Method performed by node and node device in a communication system

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a 5G or 6G communication system for supporting a higher data transmission rate. The present disclosure relates to a method performed by a node in a communication system and a node device. According to an aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a method performed by a first node, comprising: receiving a broadcast message related to a transmission; if it is determined based on the broadcast message to determine a time unit for transmission based on the identification information of the first node, determine a first time unit for transmission based on the identification information of the first node, and transmit second information based on the first time unit; otherwise, a time unit for transmission is randomly selected, and the first information is transmitted in the selected time unit, where the length of the second information is not greater than the length of the first information.

Description

METHOD PERFORMED BY NODE AND NODE DEVICE IN A COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

[0001] The present application relates to communication systems, and more particularly, to communication methods and corresponding devices in Internet of Things (IoT) systems.

[0002] Fifth generation (5G) mobile communication technologies define broad frequency bands such that high transmission rates and new services are possible, and can be implemented not only in "Sub 6 gigahertz (GHz)" bands such as 3.5GHz, but also in "Above 6GHz" bands referred to as millimeter wave (mmWave) including 28GHz and 39GHz. In addition, it has been considered to implement sixth generation (6G) mobile communication technologies (referred to as Beyond 5G systems) in terahertz (THz) bands (for example, 95GHz to 3THz bands) in order to accomplish transmission rates fifty times faster than 5G mobile communication technologies and ultra-low latencies one-tenth of 5G mobile communication technologies.

[0003] At the beginning of the development of 5G mobile communication technologies, in order to support services and to satisfy performance requirements in connection with enhanced Mobile BroadBand (eMBB), Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC), and massive Machine-Type Communications (mMTC), there has been ongoing standardization regarding beamforming and massive multi input multi output (MIMO) for mitigating radio-wave path loss and increasing radio-wave transmission distances in mmWave, supporting numerologies (for example, operating multiple subcarrier spacings) for efficiently utilizing mmWave resources and dynamic operation of slot formats, initial access technologies for supporting multi-beam transmission and broadbands, definition and operation of BandWidth Part (BWP), new channel coding methods such as a Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) code for large amount of data transmission and a polar code for highly reliable transmission of control information, L2 pre-processing, and network slicing for providing a dedicated network specialized to a specific service.

[0004] Currently, there are ongoing discussions regarding improvement and performance enhancement of initial 5G mobile communication technologies in view of services to be supported by 5G mobile communication technologies, and there has been physical layer standardization regarding technologies such as Vehicle-to-everything (V2X) for aiding driving determination by autonomous vehicles based on information regarding positions and states of vehicles transmitted by the vehicles and for enhancing user convenience, New Radio Unlicensed (NR-U) aimed at system operations conforming to various regulation-related requirements in unlicensed bands, new radio (NR) user equipment (UE) Power Saving, Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) which is UE-satellite direct communication for providing coverage in an area in which communication with terrestrial networks is unavailable, and positioning.

[0005] Moreover, there has been ongoing standardization in air interface architecture / protocol regarding technologies such as Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) for supporting new services through interworking and convergence with other industries, Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) for providing a node for network service area expansion by supporting a wireless backhaul link and an access link in an integrated manner, mobility enhancement including conditional handover and Dual Active Protocol Stack (DAPS) handover, and two-step random access for simplifying random access procedures (2-step random access channel (RACH) for NR). There also has been ongoing standardization in system architecture / service regarding a 5G baseline architecture (for example, service based architecture or service based interface) for combining Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) and Software-Defined Networking (SDN) technologies, and Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) for receiving services based on UE positions.

[0006] As 5G mobile communication systems are commercialized, connected devices that have been exponentially increasing will be connected to communication networks, and it is accordingly expected that enhanced functions and performances of 5G mobile communication systems and integrated operations of connected devices will be necessary. To this end, new research is scheduled in connection with eXtended Reality (XR) for efficiently supporting Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), Mixed Reality (MR) and the like, 5G performance improvement and complexity reduction by utilizing Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), AI service support, metaverse service support, and drone communication.

[0007] Furthermore, such development of 5G mobile communication systems will serve as a basis for developing not only new waveforms for providing coverage in terahertz bands of 6G mobile communication technologies, multi-antenna transmission technologies such as Full Dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antennas and large-scale antennas, metamaterial-based lenses and antennas for improving coverage of terahertz band signals, high-dimensional space multiplexing technology using Orbital Angular Momentum (OAM), and Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface (RIS), but also full-duplex technology for increasing frequency efficiency of 6G mobile communication technologies and improving system networks, AI-based communication technology for implementing system optimization by utilizing satellites and Artificial Intelligence (AI) from the design stage and internalizing end-to-end AI support functions, and next-generation distributed computing technology for implementing services at levels of complexity exceeding the limit of UE operation capability by utilizing ultra-high-performance communication and computing resources.

[0008] Considering the development of wireless communication from generation to generation, the technologies have been developed mainly for services targeting humans, such as voice calls, multimedia services, and data services. Following the commercialization of 5th-generation (5G) communication systems, it is expected that the number of connected devices will exponentially grow. Increasingly, these will be connected to communication networks. Examples of connected things may include vehicles, robots, drones, home appliances, displays, smart sensors connected to various infrastructures, construction machines, and factory equipment. Mobile devices are expected to evolve in various form-factors, such as augmented reality glasses, virtual reality headsets, and hologram devices. In order to provide various services by connecting hundreds of billions of devices and things in the 6th-generation (6G) era, there have been ongoing efforts to develop improved 6G communication systems. For these reasons, 6G communication systems are referred to as beyond-5G systems.

[0009] 6G communication systems, which are expected to be commercialized around 2030, will have a peak data rate of tera (1,000 giga)-level bps and a radio latency less than 100μsec, and thus will be 50 times as fast as 5G communication systems and have the 1 / 10 radio latency thereof.

[0010] In order to accomplish such a high data rate and an ultra-low latency, it has been considered to implement 6G communication systems in a terahertz band (for example, 95GHz to 3THz bands). It is expected that, due to severer path loss and atmospheric absorption in the terahertz bands than those in mmWave bands introduced in 5G, technologies capable of securing the signal transmission distance (that is, coverage) will become more crucial. It is necessary to develop, as major technologies for securing the coverage, radio frequency (RF) elements, antennas, novel waveforms having a better coverage than orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), beamforming and massive multiple input multiple output (MIMO), full dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antennas, and multiantenna transmission technologies such as large-scale antennas. In addition, there has been ongoing discussion on new technologies for improving the coverage of terahertz-band signals, such as metamaterial-based lenses and antennas, orbital angular momentum (OAM), and reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS).

[0011] In order to satisfy the newly added functions of 6G communication system, new technologies need to be developed in network energy-saving, air interface security and network security. Meanwhile, the feasibility of integration technology, such as communication awareness integration, is studied.

[0012] Moreover, in order to improve the spectral efficiency and the overall network performances, the following technologies have been developed for 6G communication systems: a full-duplex technology for enabling an uplink transmission and a downlink transmission to simultaneously use the same frequency resource at the same time; a network technology for utilizing satellites, high-altitude platform stations (HAPS), and the like in an integrated manner; an improved network structure for supporting mobile base stations and the like and enabling network operation optimization and automation and the like; a dynamic spectrum sharing technology via collision avoidance based on a prediction of spectrum usage; an use of artificial intelligence (AI) in wireless communication for improvement of overall network operation by utilizing AI from a designing phase for developing 6G and internalizing end-to-end AI support functions; and a next-generation distributed computing technology for overcoming the limit of user equipment (UE) computing ability through reachable super-high-performance communication and computing resources (such as mobile edge computing (MEC), clouds, and the like) over the network. In addition, through designing new protocols to be used in 6G communication systems, developing mechanisms for implementing a hardware-based security environment and safe use of data, and developing technologies for maintaining privacy, attempts to strengthen the connectivity between devices, optimize the network, promote softwarization of network entities, and increase the openness of wireless communications are continuing.

[0013] It is expected that research and development of 6G communication systems in hyper-connectivity, including person to machine (P2M) as well as machine to machine (M2M), will allow the next hyper-connected experience. Particularly, it is expected that services such as truly immersive extended reality (XR), high-fidelity mobile hologram, and digital replica could be provided through 6G communication systems. In addition, services such as remote surgery for security and reliability enhancement, industrial automation, and emergency response will be provided through the 6G communication system such that the technologies could be applied in various fields such as industry, medical care, automobiles, and home appliances.

[0014] The present disclosure may be used to solve the collision problem and / or the transmission efficiency improvement problem of transmissions by nodes in the communication system.

[0015] According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a method performed by a first node in a communication system, comprising: receiving a broadcast message related to a transmission; if it is determined based on the broadcast message to determine a time unit for transmission based on identification information of the first node, determining a first time unit for transmission based on the identification information of the first node, and transmitting second information based on the first time unit; otherwise, randomly selecting a time unit for transmission, and transmitting first information in the selected time unit, wherein, a length of the second information is not greater than a length of the first information.

