length of the OCC sequence is L, since the maximum number of terminals that can be supported within an OCC transmission unit is L, the base station may select L terminals based on the information acquired through step A. Alternatively, in step B, the base station may select a plurality of OCC groups including a number of terminals corresponding to the length of the OCC sequence. For example, if the length of the OCC sequence is L, the base station may select a plurality of OCC groups based on the information acquired through step A, wherein each of the plurality of OCC groups may include a maximum of L terminals.

[0255] In one embodiment, the length of the OCC sequence may not be determined before or during Step B. In this case, the base station may sort the terminals in ascending or descending order based on the information obtained for each terminal in Step B. After sorting the terminals in ascending or descending order, if the length of the OCC sequence is determined, the base station may select the terminals corresponding to the length of the OCC sequence.

[0256] FIG. 22 illustrates examples of selecting OCC terminals in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 22 illustrates a case where the length of the OCC sequence is L.

[0257] Referring to Figure 22, in the first case (case 1), the base station can select up to L UEs. In the second case (case 2), the base station can select multiple OCC groups having up to L UEs. In the third case (case 3), the base station can arrange the UEs based on the locations of each of the multiple UEs, such that UEs located closer to the first UE have higher priorities, and UEs located farther from the first UE have lower priorities.

[0258] Step B, as described above, is performed using the information acquired through step A. Specifically, the base station can check the transmission performance of each terminal based on specific information (e.g., reception power information, UE-specific TA) among the acquired information, and select, group, or sort a given number of terminals from among a plurality of terminals based on the transmission performance of each terminal. For example, the base station can select, group, or sort L terminals that are determined to have relatively high transmission performance from among the plurality of terminals based on at least one of reception power information or UE-specific TA information of each of the plurality of terminals. As another example, the base station can select, group, or sort L terminals that are determined to have relatively low transmission performance from among the plurality of terminals based on at least one of reception power information or UE-specific TA information of each of the plurality of terminals. Here, a terminal with high reception power or a small UE-specific TA value can be judged to have relatively high transmission performance, and a terminal with low reception power or a large UE-specific TA value can be judged to have relatively low transmission performance.

[0259] Alternatively, the base station may select, group, or sort terminals that are determined to have similar values ​​based on specific information (e.g., received power information, UE-specific TA) among the acquired information. For example, the base station may select, group, or sort terminals that, when selected, have at least one of the variance, standard deviation, or mean error for received power and / or UE-specific TA that is the minimum value.

[0260] Alternatively, the base station may select, group, or sort a given number of terminals based on terminals that are judged to have relatively high performance in a particular frequency resource or terminals that are judged to have relatively low transmission performance.

[0261] According to one embodiment, when terminals are grouped or sorted, after the grouping or sorting, up to L terminals predicted to achieve the highest transmission performance according to the judgment of the base station may be selected, or up to L terminals predicted to achieve the lowest transmission performance may be selected. Alternatively, a separate base station scheduling algorithm may be executed so that terminals included in the same OCC transmission unit in each frequency resource are selected based on the grouping and / or sorting results. The scheduling algorithm may include at least one of a data rate priority, a fairness priority, a latency priority, or a proportional fair method.

[0262] An example of the specific information usage procedure for step B of selecting terminals is as shown in [Table 12].

[0263] Case 1 st stage 2 nd stage(if any)3 rdstage(if any)1received power information2UE-specific TA information3location&beam related information4received power informationUE-specific TA information5received power informationlocation&beam related information6UE-specific TA information7UE-specific TA informationlocation&beam related information8UE-specific TA informationtransmitted power information9location&beam related informationreceived power information10location&beam related informationUE-specific TA information11location&beam related informationtransmitted power information12received power informationUE-specific TA informationlocation&beam related information13received power informationlocation&beam related informationUE-specific TA information14UE-specific TA informationreceived power informationlocation&beam related information15UE-specific TA informationlocation&beam related informationreceived power information16UE-specific TA informationlocation&beam related informationtransmitted power information17location&beamrelated informationreceived power informationUE-specific TA information18location&beam related informationUE-specific TA informationreceived power information19location&beam related informationUE-specific TA informationtransmitted power information

