Communication method and apparatus, and readable storage medium and computer program product

Abstract

A communication method and apparatus, and a readable storage medium and a computer program product, which relate to the technical field of communications and are used for improving communication efficiency. In the present application, a relay apparatus receives downlink control information from a first network apparatus, wherein the downlink control information comprises first information, which is used for instructing the relay apparatus to forward information of a second network apparatus; and the relay apparatus forwarding the information of the second network apparatus on the basis of the downlink control information. In this way, even when no connection is established between the relay apparatus and the second network apparatus, the relay apparatus can still provide a forwarding service for the second network apparatus. Therefore, in this solution, the number of network apparatuses that can be served by the relay apparatus can be increased, thereby improving communication efficiency.

Description

A communication method, apparatus, readable storage medium, and computer program product Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method, apparatus, readable storage medium, and computer program product. Background Technology

[0002] Currently, the 5th generation (5G) New Radio (NR) technology is evolving from Release 18 to Release 19. Simultaneously, NR technology has moved from the standardization phase to the commercial deployment phase. The NR standard protocol was initially designed for wireless communication in terrestrial cellular network scenarios, providing users with ultra-low latency, ultra-reliability, ultra-high speed, and massive connectivity wireless communication services. Compared to terrestrial communication, non-terrestrial networks (NTN) communication features large coverage areas and flexible networking, achieving seamless global network coverage. NTN communication includes networking using equipment such as drones, high-altitude platforms, and satellites to provide data transmission, voice communication, and other services to user equipment (UE).

[0003] In satellite communication systems, terminal devices can transmit data to gateway stations or ground stations via satellite to establish connections with the core network or the internet. To address this, relay devices can be deployed, reducing the number of gateway and ground stations required and consequently lowering communication costs. In scenarios with relay devices, improving communication efficiency becomes a critical issue.

[0004] Summary of the Invention

[0005] This application provides a communication method, apparatus, readable storage medium, and computer program product for enabling a first network device to schedule a relay device to forward information transmitted between a second network device and other devices. Even when the relay device has not established a connection with the second network device, the relay device can still provide forwarding services for the second network device. Therefore, this solution can increase the number of network devices that the relay device can serve, thereby improving communication efficiency.

[0006] Firstly, embodiments of this application provide a communication method that can be executed by a relay device. The relay device can be a relay equipment or a chip (or chip system, circuit, or module unit) within a relay equipment. The relay equipment can be satellite equipment or a network equipment deployed on the ground. For example, the relay equipment may include an integrated access and backhaul (IAB)-mobile termination (MT), a network-controlled repeater (NCR)-MT, or a wireless access backhaul (WAB)-MT, etc.

[0007] The relay device receives downlink control information from a first network device. The downlink control information includes first information. The first information includes information instructing the relay device to forward information from a second network device, indicating that a connection has been established between the relay device and the first network device, or that a connection has not been established between the relay device and the second network device, or that a connection has been established. Based on the downlink control information, the relay device forwards information from the second network device, including information received from and / or sent to the second network device.

[0008] Since the first network device schedules the relay device to forward information transmitted between the second network device and other devices, the relay device can provide forwarding services to the second network device even if the relay device has not established a connection with the second network device. Therefore, this scheme can increase the number of network devices that the relay device can serve, thereby improving communication efficiency.

[0009] In one possible implementation, at least one of the following is satisfied: at least one of the relay device, the first network device, or the second network device is located on the NTN device; the relay device communicates with the first network device through the NTN device; or, the relay device communicates with the second network device through the NTN device. Thus, in the NTN, the relay device can simultaneously provide information forwarding services to multiple network devices, thereby improving the communication efficiency and communication success rate of the NTN.

[0010] In another possible example, in an NTN, since the NTN device can provide information forwarding services for multiple network devices simultaneously, the terminal device can communicate with the source network device and the target network device through the relay device, thereby enabling the terminal device to successfully switch from the source network device to the target network device, thus improving the handover success rate.

[0011] In one possible implementation, the information used to instruct the relay device to forward information from the second network device includes: the identification information of the second network device. Thus, the relay device can determine which network device's information needs to be forwarded and which network device needs to have its information forwarding service provided based on the identification information of the second network device. This approach can reduce the complexity of the solution on the relay device side.

[0012] In one possible implementation, the information used to instruct the relay device to forward information from the second network device includes resource indication information. This resource indication information indicates the resources used by the relay device to forward the information from the second network device, and the resources indicated by the resource indication information belong to the resources associated with the second network device. When the resources indicated by the resource indication information belong to the resources associated with the second network device, the relay device determines which network device's information it needs to forward. In this implementation, the first network device can implicitly indicate through the resource indication information which network device's information the relay device needs to forward and which network device it needs to provide information forwarding services to. This solution requires no additional information, thus saving resource overhead.

[0013] In one possible implementation, the first information is carried in a first field of the downlink control information. The relay device receives first indication information, which indicates that the downlink control information includes the first field. Based on the first indication information, the relay device determines that the downlink control information includes the first field. Thus, downlink control information including the first field can be distinguished from information that does not include the first field. The relay device can identify whether the received downlink control information includes the first field based on whether it has received the first indication information, thereby improving the decoding success rate and decoding speed.

[0014] In one possible implementation, the first information is carried in a first field of the downlink control information, and the downlink control information is in a first format. When the downlink control information is in the first format, the relay device determines that the downlink control information includes the first field. In this implementation, a first format can be defined, and the downlink control information in the first format includes the first field. The relay device can identify whether the received downlink control information is in the first format to determine whether the downlink control information includes the first field. This scheme implicitly indicates whether the downlink control information includes the first field through the format of the downlink control information. This scheme can save signaling overhead, improve decoding success rate, and increase decoding speed.

[0015] In one possible implementation, the relay device receives information indicating the validity period of the first information. After the validity period expires, the relay device stops forwarding information from the second network device based on the first information. The second time unit can be the time unit from which the first information begins to take effect, or it can be a time unit after the time unit from which the first information begins to take effect. Once the first information takes effect, it can remain effective. In another possible implementation, the first information can remain effective until its validity period expires. By setting the validity period, the relay device can automatically determine the time when the first information expires, thereby saving signaling overhead. Furthermore, by stopping forwarding information from the second network device based on the first information after its validity period expires, the relay device can reduce power consumption.

[0016] In one possible implementation, the first information further includes at least one of the following: resources used by the relay device to forward information from the second network device; a transmission address corresponding to the information from the second network device forwarded by the relay device; a transmission path corresponding to the information from the second network device forwarded by the relay device; a transmission direction corresponding to the information from the second network device forwarded by the relay device, including uplink or downlink transmission; a transmission method for forwarding information from the second network device, including transparent forwarding or regenerative forwarding; and a frequency point corresponding to the information from the second network device forwarded by the relay device. Thus, the relay device can forward information between the second network device and other devices (e.g., terminal devices) according to the information indicated by the first information. The relay device can align some configurations with the second network device, thereby improving the quality of the signal forwarded by the relay device and thus improving communication quality.

[0017] In one possible implementation, the relay device receives downlink control information from the first network device in the first time unit.

[0018] The relay device forwards information from the second network device in a second time unit. This second time unit is determined based on a first duration and the first time unit itself. The first duration is associated with a first delay difference, which is the offset between the frame timing of the downlink signal received by the relay device from the first network device and the frame timing of the downlink signal received by the relay device from the second network device. Because the first duration is associated with the first delay difference, the relay device determines the time unit for forwarding information between the second network device and other devices (e.g., terminal devices) based on the first duration. This ensures that the second time unit for forwarding information between the second network device and other devices (e.g., terminal devices) is positioned after the first time unit, preventing timing discrepancies and enabling the relay device to successfully forward signals from the second network device, thereby improving communication success rate.

[0019] In one possible implementation, the first duration is also associated with the subcarrier spacing corresponding to the downlink signal of the second network device. Since the subcarrier spacing is related to the length of a time unit (e.g., a time slot), the value of the first duration can be more reasonable, thereby minimizing latency while ensuring that the relay device successfully forwards information between the second network device and other devices (e.g., terminal devices).

[0020] In one possible implementation, the relay device receives information indicating a first duration; or, the relay device determines the first duration based on a first delay difference. The relay device can receive information indicating the first duration and then determine the first duration based on that information. This approach can reduce the complexity of the solution on the relay device side. For example, the relay device can obtain the first delay difference and determine the first duration based on that first delay difference. The relay device can determine the first duration itself, thereby reducing signaling overhead.

[0021] In one possible implementation, the relay device sends information indicating a first delay difference, which is used to determine a first duration. Alternatively, the relay device sends information indicating the first duration. Thus, the first network device can determine the first duration based on this information.

[0022] In one possible implementation, the relay device receives or transmits information indicating an updated first duration; wherein the information indicating the updated first duration includes: information indicating the updated first duration; or, information indicating the difference between the first duration and the updated first duration. Since the first duration is updated, this scheme allows the relay device to determine a more reasonable time unit for providing information forwarding services to the second network device, which is more closely aligned with actual conditions.

[0023] In one possible implementation, the second time unit is further determined based on at least one of the following: a value of K, which is associated with the latency of the relay device processing uplink information and / or the latency of processing downlink information; a first time unit offset value, wherein the first information further indicates the time unit offset value; and a second duration, which is associated with the latency between the second network device and the relay device. For example, the index value of the second time unit is determined based on the index value of the first time unit, and the sum of any of the following: the first duration, the value of K, the first time unit offset value, and the second duration.

[0024] The values ​​of K and the first time unit offset can be values ​​defined in the standard. This scheme can improve the compatibility of this application with existing technologies, thereby reducing the amount of modification to existing standards and facilitating the promotion of this technology. Furthermore, when the second time unit is associated with the second duration, timing errors can be avoided (e.g., the position of the second time unit can be delayed in the time domain), improving the success rate of the relay device forwarding information from the second network device. For example, when the relay device forwards uplink information from the second network device in the second time unit, since there is a time delay offset between the uplink and downlink frame timings of the second network device, as long as the second time unit is associated with the second duration, the time delay offset between the uplink and downlink frame timings of the second network device can be resisted, thereby avoiding timing errors and improving the success rate of the relay device forwarding uplink information.

[0025] In one possible implementation, the first information is further used to indicate at least one third time unit, to which the second time unit belongs. The at least one third time unit is a candidate resource for the relay device to forward information from the second network device. The candidate resource can also be replaced with a resource. The third time unit can be a time unit configured by the first network device to support the relay device forwarding information (e.g., uplink and / or downlink information) from the second network device. The second time unit belongs to the third time unit. This scheme can support the first network device to configure the third time unit periodically or semi-periodically, thus expanding the application scenarios of this application. Furthermore, the periodic or semi-periodic resource configuration method can reduce signaling overhead.

[0026] In one possible implementation, the relay device receives information for configuring at least one resource set, the at least one resource set including a first resource set, the first resource set including at least one third time unit, and the first information for activating at least one third time unit. In this implementation, the third time unit can be configured in a half-cycle manner, and the required resources can be activated subsequently via signaling, which can reduce signaling overhead. Furthermore, this scheme can activate resources at the resource set granularity, thereby reducing the signaling overhead for resource activation.

[0027] In one possible implementation, the second time unit belongs to the third time unit that satisfies the first condition. The first condition includes: the number of time units between the index value of the third time unit and the index value of the first time unit is greater than or equal to the number of time units corresponding to the sum of any of the following: the first duration, the second duration, the value of K, and the offset value of the first time unit. Thus, in scenarios where the first network device allocates resources semi-periodically or periodically, this scheme can also enable the relay device to select more reasonable resources from the configured resources to forward information transmitted between the second network device and other devices (e.g., terminal devices). On the one hand, it is more compatible with existing technologies; on the other hand, this scheme can determine more reasonable time units for forwarding information from the second network device in the time domain, thereby avoiding timing errors in these scenarios and improving the forwarding success rate of the relay device.

[0028] In one possible implementation, the first information is further used to instruct the relay device to forward information corresponding to the first network device. The relay device receives downlink control information from the first network device in a first time unit. The relay device forwards information from the first network device in a fourth time unit, the information including information from the first network device and / or information to be sent to the first network device. The fourth time unit is determined based on the first time unit, and is also determined based on at least one of a third duration, a value of K, or a second time unit offset value. The third duration is associated with the latency between the first network device and the relay device, and the value of K is associated with the latency of the relay device processing uplink information and / or processing downlink information.

[0029] It can be seen that when the relay device forwards information from the first network device, the first duration can be disregarded during the setting of the fourth time unit, thus reducing information transmission latency. Furthermore, this solution is also more compatible with existing technologies.

[0030] On the other hand, since the fourth time unit is associated with the third duration, its position in the time domain resources is more reasonable (e.g., the fourth time unit is delayed by the third duration in the time domain resources). This can avoid timing errors and improve the success rate of relay forwarding. For example, when a relay device forwards uplink information from a first network device in the fourth time unit, the fourth time unit can be associated with the third duration. This can counteract the delay deviation between the timing of the uplink frame and the timing of the downlink frame of the first network device on the relay device side, thereby avoiding timing errors and improving the success rate of relay forwarding information. Alternatively, when a relay device forwards downlink information from a first network device in the fourth time unit, the fourth time unit can be independent of the third duration, which can improve information transmission speed and reduce information transmission latency.

[0031] In one possible implementation, the relay device determines the frame timing corresponding to the uplink signal from the first network device. The relay device acquires a first delay difference, which is the offset between the frame timing of the downlink signal received by the relay device from the first network device and the frame timing of the downlink signal received by the relay device from the second network device. The relay device determines the frame timing corresponding to the uplink signal from the second network device based at least on the frame timing corresponding to the uplink signal from the first network device and the first delay difference. In this way, the relay device can determine the frame timing corresponding to the uplink signal from the second network device, thereby enabling it to forward the uplink signal to the second network device.

[0032] In one possible implementation, the relay device establishes a connection with the first network device, but does not establish a connection with the second network device. Thus, even without a connection with the second network device, the relay device can still determine the frame timing corresponding to the uplink signal of the second network device, and can therefore forward the uplink signal to the second network device.

[0033] In one possible implementation, the first delay difference is determined by the relay device based on the downlink signals synchronously transmitted by the first and second network devices. Thus, the relay device can determine the frame timing corresponding to the uplink signal of the second network device based on the frame timing corresponding to the uplink signal of the first network device and the first delay difference, thereby reducing the complexity of the scheme for determining the frame timing corresponding to the uplink signal of the second network device on the relay device side.

[0034] In another possible implementation, the relay device receives information indicating a second delay difference, which is the offset between the frame timing of the downlink signal transmitted by the first network device and the frame timing of the downlink signal transmitted by the second network device. The relay device determines the frame timing of the uplink signal corresponding to the second network device based on the frame timing of the uplink signal from the first network device, the first delay difference, and the second delay difference. In this implementation, even when the downlink signals transmitted by the first and second network devices are not synchronized, this scheme allows the relay device to determine the frame timing of the uplink signal from the second network device, enabling the relay device to forward the uplink signal to the second network device. This scheme eliminates the need for time synchronization between the first and second network devices, thereby reducing the complexity of the scheme on the network device side.

[0035] Secondly, embodiments of this application provide a communication method, which can be executed by a first network device. The first network device can be a network device or a chip (or chip system, circuit, or module unit) within the network device. The network device can be deployed on the ground or in the air. For example, the network device can include access network equipment, ground stations, gateways, relay equipment, base stations, hosts, parent nodes, or nodes, etc. As another example, the network device can include IAB, NCR, or WAB, etc.