[0016] In an implementation, determining a first time unit for transmission based on identification information of the first node comprises: determine the first time unit based on an association between the identification information of the first node and the time unit.

[0017] In an implementation, determining the first time unit based on an association between identification information of the first node and the time unit comprises: determine the first time unit associated with the identification information of the first node based on the identification information of the first node and the number N of time units available for transmission; or determine the first time unit associated with the identification information of the first node based on the identification information of the first node, the number N of time units, and a first offset.

[0018] In an implementation, determining the first time unit associated with the identification information of the first node based on the identification information of the first node and a number N of time units available for transmission comprises: determining the first time unit based on a first result by taking a remainder of the identification information of the first node on the number N of time units, determining the first time unit associated with the identification information of the first node based on the identification information of the first node, the number N of time units, and a first offset comprises: determining the first time unit based on a second result of summing the first result by taking a remainder of the identification information of the first node on the number N of time units and the first offset.

[0019] In an implementation, if the second result is greater than N, the first time unit associated with the identification information of the first node is obtained based on the second result minus N.

[0020] In an implementation, the broadcast message includes first indication information for indicating whether to determine the time unit for transmission based on the identification information of the first node.

[0021] In an implementation, the multiple access resource includes at least one of a sub-time unit, a frequency domain resource and a code domain resource.

[0022] In an implementation, the broadcast message comprises at least one identification information; if the identification information of the first node is included in the at least one identification information, the first time unit is a time unit in which the broadcast message is received, or a time unit with a second offset after the time unit in which the broadcast message is received.

[0023] In an implementation, the method further comprising determining multi-access resource for the transmission in the first time unit based on an order of the identification information of the first node in the at least one identification information.

[0024] In an implementation, the method further comprising: determining a multi-access resource in the first time unit for the transmission based on identification information of the first node.

[0025] In an implementation, the multi-access resource is determined based on identification information of the first node and a number N of time units available for transmission, or information related to mapping between identification information and time units.

[0026] In an implementation, the multi-access resource is determined based on a quotient by taking a remainder of identification information of the first node on the number N of time units available for transmission.

[0027] In an implementation, the broadcast message includes information about the number N of time units available for transmission.

[0028] In an implementation, the broadcast message comprises grouping information of the first node and / or round information of the transmission within a first time period, wherein, the first node determines whether to determine a time unit for transmission based on the identification information of the first node based on the round information or the grouping information corresponding to the first node.

[0029] In an implementation, the first information includes information related to the identification information of the first node, and the second information includes information related to the identification information of the first node or ACK information.

[0030] In an implementation, the first information is a 16-bit random number RN16 and the second information is an 8-bit random number RN8.

[0031] In an implementation, the method further comprises: receiving second indication information to determine the first information and / or the second information, or, determining the first information and / or the second information based on at least one of: grouping information of the first node, round information corresponding to the transmission within a first time period.

[0032] In an implementation, the method further comprising: receiving at least one of: information relating to the first time period, or information related to mapping between the grouping information and the first information or the second information; or information related to mapping between the grouping information and whether to determine a time unit for transmission based on the identification information of the first node.

[0033] In an implementation, the transmission includes the transmission of at least one of the physical device to reader channel PDRCH, PUSCH and PUCCH.

[0034] In an implementation, the method further comprising: receiving third information indicating a collision in the first time unit; based on the third information, performing at least one of: randomly selecting whether to perform transmission in the first time unit; performing transmissions in time division multiplexing, frequency division multiplexing, or code division multiplexing in the first time unit; waiting a third time before performing a transmission; transmitting the second information in the first time unit, wherein, time resource, frequency resource or code domain resource associated with the first time unit and related to the transmission of the first node are associated with the identification information of the first node, or determined based on a received downlink instruction.

[0035] In an implementation, the third information indicates a collision of multiple access resources in the first time unit.

[0036] In an implementation, the method further comprises: receiving fourth information related to a time unit; performing the transmission in a second time unit, the second time unit is determined based on the fourth information or the fourth information and the first time unit.

[0037] In an implementation, the fourth information includes information related to K time units, where K is a positive integer, wherein, if the information related to the first time unit is included in the fourth information, the second time unit is at least one of: the first time unit available for the transmission after receiving the fourth information, or one of the K time units,

[0038] otherwise, the second time unit is obtained based on the first time unit and K.

[0039] In an implementation, one of the K time units as the second time unit is determined based on at least one of: determined according to the reallocation information in the fourth information; determined according to the comparison result of the quotient by taking the remainder of the identification information of the first node on the number N of time units available for transmission and the quotients corresponding to the identification information of other first nodes; randomly selecting from the K time units; determined based on a received downlink message.

[0040] In an implementation, the K time units include at least one colliding time unit and / or at least one idle time unit.

[0041] In an implementation, the fourth information includes information related to idle multiple access resources in at least one time unit, the performing the transmission in the second time unit includes: performing the transmission in a corresponding idle multiple access resource in the second time unit based on the information related to the idle multiple access resource.

[0042] In an implementation, the fourth information includes identification information, if the identification information of the first node is associated with the identification information in the fourth information, the first node performs the transmission within a time unit in which the fourth information is received, or the first node performs the transmission in a time unit with a third offset after the time unit in which the fourth information is received.

[0043] According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a method performed by a second node in a communication system, comprising: determining whether a time unit for transmission is randomly selected by a first node or determined by the first node based on identification information of the first node; transmitting a broadcast message to the first node, the broadcast message comprising information related to a method of determining a time unit for transmission; receiving transmission from at least one first node over at least one time unit.

[0044] In an implementation, the information related to the method of determining the time unit for transmission includes: indication information for indicating whether to determine a time unit for transmission based on the identification information, or at least one identification information.

[0045] In an implementation, the at least one identification information is associated with at least one time unit or with at least one multiple access resource in the time unit.

[0046] In an implementation, the transmission includes first information or second information, the length of the first information is not greater than the length of the second information, the first information includes identification information related information of the first node, the second information includes identification information related information of the first node or ACK information.

[0047] In an implementation, the method further comprises transmitting type-related information of the information included in the transmission to the first node, wherein the type-related information is used for indicating the first information or the second information.

[0048] In an implementation, the method further comprises: transmitting information related to a first time period or mapping information between grouping information and a type of information included in transmission to the first node, wherein in the first time period, the first node performs at least one round of transmission, wherein the grouping information is information related to the group to which the first node belongs.

[0049] In an implementation, the method further comprises: based on the relationship between the identification information of the first nodes to be inventoried and the time units, adjusting the identification information list to be inventoried.

[0050] In an implementation, adjusting the identification information list to be inventoried includes removing a part of the identification of the first nodes corresponding to the colliding time unit from the identification information list to be inventoried.

[0051] In an implementation, the method further comprises: determining whether there is a collision in the at least one time unit; if it is determined that there is a collision in the first time unit, transmitting third information indicating the collision or fourth information related to time units in the first time unit, wherein the fourth information includes information related to K time units, and the K time units include at least one colliding time unit and / or at least one idle time unit.

[0052] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a first node in a communication system is provided, including: a transceiver configured to transmit and / or receive signals; a controller configured to control the first node to perform a method according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0053] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a second node in a communication system is provided, including: a transceiver configured to transmit and / or receive signals; a controller configured to control the second node to perform a method according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0054] The present disclosure provides methods and corresponding devices in IoT systems.

[0055] For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and its advantages, reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals represent like parts:

[0056] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless network according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0057] FIG. 2 illustrates an example base station according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0058] FIG. 3 illustrates an example user equipment according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0059] FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic diagram of a method performed by a first node (e.g., tag) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0060] FIG. 5 illustrates a schematic structural diagram of a first node according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0061] FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic structural diagram of a second node according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0062] Before undertaking the DETAILED DESCRIPTION below, it may be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words and phrases used throughout this patent document. The term “couple” and its derivatives refer to any direct or indirect communication between two or more elements, whether those elements are in physical contact with one another. The terms “transmit,” “receive,” and “communicate,” as well as derivatives thereof, encompass both direct and indirect communication. The terms “include” and “comprise,” as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion without limitation. The term “or” is inclusive, meaning and / or. The phrase “associated with,” as well as derivatives thereof, means to include, be included within, interconnect with, contain, be contained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, be communicable with, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximate to, be bound to or with, have, have a property of, have a relationship to or with, or the like. The term “controller” means any device, system or part thereof that controls at least one operation. Such a controller may be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and software and / or firmware. The functionality associated with any particular controller may be centralized or distributed, whether locally or remotely. The phrase “at least one of,” when used with a list of items, means that different combinations of one or more of the listed items may be used, and only one item in the list may be needed. For example, “at least one of: A, B, and C” includes any of the following combinations: A, B, C, A and B, A and C, B and C, and A and B and C. Likewise, the term “set” means one or more. Accordingly, a set of items can be a single item or a collection of two or more items.