[0264] As shown in [Table 12], the specific information utilization procedure of Step B may consist of Step 1, Step 2, or Step 3 depending on the case. When the information as shown in each row of [Table 12] is utilized, a situation may arise where there are multiple combinations of selectable terminals. In this case, scheduling requirements such as SR and / or BSR, or channel condition information for each frequency resource may be considered, or a desired number of terminals may be selected through random selection. Furthermore, at each step, multiple values ​​related to the information utilized at that step may be utilized. For example, in the selection step using received power information, at least one of UL SRS-RSRP, uplink received power estimated via PUSCH and / or PUCCH, or SS-RSRP reported via a measurement report may be utilized for terminal selection.

[0265] The base station may utilize the information based on any one of the cases in [Table 12], depending on the information acquired or available for each terminal. In one embodiment, if only one of the reception power information, UE-specific TA information, or location and beam-related information of each terminal is acquired or available, the base station may select OCC terminals using only one piece of information, such as Case 1, Case 2, or Case 3. In one embodiment, if at least two or more pieces of information are acquired or available, including the reception power information, UE-specific TA information, location and beam-related information, and transmission power information of each terminal, the base station may utilize all or only some of the information to select OCC terminals.

[0266] For example, although the reception power information, UE-specific TA information, location and beam related information, and transmission power information of each terminal are all acquired and available, the base station can select OCC terminals using only the UE-specific TA information among the information, as in Example 2. As another example, although the reception power information, UE-specific TA information, location and beam related information, and transmission power information of each terminal are all acquired and available, the base station can select OCC terminals using only the UE-specific TA information and transmission power information among the information, as in Example 8. As another example, although the reception power information and location and beam related information of each terminal are acquired and available, the base station can select OCC terminals using only the reception power information among the information, as in Example 1.

[0267] As described above, when multiple pieces of information are acquired and available, the order of use of the acquired multiple pieces of information, or the priority for selecting some of the acquired multiple pieces of information, may be determined based on the decision of the base station or the specifications. Transmission power information is not solely used in the process of selecting OCC terminals, but may be used to convert other information (e.g., reception power information) prior to selecting terminals, or may be considered as an additional information element for selecting the final OCC terminals after selecting candidate terminals based on other information.

[0268] As mentioned above, the specific procedure for selecting OCC terminals using information about each terminal can be defined in the standard such that the base station performs only a specific procedure in a single form, or selects a specific procedure from among multiple procedures based on conditions based on information acquisition or the base station's own judgment. The selection of a specific procedure from among multiple procedures can be performed periodically, once upon the occurrence of a specified event, or repeatedly.

[0269] Step B of selecting OCC terminals may be performed after scheduling, resource allocation, and / or resource determination, such as determining frequency resources to which OCC will be applied and determining OCC length, have been performed. Alternatively, Step B of selecting OCC terminals may be performed in conjunction with the scheduling, resource allocation, and / or resource determination steps. Alternatively, scheduling, resource allocation, and / or resource determination may be performed after Step B of selecting OCC terminals has been performed. Alternatively, the process of selecting some terminals may be iteratively performed by performing scheduling, resource allocation, and / or resource determination and Step B of selecting terminals (e.g., sequential processing or combined processing). In this case, all terminals may be selected through iterative processing of the process of selecting some terminals.

[0270] FIG. 23 illustrates an example of sequence allocation in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0271] Referring to FIG. 23, one or more sequences may be assigned to each terminal. In particular, when multiple sequences are assigned to a single terminal, the single terminal to which the multiple sequences are assigned may be treated as multiple terminals. For example, when a first sequence and a second sequence are assigned to UE1, the base station may treat UE1 having the first sequence and UE1 having the second sequence as separate terminals when performing step B. A terminal using multiple OCC sequences can achieve higher throughput than another terminal using a single OCC sequence. In addition, although terminals using multiple OCC sequences are treated as multiple terminals, there is no difference in their received power information (e.g., RSRP), TA information (e.g., UE-specific TA information), and / or beam and position information. Therefore, when a single terminal using multiple OCC sequences is included in one OCC group as multiple terminals, the occurrence of a near-far problem can be completely prevented regardless of the channel conditions.