[0036] A first network device acquires downlink control information, which includes first information. The first information includes information for instructing a relay device to forward information from a second network device. The information from the second network device includes information received from and / or sent to the second network device. The relay device has established a connection with the first network device, or the relay device has not established a connection with the second network device, or the relay device has established a connection with the second network device. The first network device sends downlink control information to the relay device.

[0037] Since the first network device schedules the relay device to forward information transmitted between the second network device and other devices, the relay device can provide forwarding services to the second network device even if the relay device has not established a connection with the second network device. Therefore, this scheme can increase the number of network devices that the relay device can serve, thereby improving communication efficiency.

[0038] In one possible implementation, at least one of the following is satisfied: at least one of the relay device, the first network device, or the second network device is located on the NTN device; the relay device communicates with the first network device through the NTN device; or, the relay device communicates with the second network device through the NTN device.

[0039] In one possible implementation, the first information is carried in a first field of the downlink control information. The first network device sends first indication information, which indicates that the downlink control information includes the first field.

[0040] In one possible implementation, the first network device sends information indicating the validity period of the first information.

[0041] In one possible implementation, the first network device sends downlink control information to the relay device in a first time unit. The first network device sends information indicating a first duration.

[0042] In one possible implementation, the first network device receives information indicating a first delay difference, the first delay difference being used to determine a first duration.

[0043] In one possible implementation, the first network device receives information indicating a first duration.

[0044] In one possible implementation, the first network device sends information indicating the updated first duration; wherein the information indicating the updated first duration includes: information indicating the updated first duration; or, information indicating the difference between the first duration and the updated first duration.

[0045] In one possible implementation, the first network device receives information indicating an updated first duration; wherein the information indicating the updated first duration includes: information indicating the updated first duration; or, information indicating the difference between the first duration and the updated first duration.

[0046] In one possible implementation, the first network device sends or receives information indicating an updated first duration; wherein the information indicating the updated first duration includes: information indicating the updated first duration; or, information indicating the difference between the first duration and the updated first duration.

[0047] In one possible implementation, a first network device sends information for configuring at least one resource set, the at least one resource set including a first resource set, the first resource set including at least one third time unit, and the first information for activating at least one third time unit.

[0048] In one possible implementation, the first network device sends downlink control information to the relay device in a first time unit. The first network device receives information from the relay device or sends information to the relay device in a fourth time unit. The fourth time unit is determined based on the first time unit and is further determined based on at least one of a third duration, a value of K, or a second time unit offset value. The third duration is associated with the latency between the first network device and the relay device, and the value of K is associated with the latency of the relay device processing uplink information and / or processing downlink information.

[0049] In one possible implementation, the first network device sends information indicating a second delay difference. The second delay difference is the offset between the frame timing of the downlink signal sent by the first network device and the frame timing of the downlink signal sent by the second network device, and the second delay difference is used to determine the frame timing corresponding to the uplink signal of the second network device.

[0050] The relevant content of at least one of the following in the possible implementations of the second aspect and the information used to instruct the relay device to forward information of the second network device, downlink control information, first information, first duration, first delay difference, second delay difference, fourth time unit, value of K, second duration, third duration or first time unit offset value, are as described in the possible implementations of the first aspect above, and will not be repeated here.

[0051] Other details can be found in the first aspect and its possible implementations, and will not be repeated here.

[0052] Thirdly, embodiments of this application provide a communication method that can be executed by a second network device. The second network device can be a network device or a chip (or chip system, circuit, or module unit) within the network device. The network device can be deployed on the ground or in the air. For example, the network device can include access network equipment, ground stations, gateways, relay equipment, base stations, hosts, parent nodes, or nodes, etc. As another example, the network device can include IAB, NCR, or WAB, etc.

[0053] The second network device receives information for indicating the second time unit;

[0054] The second network device receives information from the relay device in the second time unit and / or sends information to the relay device.

[0055] Thus, even if the relay device does not establish a connection with the second network device, the relay device can still provide forwarding services to the second network device. Therefore, this scheme can increase the number of network devices that the relay device can serve, thereby improving communication efficiency.

[0056] Fourthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication method that can be executed by a terminal device. The terminal device can be a terminal equipment or a chip (or chip system, or circuit, or module unit) inside the terminal equipment.

[0057] The terminal device receives information from the first network device via the relay device, and / or sends information to the first network device via the relay device. The terminal device receives information from the second network device via the relay device, and / or sends information to the second network device via the relay device.

[0058] The relay device can provide forwarding services for the first network device and the second network device. The terminal device can communicate with the first network device and the second network device through the relay device. Therefore, this scheme can increase the number of network devices that the relay device can serve, thereby improving communication efficiency.

[0059] Fifthly, a communication device is provided, which can be the aforementioned relay device, first network device, second network device, or terminal device. The communication device may include a communication unit and a processing unit to perform any one of the first to seventh aspects, or any possible implementation of the first to seventh aspects. The communication unit is used to perform functions related to transmission and reception. The communication unit may be referred to as a transceiver unit. Optionally, the communication unit includes a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. In one design, the communication device is a communication chip, the processing unit may be one or more processors or processor cores, and the communication unit may be the input / output circuit, input / output interface, or antenna port of the communication chip.

[0060] In another design, the communication unit can be a transmitter and a receiver, or the communication unit can be a transmitter and a receiver.

[0061] Optionally, the communication device may also include modules that can be used to perform any one of the first to seventh aspects described above, or to perform any possible implementation of the first to seventh aspects.

[0062] In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be the aforementioned relay device, first network device, second network device, or terminal device. The communication device may include at least one processor and a memory to execute any one of the first to seventh aspects, or any possible implementation thereof. Optionally, it may also include a transceiver, the memory for storing computer programs or instructions, and the processor for retrieving and executing the computer program or instructions from the memory. When the processor executes the computer program or instructions in the memory, the communication device executes any one of the first to seventh aspects, or any possible implementation thereof.

[0063] Optionally, there may be one or more processors and one or more memories.

[0064] Optionally, the memory can be integrated with the processor, or the memory can be set up separately from the processor.

[0065] Optionally, the transceiver may include a transmitter and a receiver.

[0066] A seventh aspect provides a communication device, which may be the aforementioned relay device, first network device, second network device, or terminal device. The communication device may include at least one processor to execute any one of the first to seventh aspects, or to execute any possible implementation of the first to seventh aspects. The processor is coupled to a memory. Optionally, the communication device further includes a memory. Optionally, the communication device further includes a communication interface, to which the processor is coupled.

[0067] In one implementation, when the communication device is a relay device, a first network device, a second network device, or a terminal device, the communication interface can be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, the transceiver can be a transceiver circuit. Optionally, the input / output interface can be an input / output circuit.

[0068] In another implementation, when the communication device is a chip or chip system, the communication interface can be an input / output interface, interface circuit, output circuit, input circuit, pin, or related circuit on the chip or chip system. The processor can also be manifested as a processing circuit or logic circuit.

[0069] Eighthly, a system is provided, which includes the aforementioned relay device.

[0070] In one possible implementation, the system may further include at least one of a first network device, a second network device, or a terminal device.

[0071] Ninthly, a computer program product is provided, comprising: a computer program (also referred to as code or instructions) that, when executed, causes a computer to perform any one of the first to seventh aspects, or to perform any possible implementation of the first to seventh aspects.

[0072] In a tenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores a computer program (also referred to as code or instructions) that, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform any one of the first to seventh aspects described above, or to perform any possible implementation of the first to seventh aspects.

[0073] Eleventhly, a processing apparatus is provided, comprising: an interface circuit and a processing circuit. The interface circuit may include an input circuit and an output circuit. The processing circuit is configured to receive signals through the input circuit and transmit signals through the output circuit, thereby enabling any one of the first to seventh aspects, or any possible implementation thereof, to be carried out.

[0074] In specific implementation, the aforementioned processing device can be a chip, the input circuit can be an input pin, the output circuit can be an output pin, and the processing circuit can be a transistor, gate circuit, flip-flop, and various logic circuits, etc. The input signal received by the input circuit can be received and input by, for example, but not limited to, a receiver, and the signal output by the output circuit can be, for example, but not limited to, output to a transmitter and transmitted by the transmitter. Furthermore, the input circuit and the output circuit can be the same circuit, which is used as the input circuit and output circuit at different times. This application does not limit the specific implementation method of the processor and various circuits.

[0075] In one implementation, the communication device is a relay device, a first network device, a second network device, or a terminal device. The interface circuit can be a radio frequency processing chip in the relay device, the first network device, the second network device, or the terminal device, and the processing circuit can be a baseband processing chip in the relay device, the first network device, the second network device, or the terminal device.

[0076] In another implementation, the communication device can be a component of a relay device, a first network device, a second network device, or a terminal device, such as an integrated circuit product like a system-on-a-chip (SoC) or a communication chip. The interface circuit can be an input / output interface, interface circuit, output circuit, input circuit, pin, or related circuit on the chip or chip system. The processing circuit can be the logic circuit on the chip. Attached Figure Description

[0077] Figure 1A is a schematic diagram of a possible architecture of a communication system applicable to an embodiment of this application;

[0078] Figure 1B is a schematic diagram of another possible architecture of a communication system applicable to the embodiments of this application;

[0079] Figure 1C is a schematic diagram of another possible architecture of a communication system applicable to the embodiments of this application;

[0080] Figure 1D is a schematic diagram of another possible architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0081] Figure 1E is a schematic diagram of another possible architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0082] Figure 1F is a schematic diagram of another possible architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0083] Figure 1G is a schematic diagram of another possible architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0084] Figure 1H is a schematic diagram of another possible architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0085] Figure 1I is a schematic diagram of another possible architecture of a communication system applicable to the embodiments of this application;

[0086] Figure 1J is a schematic diagram of another possible architecture of a communication system applicable to the embodiments of this application;

[0087] Figure 1K is a schematic diagram of another possible architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0088] Figure 1L is a schematic diagram of another possible architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0089] Figure 2A is a schematic diagram of another possible architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0090] Figure 2B is a schematic diagram of another possible architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0091] Figure 2C is a schematic diagram of another possible architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0092] Figure 2D is a schematic diagram of another possible architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0093] Figure 2E is a schematic diagram of another possible architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0094] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of another possible architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0095] Figure 4 is a possible flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0096] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between the uplink time unit of the first network device on the relay device side and the downlink time unit on the second network device side, according to an embodiment of this application.

[0097] Figure 6 is a possible flowchart of another communication method provided in this application embodiment;

[0098] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between the uplink time unit of the first network device on the relay device side and the downlink time unit on the second network device side, according to another embodiment of this application.

[0099] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between the uplink time unit of the first network device on the relay device side and the downlink time unit on the second network device side, according to another embodiment of this application.

[0100] Figure 9 is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between the uplink and downlink time units on the first network device and the second network device side of a relay device provided in another embodiment of this application.

[0101] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between the uplink time unit of the first network device on the relay device side and the uplink time unit on the second network device side, according to another embodiment of this application.

[0102] Figure 11 is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between the uplink time unit of the first network device on the relay device side and the downlink time unit on the second network device side, according to another embodiment of this application.

[0103] Figure 12 is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between the uplink and downlink time units on the first network device and the second network device side of a relay device side according to another embodiment of this application.

[0104] Figure 13 is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between the uplink and downlink time units on the first network device and the second network device side of a relay device provided in another embodiment of this application.

[0105] Figure 14 is a possible structural diagram of another communication scenario provided by an embodiment of this application;

[0106] Figure 15 is a possible structural schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0107] Figure 16 is a possible structural schematic diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0108] The following describes the nouns and terms used in the embodiments of this application.

[0109] (1) Time unit.

[0110] The time units involved in the embodiments of this application belong to time-domain resources. Time-domain resources may include at least one of radio frames, subframes, slots, mini slots, or orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols. A time unit may include a radio frame, a subframe, a slot, a mini slot, or an OFDM symbol. A time unit may also include resources composed of multiple radio frames, multiple subframes, multiple slots, multiple mini slots, or multiple OFDM symbols. Specifically, a radio frame may include multiple subframes, a subframe may include one or more slots, and a slot may include at least one symbol. Alternatively, a radio frame may include multiple slots, and a slot may include at least one symbol. It should be noted that in the embodiments of this application, an OFDM symbol may also be simply referred to as a symbol.

[0111] (2) Frequency domain resources.

[0112] Frequency domain resources may include at least one of the following: resource element (RE), resource block (RB), channel, subchannel, carrier, or bandwidth part (BWP). A frequency domain unit may include one RE, one RB, one channel, one subchannel, one carrier, or one bandwidth part (BWP), etc. A frequency domain unit may also include resources composed of multiple REs, multiple RBs, multiple subchannels, multiple carriers, or multiple BWPs aggregated together. In the embodiments of this application, a channel can be equivalently replaced by a resource block set (RB set), and the frequency domain bandwidth of an RB set may be 20 MHz.

[0113] (3) Reference signal.

[0114] The reference signal in the embodiments of this application may include at least one of the following: positioning reference signal (PRS), sounding reference signal (SRS), channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), demodulation reference signal (DMRS), phase-tracking reference signal (PTRS), or synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block (SSB).

[0115] The technical solutions of this application can be applied to satellite communication systems, high altitude platform station (HAPS) communication, and non-terrestrial network (NTN) systems such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Examples include integrated communication and navigation (ICAN) systems, global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), and ultra-dense low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communication systems. Satellite communication systems can be integrated with traditional mobile communication systems. For example, mobile communication systems can be fourth-generation (4G) communication systems (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication systems, fifth-generation (5G) communication systems (e.g., new radio (NR) systems), and future mobile communication systems.

[0116] Figure 1A exemplarily illustrates an architecture diagram of a communication system 1000 applicable to an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 1A, the communication system includes a wireless access network 100 and a core network 200. Optionally, the communication system 1000 may also include an Internet 300. The wireless access network 100 may include at least one wireless access network device (110a and 110b in Figure 1A) and at least one terminal device (120a-120j in Figure 1A). The terminal device is wirelessly connected to the wireless access network device, and the wireless access network device is wirelessly or wiredly connected to the core network. The core network device and the wireless access network device may be independent and different physical devices, or the functions of the core network device and the logical functions of the wireless access network device may be integrated on the same physical device, or a single physical device may integrate some of the functions of the core network device and some of the functions of the wireless access network device. Terminal devices and wireless access network devices may be interconnected via wired or wireless means. Figure 1A is just a schematic diagram. The communication system may also include other network devices, such as wireless relay devices and wireless backhaul devices, which are not shown in Figure 1A.