[0063] Moreover, various functions described below can be implemented or supported by one or more computer programs, each of which is formed from computer readable program code and embodied in a computer readable medium. The terms “application” and “program” refer to one or more computer programs, software components, sets of instructions, procedures, functions, objects, classes, instances, related data, or a portion thereof adapted for implementation in a suitable computer readable program code. The phrase “computer readable program code” includes any type of computer code, including source code, object code, and executable code. The phrase “computer readable medium” includes any type of medium capable of being accessed by a computer, such as read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), a hard disk drive, a compact disc (CD), a digital video disc (DVD), or any other type of memory. A “non-transitory” computer readable medium excludes wired, wireless, optical, or other communication links that transport transitory electrical or other signals. A non-transitory computer readable medium includes media where data can be permanently stored and media where data can be stored and later overwritten, such as a rewritable optical disc or an erasable memory device.

[0064] Definitions for other certain words and phrases are provided throughout this patent document. Those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that in many if not most instances, such definitions apply to prior as well as future uses of such defined words and phrases.

[0065] The figures included herein, and the various embodiments used to describe the principles of the present disclosure are by way of illustration only and should not be construed in any way to limit the scope of the disclosure. Further, those skilled in the art will understand that the principles of the present disclosure may be implemented in any suitably arranged wireless communication system.

[0066] FIGs. 1-3 below describe various embodiments of the present disclosure implemented in wireless communications systems. The descriptions of FIGs. 1-3 are not meant to imply physical or architectural limitations to the manner in which different embodiments may be implemented. Different embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in any suitably-arranged communications system.

[0067] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless network according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiment of the wireless network shown in FIG. 1 is for illustration only. Other embodiments of the wireless network 100 could be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0068] As shown in FIG. 1, the wireless network includes a base station (next generation nodeB, gNB or gNodeB) 101, a gNB 102, and a gNB 103. The gNB 101 communicates with the gNB 102 and the gNB 103. The gNB 101 also communicates with at least one network 130, such as the Internet, a proprietary Internet Protocol (IP) network, or other data network.

[0069] The gNB 102 provides wireless broadband access to the network 130 for a first plurality of user equipments (UEs) within a coverage area 120 of the gNB 102. The first plurality of UEs includes a UE 111, which may be located in a small business; a UE 112, which may be located in an enterprise (E); a UE 113, which may be located in a WiFi hotspot (HS); a UE 114, which may be located in a first residence (R1); a UE 115, which may be located in a second residence (R2); and a UE 116, which may be a mobile device (M), such as a cell phone, a wireless laptop, a wireless personal digital assistant (PDA), or the like. The gNB 103 provides wireless broadband access to the network 130 for a second plurality of UEs within a coverage area 125 of the gNB 103. The second plurality of UEs includes the UE 115 and the UE 116, as well as subscriber stations (SS, for example, UEs) 117, 118 and 119. In some embodiments, one or more of the gNBs 101-103 may communicate with each other and with the UEs 111-116 using existing wireless communication techniques, and one or more of the UE 111-119 may communicate directly with each other (e.g., UEs 117-119) using other existing or proposed wireless communication techniques.

[0070] Depending on the network type, the term “base station” or “BS” can refer to any component (or collection of components) configured to provide wireless access to a network, such as transmit point (TP), transmit-receive point (TRP), an enhanced (or “evolved”) base station (eNodeB or eNB), a 5G base station (gNB), a macrocell, a femtocell, a wireless fidelity (WiFi) access point (AP), or other wirelessly enabled devices. Base stations may provide wireless access in accordance with one or more wireless communication protocols, e.g., 3GPP 5G New Radio (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Advanced (LTE-A), high speed packet access (HSPA), Wi-Fi 802.11a / b / g / n / ac, etc. For the sake of convenience, the various names for a base station-type apparatus and functionality are used interchangeably in this patent document to refer to network infrastructure components that provide wireless access to remote terminals. Also, depending on the network type, the term “user equipment” (UE) can refer to any component such as a mobile station (MS), subscriber station (SS), remote terminal, wireless terminal, receive point, or user device. For the sake of convenience, the various names for a user equipment-type device and functionality are used interchangeably in this patent document to refer to remote wireless equipment that wirelessly accesses a BS, whether the UE is a mobile device (such as a mobile telephone or smartphone) or is normally considered a stationary device (such as a desktop computer or vending machine).

[0071] Dotted lines show the approximate extents of the coverage areas 120 and 125, which are shown as approximately circular for the purposes of illustration and explanation only. It should be clearly understood that the coverage areas associated with gNBs, such as the coverage areas 120 and 125, may have other shapes, including irregular shapes, depending upon the configuration of the gNBs and variations in the radio environment associated with natural and man-made obstructions.

[0072] As described in more detail below, one or more of the UEs 111-119 include circuitry, programing, or a combination thereof. In certain embodiments, and one or more of the gNBs 101-103 includes circuitry, programing, or a combination thereof.

[0073] Although FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a wireless network, various changes may be made to FIG. 1. For example, the wireless network could include any number of gNBs and any number of UEs in any suitable arrangement. Also, the gNB 101 could communicate directly with any number of UEs and provide those UEs with wireless broadband access to the network 130. Similarly, each gNB 102-103 could communicate directly with the network 130 and provide UEs with direct wireless broadband access to the network 130. Further, the gNBs 101, 102, and / or 103 could provide access to other or additional external networks, such as external telephone networks or other types of data networks.

[0074] FIG. 2 illustrates an example base station according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiment of the gNB 102 illustrated in FIG. 2 is for illustration only, and the gNBs 101 and 103 of FIG. 1 could have the same or similar configuration. However, gNBs come in a wide variety of configurations, and FIG. 2 does not limit the scope of the present disclosure to any particular implementation of a gNB.

[0075] As shown in FIG 2, the gNB 102 includes multiple antennas 200a-200n, multiple radio frequency (RF) transceivers 201a-201n, transmit (TX) processing circuitry 203, and receive (RX) processing circuitry 204. The gNB 102 also includes a controller / processor 205, a memory 206, and a backhaul or network interface 207.

[0076] The RF transceivers 201a-201n receive, from the antennas 200a-200n, incoming RF signals, such as signals transmitted by UEs in the network 100. The RF transceivers 201a-201n down-convert the incoming RF signals to generate intermediate frequency (IF) or baseband signals. The IF or baseband signals are sent to the RX processing circuitry 204, which generates processed baseband signals by filtering, decoding, and / or digitizing the baseband or IF signals. The RX processing circuitry 204 transmits the processed baseband signals to the controller / processor 205 for further processing.

[0077] The TX processing circuitry 203 receives analog or digital data (such as voice data, web data, electronic mail, or interactive video game data) from the controller / processor 205. The TX processing circuitry 203 encodes, multiplexes, and / or digitizes the outgoing baseband data to generate processed baseband or IF signals. The RF transceivers 201a-201n receive the outgoing processed baseband or IF signals from the TX processing circuitry 203 and up-converts the baseband or IF signals to RF signals that are transmitted via the antennas 201a-201n.

[0078] The controller / processor 205 can include one or more processors or other processing devices that control the overall operation of the gNB 102. For example, the controller / processor 205 could control the reception of forward channel signals and the transmission of reverse channel signals by the RF transceivers 201a-201n, the RX processing circuitry 204, and the TX processing circuitry 203 in accordance with well-known principles. The controller / processor 205 could support additional functions as well, such as more advanced wireless communication functions.

[0079] For instance, the controller / processor 205 could support beam forming or directional routing operations in which outgoing signals from multiple antennas 200a-200n are weighted differently to effectively steer the outgoing signals in a desired direction. Any of a wide variety of other functions could be supported in the gNB 102 by the controller / processor 205.

[0080] The controller / processor 205 is also capable of executing programs and other processes resident in the memory 206, such as an operating system (OS). The controller / processor 205 can move data into or out of the memory 206 as required by an executing process.

[0081] The controller / processor 205 is also coupled to the backhaul or network interface 207. The backhaul or network interface 207 allows the gNB 102 to communicate with other devices or systems over a backhaul connection or over a network. The interface 207 could support communications over any suitable wired or wireless connection(s). For example, when the gNB 102 is implemented as part of a cellular communication system (such as one supporting 5G, LTE, or LTE-A), the interface 207 could allow the gNB 102 to communicate with other gNBs over a wired or wireless backhaul connection. When the gNB 102 is implemented as an access point, the interface 207 could allow the gNB 102 to communicate over a wired or wireless local area network or over a wired or wireless connection to a larger network (such as the Internet). The interface 207 includes any suitable structure supporting communications over a wired or wireless connection, such as an Ethernet or RF transceiver.