[0272] As described with reference to FIG. 23, in step B of selecting OCC terminals, a case in which multiple OCC sequences are assigned to individual terminals may be considered. In this case, the base station may select the OCC terminals so that each of the multiple terminals uses only one OCC sequence, or may select the OCC terminals so that one terminal uses all of the multiple OCC sequences within one OCC transmission unit. Alternatively, the base station may select at least one terminal that uses multiple OCC sequences and at least one terminal that uses one OCC sequence together.

[0273] Figure 24 illustrates examples of selection of OCC terminals in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 24 illustrates a case where up to four terminals are selected in a situation where multiple OCC sequences are allowed to be assigned to each terminal.

[0274] Referring to FIG. 24, according to the first case, four terminals using a single sequence, i.e., UE1, UE2, UE3, and UE4, can be selected as terminals to perform uplink transmission based on OCC on the same time-frequency resource.

[0275] According to the second case, one terminal, i.e., UE1, using four sequences may be treated as four terminals according to the sequences and may be selected as terminals to perform uplink transmission based on OCC on the same time-frequency resource.

[0276] According to the third case, one UE1 using two sequences, and UE2 and UE3 using one sequence can be selected as terminals to perform uplink transmission based on OCC on the same time-frequency resource. In this case, UE1 can be treated as two terminals depending on the sequence.

[0277] The third case may include a case where two or more sequences are assignable to UE1 and multiple sequences are assignable to at least one of UE2 and UE3, and only two sequences are assigned to UE1 and only one sequence is assigned to each of UE2 and UE3. Alternatively, the third case may include a case where only a single sequence is assignable to each of UE2 and UE3, and only one sequence is assigned to each of UE2 and UE3. Alternatively, the first case may include a case where multiple sequences are assignable to at least one of UE1 to UE4, and only one sequence is assigned to each UE.

[0278] As explained with reference to FIG. 24, in a situation where multiple sequences can be assigned to one terminal, the base station may consider a case where only some of the multiple sequences are assigned to one terminal.

[0279]

[0280] As mentioned above, when each terminal uses multiple OCC sequences, the receive power or UE-specific TA value must be adjusted based on the current transmit power value and the maximum transmit power value for each terminal.

[0281] FIG. 25 illustrates an example of a procedure for selecting OCC terminals in a wireless communication system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 25 illustrates the operating procedures of a base station. At least some of the operations in FIG. 25 can be understood as detailed operations of step S1701 in FIG. 17.

[0282] Referring to FIG. 25, in step S2501, the base station adjusts the transmission power of the terminal based on the number of OCC sequences. The base station can adjust the transmission power information of each terminal based on the number of OCC sequences available to each terminal. For example, the base station can adjust the current transmission power value corresponding to the case where the terminal uses a single OCC sequence to the transmission power value when the terminal uses N OCC sequences. At this time, the base station can adjust the transmission power value of the terminal considering the maximum output power set by the terminal. For example, the base station can adjust the transmission power value of the terminal so that N times the transmission power value to be adjusted is less than or equal to a threshold set considering the maximum output power set by the terminal.

[0283] In step S2503, the base station adjusts the reception power or TA information of the terminal based on the adjusted transmission power. The base station may adjust at least one of the reception power or TA information of the terminal based on the difference between the current transmission power of the terminal and the adjusted transmission power. For example, the base station may adjust the difference between the current transmission power of the terminal and the adjusted transmission power. And, If, It is predicted that path loss and / or service link distance increase corresponding to the attenuation will occur, and based on this, the reception power or TA information of the terminal can be adjusted.

[0284] In step S2505, the base station selects OCC terminals based on the adjusted information. The base station may select OCC terminals based on at least one of the adjusted reception power information or adjusted TA information of the terminal.

[0285]

[0286] Even if a power value N times higher than the current transmission power value is used to simultaneously use N OCC sequences from a single terminal, if the UE configured maximum output power is not reached, no adjustment may be made to the reception power or UE-specific TA value. This can be expressed as in mathematical equation 1.