[0117] The network devices involved in the embodiments of this application include, for example, radio access network (RAN) devices. RAN devices can be base stations, evolved NodeBs (eNodeBs or eNBs), transmission reception points (TRPs), transmission points (TPs), base stations in 5G mobile communication systems, base stations in future mobile communication systems, or access nodes in WiFi systems; they can also be modules or units that perform some of the functions of a base station, for example, they can be central units (CUs), distributed units (DUs), or radio units (RUs). The CU (Radio Control Unit) performs the functions of the radio resource control protocol and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) of the base station, and can also perform the functions of the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP). The DU (Radio Link Control Unit) performs the functions of the radio link control layer and medium access control (MAC) layer of the base station, and can also perform some or all of the physical layer functions. For specific descriptions of the above-mentioned protocol layers, please refer to the relevant technical specifications of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The CU and DU can be set up separately, or they can be included in the same network element, such as in the baseband unit (BBU). The RU (Radio Receiver Unit) can be included in radio frequency equipment or radio frequency units, such as in the remote radio unit (RRU), active antenna unit (AAU), or remote radio head (RRH). In different systems, CU, DU, or RU may also have different names, but those skilled in the art will understand their meaning. For example, in an open radio access network (ORAN) system, a CU can also be called an open CU (open-CU, O-CU), a DU can also be called an open DU (open-DU, O-DU), and a RU can also be called an open RU (open-RU, O-RU).In this application, any of the following units—CU (or CU control plane (CU-CP), CU user plane (CU-UP), DU, and RU)—can be implemented through software modules, hardware modules, or a combination of software and hardware modules. CU-CP can also be called open-CU-CP (O-CU-CP), and CU-UP can also be called open-CU-UP (O-CU-UP).

[0118] Wireless access network equipment can be a macro base station (110a in Figure 1A), a micro base station or an indoor station (110b in Figure 1A), or a relay device, relay node, or donor node, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology or equipment form used in the wireless access network equipment. For ease of description, a base station is used as an example of wireless access network equipment in the following description.

[0119] Terminal devices can also be referred to as terminals, user equipment (UE), mobile stations, mobile terminal devices, etc. Terminal devices can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grids, smart furniture, smart offices, smart wearables, smart transportation, smart cities, etc. Terminal devices can be mobile phones, tablets, computers with wireless transceiver capabilities, wearable devices, vehicles, drones, helicopters, airplanes, ships, robots, robotic arms, smart home devices, sensors, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technologies or device forms used in the terminal devices.

[0120] The aforementioned terminal devices can establish connections with the operator's network through interfaces provided by the operator's network (such as N1), and use data and / or voice services provided by the operator's network. The terminal devices can also access the Domain Name System (DNS) through the operator's network, and use operator services deployed on the DNS, and / or services provided by third parties. These third parties can be service providers outside of the operator's network and the terminal devices, and can provide other data and / or voice services to the terminal devices. The specific form of these third parties can be determined according to the actual application scenario and is not limited here.

[0121] Base stations and terminal equipment can be fixed or mobile. They can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; on water; or in the air on aircraft, balloons, and satellites. The embodiments of this application do not limit the application scenarios of the base stations and terminal equipment.

[0122] The roles of base stations and terminal devices can be relative. For example, the helicopter or drone 120i in Figure 1A can be configured as a mobile base station. For terminal devices 120j that access the wireless access network 100 through 120i, terminal device 120i is a base station; however, for base station 110a, 120i is a terminal device, meaning that 110a and 120i communicate via a wireless air interface protocol. Of course, 110a and 120i can also communicate via a base station-to-base station interface protocol. In this case, relative to 110a, 120i is also a base station. Therefore, both base stations and terminal devices can be collectively referred to as communication devices. 110a and 110b in Figure 1A can be called communication devices with base station functions, and 120a-120j in Figure 1A can be called communication devices with terminal device functions.

[0123] Communication between base stations and terminal devices, between base stations, and between terminal devices can be conducted using licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or both simultaneously. Communication can be conducted using spectrum below 6 GHz, spectrum above 6 GHz, or both simultaneously. The embodiments of this application do not limit the spectrum resources used for wireless communication.

[0124] In the embodiments of this application, the functions of the base station can be executed by modules (such as chips) within the base station, or by a control subsystem that includes base station functions. This control subsystem, including base station functions, can be a control center in the aforementioned application scenarios such as smart grids, industrial control, intelligent transportation, and smart cities. Similarly, the functions of the terminal device can be executed by modules (such as chips or modems) within the terminal device, or by a device that includes terminal device functions.

[0125] In this application, the base station sends downlink signals or downlink information to the terminal device, with the downlink information carried on the downlink channel; the terminal device sends uplink signals or uplink information to the base station, with the uplink information carried on the uplink channel. In order to communicate with the base station, the terminal device needs to establish a radio connection with a cell controlled by the base station. The cell with which the terminal device has established a radio connection is called the serving cell of the terminal device. When the terminal device communicates with this serving cell, it is also subject to interference from signals from neighboring cells.

[0126] The core network involved in this application embodiment may include network devices that process and forward user signaling and data. For example, it includes core network devices such as access and mobility management functions (AMF), session management functions (SMF), user plane gateways, and location management devices. The user plane gateway can be a server with functions such as mobility management, routing, and forwarding of user plane data, generally located on the network side, such as a serving gateway (SGW), packet data network gateway (PGW), or user plane function (UPF). AMF and SMF are equivalent to the mobility management entity (MME) in a long-term evolution (LTE) system. AMF is mainly responsible for admission aspects, and SMF is mainly responsible for session management. Of course, the core network may also include other network elements, which are not listed here.

[0127] Figure 1B exemplarily illustrates a schematic diagram of an O-RAN system architecture provided by an embodiment of this application. The O-RAN system in the embodiments provided by this application may include components other than those shown in Figure 1B. As shown in Figure 1B, the access network device (RAN, for example, may be an eNB, a next-generation NodeB (gNB), or an access network device in a future mobile communication system) communicates with the core network (CN) via a backhaul link and with user equipment (UE) via an air interface. For example, the baseband unit (BBU) in the access network device communicates with the core network via a backhaul link, and the radio unit (RU) in the access network device communicates with at least one UE via an air interface. The BBU communicates with at least one RU via a fronthaul link; the BBU and RU may or may not be co-located. The BBU includes at least one control unit (CU) and at least one distributed unit (DU), which can communicate via at least one midhaul link.

[0128] Figure 1C exemplarily illustrates a schematic diagram of an O-RAN system architecture provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 1C, O-RAN may include O-CU-CP, O-CU-UP, O-DU, and O-RU. This system architecture may also include an open cloud (O-cloud), a service management and orchestration framework, an open eNB (O-eNB), a near-real-time (RT) RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC), and a non-real-time RIC. The non-RT RIC can monitor, configure, manage, and control radio resources of at least one of multiple O-CU-CP, O-CU-UP, DU, or O-eNB. As shown in Figure 1C, the interfaces defined by 3GPP include, for example: E1, F1 (e.g., F1-c, F1-u), NG (e.g., NG-c, NG-u), Xn (e.g., Xn-c, Xn-u), and X2 (e.g., X2-c, X2-u). For example, O-RAN communication systems also include interfaces such as O1, O2, E2, A1, Open-Fronthaul (FH)-plane (e.g., Open FH M-plane), and Open FH Control, User, and Synchronization (CUS)-plane. The names of the interfaces and the connection methods of the units shown in Figure 1C are an example; in practical applications, O-RAN systems may include more or fewer interfaces, or more or fewer units.

[0129] Based on the content shown in Figures 1A, 1B, and 1C, Figure 1D also exemplarily illustrates a system architecture diagram applicable to another embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 1D, the communication system includes a terminal device (e.g., a UE), a network device (e.g., a base station), and a relay device. The UE shown in Figure 1D can be replaced by any of the terminal devices shown in Figures 1A, 1B, or 1C. The base station shown in Figure 1D can be replaced by the network device (e.g., an access network device) shown in Figures 1A, 1B, or 1C. The relay device shown in Figure 1D can be the network device shown in Figures 1A, 1B, or 1C, and this relay device has the ability to forward data. Data can be sent and received in the form of signals; therefore, in this embodiment, signals can be replaced by data, and data can also be replaced by signals.

[0130] Figure 1D illustrates this using a network-controlled repeater (NCR) as an example. The NCR can act as a UE access base station (parent node) to receive control signaling from the base station (the control signaling controls the NCR's data forwarding behavior). The NCR can also amplify and forward signals between the UE and the base station.

[0131] Based on the content shown in Figures 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D, Figure 1E also exemplarily illustrates a system architecture diagram applicable to yet another embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 1E, the communication system includes a terminal device (e.g., a UE), a network device (e.g., a base station), and a relay device. The UE shown in Figure 1E can be replaced by any of the terminal devices shown in Figures 1A, 1B, 1C, or 1D. The base station shown in Figure 1D can be replaced by the network device (e.g., an access network device) shown in Figures 1A, 1B, 1C, or 1D. The relay device shown in Figure 1E can be the network device shown in Figures 1A, 1B, 1C, or 1D, and this relay device has the capability to forward data.

[0132] As shown in Figure 1E, a relay device (such as an NCR, satellite, or other relay device) includes two functional entities: a mobile termination (MT) entity (the relay device is an NCR, and the MT entity can also be called an NCR MT entity or NCR-MT entity) and a forwarding (Fwd) entity (the relay device is an NCR, and the forwarding entity can also be called an NCR Fwd entity or NCR-Fwd entity).

[0133] A relay unit (MT) can be defined as a functional entity that communicates with the base station via a control link (C-link) to exchange control information. The C-link can be based on the NR Uu interface, meaning the NCR-MT entity and the gNB are connected via the Uu interface. The base station uses the C-link to control the relay device. For example, the relay device can receive control information from the base station (e.g., side information for controlling forwarding entities), beam control information (e.g., beam control information for the control link, backhaul link, or access link), relay device on / off status (the NCR's on / off state), or NCR signal transmit power control, etc., through the C-link. The relay device amplifies and forwards data between the base station and the UE, without needing to decode or perform other data processing on the forwarded data. It is understood that the connection between the MT entity and the base station (such as C-link) can also be based on other future communication interfaces, not limited to the NR Uu interface.

[0134] A forwarding entity is defined as a functional entity that performs amplification and forwarding of uplink (UL) / downlink (DL) radio frequency (RF) signals between the base station and the UE via the backhaul link and access link. The behavior of the forwarding entity can be controlled based on control information received from the base station.

[0135] Figure 1F illustrates an exemplary architecture diagram of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application. Figure 1F uses an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) communication system architecture as an example for illustration.

[0136] The purpose of IAB is to support wireless backhaul and relay links, enabling flexible and very dense deployment of NR cells without proportionally encrypting the wired transmission network. Typical deployment scenarios include supporting outdoor small cell deployment, indoor small cell deployment, and even mobile relay (e.g., on buses or trains).

[0137] As shown in Figure 1F, the communication system includes a UE and a network device. The UE in Figure 1F can be a terminal device or a chip (or chip system, processor, circuit, or functional module) within the terminal device. For example, the network device can include an IAB-host and an IAB-node. The IAB-donor supports the gNodeB with IAB additional functions, connects to the core network via a non-IAB connection, and can provide access to the UE or IAB-node (e.g., through a backhaul link or an access link). The IAB-node can support NR access (e.g., through an access link) and backhaul (e.g., through a backhaul link). In this embodiment, the host can be written as "donor," and the node can be written as "node." Correspondingly, the IAB-host can be written as "IAB-donor," and the IAB-node can also be written as "IAB-node." The substitution methods for other terms are similar, and will not be repeated in other locations. Either the IAB-donor or IAB-node shown in Figure 1F can be a satellite device or a chip (or chip system, processor, circuit, or functional module) inside a satellite device, or a ground-deployed network device (such as a ground base station) or a chip (or chip system, processor, circuit, or functional module) inside a network device (such as a ground base station).

[0138] Figure 1G illustrates a schematic diagram of a communication system architecture applicable to an embodiment of this application. The network architecture shown in Figure 1G can be the network architecture involved in IAB-donor and IAB-node in Figure 1F, and related content can also be found in the description in Figure 1F above.

[0139] As shown in Figure 1G, this communication system includes the UE and the 5G Core Network (5GC). 5GC / base station / parent node / gNB can be network devices. As shown in Figure 1G, this communication system also includes base stations (e.g., gNobeB), hosts (illustrated as IAB-host in Figure 1G, which can also be written as IAB-donor), and nodes (illustrated as IAB-node in Figure 1G, which can also be written as IAB-node).

[0140] As shown in Figure 1G, the IAB-node supports NR access and backhaul functions and can include an IAB-node-mobile termination (MT) and an IAB-node-DU. The IAB-node-MT can act as a regular terminal device connected to its parent node or host CU or DU, serving as a control link. The IAB-node-MT sends or receives beam direction information for control backhaul / control link / access link, switches forwarding transmission information, routing-related information, etc. The IAB-node-DU can provide coverage for access-side pole cells under the IAB-node, providing access for regular UEs or lower-level IAB-node-MTs to establish lower-level control links.

[0141] The IAB-donor can support gNodeBs (also known as gNodeB-donors) with IAB-node additional functions and can connect to the core network (e.g., via non-IAB connections), such as fiber optic cables. The IAB-donor can include IAB-host-CU (also known as IAB-donor-CU) and IAB-host-DU (also known as IAB-donor-DU). The IAB-donor-CU provides connectivity for the IAB-donor-DU and IAB-node-DU. The IAB-donor-CU can act as a base station connecting to other base stations (e.g., via the Xn-C interface), allowing the base station to access the 5GC, or the IAB-donor-CU can directly access the 5GC (e.g., via the NG interface). The IAB-donor-DU can provide coverage for access-side pole-mounted cells under the IAB-donor, providing access for ordinary UEs or IAB-nodes to establish lower-level control links.

[0142] The F1 interface is used for the connection between IAB-node-DU and IAB-donor-CU, and is fully inherited from the F1 interface of DU and CU. The Uu interface (e.g., NR Uu interface) is used for the connection between IAB-donor-DU and IAB-node-MT. It can also be used for the connection between IAB-node and UE. As shown in Figure 1G, the IAB-node accesses the IAB-donor as a terminal device and establishes a Uu interface connection. The UE can connect to the IAB-node and then access the IAB-donor-DU.

[0143] Figures 1H and 1I exemplarily illustrate network architecture diagrams of several communication systems applicable to embodiments of this application. The communication system may include satellites, network devices, and terminal devices. The communication system may also include gateways and core network devices. Figures 1H and 1I exemplarily illustrate a converged network architecture of NTN and terrestrial networks. A description is provided below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0144] The satellite can be a highly elliptical orbit (HEO) satellite, a geosynchronous orbit (GSO) satellite, a geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellite, a medium earth orbit (MEO) satellite, or a low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite. This application does not limit the satellite's operating mode; for example, the satellite can operate in transparent mode or regenerative mode. Figure 1H illustrates the example of a satellite operating in transparent mode, and Figure 1I illustrates the example of a satellite operating in regenerative mode.

[0145] When a satellite operates in transparent mode, it provides transparent relay forwarding functionality. A gateway possesses the functions of a network device (such as a base station) or some of the functions of a network device (such as a base station); in this case, the gateway can be considered a network device (such as a base station). Alternatively, the network device (such as a base station) can be deployed separately from the gateway. In this case, the feeder link latency includes both the latency from the satellite to the gateway and the latency from the gateway to the gNB. The transparent mode discussed later assumes that the gateway and gNB are located together or close to each other. For cases where the gateway and gNB are far apart, the feeder link latency is simply the sum of the latency from the satellite to the gateway and the latency from the gateway to the gNB.

[0146] When a satellite is operating in regenerative mode, it has data processing capabilities and functions as a network device (such as a base station) or partially functions as a network device (such as a base station). In this case, the satellite can be regarded as a network device (such as a base station).