[0082] The memory 206 is coupled to the controller / processor 205. Part of the memory 206 could include a random access memory (RAM), and another part of the memory 206 could include a Flash memory or other read only memory (ROM).

[0083] Although FIG. 2 illustrates one example of gNB 102, various changes may be made to FIG. 2. For example, the gNB 102 could include any number of each component shown in FIG. 2. As a particular example, an access point could include a number of interfaces 207, and the controller / processor 205 could support routing functions to route data between different network addresses. As another particular example, while shown as including a single instance of TX processing circuitry 203 and a single instance of RX processing circuitry 204, the gNB 102 could include multiple instances of each (such as one per RF transceiver). Also, various components in FIG. 2 could be combined, further subdivided, or omitted and additional components could be added according to particular needs.

[0084] FIG. 3 illustrates an example user equipment according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiment of the UE 116 illustrated in FIG. 3 is for illustration only, and the UEs 111-115 and 117-119 of FIG. 1 could have the same or similar configuration. However, UEs come in a wide variety of configurations, and FIG. 3 does not limit the scope of the present disclosure to any particular implementation of a UE.

[0085] As shown in FIG. 3, the UE 116 includes an antenna 301, a radio frequency (RF) transceiver 302, TX processing circuitry 303, a microphone 304, and receive (RX) processing circuitry 305. The UE 116 also includes a speaker 306, a controller or processor 307, an input / output (I / O) interface (IF) 308, an input device 309, a touchscreen display 310, and a memory 311. The memory 311 includes an OS 312 and one or more applications 313.

[0086] The RF transceiver 302 receives, from the antenna 301, an incoming RF signal transmitted by a gNB of the network 100. The RF transceiver 302 down-converts the incoming RF signal to generate an IF or baseband signal. The IF or baseband signal is sent to the RX processing circuitry 305, which generates a processed baseband signal by filtering, decoding, and / or digitizing the baseband or IF signal. The RX processing circuitry 305 transmits the processed baseband signal to the speaker 306 (such as for voice data) or to the processor 307 for further processing (such as for web browsing data).

[0087] The TX processing circuitry 303 receives analog or digital voice data from the microphone 304 or other outgoing baseband data (such as web data, e-mail, or interactive video game data) from the processor 307. The TX processing circuitry 303 encodes, multiplexes, and / or digitizes the outgoing baseband data to generate a processed baseband or IF signal. The RF transceiver 302 receives the outgoing processed baseband or IF signal from the TX processing circuitry 303 and up-converts the baseband or IF signal to an RF signal that is transmitted via the antenna 301.

[0088] The processor 307 can include one or more processors or other processing devices and execute the OS 312 stored in the memory 311 in order to control the overall operation of the UE 116. For example, the processor 307 could control the reception of forward channel signals and the transmission of reverse channel signals by the RF transceiver 302, the RX processing circuitry 305, and the TX processing circuitry 303 in accordance with well-known principles. In some embodiments, the processor 307 includes at least one microprocessor or microcontroller.

[0089] The processor 307 is also capable of executing other processes and programs resident in the memory 311, such as processes for channel state information (CSI) reporting on uplink channel. The processor 307 can move data into or out of the memory 311 as required by an executing process. In some embodiments, the processor 307 is configured to execute the applications 313 based on the OS 312 or in response to signals received from gNBs or an operator. The processor 307 is also coupled to the I / O interface 308, which provides the UE 116 with the ability to connect to other devices, such as laptop computers and handheld computers. The I / O interface 308 is the communication path between these accessories and the processor 307.

[0090] The processor 307 is also coupled to the touchscreen display 310. The user of the UE 116 can use the touchscreen display 310 to enter data into the UE 116. The touchscreen display 310 may be a liquid crystal display, light emitting diode display, or other display capable of rendering text and / or at least limited graphics, such as from web sites.

[0091] The memory 311 is coupled to the processor 307. Part of the memory 311 could include RAM, and another part of the memory 311 could include a Flash memory or other ROM.

[0092] Although FIG. 3 illustrates one example of UE 116, various changes may be made to FIG. 3. For example, various components in FIG. 3 could be combined, further subdivided, or omitted and additional components could be added according to particular needs. As a particular example, the processor 307 could be divided into multiple processors, such as one or more central processing units (CPUs) and one or more graphics processing units (GPUs). Also, while FIG. 3 illustrates the UE 116 configured as a mobile telephone or smartphone, UEs could be configured to operate as other types of mobile or stationary devices.

[0093] For example, the UE or terminal described in this disclosure may include the UE described in conjunction with FIG. 3, or may include a reduced capability UE (RedCap UE), such as an electronic tag (Tag) or the like.

[0094] Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0095] Internet of Everything is the direction of communication system evolution, and the environment-friendly passive internet-of-things (Passive IoT) or passive ambient IoT (AIoT) is an indispensable step. A typical technology for Passive IoT or AIoT is radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. RFID technology is an automatic identification technology. The electronic tag on the surface of the object stores a unique electronic product code (EPC). The Reader (or Interrogator) reads the EPC code in the electronic tag through electromagnetic waves to identify the object. In the description herein, Passive IoT or AIoT related tags are exemplarily referred to as electronic tags, AIoT tags or electronic AIoT tags. Electronic AIoT tags are generally classified into three categories: passive, semi-passive and active. Passive or semi-passive electronic AIoT tags do not actively generate electromagnetic waves, but transmit information by controlling the antenna to absorb or backscatter electromagnetic waves emitted by the reader. Generally speaking, the electromagnetic wave signal used for backscattering is also called a carrier signal (carrier wave, CW); Electronic tags are also known as radio frequency AIoT tags, transponders, data carriers; Readers are also called radio frequency identification devices, readout devices, scanners, communicators, reader-writers (depending on whether the electronic tag can rewrite data wirelessly). In an RFID system, the link through which a reader (acting like a base station in a communication system) sends a signal to an electronic tag (acting like a terminal in a communication system) is called a downlink or downlink transmission, and the corresponding transmission signal is a downlink signal. The link through which an electronic tag sends a signal to a reader is called an uplink link or uplink transmission, and the corresponding transmission signal is an uplink signal. Since the coverage area of a typical RFID system is only 1 to 3 meters, 3GPP wants to achieve a passive ambient Internet of Things (Ambient IoT, AIoT) with a larger coverage area (~ 50 meters).

[0096] Due to the simplicity of equipment, passive Internet of Things generally adopts slotted ALOHA for collision management. In slotted ALOHA, a tag randomly selects a slot for uplink transmission, so there is a high probability of collision, i.e. multiple tags select the same slot for uplink transmission. For example, when 100 tags randomly select slots among 100 slots for uplink transmission, the probability of collision is as high as 26%. In the case of a collision, the reader cannot correctly recover the data of multiple tags, the colliding users are requiried to transmit in a new transmission slot. Collisions may lead to a decrease in spectrum utilization and an increase in communication latency. Therefore, collision is an urgent problem to be solved.

[0097] In addition, in the RFID protocol, AIoT tags need to report identification information (exemplarily described below with an EPC code) as tag identification to complete inventory. However, in management of full life cycle procedure towards the future, in some scenarios, the identification of the AIoT tag is known at the reader. In this case, still reporting the EPC code will lead to limited inventory speed and large communication latency.

[0098] In order to solve the problem of large communication latency caused by AIoT tags due to collision or long reply (for example, reporting EPC code), the present invention proposes an information transmission method suitable for the passive Internet of Things. This method enables the AIoT tag to select different uplink transmission resource determination methods and / or uplink transmission contents according to appropriate circumstances, thereby reducing communication latency by reducing collisions, selecting appropriate reply content, and / or selecting replies of appropriate length.

[0099] FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of a method performed by a first node (described below taking an AIoT tag as an example) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Among them, the first node (e.g., AIoT tag) is an electronic device with no battery, with no energy storage capability, or with only limited energy storage capability, such as Ambient IoT device 1 or device 2a or device 2b. For example, in step 401, receiving a broadcast message. In step 402, based on the broadcast message, determining whether to calculate a time unit for uplink transmission based on the correlation between a tag identification (ID) and the time unit. In step 403, if it is determined based on the broadcast message to calculate the time unit for uplink transmission based on the correlation between the tag identification and the time unit, performing uplink transmission in the time unit associated with the tag identification. The beneficial effect of this design is that the second node (described below by taking the reader as an example) may respectively calculate the number of time units required to complete the inventory when AIoT tags randomly select a time unit for uplink transmission and the number of time units required to complete the inventory when a time unit of the inventory is determined based on the ID, according to distribution range of IDs of the AIoT tags to be inventoried, and may select the one with a smaller total number of required time units as the method of determining the time unit and notify the first node through a broadcast message. For example, for 100 AIoT tags with an ID range of 1-100 in the inventory, using the method of determining the time unit based on the ID requires 100 time units to complete the uplink transmission of all AIoT tags; using the method of randomly selecting the time unit for uplink transmission, based on empirical values, approximately 300 time units are required, then the method of determining the time unit based on ID is selected. For example, for inventory of 100 AIoT tags with an ID range of 1-500, in case that 100 time units are initially allocated, for the method of determining the time unit based on the ID and the method of randomly selecting the time unit for uplink transmission, the probability of collision between AIoT tags is the same, then the method of randomly selecting the time unit for uplink transmission is selected to reduce the calculation of the AIoT tag, thereby reducing the energy consumption of the AIoT tag. In a specific implementation, the number of time units required to complete the inventory in case that the time unit for uplink transmission is randomly selected may differ depending on the time unit scheduling policy adopted, and may be an empirical value.