[0287]

[0288] In [Equation 1], is the current transmission power of the terminal, is the terminal setting maximum output power of the terminal. It is less than or equal to the threshold. Is is set identically or by the base station's judgment or by rules defined by the standards (e.g. rules considering interference effects). It can be set to the following values. The values ​​in [Mathematical Formula 1] are expressed in a linear scale and can be calculated using a modified formula using dBm. At this time, there may be a TPC that is not reflected in the current uplink transmission power of the terminal, but will be reflected before the OCC is applied. In this case, the current transmission power of the terminal must be calculated taking into account the corresponding TPC.

[0289] If the current power is N times the power to use N OCC sequences simultaneously in one terminal, If it exceeds , information on the transmission power of the terminal can be adjusted as in [Mathematical Formula 2].

[0290]

[0291] In [Mathematical Formula 2], N is the number of OCC sequences, is the current transmission power of the terminal, is the transmission power of the terminal to be adjusted when using N OCC sequences, is the current transmission power and adjustable transmission power The difference between the liver, is the terminal setting maximum output power of the terminal. is less than or equal to the critical value. Comparing [Equation 1] and [Equation 2], when N = 1 And, The values ​​of [Mathematical Formula 2] are expressed in a linear scale and can be calculated using a modified formula using dBm.

[0292] As calculated above and Based on this, the reception power and UE-specific TA information can be adjusted when an individual terminal uses multiple OCC sequences.

[0293] should, or In this case, when a specific terminal uses multiple OCC sequences, the reception power information and UE-specific TA information of the specific terminal are the same as when the terminal uses a single OCC sequence. Therefore, in the OCC terminal selection step, no additional conversion is required to apply multiple OCC sequences of a specific terminal.

[0294] the other side, or In this case, the reception power information of a specific terminal when it uses multiple OCC sequences is different from that of a terminal when it uses a single OCC sequence. can be adjusted to reduce the amount of or If, Path loss corresponding to the attenuation This additionally occurs and accordingly It is expected that the service link distance will increase by that amount. Therefore, Since the number of UE-specific TAs is expected to increase, the UE-specific TA information for a specific terminal when it uses multiple OCC sequences will be larger than that for a terminal when it uses a single OCC sequence. can be adjusted to increase by as much as . In this case, when UE-specific TA information is converted and applied as path loss or service link distance, path loss and service link distance respectively or It can be adjusted to increase as much as possible.

[0295]

[0296] As mentioned above, when terminals for OCC-based transmission on a specific time-frequency resource are determined through OCC terminal selection and scheduling, information related to the OCC must be provided to the determined terminals. For example, information related to the OCC may include the OCC length, the basic OCC sequence ID, the number of OCC sequences to be used by each terminal, multiple OCC sequence IDs for terminals using multiple sequences, or a power adjustment value of each terminal (e.g., ) may include at least one of the following. Here, the OCC length and the basic OCC sequence ID can be understood as basic OCC information that must be provided to the terminal for OCC application. The OCC length indicates the length of the OCC sequence or the OCC application range, and the OCC sequence ID means the sequence ID when each terminal uses a single OCC sequence. The number of OCC sequences to be used by each terminal, multiple OCC sequence IDs for terminals using multiple sequences, or a power adjustment value of each terminal (e.g., ) may be understood as additional OCC information that must be additionally provided to terminals for the method proposed in the present disclosure. Information related to the OCC may be transmitted to the terminal via UE-specific signaling, such as downlink control information (DCI), MAC CE, or RRC message from the base station. Signaling including the additional OCC information may be transmitted before or together with signaling for the OCC including the basic OCC information. At least one of the additional OCC information may be defined in the standard to apply a predefined value depending on the situation. For example, a rule may be defined such that the base station provides each terminal with the number of OCC sequences to be used by each terminal, and each terminal calculates a plurality of different OCC sequence IDs to be used by the terminal based on at least one of the number of OCCs, the basic sequence ID, or the sequence length. As another example, a rule may be defined such that each terminal calculates a power adjustment value according to the number of OCC sequences to be used by each terminal. Rules for power adjustment values ​​for each terminal may not be applicable, or power adjustment values ​​may not be calculated based on the rules for each terminal. In this case, if the range of power adjustment values ​​is not wide, terminal power can be adjusted using the conventional TPC-based power adjustment method via DCI rather than separate signaling prior to OCC execution.