[0147] Satellites can communicate wirelessly with terminal devices via broadcast communication signals and navigation signals. Optionally, each satellite can provide communication, navigation, and positioning services to terminal devices through multiple beams. For example, each satellite uses multiple beams to cover the service area, and the relationship between different beams can be one or more of time-division, frequency-division, and space-division.

[0148] A gateway (also known as a ground station, earth station, or gateway) is a network device used to connect satellites and ground-based network equipment (such as ground base stations). One or more satellites can connect to one or more ground-based network devices (such as ground base stations) through one or more gateways; this is not a limitation. The link between the satellite and the terminal device is called a service link, and the link between the satellite and the gateway is called a feeder link. Network equipment can be deployed separately from the gateway; therefore, the latency of the feeder link can include both the latency from the satellite to the gateway and the latency from the gateway to the network equipment.

[0149] The network devices in this application embodiment may include network devices deployed on satellites (such as satellite base stations), network devices deployed on gateways, or network devices deployed on the ground (such as ground base stations). For example, the network devices may be radio access network (RAN) nodes, RAN nodes in O-RAN systems, etc., as shown in Figures 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, 1F, 1G, 1H, or 1I. Related details are described above and will not be repeated here.

[0150] The core network (CN) device in this embodiment is a device located on the ground that can communicate with NTN devices in the NTN system. For example, the CN can be the CN involved in Figure 1A, Figure 1B, Figure 1C, Figure 1D, Figure 1E, Figure 1F, Figure 1G, Figure 1H or Figure 1I. For relevant details, please refer to the foregoing description and will not be repeated here.

[0151] The terminal device in the embodiments of this application may be the terminal, terminal equipment or terminal device involved in Figure 1A, Figure 1B, Figure 1C, Figure 1D, Figure 1E, Figure 1F, Figure 1G, Figure 1H or Figure 1I. For relevant content, please refer to the foregoing description and it will not be repeated here.

[0152] The embodiments of this application can also be applied to other communication system architectures, such as air-to-ground (ATG) communication systems, which include at least one network device and at least one high-altitude terminal device. High-altitude terminal devices include, for example, high-altitude aircraft and onboard terminal devices. The satellites in Figures 1F and 1G can also be replaced with other relay devices, such as high-altitude platform stations (HAPS) or other NTN devices. The communication system shown in Figure 1F or 1G is merely an example and does not limit the communication systems to which the methods provided in the embodiments of this application are applicable.

[0153] This application's embodiments can also be applied to air-to-ground (ATG) communication systems. As an example, please refer to Figure 1J, which is a schematic diagram of the network architecture of another communication system to which this application's embodiments apply. This communication system includes at least one network device and at least one high-altitude terminal device. Data forwarding between the network device and the high-altitude terminal device can also be achieved through relay devices. High-altitude terminal devices include, for example, high-altitude aircraft and onboard terminal devices.

[0154] In another example, the embodiments of this application can also be extended to satellite relay and terrestrial relay backhaul forwarding scenarios. Figures 1K and 1L exemplarily illustrate two scenarios to which the embodiments of this application can be applied. In these two scenarios, terrestrial relays can be used to expand congested ISLs, thereby increasing system capacity and reducing transmission path length. This application can replace or supplement existing inter-satellite links (ISLs) with on-demand deployed terrestrial relay equipment and satellite-to-ground forwarding links, reducing satellite payload costs and improving the economics of low-Earth orbit satellite network deployment. As shown in Figure 1L, in this scenario, the ISL is partially congested, and terrestrial relays are deployed to expand inter-satellite backhaul capacity. The terrestrial relay can be relay equipment such as NCR / IAB / WAB. A wireless access backhaul (WAB) device can be understood as a combination of a base station and a MT. Compared to the combination of DU and MT in IAB, the WAB device adds a CU module, which can better realize the functions of a base station. As shown in Figure 1L, for low-cost satellites that may not have inter-satellite links, ground relays can be deployed to quickly form a backhaul network, enabling low-cost satellite network backhaul.

[0155] Figure 2A illustrates, exemplarily, another communication system architecture applicable to embodiments of this application. As shown in Figure 2A, the communication system includes a gateway, a satellite, a ground-based relay device, a ground-based UE, a high-altitude UE (e.g., a high-altitude aircraft or onboard terminal device), and a high-altitude relay device (e.g., the satellite shown in Figure 2A, which may be an NCR / integrated access and backhaul (IAB)-MT entity).

[0156] As shown in Figure 2A, the gateway can transmit base station signals via satellite to ground-based relay equipment. Ground-based relay equipment can then forward the base station signals to UEs on the ground, or UEs in the sky / space (e.g., aircraft, satellite equipment such as NCR-MT, IAB-MT, or WAB-MT, which can be considered MTs). Ground-based relay equipment can also forward base station signals to the next relay equipment, which can be deployed on the ground or in the air. Figure 2A illustrates this with an example of a satellite in the air acting as the next relay equipment. This satellite can act as an NCR, forwarding received data (or forwarding it to other UEs or other relay equipment). Base station signals can originate from ground-based base stations or satellite base stations.

[0157] In another example, the gateway can transmit base station signals via satellite to ground-based relay equipment. The ground-based relay equipment can forward signals from UEs (e.g., ground-based UEs, aircraft in the air, or satellites configured to include IAB-MT entities) or other relay equipment (e.g., satellites configured as NCR in the diagram) to the gateway (e.g., forwarded via satellite or sent directly to the gateway). The gateway then forwards the received UE signals to the base station. The UE signals can originate from ground-based UEs or UEs in the air.

[0158] Figure 2A schematically illustrates relay devices #1, #2, #3, and #4. Relay device #4 can be installed between relay device #3 and terminal device #1. Relay device #4 can improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the satellite-to-ground link, thereby improving the transmission spectral efficiency of the terminal. The relay device and the terminal device may be in the same cell or different cells. For example, relay device #2 and terminal device #1 may be in different cells. Alternatively, relay device #4 and terminal device #1 may be in the same cell, and relay device #4 can also act as a terminal device to access the network provided by relay device #3. For example, relay device #4, acting as a MT (e.g., relay device #4-MT), can receive signals from cell #1 (e.g., signal #1) and access cell #1. Therefore, relay device #4-MT can receive broadcast messages from cell #1. Relay device #4 forwards the signals from cell #1 to the ground (e.g., the area where terminal device #1 is located). The relay device in the embodiments of this application can also be regarded as a terminal device, and can be called a relay device or a relay device-MT.

[0159] The relay device in this application embodiment may include an amplify and forward (AF) relay and / or a decode and forward (DF) relay. An amplify and forward relay may refer to a relay device receiving a signal and then directly forwarding it to the next device without decoding or encoding the signal. A decode and forward relay may refer to a relay node receiving a signal, decoding the signal, re-encoding the decoding result, and then forwarding it to the next device.

[0160] Figure 2B illustrates an exemplary communication system architecture applicable to embodiments of this application. As shown in Figure 2B, the communication system includes a UE and a 5G Core Network (5GC). 5GC / base station / parent node / gNB can also be considered as several possible examples of network devices. As shown in Figure 2B, the communication system also includes one or more relay devices, represented in Figure 2B as network-controlled transparent nodes (NCTN). Transparent forwarding nodes have Amplify-and-Forward (AF) relay functionality, where Amplify-and-Forward relay refers to the relay node receiving a signal but not decoding or encoding it, and directly forwarding the received signal to the destination node. As shown in Figure 2B, the communication system also includes a base station (e.g., gNobeB) and a parent node (e.g., gNobeB-NCTN-donor).

[0161] As shown in Figure 2B, this communication system includes relay devices, which can be devices within the NG-RAN. The relay devices support NR access and backhaul functions and can include NCTN-Mobile Termination (MT) and NCTN-DU. The NCTN-MT can connect to its parent node's CU or NCTN-DU as a control link, functioning as a regular terminal device. The NCTN-MT sends or receives beam direction information for control backhaul / control link / access link, switches forwarded transmission information, routing-related information, etc. The NCTN-DU can provide access for the NCTN-MT / network controlled regenerative node (NCRN)-MT, establishing lower-level control links. The relay device can also include forwarding functionality, providing amplified forwarding (e.g., transparent forwarding) of UL / DL radio frequency signals between the parent node (gNB-donor) / regenerative node and the terminal device.

[0162] The parent node can be a gNodeB (also known as a gNodeB-donor) that supports additional functions of relay devices and can connect to the core network, such as fiber optic cables. The parent node can include NCTN-parent node-CU (also known as NCTN-donor-CU) and NCTN-parent node-DU (also known as NCTN-donor-DU). The NCTN-parent node-CU provides connectivity for the NCTN-parent node-DU and the NCTN-DU of the relay device. The NCTN-parent node-CU can act as a base station connecting to other base stations (e.g., via the Xn-C interface), allowing the base station to access the 5GC, or the NCTN-parent node-CU can directly access the 5GC (e.g., via the NG interface). The NCTN-parent node-DU can provide access for terminal devices or NCTN-MT.

[0163] The F1 interface is used for the connection between NCTN-DU and NCTN-parent node-CU, and is fully inherited from the F1 interface of DU and CU. The Uu interface (e.g., NR Uu interface) is used for the connection between NCTN-parent node-DU and NCTN-MT. It can also be used for the connection between the relay network and the UE. As shown in Figure 2B, the NCTN accesses the parent node as a terminal device and establishes a Uu interface connection. As shown in Figure 2B, the UE can connect to the NCTN forwarding connection, various NCTN forwarding connections, and access the NCTN-parent node-DU.

[0164] Figures 2C, 2D, and 2E exemplarily illustrate several communication system architectures applicable to embodiments of this application.

[0165] The difference between Figure 2C and Figure 2B is that all three relay devices in Figure 2B are NCTN, while one relay device in Figure 2C is an NCRN. As shown in Figure 2B, an NCRN can include NCRN-MT and NCRN-DU. An NCRN-MT can connect to its parent node's DU / NCTN-DU / NCRN-DU as a regular terminal device, serving as a control link and a wireless backhaul link (providing digital forwarding or regenerative forwarding functions, supporting RLC layer forwarding or MAC layer forwarding). An NCRN has decode-and-forward (DF) relay functionality, which means that after receiving a signal, the relay node decodes the signal, re-encodes the decoded result, and finally forwards it to the destination node. An NCRN-DU can provide access for lower-level NCTN-MT / NCRN-MT / terminal devices. Other details in Figure 2C are described in Figure 2B above and will not be repeated here.

[0166] Compared to Figure 2B, the difference in Figure 2D is that the relay devices in Figure 2D include forwarding and NCTN-MT, but not NCTN-DU. The NCTN-MT can connect to its parent node's DU / NCTN-DU / NCRN-DU as a regular terminal device, serving as a control link. It can also send / receive control return / control link / access link beam direction information, switch forwarded transmission information, routing-related information, etc. Forwarding can provide amplified forwarding (transparent forwarding) of UL / DL radio frequency signals between the gNB-donor / NCRN and the terminal device. Other details in Figure 2D are described in Figure 2B above and will not be repeated here.

[0167] The difference between Figure 2E and Figure 2C is that the NCTN in Figure 2E includes forwarding and NCTN-MT, but does not include NCTN-DU. Other details in Figure 2E are described in Figures 2B, 2C, and 2D above, and will not be repeated here.

[0168] Figure 3 illustrates a possible scenario applicable to the implementation of this application. As shown in Figure 3, a network device (e.g., a base station or gateway) communicates with a terminal device through at least one relay device. The base station and gateway in this embodiment can be interchanged. The base station and gateway may be deployed together or in separate locations. The relay device can also be a relay node, such as an IAB / NCR / WAB. The terminal devices illustrated in Figure 3 include UEs and may also include MTs, such as satellites. These MTs can access the host node, the previous hop, or the relay device as mobile terminals. These MTs may include, for example, NCR-MT, IAB-MT, or WAB-MT. The satellite in this application can be replaced by a cell, base station, or gateway. The relay devices shown in Figure 3 include ground-based relay devices and air-based relay devices, such as satellite #1 and satellite #2. Figure 3 illustrates one possible example of a ground-based relay device that can forward base station signals to UEs on the ground, in the sky / space (e.g., aircraft, satellite equipment such as NCR-MT, IAB-MT, or WAB-MT, which can be considered MTs)). The satellites shown in the figure that can be considered MTs can also be relay devices; for example, these MTs can act as relay devices to provide communication services to UEs. Figure 3 uses satellite #1 connected to base station #1 / gateway #1, and satellite #2 connected to base station #2 / gateway #2 as an example.

[0169] As shown in Figure 3, if the relay device establishes a connection with base station #1 / gateway #1, the relay device can forward information from base station #1 / gateway #1 (e.g., uplink and / or downlink information). In this scenario, the relay device may also need to forward information from other network devices (e.g., base station #2 / gateway #2) (e.g., uplink and / or downlink information). How to meet the needs of this scenario is an urgent problem to be solved.

[0170] To address the aforementioned issues, this application provides a method in which a first network device can send downlink control information to a relay device, and the downlink control information can schedule the relay device to forward information from a second network device. It can be seen that in this solution, the first network device can schedule the relay device to forward information from other network devices, thereby achieving the purpose of the relay device forwarding information from multiple network devices, thus meeting the needs of the aforementioned scenario.

[0171] On the other hand, since the first network device can schedule the relay device to forward information from other network devices, the relay device does not need to establish a connection with each network device that needs to forward information. For example, the relay device can establish a connection with the first network device, while the relay device can establish a connection with the second network device or not. The network device that has established a connection with the relay device (e.g., the first network device) can schedule the relay device to forward information from network devices that have not established a connection with the relay device (e.g., the second network device). This scheme does not require the relay device to establish a connection with every network device that needs to forward information, thus reducing the operational complexity on the relay device side.

[0172] On the other hand, this solution can be applied to scenarios where relay devices switch network devices, and terminal devices switch network devices. Referring to Figure 3, as a satellite moves, a ground-based relay device needs to switch from satellite #1 to satellite #2. Satellite #1 can be called the source satellite, and satellite #2 can be called the target satellite. Terminal devices (e.g., MTs and / or UEs) within the relay device's signal coverage area also need to switch satellites. In this scenario, both the relay device and the terminal devices need to switch. One possible implementation is that after establishing a connection with the target satellite, the relay device can still maintain synchronization / connection with the source satellite, or the relay device can maintain a connection with the source satellite and establish synchronization / connection with the target satellite. In this way, the relay device can forward information from both the source and target satellites, thereby enabling subsequent successful switching of terminal devices within the relay device's signal coverage area from the source satellite to the target satellite. Furthermore, after switching to the target satellite, the terminal device can communicate with the target satellite based on the relay device, thus avoiding connection drops. As can be seen in this embodiment, the relay device needs to support the forwarding of information from both the target satellite and the source satellite for a period of time, and the relay device may have synchronized with one of the satellites but not established a connection. In the solution provided by this application embodiment, the satellite with which the relay device has established a connection (e.g., the first network device) can schedule the relay device to forward information from satellites without a connection (e.g., the second network device), thereby achieving the goal of the relay device forwarding information from multiple network devices in this scenario. This allows the terminal device to successfully switch networks in scenarios where both the relay device and the terminal device need to do so. In the switching scenario, the first network device can be the target network device, and the second network device can be the source network device; or, the first network device can be the source network device, and the second network device can be the target network device.