[0100] Alternatively, the first node may also determine whether to calculate the time unit for uplink transmission based on the correlation between the tag identification and the time unit based on other information, not based on the received broadcast message. For example, as will be described in detail below, the first node may determine whether to calculate the time unit for uplink transmission based on the association of the tag identification and the time unit based on grouping information or a transmission round (e.g., inventory round) within a specified time.

[0101] In a specific implementation, the identification (ID) of the AIoT tag may be identification information that may uniquely identify an AIoT tag within a group of AIoT tags, such as a full EPC code or a partial EPC code or a full TID code or a partial TID code or an assigned temporary identification and the like.

[0102] For example, a method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes receiving a broadcast message from a reader, the reader may be a base station or a user. The broadcast message may be a paging message. The paging message is used to determine at least one AIoT tag that needs to reply, wherein the reply means that the AIoT tag needs to respond to the paging message of the reader and perform at least one uplink transmission. The paging message may also be used by the AIoT tag to determine whether the time unit for uplink transmission is determined based on the association between the tag identification and the time unit. The broadcast message may also be a broadcast message received by the user after receiving the paging message and before performing uplink transmission to determine the time unit for uplink transmission. For example, in an inventory, a paging message is used to identify a batch of tags that need to participate in the current round of inventory, and a broadcast message is used to indicate the beginning of a round of inventory and allocate a number of time units for the round of inventory. In specific implementations, application scenarios are not limited to inventory.

[0103] The method based on the embodiment of the present disclosure further includes determining whether to calculate the time unit for uplink transmission based on the association between the tag identification and the time unit. In an exemplary embodiment, the method of determining whether to calculate the time unit for uplink transmission based on the association between the tag identification and the time unit may be through an explicit indication method or an implicit indication method. The beneficial effect of this is that it has a lower collision probability than the case where the AIoT tags randomly select the time unit for uplink transmission, so the communication may be completed using a smaller number of time units for uplink transmission.

[0104] In an exemplary implementation, the explicit indication method may be to use 1-bit information in the broadcast message to indicate whether to calculate the time unit for uplink transmission based on the association between the tag identification and the time unit.

[0105] In an exemplary implementation, the implicit indication method may be that an AIoT tag determines whether to determine the time unit of uplink transmission based on the association between the tag identification and the time unit based on a time threshold and / or the number of uplink transmissions, and the time threshold may be preset or obtained through broadcast messages. For example, for several rounds of communication performed by the same batch of AIoT tags within a specified period of time, in the first round of communication, the method of randomly selecting the time unit for uplink transmission is used, and in the subsequent several communications, the method of determining the time unit for uplink transmission based on the correlation between the tag identification and time unit is used.

[0106] In an exemplary implementation, the implicit indication method may also be that an AIoT tag determines whether to determine the time unit for uplink transmission based on the association between the tag identification and the time unit based on the grouping information. Wherein, the grouping information is obtained by the AIoT tag based on the broadcast message, or based on pre-stored information. The relationship between the grouping information and whether to determine the time unit of uplink transmission based on the association between the tag identification and the time unit may be preset, or determined based on the broadcast message. By grouping AIoT tags differently, the AIoT tags in different groups use different time unit determination methods. For example, the AIoT tags of group 1 use a method of random selection to determine the time unit for uplink transmission, and the AIoT tags of group 2 use a method of determining the time unit for uplink transmission based on the association between the tag identification and the time unit.

[0107] In an exemplary embodiment, the method for the AIoT tag to calculate the time unit for uplink transmission based on the association between the tag identification and the time unit may be that the AIoT tag takes the remainder or modulo of the identification (ID) on the number of available time units N, for example, the time unit index is Index = ID mod N, where Index is the index of the time unit for uplink transmission. For example, the current time unit is the 0th time unit. For example, the result of taking the remainder is 0, and uplink transmission is performed in the current time unit. Uplink transmission is performed in the current time unit. The number of available time units N is determined by the AIoT tag based on the received broadcast message, and the method for determination may be that the broadcast message directly indicates the number of available time units N or indicates a relevant parameter that may be used to calculate the number of time units N. In an exemplary implementation, the present invention is not limited to using an index to indicate the time unit.

[0108] In an exemplary embodiment, the calculation method of the time unit for uplink transmission may be that the AIoT tag takes the remainder of the identification on the number of available time units N and then adds an offset. If the index number after adding the offset is greater than N, then the index number of the time unit for uplink transmission is the remainder of the ID to the number of time units added by the offset and then subtracted by N, that is, Index = If ((ID mod N) + offset > N, (ID mod N) + offset-N, (ID mod N) + offset). The offset value of offset may be preset or obtained through a broadcast message or higher-layer signaling by the AIoT tag. The beneficial effect of adding an offset is that the overall collision probability may be reduced by reasonably adjusting the order of transmissions. For example, for 100 AIoT tags with an inventory ID range of 1-150, 100 time units are allocate for uplink transmission. When the AIoT tags determine the time unit for uplink transmission by taking the remainder of the ID to the number of time units, the collision probability of the first 50 time units is 0.385, and the collision probability of the last 50 time units is 0.143. If the offset is set to 50, the AIoT tags mapped to the last 50 time units may perform uplink transmission first. The reader then adjusts the number of time units allocated to the remaining AloT tags based on the transmission in the previous 50 time units. In addition, the receiving end may also increase the security of transmission by notifying different offsets.

[0109] In an exemplary embodiment, the method for the AIoT tag to calculate the time unit for uplink transmission based on the association between the tag identification and the time unit may be that the AIoT tag determines the time unit for uplink transmission based on a pre-stored array and the tag identification. The pre-stored array may be pre-stored by the factory or written by the reader. A unique one of the time units may be mapped by the arry based on the identification of the tag and the number N of available time units. The beneficial effect of such a design is that the computation of the AIoT tag is reduced, thereby reducing the energy consumption of the AIoT tag.

[0110] In an exemplary embodiment, the uplink transmission refers to the transmission initiated by the AIoT tag to the reader on the physical device to reader channel (PDRCH) or the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) or the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), including but not limited to Message 1 or Message 3 for access or data transmission or ACK information.

[0111] In an exemplary embodiment, the information for uplink transmission determined by the AIoT tag based on the broadcast message also includes multi-access resources within a time unit, and the multi-access resources include but are not limited to time resources, where one time unit is further divided into several sub-time units and supports different AIoT tags for uplink transmission in different sub-time units; or frequency domain resources, where different AIoT tags perform uplink transmission on different frequency domain resources in the same time unit based on different subcarriers; or code domain resources, where different AIoT tags perform uplink transmission in the same time unit based on different codewords. When the AIoT tag determines based on the broadcast message to calculate the time unit for uplink transmission based on the correlation between the ID and the time unit, the method of determining the time unit may be that the AIoT tag takes the remainder of the ID on the number of available time units N or the AIoT tag takes the remainder of the ID on the number of available time units N and then add an offset, the method of determining the multi-access resource within the time unit is based on the quotient corresponding to the AIoT tag taking the remainder of the ID on the number of available time units N. For example, for 100 AIoT tags in the ID range of 1-100 that require uplink transmission, 50 available time units are configured, the offset is 0, there are two multi-access resources in each time unit, and the AIoT tags with IDs 1 and 51 respectively take the remainder of the ID on the available time unit number 50, and the corresponding remainder is 1, that is, the determined time unit is time unit 1, and the corresponding quotients are 0 and 1 respectively, corresponding to two different multi-access resources in the time unit. In an exemplary embodiment, a method for determining the time unit and multi-access resource for uplink transmission may be determined based on a pre-stored array by the AIoT tag.