[0297]

[0298] Examples of OCC allocation according to embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated in FIGS. 26 to 28 . In FIGS. 26 to 28 , blocks of the same pattern indicate resources included in the same OCC application unit. The same OCC application unit refers to a spreading and / or despreading unit based on a single OCC sequence. indicates the nth symbol of the kth terminal. Here, the nth symbol indicates the symbol before diffusion.

[0299] FIG. 26 illustrates examples of OCC terminal selection when applying in-symbol OCC in a wireless communication system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. In-symbol OCC may be applied prior to a transform precoding (e.g., DFT) operation.

[0300] Referring to FIG. 26, the first example (Ex1) is an example in which the number of OCC terminals is two, the OCC length is two, and three symbols are modulated after spreading. That is, the first example shows a case in which UE1 and UE2 are selected as OCC terminals, and each UE is determined to use a single sequence. In this case, each of UE1 and UE2 selected as OCC terminals can perform intra-symbol OCC based on a single sequence.

[0301] The second example (Ex2) is an example in which the number of OCC terminals is 1, the OCC length is 2, and 3 symbols are modulated after spreading. That is, the second example shows a case in which UE1 is selected as an OCC terminal and UE1 is determined to use two sequences. In this case, UE1 can perform intra-symbol OCC based on each of the two sequences. Symbols spread based on the first sequence and symbols spread based on the second sequence can be transmitted in an overlapping manner on the same time and frequency resources.

[0302] The third example (Ex3) is an example in which the number of OCC terminals is three, the OCC length is six, and two symbols are modulated after spreading. That is, the third example shows a case in which UE1, UE2, and UE3 are selected as OCC terminals, and UE1 is determined to use three sequences, UE2 to use two sequences, and UE3 to use one sequence. In this case, UE1 can perform intra-symbol OCC based on each of the three sequences, UE2 can perform intra-symbol OCC based on each of the two sequences, and UE3 can perform intra-symbol OCC based on one sequence.

[0303]

[0304] FIG. 27 illustrates examples of OCC terminal selection when applying symbol-based OCC (OCC across symbols) in a wireless communication system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 26 illustrates an example in which the same OCC application results are derived in the first and second slots.

[0305] Referring to FIG. 27, the first example (Ex1) is an example in which the number of OCC terminals is 2, the OCC length is 3, and the number of PUSCH symbols used for repetition within one slot is 3. That is, the first example shows a case in which UE1 and UE2 are selected as OCC terminals, and UE1 is determined to use two sequences, and UE2 is determined to use a single sequence. In this case, UE1 can perform symbol-based OCC based on two sequences, and UE2 can perform symbol-based OCC based on a single sequence.

[0306] The second example (Ex2) is an example in which the number of OCC terminals is 4, the OCC length is 4, and the number of PUSCH symbols used for repetition within a single slot is 4. That is, the second example shows a case in which UE1, UE2, UE3, and UE4 are selected as OCC terminals, and each UE is determined to use a single sequence. In this case, UE1, UE2, UE3, and UE4 can each perform symbol-level OCC based on a single sequence.

[0307] The third example (Ex3) is an example in which the number of OCC terminals is 6, the OCC length is 8, and the number of PUSCH symbols used for repetition within one slot is 8. That is, the third example shows a case in which UE1, UE2, UE3, UE4, and UE5 are selected as OCC terminals, and UE1 is determined to use three sequences, UE2 is determined to use two sequences, and UE3, UE4, and UE5 are determined to use a single sequence. In this case, UE1 can perform symbol-wise OCC based on three sequences, UE2 can perform symbol-wise OCC based on two sequences, and UE4 can perform symbol-wise OCC based on a single sequence.