[0173] The above example illustrates the switching of satellites using a ground-based relay device. This application's embodiments are also applicable to other scenarios. For example, signal scenarios between a satellite relay base station and a ground-based UE, or signal scenarios between a satellite relay base station and a satellite relay-MT (e.g., NCR-MT, IAB-MT, or WAB-MT deployed on a satellite). In this application's embodiments, the satellite relay may include a relay device deployed on a satellite, or the satellite itself. Network devices (e.g., a first network device and a second network device) can be deployed on the ground or in the air. The solutions provided in this application's embodiments are also applicable to these scenarios, and the solutions are similar, so further details are omitted.

[0174] Based on the content shown in at least one of Figures 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, 1F, 1G, 1H, 1I, 1J, 1K, 1L, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 2E, or 3, and the other content described above, Figure 4 exemplarily illustrates a possible flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of this application. For ease of understanding, Figure 4 uses the interaction between a relay device, a source network device, and a target network device as an example for illustration.

[0175] The relay device can be a relay equipment or a chip (or chip system, circuit, or module unit) inside a relay equipment. The relay equipment can be deployed in the air (e.g., on a satellite, drone, or high-altitude platform) or on the ground. The relay equipment may include, for example, an IAB, an NCR, or a WAB. The first network device can be a network device or a chip (or chip system, circuit, or module unit) inside a network device. The second network device can be a network device or a chip (or chip system, circuit, or module unit) inside a network device. The network device can be deployed on the ground or in the air. For example, the network device can include / be replaced by: access network equipment, ground station, gateway, relay equipment, base station, host, parent node, node, cell, satellite, etc. For example, the network device can include an IAB, an NCR, or a WAB. In the embodiments of this application, the access network equipment and the gateway can be interchanged. The access network equipment and the gateway can be deployed in one device or separately.

[0176] The embodiments of this application can be applied to both NTN and terrestrial networks. In an NTN scenario, at least one of a relay device, a first network device, or a second network device is located on the NTN device. For example, the relay device communicates with the first network device via the NTN device. For example, the relay device communicates with the first network device via the NTN device (e.g., a satellite). For example, the relay device communicates with the second network device via the NTN device. For example, the relay device communicates with the second network device via the NTN device (e.g., a satellite).

[0177] NTN devices may include / replace NTN equipment or chips (or chip systems, circuits, or module units) within NTN equipment. For example, NTN equipment may include / replace satellites, drones, or high-altitude platforms. As another example, NTN equipment includes aircraft (or other flying vehicles), or terminals on aircraft (or other flying vehicles), ground-based mobile terminals, drone terminals, aircraft terminals, satellites, or satellite terminals. The satellite or satellite terminal may operate in transparent or regenerative mode. As another example, NTN equipment may include IAB-MT, NCR-MT, or WAB-MT. As yet another example, NTN equipment may include IAB, NCR, or WAB.

[0178] The solution provided in this application is applicable to scenarios where a first network device schedules a relay device to forward information from a second network device. In this application, the first network device can also schedule other network devices, and the relevant content is similar and will not be repeated. In this application, the relay device, the first network device, and the second network device can be flexibly configured. For example, the first network device and the second network device can each be two satellites, and the relay device can be a ground-based relay device. Another example is that the relay device is a satellite, and the first network device and the second network device are two ground-based base stations / gateways. Yet another example is that the first network device, the second network device, and the relay device are all ground-based devices, with the relay device connected to the first network device via an NTN device (e.g., a satellite), and the relay device connected to the second network device via an NTN device (e.g., a satellite). These scenarios are examples, and this application is not limited to these scenarios.

[0179] The following explanation is based on Figure 4.

[0180] Step 401: The first network device sends downlink control information to the relay device.

[0181] For example, the first network device can acquire (e.g., generate) downlink control information and send it to the relay device. Correspondingly, the relay device receives the downlink control information from the first network device.

[0182] The downlink control information includes / is first information. The first information includes / is information used to instruct the relay device to forward information from the second network device.

[0183] For example, the first information may include information that indicates the relay device needs to forward information from the second network device. For example, the first information may indicate that the relay device forwards uplink and / or downlink information transmitted between the second network device and the terminal device. For example, the first information may include / become: information (information A1) instructing the relay device to forward information from the second network device, and / or information indicating at least one of the following: resources (information A2), beam (information A3), address (information A4), transmission path (information A5), transmission direction (information A6), transmission mode (information A7), frequency (information A8), power (information A9), port (information A10), or reference signal (information A11) corresponding to the information (e.g., information from the second network device) sent (or forwarded) by the relay device. Any two items in the first information may be carried in the same message or in different messages.

[0184] Information A1 is used to instruct the relay device to forward information from the second network device.

[0185] The first network device can indicate the network device to be scheduled to the relay device through the first information. In scenarios where the relay device forwards signals from multiple networks, this avoids confusion between the network device corresponding to the signal to be forwarded, thereby supporting flexible scheduling of the relay device to forward DL / UL signals from multiple network devices and preventing forwarding confusion among multiple network devices.

[0186] The first network device can indicate the network device being scheduled in an explicit or implicit manner. For example, the information used to instruct the relay device to forward information of the second network device may include the identification information of the second network device (Implementation A1.1) (explicit method), or, for another example, the information used to instruct the relay device to forward information of the second network device may be resource indication information (Implementation A1.2) (implicit method).

[0187] In implementation method A1.1, the information used to instruct the relay device to forward information of the second network device includes: the identification information of the second network device.

[0188] The relay device can determine the network device corresponding to the information that needs to be forwarded based on the identification information of the second network device. This scheme can reduce the complexity of the scheme on the relay device side.

[0189] In implementation method A1.2, the information used to instruct the relay device to forward information from the second network device includes: resource indication information.

[0190] In this embodiment, the downlink control information may include resource indication information. The resource indication information is used to indicate the resources used by the relay device to forward information from the second network device.

[0191] In implementation A2, the resource indication information may have the function of first information. For example, the resource indication information may have the ability to implicitly indicate the second network device. In implementation A2, the first network device can implicitly indicate which network device's information the relay device needs to forward through the resource indication information.

[0192] For example, a network device can be associated with at least one resource. For instance, the resource associated with the first network device might be identified as resource #1, and the resource associated with the second network device might be identified as resource #2. If the first network device needs to schedule a relay device to forward information from the second network device, it can configure the resource indication information to indicate that the resource belongs to the resource associated with the second network device (e.g., resource #2). After receiving downlink control information, the relay device determines the resource indicated by the resource indication information. If the resource indicated by the resource indication information belongs to the resource associated with the second network device (e.g., resource #2), the relay device determines that it will forward the information from the second network device. As another example, if the first network device needs to schedule a relay device to forward information from the first network device, it can configure the resource indication information in the downlink control information to associate with the resource in resource #1.

[0193] For example, a first network device can configure a resource set via signaling (e.g., RRC signaling). This resource set can include multiple resources, which can be divided into multiple sets, such as set #1 and set #2. The resources in set #1 are the resources mentioned above, and the resources in set #2 are the resources mentioned above. For example, the resources in set #1 and set #2 may not overlap. In this example, different network devices (e.g., gNBs) are distinguished by different resource sets within the resource set. The first network device can configure resources for the relay device based on the resource sets corresponding to different network devices. For example, when the first network device uses downlink control information (e.g., DCI or MAC CE signaling) to call resources in the resource set, it can directly schedule set #2 (or some or all of the resources in set #2) corresponding to the second network device. The relay device determines that the resources scheduled by the first network device belong to set #2, and then determines that the relay device needs to forward information from the second network device.

[0194] For another example, a first network device can configure multiple resource sets (e.g., resource set #1 and resource set #2) via signaling (e.g., RRC signaling), with each resource set associated with a network device. In this embodiment, a resource set includes at least one resource. The resource in resource set #1 is the aforementioned resource #1, and the resource in resource set #2 is the aforementioned resource #2. For example, the resources in resource set #1 and resource set #2 may not overlap. In this example, different network devices (e.g., gNBs) are distinguished by different resource sets. The first network device can configure resources for the relay device according to the resource sets corresponding to different network devices. For example, when the first network device uses downlink control information (e.g., DCI or MAC CE signaling) to call resources in a resource set, it can directly schedule resource set #2 (or some or all of the resources in resource set #2) corresponding to the second network device. For example, the first network device can activate resource set #2 with downlink control information (e.g., MAC CE), and the information used to activate resource set #2 can be resource indication information. The relay device determines that the resources scheduled by the first network device belong to resource set #2, and then determines that the relay device needs to forward the information of the second network device.

[0195] As can be seen from the above, the downlink control information in this embodiment can be carried in DCI signaling or MAC CE signaling. For example, the first network device can configure a resource set through RRC signaling, and then use MAC CE signaling (carrying downlink control information) to activate the required resources. For example, MAC CE can carry resource indication information (first information). MAC CE signaling can activate the aforementioned resource set or a set of resources.

[0196] In implementation A1.2, the first network device can implicitly indicate the network device corresponding to the information that the relay needs to forward through resource indication information. Therefore, this scheme does not need to add extra information, thereby reducing signaling overhead.

[0197] For example, the format of downlink control information in existing standards includes fields for carrying resource indication information. Therefore, this scheme does not need to add new fields to the downlink control information, thus avoiding changes to the existing downlink control information format and making it more compatible with existing technologies.

[0198] The above-described embodiments A1.1 and A1.2 can be used individually or in combination. For example, the information used to instruct the relay device to forward information of the second network device includes the identification information and resource indication information of the second network device.

[0199] Information A2, Resource Indication Information: Information used to indicate the resources for information sent (or forwarded) by the relay device.

[0200] Information A2 may include or be replaced by information indicating the resources used by the relay device to forward information. Information A2 may be called resource indication information. In the above embodiment A1.2, resource indication information (information A2) and information A1 may be the same information, and the resource indication information plays the role of the aforementioned information A1. In the above embodiment A1.1, the resource indication information is not the aforementioned information A1.

[0201] When the first information includes resource indication information and information (information A1) for instructing the relay device to forward information of the second network device, the resource indication information and the information (information A1) for instructing the relay device to forward information of the second network device can be carried in the same signaling message or in different signaling messages.

[0202] The resource indication information indicates that the resources configured for the relay device can be non-periodic resources, periodic resources, or semi-periodic resources.

[0203] Taking the resource indicated by resource indication information as an example of a periodic resource. For instance, downlink control information can be carried in RRC signaling. Another example is that the RRC signaling carries first information. For instance, the RRC signaling may include resource indication information, which can be used to indicate periodic resources (or resource sets) (these resources do not require additional activation via other signaling (e.g., MAC CE signaling or DCI signaling) – e.g., activating a resource set)). In this example, the relay device can determine, based on the resource indication information in the RRC signaling, the resources that can be used for forwarding information (e.g., forwarding information from a second network device, such as uplink and / or downlink information transmitted between the second network device and the terminal device). The RRC signaling can carry first information. For instance, this first information can indicate the network device corresponding to the periodic resource (or resource set) (e.g., the RRC signaling carries the physical cell identity (PCI) of the base station / cell corresponding to the periodic resource set). For example, the first information indicates that a periodic resource set (e.g., resource set #2) corresponds to a second network device. The relay device can determine that resource set #2 can be used to forward information from the second network device. This RRC signaling can also carry other information from the downlink control information; see the subsequent description of other contents in the first information, which will not be described here. As can be seen from the above example, the first network device configures periodic resources for the relay device through RRC signaling, and this signaling, in addition to resource indication information, can also include other contents from the first information. This allows the relay device to know which network device(s) each resource can be used to forward information from, and also allows the relay device to know the parameters used for forwarding information, thereby improving the quality of the information received by the relay device and thus improving communication performance.

[0204] For example, resource indication information may include time-domain resource information and / or frequency-domain resource information. Time-domain resource information may include, for example, information indicating the time-domain start position of the resource used by the relay device to forward information; and / or, information indicating the length of the time-domain resource occupied by the resource used by the relay device to forward information. Frequency-domain resource information may include, for example, the starting RB index and / or the number of RBs. When the relay device subsequently forwards information from the second network device based on the first information, it can use the resources indicated by information A2 to forward the information from the second network device.

[0205] For example, time-domain resource information can be used to indicate: frames / time slots / symbols, etc., of downlink forwarding signals from second network devices, and / or frames / time slots / symbols, etc., of uplink forwarding signals from terminal devices.

[0206] For example, frequency domain resource information can be used to indicate: frequency domain sub-bands or frequency domain resource blocks for downlink forwarding of signals from second network devices, and / or frequency domain sub-bands or frequency domain resource blocks for uplink forwarding of signals from terminal devices.

[0207] Information A3 is information used to indicate the beam of information transmitted (or forwarded) by the relay device.

[0208] Information A3 may include, or be replaced by, information about the beam used to indicate information forwarded by the relay device (e.g., information received by the relay device from the second network device and to be forwarded, and / or information that the relay device needs to forward to the second network device).

[0209] For example, information A3 includes at least one of: a transmitting beam index, transmitting beam direction information, a receiving beam index, or a receiving beam direction. For example, when the relay device subsequently forwards information from the second network device based on the first information, it can use the receiving beam information indicated by information A3 (e.g., the receiving beam index and / or the receiving beam direction information) to receive the information to be forwarded, and then use the transmitting beam information indicated by information A3 (e.g., the transmitting beam index and / or the transmitting beam direction information) to transmit the information to be forwarded.

[0210] Information A4 is used to indicate the sending / receiving address corresponding to the information sent (or forwarded) by the relay device.

[0211] The sending address information indicates the address of the receiving end of the information forwarded by the relay device, or the address information corresponding to the next node to which the relay device forwards the information. The receiving address information indicates the address of the sending end of the information forwarded by the relay device, or the address information corresponding to the previous node to which the relay device forwards the information.

[0212] For example, information A4 may include the sending address of the relay device's forwarding information. This sending address informs the relay device where the information needs to be forwarded. For instance, the sending address could be the target address of the forwarded information on the relay device's side. This sending address could be, for example, the address of the next hop, the address of a second network device, the address of a terminal device, the address of another relay device, or the address of another second network device, etc. As another example, information A4 may include the receiving address of the relay device's forwarding information. This receiving address informs the relay device where it needs to receive the information to be forwarded. For instance, this receiving address could be, for example, the address of the previous hop, the address of a second network device, the address of a terminal device, the address of another relay device, or the address of another second network device, etc.

[0213] Information A5 is used to indicate the transmission path corresponding to the information sent (or forwarded) by the relay device.

[0214] Information A5 may include or be replaced with information indicating the path used by the relay device to forward information. In this embodiment, the path may be replaced with a route; for example, the sending path may be replaced with a sending route, and the path information may be replaced with route information.

[0215] For example, information A5 may include at least one of the following: the identifier of the path of the information forwarded by the relay device, the address of each node on the path, or the address of the updated node on the path.

[0216] Information A6 is used to indicate the transmission direction of the information sent (or forwarded) by the relay device.

[0217] Information A6 may include or be replaced with: information used to indicate the forwarding direction of information forwarded by the relay device.

[0218] For example, the transmission direction of information forwarded by a relay device may include uplink or downlink. Uplink transmission direction can refer to the transmission direction of information from the terminal device to the second network device, and downlink transmission direction can refer to the transmission direction of information from the second network device to the terminal device. The first information can indicate the transmission direction of the information that the relay device is about to send (or forward).