[0112] In an exemplary embodiment, in the step where "AIoT tag determines based on the received broadcast message to calculate the time unit for uplink transmission based on the correlation between the tag identification and the time unit", the meaning of the correlation may also be that AIoT determines to perform uplink transmission in the current time unit or a predetermined time unit based on the tag identification, the predetermined time unit may be a time unit with a predetermined offset from the current time unit, and the predetermined time unit or predetermined offset may be predefined or preconfigured, or notified through a message. The current time unit refers to the time unit in which the broadcast message is located. The indication method for determining whether to perform uplink transmission in the current time unit or the predetermined time unit may be that the broadcast message contains ID of an AIoT tag or partial information of the ID, and the ID or partial information of the ID is used to indicate to AIoT tags that an AIoT tag with ID of consistent data at corresponding location performs uplink transmission. In this way, the reader may indicate a corresponding tag to transmit at the current time unit or a predetermined time unit by including information related to the ID information of the corresponding tag in the broadcast message. When the AIoT tag determines to transmit in the current time unit or a predetermined time unit based on the received broadcast message, the information for uplink transmission determined by the AIoT tag based on the broadcast message may also include multi-access resources within the time unit, where the multi-access resources include time domain resources, frequency domain resources, code domain resources, etc. For example, AIoT tags use corresponding multi-access resources based on the order in which IDs are included in the broadcast. For example, when frequency division multi-access is adopted in the time unit, multiple users perform uplink transmission on different frequency domain resources by using different subcarriers, and several IDs are indicated by the broadcast message to perform transmission in the current time unit, where the first ID in the broadcast corresponds to subcarrier 1, the second ID in the broadcast corresponds to subcarrier 2, and so on.

[0113] In an exemplary embodiment, the content of the uplink transmission may be the ID of the AIoT tag or information that may be used to calculate the ID or a 1-bit ACK. For example, when goods are put into storage, the reader does not know the ID list of AIoT tags. When an AIoT tag randomly selects a time unit for uplink transmission, the AIoT tag may report the ID to notify its presence to the reader. When the AIoT tag determines the time unit for uplink transmission based on the ID, it may report information used to calculate the ID. For example, when the AIoT tag determines the time unit for uplink transmission based on the remainder of the ID on the number of available time units N, it may report the quotient of taking the remainder of the ID on the number of available time units N, and the reader may calculate the ID of the AIoT tag based on the quotient and the time unit of uplink transmission. During inventory counting, the reader has already known the ID list of the AIoT tags. When the AIoT tag determines the time unit for uplink transmission based on the ID, only a 1-bit ACK may be reported for the reader to confirm its presence. The beneficial effect of this is to minimize the amount of data that the AIoT tag needs to transmit in uplink, thereby reducing latency.

[0114] In an exemplary embodiment, the content of the uplink transmission may be explicitly indicated by at least 1 bit of information in the broadcast message, or may be implicitly indicated. For example, the implicit indication method may be that the AIoT tag determines the content of the uplink transmission based on a time threshold and / or the number of uplink transmissions. The time threshold may be preset or obtained through the broadcast message. For example, for several rounds of communication performed on the same batch of AIoT tags within a specified period of time, in the first round of communication, the method of reporting the AIoT tag ID or information that may be used to calculate the AIoT tag ID is used, and in the subsequent several communications, the method of reporting 1-bit ACK is used.

[0115] In an exemplary implementation, the implicit indication method may also be that the AIoT tag determines the content of the uplink transmission based on the grouping information. Wherein, the grouping information is obtained by the AIoT tag based on the broadcast message, or based on pre-stored information. The relationship between the grouping information and the content of the uplink transmission may be preset or determined based on the broadcast message. By grouping AIoT tags in different groups, the AIoT tags in different groups report different contents.

[0116]

[0117] In an exemplary embodiment, the reader may adjust the list of IDs to be inventoried this time according to the mapping relationship between the IDs of the AIoT tags to be inventoried and the time units, to reduce the probability of collision of the AIoT tags. For example, when the reader determines that the tag determines the time unit for uplink transmission based on the ID, the reader may obtain the time unit where the collision occurs and the ID of the tag in advance based on the ID list of the tag. Therefore, the reader may remove some tags in the collision slot from the present / current inventory range to avoid tag collision in present / current inventory. For example, if the reader knows a list of tag IDs that are inventoried, based on the number of time units (e.g., slots) available for inventory, the reader may obtain the transmission time units corresponding to each ID and the collision conditions for each time unit before starting the inventory. Accordingly, the reader may adjust the IDs to be inventoried in each round. For example, the reader may transmit relevant signaling notification to the UE, and the UE determines whether it needs to participate in the current round of inventory based on this signaling. For example, tags with IDs 1-11 are to be inventoried this time, but there are only 10 available time units. The time unit for transmission corresponding to each ID is determined based on the remainder result of the ID and the number of available time units, then tags with IDs 1 and 11 correspond to the first time unit after taking a remainder. Therefore, the reader may adjust the inventory range to be 1-10, or 2-11 to avoid such collision. Number 1 or number 11 may be placed in another inventory round and processed separately. The reader may directly notify tags with tag IDs corresponding to 1-10, or 2-11 to participate in current / present round of inventory.

[0118] In an exemplary embodiment, based on the broadcast message, the AIoT tag determines to calculate a time unit for uplink transmission based on the correlation between the tag identification and the time unit, receives a downlink message indicating that there is a collision in the current time unit at this time unit, and the tag determines whether to change the resource for this uplink transmission or modify the content of the uplink transmission based on the downlink message.

[0119] In an exemplary embodiment, if the AIoT tag receives a downlink message indicating that there is a collision in the current time unit within the time unit determined according to the broadcast message, the AIoT tag randomly selects whether to perform uplink transmission in the current time unit, or waits for a new uplink transmission resource allocation. The beneficial effect of this design is to reduce the probability of collision of AIoT tags through a random backoff method.

[0120] In an exemplary embodiment, based on the broadcast message, the AIoT tag determines to calculate the time unit for uplink transmission based on the association between the tag identification and the time unit. When the AIoT tag receives a downlink message indicating that there is a collision in the current time unit within the time unit determined according to the broadcast message, colliding AIoT tags perform uplink transmission in a time division within the current time unit. Optionally, the order in which AIoT tags perform uplink transmission may be based on the quotient of taking the remainder of the ID on the number of available time units. For example, the AIoT tags with AIoT tag IDs 1 and 101 determine to transmit in the first time unit by taking the remainder on the number of 100 time units, and receive a downlink signal indicating collision in this time unit, then the tag with a quotient of 0 performs uplink transmission immediately, and the tag with a quotient of 1 waits for a period of time before uplink transmission, the period of time waited may be predefined or determined based on the broadcast message or the downlink message indicating collision. Optionally, the order in which the AIoT tags perform uplink transmission may be based on received downlink instruction.

[0121] In an exemplary embodiment, based on the broadcast message, the AIoT tag determines to calculate the time unit for uplink transmission based on the correlation between the tag identification and the time unit. When the AIoT tag receives a downlink message indicating that there is a collision in the current time unit within the time unit determined according to the broadcast message, colliding AIoT tags perform uplink transmission in code division within the current / present time unit. The orthogonal code sequence used by the AIoT tag for uplink transmission may be determined from a pre-stored orthogonal codebook based on the ID of the AIoT tag. For example, the AIoT tags with AIoT tag IDs 1 and 101 determine to transmit in the first time unit by taking the remainder on the number of 100 time units, and receive a downlink signal indicating collision in this time unit, then the two AIoT tags determine the first orthogonal code and the second orthogonal code in the uplink transmission orthogonal codebook based on the quotients of taking the remainder of the ID on the available time units.

[0122] In an exemplary embodiment, based on the broadcast message, the AIoT tag determines to calculate the time unit for uplink transmission based on the correlation between the tag identification and the time unit, and determines that the content of the uplink transmission is a 1-bit ACK. When the AIoT tag receives a downlink message indicating that there is a collision in the current time unit within the time unit determined according to the broadcast message, the AIoT tag modifies the content of uplink transmission in the current time to an ID of a specified length. For example, depending on the reception algorithm on the reader side, the reader may support the resolution of IDs of a specified length for multiple tags received simultaneously. For example, a number of replies of different lengths may be specified, and the reader may determine the length of a reply (e.g., the length of the tag ID that the tag needs to transmit via uplink transmission) based on the number of colliding users. The longer the length of the reply, the greater the probability of collision resolution. According to the corresponding receiving algorithm (such as Blind signal separation), in case that multiple colliding tags transmit tag IDs of a certain length, the reader may distinguish the IDs of individual tags and may solve part or all of the colliding data with a certain probability. The beneficial effect of such design is that the reader may resolve multiple colliding AIoT tags by confirming the received long IDs.

[0123] In an exemplary embodiment, in case that there are multiple multi-access resources in a time unit, the downlink message may indicate collision of the multi-access resources within the time unit. When the AIoT tag determines collision of the used multi-access resources based on the downlink message, the AIoT tag randomly selects whether to perform uplink transmission in the current time unit or wait for new uplink transmission resource allocation.