[0308]

[0309] FIG. 28 illustrates examples of OCC terminal selection when applying slot-based OCC (OCC across slots) in a wireless communication system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0310] Referring to FIG. 28, the first example (Ex1) is an example in which the number of OCC terminals is 2, the OCC length is 2, and the number of PUSCH symbols used for repetition within a single slot is 4. That is, the first example shows a case in which UE1 and UE2 are selected as OCC terminals, and each of UE1 and UE2 is determined to use a single sequence. In this case, each of UE1 and UE2 can perform slot-based OCC based on a single sequence.

[0311] The second example (Ex2) is an example in which the number of OCC terminals is 3, the OCC length is 4, and the number of PUSCH symbols used for repetition within a single slot is 5. That is, the second example shows a case in which UE1, UE2, UE3, and UE4 are selected as OCC terminals, and each UE is determined to use a single sequence. In this case, UE1, UE2, UE3, and UE4 can each perform slot-based OCC based on a single sequence.

[0312] The third example (Ex3) is an example in which the number of OCC terminals is 4, the OCC length is 8, and the number of PUSCH symbols used for repetition within a single slot is 6. That is, the third example shows a case in which UE1, UE2, UE3, and UE4 are selected as OCC terminals, and each UE is determined to use two sequences. In this case, UE1, UE2, UE3, and UE4 can each perform slot-based OCC based on the two sequences.

[0313]

[0314] As described above, when applying OCC to increase NTN uplink capacity, selecting terminals to share the same time and frequency resources can contribute to the practical application of OCC for increasing uplink capacity in existing NTNs. Furthermore, the present disclosure can prevent performance degradation that may occur due to selecting terminals in non-adjacent locations or with different degrees of path loss as terminals for OCC application.

[0315]

[0316] The methods according to the present disclosure may be implemented in the form of program instructions that can be executed by various computer means and recorded on a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, etc., either singly or in combination. The program instructions recorded on the computer-readable medium may be those specifically designed and configured for the present disclosure or may be known and available to those skilled in the computer software art.

[0317] Examples of computer-readable media include hardware devices specifically configured to store and execute program instructions, such as ROM, RAM, and flash memory. Examples of program instructions include machine language code, such as that produced by a compiler, as well as high-level language code that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter, etc.

[0318] While some aspects of the present disclosure have been described in the context of a device, they may also represent a description of a corresponding method, wherein a block or device corresponds to a method step or a feature of a method step. Similarly, aspects described in the context of a method may also be described as a corresponding block or item or a feature of a corresponding device. Some or all of the method steps may be performed by (or using) a hardware device, such as, for example, a microprocessor, a programmable computer, or an electronic circuit. In some embodiments, at least one or more of the most significant method steps may be performed by such a device.

[0319] A programmable logic device (e.g., a field-programmable gate array) may be used to perform some or all of the functions of the methods described in this disclosure. The field-programmable gate array may operate in conjunction with a microprocessor to perform one of the methods described in this disclosure. In general, the methods are preferably performed by some hardware device.

[0320] Although the present disclosure has been described with reference to the above embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications and changes can be made to the present disclosure without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as set forth in the claims below.

Claims

1. In a method of operating a terminal in a wireless communication system, Receiving DCI (downlink control information) including UL (uplink) grant; Generating a UL TB containing data; Applying an orthogonal covering code (OCC) to signals included in a plurality of slots including symbols including the above data; and Including transmitting the above signals, The above OCC is applied using one of the OCC sequences assigned to the terminal group including the terminal, A method wherein the terminal group includes a plurality of terminals located in similar positions.

2. In claim 1, A method in which the plurality of terminals are determined to be included in the terminal group based on the carrier frequency offset of each of the plurality of terminals.

3. In claim 1, A method in which the plurality of terminals are determined to be included in the terminal group based on at least one of reception power information, information for TA (timing advance) compensation, location information, beam information, transmission power information, path loss, or frequency offset of each of the plurality of terminals.

4. In claim 1, A method further comprising receiving at least one of the number of OCC sequences allocated to the terminal from the base station, at least one OCC sequence ID corresponding to the number of allocated OCC sequences, or transmission power adjustment information.