[0219] Information A7 is information used to indicate the transmission method of information sent (or forwarded) by the relay device.

[0220] For example, the methods by which a relay device sends information (such as relay device forwarding information) include transparent forwarding or regenerative forwarding. This can also be understood as the relay device operating in transparent forwarding mode or regenerative forwarding mode.

[0221] Information A8 is used to indicate the frequency point corresponding to the information sent (or forwarded) by the relay device.

[0222] Information A8 may include or be replaced with: information used to indicate the frequency point for relaying information.

[0223] For example, the frequency corresponding to the information sent by the relay device (such as information forwarded by the relay device) may include 20 gigahertz (GHz) or 30 GHz. The relay device can forward information on these frequencies. Alternatively, the frequency of the information received by the relay device may be different from the frequency on which the relay device forwards the information; the relay device can convert the frequency of the information.

[0224] Information A9 is used to indicate the power corresponding to the information transmitted (or forwarded) by the relay device.

[0225] For example, information A9 may include: transmission power information for relay device forwarding information, or transmission power control information for relay device forwarding information. For example, the relay device may use the power forwarding information indicated by information A9.

[0226] Information A10 is used to indicate the port information corresponding to the information sent (or forwarded) by the relay device.

[0227] For example, information A10 may include: information about the transmitting port used by the relay device to forward information, or information about the receiving port of the relay device to receive information that needs to be forwarded. For example, the relay device may use the receiving port indicated by information A10 to receive information that needs to be forwarded, and / or forward the information through the transmitting port indicated by information A10.

[0228] Information A11 is used to indicate the reference signal corresponding to the information sent (or forwarded) by the relay device.

[0229] The relay device can obtain information about receiving or transmitting reference signals through information A11, and then obtain channel state information between the second network device and the previous or next node through receiving / transmitting these reference signals.

[0230] Any multiple contents of the first information shown in the embodiments of this application can be carried by a single message or multiple messages. For ease of understanding, these contents are collectively referred to as the first information.

[0231] In this embodiment of the application, the relay device can forward information between the second network device and other devices (e.g., terminal devices) according to the information indicated by the first information. The relay device can align some configurations with the second network device, thereby improving the quality of the signal forwarded by the relay device and thus improving the communication quality.

[0232] In another possible implementation, the first network device can send information indicating the validity period of the first information. Correspondingly, the relay device receives the information indicating the validity period of the first information. After the validity period expires, the relay device stops forwarding information from the second network device based on the first information. By setting the validity period, the relay device can determine the expiration time of the first information itself, thereby saving signaling overhead. Furthermore, by stopping forwarding information from the second network device based on the first information after the validity period expires, the relay device can reduce power consumption.

[0233] The information used to indicate the validity duration of the first information can be a time value and / or duration information. The information indicating the validity duration of the first information can indicate the duration for which the first information is effective, such as 5 seconds, 10 seconds, 100 frames, etc. The information indicating the validity duration of the first information can also indicate the expiration time of the first information; the expiration time is the time when the validity duration expires.

[0234] The information used to indicate the validity duration of the first information may or may not be part of the first information. For example, the information used to indicate the validity duration of the first information and the first information are two different pieces of information and can be carried in two separate messages. The information used to indicate the validity duration of the first information can be carried in, for example, a physical layer downlink control information (DCI) message, a medium access control element (MAC CE) message, or a radio resource control (RRC) message.

[0235] Downlink control information (or first information) can be carried in one or more messages. For example, downlink control information (or first information) can be carried in a DCI message, a MAC CE message, or an RRC message. Alternatively, in another possible implementation, downlink control information can be replaced by a message carrying that downlink control information. For example, downlink control information can be replaced by DCI (or a DCI message), or by MAC CE (or a MAC CE message), or RRC (or an RRC message). Downlink control information can also be called forwarding control signaling, forwarding control information, control information, forwarding information, or information, or other names. This application embodiment does not limit this.

[0236] In this application embodiment, the first information can be carried in various ways. For example, the content of the first information can be carried in at least one of the following fields: a used field in a standard-defined signaling format, a reserved field in a standard-defined signaling format, a newly added field in a standard-defined signaling format, or a field in a newly defined signaling format, etc.

[0237] The following example, using the first information (or downlink control information) carried in the DCI, illustrates two methods of carrying downlink control information through implementation methods B1 and B2. In implementation method B1, the content of the first information is carried in a newly added field of the DCI. In implementation method B2, the content of the first information is carried in a newly defined DCI format.

[0238] In implementation method B1, the content of the first information is carried in a newly added field of DCI.

[0239] In implementation method B1, a new field can be added to the DCI. For example, a new field can be added to a DCI format already defined in the standard (e.g., DCI format 2_8), and this field can be called the first field. The first field can also be replaced with other names, such as the gNB forwarding indicator field or the forwarding indicator field.

[0240] The content of the first information can be carried in the first field of the downlink control information (or DCI). For example, information (information A1) in the first information that instructs the relay device to forward information about the second network device can be carried in the first field. The content carried in the first field can indicate which network device's signal the DCI scheduler relay device to forward. For example, if the first field carries the identifier of the second network device, the relay device can determine which network device's signal the DCI scheduler relay device to forward based on the information carried in the first field.

[0241] Table 1 exemplifies an example of fields included in a DCI provided by an embodiment of this application. Taking the row corresponding to the first field in Table 1 as an example, the DCI format includes a first field (or base station forwarding indication field), the function of which is "to indicate which network device's signal is forwarded by the DCI scheduling relay device." The function of the first field can also be described as: indicating the network device corresponding to the signal forwarded by the DCI scheduling relay device. This field can occupy 1 bit or 2 bits. The descriptions of the other rows in Table 1 are similar and will not be repeated. In the example shown in Table 1, the information carried by the time-domain resource indication field and / or frequency-domain resource indication field can be the aforementioned resource indication information. If the first network device instructs the DCI scheduling relay device to forward the signal of which network device through the resource indication information in the DCI (i.e., the above-described embodiment A1.2), then the DCI may not include the first field, thereby reducing signaling overhead and avoiding changes to the DCI format, making it more compatible with existing technologies.

[0242] Table 1. Examples of fields included in a DCI.

[0243] In another possible implementation, the first network device can send indication information to the relay device to indicate whether the downlink control information (e.g., DCI) includes the first field. This allows the relay device to identify whether the received downlink control information (e.g., DCI) includes the first field based on this information. This approach makes DCIs with the newly added first field compatible with DCIs without the first field in this embodiment. For the relay device, it can identify which DCIs include the first field and which do not based on the received information. This reduces the decoding complexity of the relay device and improves its decoding accuracy.

[0244] For example, a first network device can send first indication information to a relay device. Correspondingly, the relay device receives the first indication information. The first indication information indicates that the downlink control information includes a first field. Based on the first indication information, the relay device determines that the downlink control information includes the first field. As another example, the first network device sends information to the relay device indicating that the downlink control information (e.g., DCI) does not include the first field; based on this information, the relay device can determine that the received downlink control information (e.g., DCI) does not include the first field.

[0245] Indication information used to indicate whether a first field is included in downlink control information (e.g., DCI) (e.g., first indication information) can be carried in RRC or MAC CE.

[0246] In one possible implementation, to save signaling overhead, the first field in the DCI may be omitted if it is not needed. For example, if the first network device does not need to schedule the relay device to forward information from other network devices through the DCI, the first field may not be included in the DCI. In another possible implementation, after the newly added first field is set in the DCI, the first field can exist as a fixed field in the DCI. Even if the first network device does not need to schedule the relay device to forward information from other network devices through the DCI, the first field is still included in the DCI, only the content of the first field is set to invalid information, but the DCI transmitted by the first network device still includes the first field.

[0247] In implementation method B2, the content of the first information is carried in a newly defined DCI format.

[0248] In implementation B2, the field used to carry the content of the first information can be called the first field. The first field can also be replaced with other names, such as a gNB forwarding indicator field or a forwarding indicator field. For example, the information (information A1) in the first information that instructs the relay device to forward information about the second network device can be carried in the first field. The content carried by the first field can indicate which network device's signal the DCI scheduling relay device forwards. For example, the first field carries the identifier of the second network device.

[0249] The downlink control information (e.g., DCI) can be in a first format. The first format can be a specified format that includes a first field. For example, the first format can be a format defined by a future standard or protocol, and the DCI in this format includes the first field. When a first network device determines that the downlink control information (e.g., DCI) needs to include first information (e.g., information A1), the first network device can determine that the downlink control information (e.g., DCI) is carried in a DCI of the first format. After receiving the downlink control information (e.g., DCI), the relay device determines that the format of the downlink control information (e.g., DCI) is the first format, and therefore determines that the downlink control information (e.g., DCI) includes the first field.

[0250] For example, if the downlink control information (e.g., DCI) that the first network device needs to send does not need to carry the content of the first information (e.g., information A1), the first network device can use downlink control information (e.g., DCI) in a format other than the first format. After receiving the downlink control information (e.g., DCI), the relay device determines that the format of the downlink control information (e.g., DCI) is not the first format, and therefore determines that the downlink control information (e.g., DCI) does not include the first field.

[0251] This scheme enables DCIs with the newly added first field in this application embodiment to be compatible with DCIs without the first field. For the relay device, it can identify which DCIs include the first field and which DCIs do not based on the received information. This reduces the decoding complexity of the relay device and improves the decoding accuracy.

[0252] The above-described embodiments B1 and B2 can be implemented individually or in combination. For example, the first information is carried in a newly defined DCI format, and the first network device can also send first indication information to indicate that the DCI includes a first field.

[0253] Step 402: The relay device forwards the information transmitted between the second network device and other devices (e.g., terminal devices) according to the downlink control information.

[0254] In this embodiment of the application, in step 402, the relay device can also forward the information transmitted between the second network device and devices other than the terminal device. Figure 4 illustrates this using the terminal device as an example.

[0255] Step 402 can be replaced by: the relay device forwarding information from the second network device according to downlink control information. The information forwarded by the relay device from the second network device includes information from the second network device and / or information sent to the second network device. For example, the relay device forwarding information from the second network device may include / be replaced by: the second network device sending information to the relay device, the relay device receiving information from the second network device according to first information, and the relay device forwarding the information (e.g., the relay device forwarding the information to a terminal device, other relay devices, or other network devices besides the second network device). Another example is that the relay device forwarding information from the second network device may include / be replaced by: a terminal device, other relay devices, or other network devices besides the second network device sending information to the relay device, the relay device receiving the information according to first information, and the relay device forwarding the information to the second network device. The information forwarded by the relay device from the second network device may include at least one of the following: information corresponding to service data transmitted between the second network device and the terminal device, information corresponding to broadcast data, or information corresponding to control commands sent by the second network device to the terminal device.

[0256] In this embodiment, the relay device's forwarding of information may include transparent forwarding and / or regenerative forwarding. For example, the relay device may have AF relay functionality, whereby after receiving information, the relay device does not decode or encode the information but directly forwards the received information to the next hop (e.g., a network device or a terminal device). Alternatively, the relay device may have DF relay functionality, where after receiving information, the relay device decodes the information, then re-encodes the decoding result and forwards the re-encoded information to the next hop (e.g., a network device or a terminal device). In this embodiment, the relay device's forwarding of information may be replaced by the relay device sending information; for example, the relay device forwarding information from a network device (e.g., a second network device) may be replaced by the relay device sending information from a network device (e.g., a second network device).

[0257] At least one relay device may be included between the network device (e.g., the first network device or the second network device) and the terminal device. In this embodiment, one relay device is used as an example for description. For the contents of other relay devices, please refer to the relevant description of the relay device, which will not be repeated here.

[0258] As can be seen from the scheme provided in Figure 4, this scheme can support the first network device to schedule the relay device to forward information from other network devices, thereby enabling the relay device to forward information from multiple network devices and thus meeting the needs of the above scenario.

[0259] On the other hand, since the first network device can schedule the relay device to forward information from other network devices, the relay device does not need to establish a connection with each network device that needs to forward information. For example, the relay device can establish a connection with the first network device, while the relay device can establish a connection with the second network device or not. The network device that has established a connection with the relay device (e.g., the first network device) can schedule the relay device to forward information from network devices that have not established a connection with the relay device (e.g., the second network device). This scheme does not require the relay device to establish a connection with every network device that needs to forward information, thus reducing the operational complexity on the relay device side.

[0260] Figure 5 exemplarily illustrates a downlink timing relationship diagram when a relay device forwards information corresponding to a first network device and a second network device, according to an embodiment of this application. Figure 5 uses the establishment of an RRC connection between the relay device and the first network device as an example. The relay device and the second network device may not establish an RRC connection and may maintain synchronization. Figure 5 uses the network device corresponding to satellite #1 (e.g., base station #1 / gateway #1) as an example, and the network device corresponding to satellite #2 (e.g., base station #2 / gateway #2) as an example for the second network device. In Figure 5, the first network device sends signaling (which can also be called control signaling) to the relay device (e.g., NCR-MT) in downlink time slot n. This signaling is, for example, PDCCH #1, and is used to instruct the relay device to forward information corresponding to the first and second network devices. Figure 5 uses time units as an example for the time slots; the time units in this embodiment can also be replaced with other content.

[0261] When a relay device receives signaling (e.g., PDCCH#1) in downlink time slot n corresponding to the first network device, if this signaling also schedules the relay device to forward information corresponding to the first network device, then the first network device needs to start forwarding information corresponding to the first network device according to PDCCH#1 in downlink time slot (n+k+slot_offset) corresponding to the first network device, or the first network device determines that PDCCH#1 has started to take effect in downlink time slot (n+k+slot_offset) corresponding to the first network device. Here, k is related to the relay device's capabilities (e.g., device capabilities include signal processing capabilities, which can be reported by the relay device to the network device (e.g., base station), for example, k can be 0, 1, or 2), or defined by the relay device's equipment manufacturer. slot_offset is the time slot offset (e.g., indicated by the network device via DCI), with a maximum of, for example, 14 time slots and a maximum duration of, for example, 14 milliseconds (ms). However, if the relay device also determines that PDCCH#1 has started to take effect in the downlink slot (n+k+slot_offset) corresponding to the second network device when forwarding information from the signaling scheduling relay device, it will cause communication failure. The following is an analysis of this situation.

[0262] As shown in Figure 5, due to the large difference between the signal transmission delays between the first network device and the relay device and between the second network device and the relay device, the downlink frame boundaries of the first and second network devices on the relay device side are misaligned, resulting in significant timing discrepancies. Figure 5 represents the difference between the downlink frame boundaries of the first and second network devices on the relay device side as t1. This t1 can reach tens of milliseconds. t1 will be greater than the value of (k + slot_offset), causing the relay device to receive signaling (e.g., PDCCH#1) later than the actual signaling time (e.g., PDCCH#1), resulting in timing errors.