[0124] In an exemplary embodiment, based on the broadcast message, after determining to calculate the time unit for uplink transmission based on the correlation between the tag identification and the time unit, the AIoT tag receives a downlink message indicating time unit information, and determines whether to perform uplink transmission in the current time unit based on the downlink message. For example, the downlink message may be a query message, or other messages used to indicate the end of a time unit or the start of a new time unit. Optionally, the downlink message is used to indicate the boundary of a time unit, such as the end of the previous time unit or the start of the next time unit, and the tag may operate a counter according to receiving the downlink message to determine whether it has reached the time for uplink transmission. For example, after the AIoT tag determines the time unit for uplink transmission, it stores the information related to the determined time unit (for example, the corresponding index value) in a counter. Each time the AIoT tag receives the downlink message, it decreases the value of the counter by 1 until the counter reaches 0, and the tag determines to perform uplink transmission in the corresponding time unit. For example, after receiving a downlink message, the counter is 0 after decreased by 1, then the tag starts uplink transmission after receiving the downlink message. The beneficial effect of this design is that fewer bits are required in the downlink message, reducing signaling overhead. Optionally, the downlink message may be used to determine the location information of the current time unit in all available time units, for example, the index of the time unit. The AIoT tag determines whether the current time unit is a time unit for uplink transmission determined based on the broadcast message by comparing the information of the current time unit and the information of the time unit for uplink transmission determined based on the broadcast message, thereby determining whether to perform uplink transmission in the current time unit. The beneficial effect thereof is that the reader may skip idle time units and only indicate non-idle time units through the downlink message, thereby speeding up the inventory. For example, in one implementation, the time units have different lengths. For idle time units (for example, no tag selects or determines the index information related to the time unit for uplink transmission), the reader may transmit the above downlink message indicating the time unit information at the start of or after a very short time from the start of the time unit, so that idle time units may be quickly skipped. In addition, in one implementation, the time units may also have the same length.

[0125] In an exemplary embodiment, in step that "AIoT tag receives a downlink message indicating time unit information", the downlink message may indicate N1 time units starting from the current time unit, where N1 is related to the number of current idle time units, for example, N1 is the number of idle time units starting from the current time unit +1. Wherein, the current time unit is the first time unit available for uplink transmission of the AIoT tag after the downlink message. When the downlink message indicates the end of a time unit, the current time unit refers to the next time unit of the time unit where the downlink message is located; when the downlink message indicates the start of a time unit, the current time unit refers to the time unit where the downlink message is located. Based on the received downlink message, for an AIoT tag with the determined time unit for uplink transmission within the N1 time units indicated by the downlink message, uplink transmission is performed in the current time unit, and the exact time for uplink transmission may be performing uplink transmission immediately after receiving the downlink message, or within a preset period of time. For an AIoT tag with the determined time unit for uplink transmission not within the N1 time units indicated by the downlink message, the number of time units required to wait before the uplink transmission is subtracted by N1. The beneficial effect of this design is that the reader may indicate to skip idle time units through the downlink message, thereby speeding up the inventory. For example, from the current time unit, there are N1-1 time units idle including the current time unit. The reader indicates N1 time units by the downlink message. AIoT tags decrease the counter by N1 based on the downlink message. Since the first N1-1 time units are idle, after the AIoT tags perform the operation of decreasing the counter by N1, only the counter of the AIoT tag with a counter corresponding to N1 time units before performing the operation of decreasing by N1 is 0, and performs uplink transmission in the current time unit.

[0126] In an exemplary embodiment, in step that "AIoT tag receives a downlink message indicating time unit information", the downlink message may indicate N2 time units starting from the current time unit (for example, the indexes of N2 time units, or the number of time units N2), the downlink message may represent the information of time unit reallocation. Wherein, the current time unit is the first time unit available for uplink transmission of the AIoT tag after the downlink message. When the downlink message indicates the end of a time unit, the current time unit refers to the next time unit of the time unit where the downlink message is located; when the downlink message indicates the start of a time unit, the current time unit refers to the time unit where the downlink message is located. Based on the received downlink message, the AIoT tags with the time unit for uplink transmission determined based on the broadcast message within the N2 time units indicated by the downlink message re-determines the time unit for uplink transmission within the N2 time units. The method for re-determination may be based on a new downlink message, or may be a random selection, or may be based on the quotient of taking the remainder on the number of available time units. In an exemplary embodiment, when the method for re-determination is based on a new downlink message, the downlink message may include user identification information to indicate a specific tag to perform uplink transmission in the current time unit. In an exemplary embodiment, when the method for re-determination is random selection, the tag randomly selects a time unit within N2 time units for uplink transmission. In an exemplary embodiment, when the method for re-determination is the quotient of taking the remainder on the number of available time units, the tags determine the order of uplink transmission within N2 time based on the quotient of taking the remainder on the number of available time units when determining the time unit for uplink transmission based on the broadcast message. The AIoT tag with the determined time unit for uplink transmission not within the N2 time units indicated by the downlink message subtracts N2 from the number of time units required to wait before the uplink transmission (for example, the value of the counter). The beneficial effect of this design is that the downlink message may be used to jointly process collided time units and idle time units, avoiding the waste of time domain resources caused by idle time units and transmission failure problems caused by collisions, and improving resource utilization. For example, the downlink message indicates two time units, including an idle time unit and a collided time unit. Among them, there are two AIoT tags in the collision time unit. The AIoT tags obtain the information of time unit reallocation based on the downlink message, one of the AIoT tags performs uplink transmission immediately based on the downlink message, and the other AIoT tag performs uplink transmission after a period of time based on the downlink message, or waits until receiving a new instruction for uplink transmission. For example, the remainders for tag 1 and tag 101 by taking the remainder on 100 available time units are both 1, that is, both tags perform uplink transmission in the first time unit. At this time, the two tags receive the downlink message indicating two time units, then the user with the quotient of 0 by taking remainder on the number of time units performs uplink transmission in the first of the two time units, and the user with the quotient of 1 by taking remainder on the number of time units performs uplink transmission in the second of the two time units. The time when these two AIoT tags perform uplink transmission may be random, for example, the AIoT tags randomly select whether to perform uplink transmission, or it may be specified. For example, the AIoT tag with a larger quotient by taking remainder of AIoT tag ID on the available time units performs uplink transmission first, and another AIoT tag performs uplink transmission after a period of time, or waits for receiving a new instruction before performing uplink transmission. Other AIoT tags with time units determined from the broadcast message other than these two time units perform an operation of decrementing the counter by 2.

[0127] In an exemplary embodiment, in step "the AIoT tag receives a downlink message indicating time unit information, and the downlink message may be used to determine the location information of the current time unit in all available time units", the downlink message may indicate multiple time units discontinuous in location, such as index information of the time units. Wherein, the current time unit is the first time unit available for uplink transmission of the AIoT tag after the downlink message. When the locations of the time units indicated by the downlink message are discontinuous, it may indicate a reallocation of the time units. That is, for the tag with a time unit determined according to the aforementioned broadcast message being a time unit indicated by the downlink message, the time unit for uplink transmission is re-determined within the indicated multiple time units. The method for re-determination may be based on a new downlink message, or may be a random selection, or may be based on the quotient by taking the remainder on the number of available time units. In an exemplary embodiment, when method for re-determination is based on a new downlink message, the downlink message may include user identification information to indicate a specific tag to perform uplink transmission in the current time unit. In an exemplary embodiment, when the method for re-determination is random selection, the tags randomly select a time unit for uplink transmission within the indicated multiple time units. In an exemplary embodiment, when the method for re-determination is the quotient by taking the remainder on the number of available time units, tags are corresponding to location information of the indicated multiple time units based on the aforementioned quotient by taking the remainder on the number of available time units when determining the time unit for uplink transmission based on the broadcast message. The beneficial effect of this design is that the downlink message may be used to jointly process collided time units and idle time units, avoiding the waste of time domain resources caused by idle time units and transmission failure problems caused by collisions, and improving resource utilization. For example, when the first time unit is an idle time unit, the second time unit is a time unit of an AIoT tag, and the third time unit is a collided time unit of two AIoT tags, the downlink message first indicates the first time unit and the third time unit, the two AIoT tags of the third time unit perform uplink transmission in the first time unit and the third time unit respectively. Subsequently, the AIoT tag of the second time unit performs uplink transmission in the next time unit. Among them, the idle time unit also includes the case where some of multi-access resources are idle when a time unit contains multiple multi-access resources. At this time, the downlink message may indicate multiple time units and combine the multiple time units into one time unit for transmission. For example, when the frequency division multi-access method is used in a time unit, each time unit contains two frequency domain resources, the first frequency domain resource of the first time unit and the second frequency domain resource of the third time unit are idle, the reader may combine the first time unit and the third time unit for transmission through the downlink signal. The two AIoT tags use the first frequency domain resource and the second frequency domain resource respectively.