5. In a method of operating a base station in a wireless communication system, Determining a terminal group comprising multiple terminals; Transmitting DCI (downlink control information) including an UL (uplink) grant to the plurality of terminals; and It includes receiving signals to which an orthogonal covering code (OCC) is applied from the above plurality of terminals, A method wherein the terminal group includes a plurality of terminals located in similar positions.

6. In claim 5, A method in which the plurality of terminals are determined to be included in the terminal group based on the carrier frequency offset of each of the plurality of terminals.

7. In claim 5, A method in which the plurality of terminals are determined to be included in the terminal group based on at least one of reception power information, information for TA (timing advance) compensation, location information, beam information, transmission power information, path loss, or frequency offset of each of the plurality of terminals.

8. In claim 7, A method in which the plurality of terminals are determined to be included in the terminal group further based on the path loss or distance of the service link determined based on the information for the TA compensation of each of the plurality of terminals.

9. In claim 7, A method in which the plurality of terminals are determined to be included in the terminal group based on at least one of variance, standard deviation, or average error based on at least one of reception power information of each of the plurality of terminals or information for TA compensation.

10. In claim 5, A method wherein the number of the plurality of terminals is determined based on at least one of the length of the OCC sequence or the number of OCC sequences available to each of the plurality of terminals.

11. In claim 5, Determining the above terminal group is: Adjusting the transmission power of at least one terminal based on the number of available OCC sequences of at least one terminal among the plurality of terminals; Adjusting at least one of the reception power of the at least one terminal or information for TA compensation based on the adjusted transmission power; and A method comprising determining the terminal group including the plurality of terminals based on at least one of the adjusted reception power or TA compensation information.

12. In claim 5, A method further comprising transmitting at least one of the number of OCC sequences allocated to each of the plurality of terminals, at least one allocated OCC sequence ID, or transmission power adjustment information.

13. In claim 5, A method wherein at least one of the number of OCC sequences allocated to each of the plurality of terminals, at least one allocated OCC sequence ID, or transmission power adjustment information is transmitted through at least one of the DCI, MAC (medium access control) CE (control element), or RRC (radio resource control) message.

14. In claim 5, Receiving signals to which OCC is applied from the above multiple terminals is A method comprising receiving signals to which the OCC is applied from the plurality of terminals at the same time and frequency resources.

15. In a wireless communication system, at a terminal, At least one transmitter / receiver; at least one processor; and At least one memory operably connected to said at least one processor and storing instructions that, when executed by said processor, control said terminal to perform operations; The above actions are, Receiving DCI (downlink control information) including UL (uplink) grant; Generating a UL TB containing data; Applying an orthogonal covering code (OCC) to signals included in a plurality of slots including symbols including the above data; and Including transmitting the above signals, The above OCC is applied using one of the OCC sequences assigned to the terminal group including the terminal, A method wherein the terminal group includes a plurality of terminals located in similar positions.

16. In claim 15, A terminal in which the plurality of terminals are determined to be included in the terminal group based on the carrier frequency offset of each of the plurality of terminals.

17. In claim 15, A terminal in which the plurality of terminals are determined to be included in the terminal group based on at least one of reception power information, information for TA (timing advance) compensation, location information, beam information, transmission power information, path loss, or frequency offset of each of the plurality of terminals.

18. In a base station in a wireless communication system, At least one transmitter / receiver; at least one processor; and At least one memory operably connected to said at least one processor and storing instructions that, when executed by said processor, control said base station to perform operations; The above actions are, Determining a terminal group comprising multiple terminals; Transmitting DCI (downlink control information) including an UL (uplink) grant to the plurality of terminals; and It includes receiving signals to which an orthogonal covering code (OCC) is applied from the above plurality of terminals, The above terminal group comprises a plurality of terminals located in similar locations. A base station.

19. In claim 18, A base station, wherein the plurality of terminals are determined to be included in the terminal group based on a carrier frequency offset.

20. In claim 18, A base station in which the plurality of terminals are determined to be included in the terminal group based on at least one of reception power information, information for TA (timing advance) compensation, location information, beam information, transmission power information, path loss, or frequency offset of each of the plurality of terminals.

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