[0263] To address this problem, this application provides a possible implementation method in which the relay device can determine the time unit for forwarding information corresponding to the second network device based on a first duration. The first duration is associated with a first delay difference, which is the offset between the frame timing of the downlink signal received by the relay device from the first network device and the frame timing of the downlink signal received by the relay device from the second network device. This makes the determined time unit for forwarding information corresponding to the second network device more reasonable and meets timing requirements. For example, in terms of timing, the time unit for forwarding information corresponding to the second network device is located after the time unit of signaling (e.g., PDCCH#1), thereby solving the aforementioned timing disorder problem and enabling the relay device to successfully forward information. The solution provided by this application can solve the problem of one network device scheduling a relay device to transmit information from another network device. Because this problem is solved, this solution can support the relay device to forward information from multiple network devices simultaneously, thereby improving communication efficiency. On the other hand, solving this problem also enables the aforementioned relay device to simultaneously transmit information corresponding to the source network device and the target network device during the handover process in handover scenarios, thereby solving the handover problem in two-level handover scenarios and improving the handover success rate.

[0264] Based on the same concept, and according to the embodiments shown in any one of Figures 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, 1F, 1G, 1H, 1I, 1J, 1K, 1L, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 2E, 3, 4, or 5, and the foregoing content, Figure 6 below exemplifies a possible flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of this application. For ease of understanding, Figure 6 uses the interaction between a relay device, a first network device, and a second network device as an example. This application embodiment is applicable to NTN. For a description of NTN, and the relay device, the first network device, the second network device, and the NTN device, please refer to the description in Figure 4 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0265] Step 601: The first network device sends downlink control information.

[0266] Correspondingly, the relay device receives downlink control information from the first network device in the first time unit.

[0267] The first time unit in this application embodiment can be, for example, a symbol or a time slot. For a description of the time unit, please refer to the foregoing content. This application embodiment will be described using a time slot as the first time unit.

[0268] The content of step 601 can also be found in the relevant description of step 401 above, and the content of downlink control information can also be found in the aforementioned description, so it will not be repeated here.

[0269] Step 602: The relay device acquires the first duration.

[0270] The first duration can be associated with a first delay difference. Alternatively, the first duration can also be configured empirically. The first delay difference is the offset between the frame timing of the downlink signal received by the relay device from the first network device and the frame timing of the downlink signal received by the relay device from the second network device.

[0271] For example, a relay device can synchronize with the downlink of a second network device by receiving a synchronization signal from the downlink broadcast signal received from the second network device, and determine the frame timing of the downlink signal of the second network device. Similarly, a relay device can synchronize with the downlink of a first network device by receiving a synchronization signal from the downlink broadcast signal received from the first network device, and determine the frame timing of the downlink signal of the first network device. The relay device can also determine a first delay difference based on the offset between the frame timing of the downlink signal received by the relay device from the first network device and the frame timing of the downlink signal received by the relay device from the second network device.

[0272] The first time delay difference mentioned in the text can be understood as timing difference, time difference, or delay difference. The first time delay difference may include / be the time difference between the frame boundaries of the same frame number received by the relay device from the first network device and the second network device, or the time difference between the time slot boundaries of the same time slot number, or the symbol boundary time difference of the same symbol index number, etc. The term "timing" in the text can also be replaced with "time".

[0273] For example, the first time delay difference can include / be replaced by: the time difference (or timing difference) between the downlink signal sent by the first network device in the nth time unit and the downlink signal sent by the second network device in the nth time unit, respectively, arriving at the relay device, where n is zero or a positive integer. The nth time unit can be replaced by the nth frame, the downlink frame with index number n, or simply downlink frame n. The first time delay difference can be represented by time_diff. The unit of the first time delay difference can be a time unit or other units (e.g., milliseconds, seconds, etc.), for example, the first time delay difference can be one or more time units or several milliseconds. The first time delay difference can be determined based on the location of the relay device, the location of the first network device, and the location of the second network device.

[0274] `time_diff` can be positive, negative, or zero. For example, a positive `time_diff` indicates that the frame timing (or downlink frame timing, or time) of the downlink signal received by the relay device from the second network device is later than the frame timing (or downlink frame timing, or time) of the downlink signal received by the relay device from the first network device. Similarly, a negative `time_diff` indicates that the frame timing (or downlink frame timing, or time) of the downlink signal received by the relay device from the second network device is earlier than the frame timing (or downlink frame timing, or time) of the downlink signal received by the relay device from the first network device. In other possible examples, the definitions of positive and negative values ​​for `time_diff` can be interchanged, and these definitions can be agreed upon through a protocol.

[0275] For example, a relay device can synchronize with the downlink of a second network device by receiving a synchronization signal from the downlink broadcast signal of the second network device, and determine the frame timing of the downlink signal of the second network device. Similarly, a relay device can synchronize with the downlink of a first network device by receiving a synchronization signal from the downlink broadcast signal of the first network device, and determine the frame timing of the downlink signal of the first network device.

[0276] The frame timing of the downlink signal can also be called downlink frame timing or downlink timing, and can be written as downlink frame timing in the standard. The frame timing in the embodiments of this application may include / be replaced by: frame boundary, frame boundary timing, time slot boundary, time slot timing, time slot boundary timing, frame start position, time slot start position, or frame time domain start position, or frame time domain end position, or the time of receiving the frame, or the time of receiving the time slot, etc.

[0277] The unit of the first duration can be a time unit or other units (e.g., milliseconds, seconds, etc.). For example, the first duration can be one or more time units or several milliseconds. When the unit of the first duration is not a time unit, the unit of the first duration can be converted to a time unit, which can also be understood as converting the first duration into the number of time units corresponding to the first duration. For example, the number of time units corresponding to the first duration can be the quotient of the first duration and the duration of one time unit. The relay device can calculate the second time unit based on the first duration, or it can calculate the second time unit based on the number of time units corresponding to the first duration.

[0278] This application uses the example of a first duration being offset_value. For example, the first duration satisfies any of the following: or,

[0279] In the embodiments of this application, Indicates rounding up. The formula indicates rounding down. `time_diff` represents the first delay, and `slot_duration` represents the length of a time unit (or duration, such as slot length, frame length, subframe length, symbol length, or a certain time length (e.g., 1 millisecond, or 10 milliseconds)). The meanings of the same parameters in other positions are the same, and will not be repeated. The above formula is an example. In this formula, the unit of the first delay can be time length, etc. (e.g., milliseconds). The meaning of this formula is to convert the first delay difference, which is in units of time length, into the first duration, which is in units of time. The above formula can be flexibly calculated. These formulas provide some examples of calculating the first duration based on the first delay difference. Other calculation formulas may also exist between the first duration and the first delay difference, and this application embodiment does not limit this.

[0280] In this application's embodiments, the offset_value can be positive, negative, or 0. For example, a positive offset_value can indicate a delay in the time the first network device schedules the relay device to forward information from the second network device, while a negative offset_value can indicate an advance in the time the first network device schedules the relay device to forward information from the second network device. In other possible examples, the definitions of positive and negative offset_values ​​can be interchanged, and these definitions can be agreed upon through a protocol. The offset_value involved in this application's embodiments can also be referred to as the offset_value corresponding to the second network device. The offset_value in this application's embodiments can have a correspondence or mapping relationship with network devices. One network device can correspond to one offset_value; the offset_values ​​corresponding to two network devices can be different or the same. For the offset_value corresponding to one network device, refer to the scheme for determining the offset_value corresponding to the second network device in this application's embodiments; similarly, it will not be repeated here.

[0281] The formulas provided in this application embodiment can be modified according to actual conditions. For example, in the formulas involved in this application embodiment, the rounding up operator can be replaced with the rounding down operator, and the rounding down operator can be replaced with the rounding up operator. Alternatively, the rounding up sign in the above formula can be removed, or parameters such as correction coefficients can be multiplied, added, or subtracted in the formula.

[0282] There are several ways for the relay device in this application embodiment to obtain the first duration. For example, the relay device obtains a first delay difference, and then determines the first duration based on the first delay difference. There are also several ways for the relay device to obtain the first delay difference. For example, the relay device can obtain the first delay difference itself. Alternatively, the first network device or other device can send information indicating the first delay difference to the relay device, and correspondingly, the relay device receives the information indicating the first delay difference.

[0283] Alternatively, the first network device or other device may send information indicating a first duration to the relay device, and the relay device may receive this information. For example, the information indicating the first duration received by the relay device may be sent directly by the first network device to the relay device, or it may be sent by the first network device to the relay device through another device (such as another relay device). Furthermore, the information indicating the first duration and the aforementioned first information may be carried in the same signaling message, or they may be carried in two separate signaling messages and sent separately. There is no absolute sequential relationship between the transmission of the information indicating the first duration and the first information. The first network device or other device may determine the first duration based on the first delay difference; related schemes will be discussed later and will not be described here.

[0284] For example, the information used to indicate the first duration includes: a first duration; and / or, information used to indicate a first delay difference. When the information used to indicate the first duration includes the first duration, the relay device can directly obtain the first duration based on this information, which reduces the operational complexity of the relay device. The first duration included in the information used to indicate the first duration can be the value of the duration corresponding to the first duration, or it can be information about the time unit corresponding to the first duration. For example, the information used to indicate the first duration is: 2 milliseconds. Another example is that the information used to indicate the first duration is 2 time slots; this example uses time units as time slots. The relay device determines the first duration based on the received information used to indicate the first duration.

[0285] Step 603: The second network device determines the second time unit.

[0286] For example, a relay device forwards information between a second network device and other devices (e.g., terminal devices) in a second time unit. In one possible implementation, the first network device can determine the second time unit and indicate it to the second network device, so that the second network device sends downlink information to the relay device in the second time unit and / or a time unit after the second time unit, so that the relay device forwards the downlink information in the second time unit and / or a time unit after the second time unit. Alternatively, the first network device can determine the second time unit and indicate it to the second network device, so that the second network device receives uplink information forwarded by the relay device in the second time unit and / or a time unit after the second time unit. The first network device can determine the second time unit based on a first duration; the determination method is similar to the description of the relay device determining the second time unit described above and will not be repeated here. The first network device can send the information indicating the second time unit to the second network device through the Xn port, or the first network device can send the information indicating the second time unit to the second network device through the core network device.

[0287] The information used to indicate the second time unit may include the second time unit itself (e.g., the time slot number of the second time unit), or it may include information used to determine the second time unit. For example, the information used to indicate the second time unit may include information about the first duration or the first time delay difference. The second time unit can be determined based on this information. The relevant scheme is similar to the method used by the aforementioned relay device to determine the second time unit, and will be described in detail later. It will not be introduced here.

[0288] In this application embodiment, the first network device can obtain the first duration in several ways. For example, the first network device can determine the first duration itself. Alternatively, the first network device can determine the first delay difference based on the location of the relay device, the location of the first network device, and the location of the second network device, and then determine the first duration based on the first delay difference. Or, the first network device can receive information from the relay device or other devices indicating the first duration, and then determine the first duration based on that information. The first delay difference can be determined based on the location of the relay device, the location of the first network device, and the location of the second network device. For the information indicating the first duration and the scheme for the first network device to determine the first duration based on the first delay difference, please refer to the above description of the first duration and the first delay difference, which will not be repeated here.

[0289] In another possible implementation, after the first network device determines the second time unit, it can try to avoid using the second time unit in subsequent transmissions to reserve resources for the second network device. Alternatively, the first and second network devices can also use the second time unit for information transmission through multiplexing methods such as frequency division multiplexing.

[0290] Step 604: The relay device forwards information transmitted between the second network device and other devices in the second time unit.

[0291] The second time unit in this application embodiment can be, for example, a symbol or a time slot. For a description of the time unit, please refer to the foregoing content. This application embodiment takes a time slot as the second time unit as an example. In these examples, the time slot can also be replaced with other time units, such as a symbol.

[0292] In this embodiment, the second time unit is the time unit in which the relay device begins to forward information between the second network device and other devices (e.g., a terminal device) based on the first information. For example, the relay device may begin forwarding uplink and / or downlink signals transmitted by the second network device in the second time unit to the next node (the next node is, for example, the second network device, the terminal device, or other relay devices) in the second time unit, and the relay device may continue to forward uplink and / or downlink signals of the second network device to the next node (the next node is, for example, the second network device, the terminal device, or other relay devices) in subsequent time units of the second time unit. As another example, the relay device may forward information transmitted between the second network device and other devices in the second time unit and time units following the second time unit. Yet another example, the relay device may forward information transmitted between the second network device and other devices in the second time unit and a third time unit following the second time unit, where the third time unit is a time unit configured by the first network device for forwarding information transmitted between the second network device and other devices (a description of the third time unit can be found later; it will not be described in detail here). For example, the time units after the second time unit also belong to the time units in which the relay device can forward information between the second network device and other devices (such as terminal devices) based on the first information, until the first information expires.

[0293] Alternatively, the second time unit can belong to a time unit in which the first information takes effect. For example, the second time unit can be the time unit in which the first information begins to take effect (the first information begins to take effect in the second time unit), or the second time unit can be a time unit after the time unit in which the first information begins to take effect (the first information has already taken effect in the time unit before the second time unit). For example, the first information can remain effective in the second time unit and after the second time unit. Another example is that the first information can remain effective in the second time unit and after the second time unit until the first information expires. Yet another example is that during the time unit in which the first information begins to take effect and the effective duration (or effective duration) of the first information, the relay device can forward information transmitted between the second network device and other devices. Yet another example is that during the time unit in which the first information begins to take effect and the effective duration (or effective duration) of the first information, the relay device can forward information transmitted between the second network device and other devices. The third time unit is a time unit configured for the first network device that can be used to forward information transmitted between the second network device and other devices (a description of the third time unit can be found in subsequent content, and will not be elaborated on here).

[0294] In the embodiments of this application, the time unit in which the first information takes effect can be referred to as effective time, effective timing, application timing, application time, activation time, activation timing, application time, application timing, effective time, effective timing, activation time, or activation timing, etc. For example, the first information is also effective (or remains effective) for a period of time after the effective time. For example, the first information is also effective (or remains effective) for a period of time after the second time unit.

[0295] For example, step 604 includes: the second network device sending information to the relay device according to the first information (e.g., resources or beams indicated by the first information), and correspondingly, the relay device receiving information according to the first information. Further, the relay device forwards the information (e.g., downlink information) to the terminal device, other relay devices, or other network devices in a second time unit according to the first information (e.g., resources or beams indicated by the first information). As another example, step 604 includes: the relay device receiving information from the terminal device, other relay devices, or other network devices according to the first information (e.g., resources or beams indicated by the first information), and forwarding the information (e.g., uplink information) to the second network device in a second time unit. Correspondingly, the second network device receiving information from the relay device. The relay device forwarding the information may include regenerative forwarding or transparent forwarding; see the description of step 402 above for details, which will not be repeated here. In another possible implementation, the terminal device can communicate with the second network device through a relay device. For example, the relay device can forward uplink and / or downlink information transmitted between the terminal device and the second network device in the second time unit and the time unit after the second time unit.

[0296] For example, the second time unit is determined based on the first duration and the first time unit. For instance, the index value of the second time unit is determined based on the index value of the first time unit and the number of time units corresponding to the first duration. In this embodiment, the index value of the time unit may include, for example, the index of the time unit or the identifier of the time unit, such as a time slot number, frame number, etc. These schemes can increase the interval between the second time unit (the time when the first information takes effect or is used) and the first time unit, thereby avoiding timing errors and enabling the second network device and the relay device to successfully transmit information based on the first information.

[0297] The two possibilities are described below using implementation methods C1 and C2. In implementation method C1, the example is a relay device forwarding information (e.g., downlink information) from a second network device in the second time unit. In implementation method C2, the example is a relay device forwarding information (e.g., uplink information) to a second network device in the second time unit.