[0128] In an exemplary embodiment, in step that "AIoT tag receives a downlink message indicating time unit information", the downlink message may carry scheduling information, such as ID of the AIoT tag or part of the ID or other information that may be used to identify the AIoT tag. The AIoT tag that receives the downlink message performs uplink transmission in the current time unit. The beneficial effect of this design is that when the downlink message schedules a user in the collided time unit in advance through the scheduling information, the collided time unit and the idle time unit are jointly processed.

[0129] FIG. 5 illustrates a schematic structural diagram of a first node 500 according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 5, the second node 500 includes a transceiver 501 and a controller 502. The transceiver 501 is configured to transmit data or signals and to receive data or signals. The controller 502 is coupled with the transceiver 501 and configured to perform control such that the first node 500 performs a method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In an implementation, the first node 500 may also include a memory (not shown) on which computer-executable instructions are stored. When the instructions are executed by the controller 502, the first node 500 may perform at least one method corresponding to each of the above-mentioned embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0130] FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic structural diagram of a second node 600 according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 6, the second node 600 includes a transceiver 601 and a controller 602. The transceiver 601 is configured to transmit data or signals and to receive data or signals. The controller 602 is coupled with the transceiver 601 and configured to perform control such that the second node 600 performs a method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In an implementation, the second node 600 may also include a memory (not shown) on which computer-executable instructions are stored. When the instructions are executed by the controller 602, the second node 600 may perform at least one method corresponding to each of the above-mentioned embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0131] Embodiments of the subject matter and the operations described in this specification may be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or in computer software, firmware, or hardware, including the structures disclosed in this specification and their structural equivalents, or in combinations of one or more of them. Embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification may be implemented as one or more computer programs, i.e., one or more modules of computer program instructions, encoded on computer storage medium for execution by, or to control the operation of, data processing apparatus. Alternatively or in addition, the program instructions may be encoded on an artificially-generated propagated signal, e.g., a machine-generated electrical, optical, or electromagnetic signal, that is generated to encode information for transmission to suitable receiver apparatus for execution by a data processing apparatus. A computer storage medium may be, or be included in, a computer-readable storage device, a computer-readable storage substrate, a random or serial access memory array or device, or a combination thereof. Moreover, while a computer storage medium is not a propagated signal, a computer storage medium may be a source or destination of computer program instructions encoded in an artificially-generated propagated signal. The computer storage medium may also be, or be included in, one or more separate physical components or media (e.g., multiple CDs, disks, or other storage devices). Moreover, the operations described in this specification may be implemented as operations performed by a data processing apparatus on data stored on one or more computer-readable storage devices or received from other sources.

[0132] While this specification may contain many specific implementation details, the implementation details should not be construed as limitations on the scope of any claimed subject matter, but rather as descriptions of features specific to particular embodiments. Certain features that are described in this specification in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination. Moreover, although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination may in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.

[0133] Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various system components in the embodiments described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all embodiments, and it should be understood that the described program components and systems may generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products.

[0134] Thus, particular embodiments of the subject matter have been described herein. Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims. In some cases, the actions recited in the claims may be performed in a different order and still achieve desirable results. In addition, the processes depicted in the accompanying figures do not necessarily require the particular order shown, or sequential order, to achieve desirable results. In certain implementations, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous.

[0135] As those skilled in the art will recognize, the innovative concepts described herein may be modified and varied over a wide range of applications. Accordingly, the scope of the claimed subject matter should not be limited to any of the specific exemplary teachings discussed above, but is instead defined by the following claims.

Claims

1.A method performed by a first node in a communication system, the method comprising:receiving a broadcast message;if it is determined based on the broadcast message to determine a time unit for transmission based on identification information of the first node, determining a first time unit for transmission based on the identification information of the first node, and transmitting first information based on the first time unit; andif it is determined based on the broadcast message not to determine the time unit for transmission, randomly selecting a second time unit for transmission, and transmitting second information in the second time unit,wherein a length of the first information is not greater than a length of the second information.2.The method of claim 1, wherein the first time unit is determined based on an association between the identification information of the first node and the time unit;wherein the first time unit is determined based on the identification information of the first node and the number N of time units available for transmission; orwherein the first time unit is determined based on the identification information of the first node, the number N of time units, and a first offset.3.The method of claim 1,wherein the broadcast message includes at least one of first indication information, information about the number N of time units available for transmission, or at least one identification information, the first indication information indicating whether to determine the time unit for transmission based on the identification information of the first node, andwherein, if the identification information of the first node is included in the at least one identification information, the first time unit is a time unit in which the broadcast message is received, or a time unit with a second offset after the time unit in which the broadcast message is received.4.The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining a multi-access resource in the first time unit for the transmission based on identification information of the first node,wherein the multi-access resource is determined based on identification information of the first node and a number N of time units available for transmission, or information related to mapping between identification information and time units, andwherein the multi-access resource is determined based on a quotient by taking a remainder of identification information of the first node on the number N of time units available for transmission.5.The method of claim 1, wherein the broadcast message includes at least one of grouping information of the first node or round information of the transmission within a first time period,wherein, the first node determines whether to determine a time unit for transmission based on the identification information of the first node based on the round information or the grouping information corresponding to the first node, andwherein the second information includes information related to the identification information of the first node, and the first information includes information related to the identification information of the first node or ACK information.6.The method of claim 5, further comprising: receiving second indication information to determine at least one of the second information or the first information, ordetermining at least one of the second information or the first information based on at least one of the grouping information of the first node or the round information corresponding to the transmission within the first time period.7.The method of claim 5, further comprising:receiving at least one of:information relating to the first time period, orinformation related to mapping between the grouping information and the second information or the first information; orinformation related to mapping between the grouping information and whether to determine a time unit for transmission based on the identification information of the first node.8.The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving third information indicating a collision in the first time unit;based on the third information, performing at least one of:randomly selecting whether to perform transmission in the first time unit;performing transmissions in time division multiplexing, frequency division multiplexing, or code division multiplexing in the first time unit;waiting a third time before performing a transmission;transmitting the first information in the first time unit,wherein, time resource, frequency resource or code domain resource associated with the first time unit and related to the transmission of the first node are associated with the identification information of the first node, or determined based on a received downlink instruction.9.A method performed by a second node in a communication system, comprising:determining whether a time unit for transmission is randomly selected by a first node or determined by the first node based on identification information of the first node;transmitting a broadcast message to the first node, the broadcast message including information related to a method of determining a time unit for transmission; andreceiving transmission from at least one first node over at least one time unit.10.A first node in a communication system, comprising:a transceiver;a controller coupled to the transceiver and configured to:receive a broadcast message,if it is determined based on the broadcast message to determine a time unit for transmission based on identification information of the first node, determine a first time unit for transmission based on the identification information of the first node, and transmit first information based on the first time unit, andif it is determined based on the broadcast message not to determine the time unit for transmission, randomly select a second time unit for transmission, and transmit second information in the second time unit,wherein a length of the first information is not greater than a length of the second information.11.The first node of claim 10, wherein the first time unit is determined based on an association between the identification information of the first node and the time unit;wherein the first time unit is determined based on the identification information of the first node and the number N of time units available for transmission; orwherein the first time unit is determined based on the identification information of the first node, the number N of time units, and a first offset.12.The first node of claim 10,wherein the broadcast message includes at least one of first indication information, information about the number N of time units available for transmission, or at least one identification information, the first indication information indicating whether to determine the time unit for transmission based on the identification information of the first node, andwherein, if the identification information of the first node is included in the at least one identification information, the first time unit is a time unit in which the broadcast message is received, or a time unit with a second offset after the time unit in which the broadcast message is received.13.The first node of claim 10,wherein the controller is further configured to determine a multi-access resource in the first time unit for the transmission based on identification information of the first node,wherein the multi-access resource is determined based on identification information of the first node and a number N of time units available for transmission, or information related to mapping between identification information and time units, andwherein the multi-access resource is determined based on a quotient by taking a remainder of identification information of the first node on the number N of time units available for transmission.14.The first node of claim 10,wherein the broadcast message includes at least one of grouping information of the first node or round information of the transmission within a first time period,wherein, the first node determines whether to determine a time unit for transmission based on the identification information of the first node based on the round information or the grouping information corresponding to the first node, andwherein the second information includes information related to the identification information of the first node, and the first information includes information related to the identification information of the first node or ACK information.15.A second node in a communication system, comprising:a transceiver; anda controller coupled to the transceiver and configured to:determine whether a time unit for transmission is randomly selected by a first node or determined by the first node based on identification information of the first node,transmit a broadcast message to the first node, the broadcast message including information related to a method of determining a time unit for transmission, andreceive transmission from at least one first node over at least one time unit.

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