[0298] Implementation C1 is described using the example of a relay device forwarding information (e.g., downlink information) from a second network device in a second time unit.

[0299] In another possible implementation, the second time unit is also determined based on the value of K or the offset value of the first time unit. For example, the index value of the second time unit is determined by the sum of the index value of the first time unit and at least one of the following: the number of time units corresponding to the value of K, or the number of time units corresponding to the offset value of the first time unit. This scheme provides a specific method for determining the second time unit, which can reduce the complexity of determining the second time unit.

[0300] The value of K is associated with the latency of the relay device in processing uplink information and / or downlink information, or K can be a specified value. For example, when the relay device forwards information (e.g., downlink information) from a second network device in the second time unit, the value of K can be the latency of the relay device in processing downlink information, which may include the time required to adjust beam pointing and data processing time. The latency of the relay device in processing uplink information and the latency in processing downlink information can be equal or unequal. For example, the first information can also indicate the value of K. When the second time unit is associated with the value of K, the time interval between the time of transmitting information according to the first information (i.e., the second time unit) and the time interval between the network device receiving the information indicating successful reception of the first information can be further increased by the value of K, thereby further avoiding timing errors and improving communication performance.

[0301] In this embodiment, the first time unit offset value can be represented as slot_offset. The first time unit offset value can be a parameter defined by a standard. The first time unit offset value can be configured by the first network device. For example, the first network device may indicate the first time unit offset value through first information, DCI, or other information. For instance, the first time unit offset value may be a slot offset value or a slot offset amount, with a maximum value not exceeding 14 slots. slot_offset can be a value dynamically configured by the first network device to the relay device, or a default value agreed upon by the protocol, such as slot_offset being 0 or 1.

[0302] Taking the first time unit as a time unit (e.g., time slot) n as an example, the second time unit (or the effective time of the first information) can be any of the following:

[0303] Time unit (n+K+slot_offset+offset_value);

[0304] Time unit (n + offset_value);

[0305] Time unit (n+K+offset_value);

[0306] Time unit (n + slot_offset + offset_value).

[0307] In another possible implementation, the first duration is also related to the subcarrier spacing corresponding to the downlink signal of the second network device. Since the subcarrier spacing is related to the length of a time unit (e.g., a time slot), the value of the first duration can be more reasonable, thereby minimizing latency while ensuring that the relay device successfully forwards information between the second network device and other devices (e.g., terminal devices).

[0308] For example, the units of the parameters used to calculate the second time unit (such as n, K, slot_offset, or multiple terms in offset_value) may be consistent or inconsistent, or the units of the parameters used to calculate the time slot may be the length of the time unit (e.g., time slot) corresponding to different subcarrier intervals. For example, the subcarrier interval between the first information transmitted by the first network device and the downlink signal of the second network device may be different, resulting in different time slot lengths. In these cases, the units of the parameters used to calculate the second time unit can be converted to a consistent unit for calculation, for example, all converted to the length of the time unit (e.g., time slot) corresponding to the same subcarrier interval. Alternatively, these parameters can be converted to a unified unit for calculation first, for example, all parameters used to calculate the second time unit can be converted to time (e.g., milliseconds) for calculation, and then the time slot containing the obtained time value can be used as the second time unit.

[0309] For example, coefficients (e.g., scaling factors) can be set for the parameters used to calculate the second time unit (e.g., at least one of the first time unit's index n, K, slot_offset, or offset_value). For instance, the coefficient corresponding to the first time unit's index n is S1, K is S2, slot_offset is S3, and offset_value is S4. The parameters in the formula used to calculate the second time unit can be substituted; for example, n can be replaced with... or Or n*S1, etc. Similarly, K can be replaced with or Or K*S2, etc. Similarly, slot_offset can be replaced with... or Or slot_offset*S3, etc. Similarly, offset_value can be replaced with... or Or offset_value*S4, etc.

[0310] Based on the aforementioned example of the second time unit, the following are examples of formulas for several possible second time units, such as any of the following:

[0311] Time unit

[0312] Time unit

[0313] Time unit or,

[0314] Time unit

[0315] These formulas are examples. Any parameter in any formula used to determine the second time unit can be modified. The related solutions are similar to those described above, and will not be listed one by one in the embodiments of this application.

[0316] For example, at least one of S1, S2, S3, or S4 can be related to the subcarrier spacing, such as... The aforementioned μ, which is related to the subcarrier or is a subcarrier parameter, can be understood as determining the subcarrier interval based on the u value, and thus determining the corresponding time slot length. For example, if the second time unit is a time unit used to transmit downlink signals from the second network device, then μ... gNB2 These are the subcarrier parameters of the downlink signal from the second network device that the relay device needs to forward. If the second time unit is the time unit used to transmit the uplink signal from the second network device, then μ gNB2 These are the subcarrier parameters of the uplink signal from the second network device that the relay device needs to forward. PDCCH These are the subcarrier parameters of the downlink signal (e.g., first information) transmitted by the first network device. μslot_offset is related to the subcarrier spacing corresponding to the set slot_offset, and μoffset_value is related to the subcarrier spacing corresponding to the set offset_value. For example, the subcarrier spacing = 2^u * 15kHz. (This is from an embodiment of this application.) * can represent rounding down, and * can represent multiplication. μ can be the subcarrier interval for transmitting uplink or downlink information. n is the index number of the first time unit. The definitions of the other parameters can be found in the description above, and will not be repeated here. The relevant descriptions of the units of each parameter in these formulas can be found in the relevant descriptions of the units of each parameter used to calculate the time slot above, and will not be repeated here.

[0317] Figure 7 exemplarily illustrates the relationship between uplink and downlink time units on the relay device side according to an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 7, the relay device receives the first information in time slot n (for ease of understanding, the first information is illustrated as being carried in PDCCH#1). The second time unit determined by the network device and the relay device is any one of the terms in the above formula, for example, the second time unit is the downlink time slot (n+K+slot_offset+offset_value). As can be seen from Figure 7, the relay device determines that the resources used to forward the downlink information of the second network device are located after the reception time of the first information based on the first duration, which can improve the success rate of the relay device forwarding the information of the second network device.

[0318] In another possible implementation of this application, the first information indicates at least one third time unit. The at least one third time unit is a candidate resource for the relay device to forward information from the second network device. All third time units indicated by the first information are time units that can be used to send (or forward) information. In this application embodiment, the relay device can select one or more suitable third time units from these configured third time units to send (or forward) information based on a first duration (the selected one or more third time units are second time units). The second time unit is selected from the at least one third time unit. The at least one third time unit can be a periodic resource or an aperiodic resource, and the second time unit can be one or more.

[0319] For example, the second time unit belongs to the third time unit that satisfies the first condition. The first condition includes: the number of time units between the index value of the third time unit and the index value of the first time unit is greater than or equal to the number of time units corresponding to the sum of any of the following: the first duration, the second duration, the value of K, and the offset value of the first time unit. In this embodiment, the value of K can also be written as / replaced with the value of k.

[0320] The following example is illustrated in Figure 8, which exemplarily shows a schematic diagram of the relationship between the downlink time units of the first network device and the second network device on the relay device side according to another embodiment of this application. For example, the first time unit is time slot n, and the first information is received by the relay device in time slot n. The first duration is represented as offset_value, and the first time unit offset value is represented as slot_offset. The first information indicates multiple third time units, namely time slot (n+1), time slot (n+3), and time slot (n+5). The first information can also indicate more third time units; these three are used as examples in Figure 8. Time slots (n+1), (n+3), and (n+5) are time-domain resources configured by the first network device for the relay device, which can be used to forward information from the second network device and other devices (e.g., terminal devices). The relay device needs to forward information in the third time unit that satisfies the first condition. For example, as shown in Figure 8, the relay device needs to start forwarding information from the second network device and other devices (e.g., the terminal device) in the third time unit (e.g., time slot (n+5)) of the time slot (n+K+slot_offset+offset_value) and thereafter. As can be seen from Figure 8, time slot (n+5) is the earliest time slot to satisfy the first condition, and time slot (n+5) is the second time unit. The first information is also valid after time slot (n+5), and the relay device can forward information from the second network device and other devices (e.g., the terminal device) in the third time unit after time slot (n+5).

[0321] In this example, time slots (n+1) and (n+3) do not belong to the second time unit and cannot be used to forward the second information. In this example, time slot (n+K+slot_offset+offset_value) is time slot (n+4), and time slot (n+4) is not the third time unit. Therefore, the first second time unit is time slot (n+5) following time slot (n+K+slot_offset+offset_value). If time slot (n+K+slot_offset+offset_value)(time slot (n+4)) is the third time unit, then time slot (n+K+slot_offset+offset_value)(time slot (n+4)) can be considered the first second time unit.

[0322] Figure 8 above illustrates an example where the first condition is that the number of time units between the start position of the third time unit and the first time unit is greater than or equal to the sum of the first duration, the value of K, and the offset value of the first time unit. The first condition can also be other conditions. For example, in Figure 8 above, the second time unit could be the time slot (n + offset_value) and the subsequent third time unit, or the second time unit could be the time slot (n + offset_value + K) and the subsequent third time unit, or the second time unit could be the time slot (n + offset_value + slot_offset) and the subsequent third time unit, etc.

[0323] In this embodiment, the third time unit can be semi-statically configured, and one or more third time units can be activated subsequently through the first information; or the third time unit can be configured and take effect directly without activation. The following describes examples using Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2.

[0324] In one implementation method, the first information may be signaling used to activate at least one third time unit.

[0325] For example, the first network device sends information for configuring at least one resource set before sending the first information. Correspondingly, the relay device receives information for configuring an indication of a resource set. The at least one resource set includes a first resource set. The first resource set includes multiple third time units. The information for configuring at least one resource set is carried in Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling. The first network device can subsequently activate / deactivate a resource set via signaling (e.g., Media Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) signaling). In this embodiment, the first information is used to activate the first resource set as an example. For example, the first information is carried in Media Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) signaling. In this scheme, the first network device can pre-configure one or more resource sets and subsequently activate / deactivate the resource sets via signaling. Since the signaling for activating / deactivating a resource set occupies fewer bits, this scheme can save the overhead of subsequent signaling.

[0326] For example, the first network device configures up to 32 semi-static resource sets using information (e.g., RRC signaling) used to configure an indication of a resource set. For example, a resource set may include at least one of the following: time resources, beam index combinations, SCS indications, priority flags, or resource periods. In another possible implementation, a resource set may also include at least one of the following: forwarding address, forwarding path, forwarding direction (e.g., DL / UL), forwarding resource information (e.g., frequency domain resource information, starting RB index, number of RBs), transparent forwarding or regenerated (digital) forwarding indication, forwarding / receiving port number, or forwarding / receiving beam index, etc.

[0327] In the second implementation method, the first information may be signaling used to configure at least one third time unit.

[0328] For example, the first information is carried on RRC signaling. The first network device configures at least one third time unit to the relay device through the first information. These third time units do not require MAC CE signaling activation and can take effect directly. This can improve the flexibility of subsequent resource configuration and also save signaling overhead.

[0329] The above description uses the example of a first network device controlling a relay device to forward downlink information from a second network device. This embodiment can also be applied to uplink communication scenarios. For example, the first information sent by the first network device indicates the uplink beam direction (or uplink transmission port) or uplink forwarding time domain resources. The time unit for the relay device to forward the uplink information from the second network device based on the first information can be extended by a first duration. This ensures the normal order of the relay device forwarding the uplink information from the second network device and the reception time of the first information, and also ensures sufficient time for the uplink to adjust the uplink beam direction (or uplink transmission port) or uplink forwarding time domain resources based on the first information. The following describes the method by which the relay device forwards the uplink information from the second network device in the second time unit using embodiment C2.

[0330] Implementation C2 is described using the example of a relay device sending (forwarding) information (e.g., uplink information) to a second network device in the second time unit.

[0331] For example, the second time unit is also determined based on the value of K, the offset value of the first time unit, or the second duration. As another example, the index value of the second time unit is determined by the sum of the index value of the first time unit and at least one of the following: the number of time units corresponding to the value of K, the number of time units corresponding to the offset value of the first time unit, or the number of time units corresponding to the second duration. This scheme provides a specific method for determining the second time unit, which can reduce the complexity of determining the second time unit.

[0332] The first duration used for determining the time unit for relaying downlink information of the second network device can be equal to or unequal to the first duration used for determining the time unit for relaying uplink information of the second network device. For distinction, the first duration used for determining the time unit for relaying downlink information of the second network device can be denoted as offset_value_1, and the first duration used for determining the time unit for relaying uplink information of the second network device can be denoted as offset_value_2. offset_value_1 and offset_value_2 can be equal or unequal. In this embodiment, when the second time unit is for relaying downlink information of the second network device (e.g., in embodiment C1), the first duration (or offset_value) can be replaced with offset_value_1. In this embodiment, if the second time unit is for relaying uplink information of the second network device (e.g., in embodiment C2), the first duration (or offset_value) can be replaced with offset_value_2.

[0333] The value of K is associated with the latency of the relay device processing uplink information and / or the latency of processing uplink information, or K is a specified value. For example, when the relay device forwards information (e.g., uplink information) from the second network device in the second time unit, the value of K can be the latency of the relay device processing uplink information, such as the time required to adjust beam pointing and data processing time. The latency of the relay device processing uplink information and the latency of processing downlink information can be equal or unequal. The latency of the relay device processing uplink information can include, for example, the time required to adjust beam pointing and data processing time. For example, the first information can also indicate the value of K. The content of the value of K can also be found in the description in the aforementioned embodiment C1. The value of K used to determine the time unit for the relay device to forward uplink information of the second network device can be equal or unequal to the value of K used to determine the time unit for the relay device to forward downlink information of the second network device. For distinction, the value of K used to determine the time unit for the relay device to forward downlink information of the second network device can be represented as K_dl, and the value of K used to determine the time unit for the relay device to forward uplink information of the second network device can be represented as K_ul. K_dl and K_ul can be equal or unequal. In this embodiment, when the second time unit is for the relay device to forward downlink information of the second network device (e.g., in embodiment C1), the value of K can be replaced with K_dl. In this embodiment, if the second time unit is for the relay device to forward uplink information of the second network device (e.g., in embodiment C2), the value of K can be replaced with K_ul.

[0334] In this embodiment, the first time unit offset value can be represented as slot_offset. The content of the first time unit offset value can also be found in the description of the aforementioned embodiment C1. If the second time unit is for a relay device to forward downlink information of a second network device, the first time unit offset value (or slot_offset) in the above content can be replaced with slot_offset_dl. If the second time unit is for a relay device to forward uplink information of a second network device, the first time unit offset value in the above content can be replaced with slot_offset_ul. slot_offset_dl and slot_offset_ul can be equal or unequal. In this embodiment, when the second time unit is for a relay device to forward downlink information of a second network device (e.g., in embodiment C1), the value of the first time unit offset value (or slot_offset) can be replaced with slot_offset_dl. In this embodiment, if the second time unit is for a relay device to forward uplink information of a second network device (e.g., in embodiment C2), the first time unit offset value (or slot_offset) can be replaced with slot_offset_ul.

[0335] For example, the second duration can be associated with the latency between the second network device and the relay device. The second duration can be represented by ΔT. For example, the second duration satisfies any of the following: or,

[0336] In the embodiments of this application, Indicates rounding up. This indicates rounding down. RTD (Second Network Device, Relay Device) represents the time delay between the second network device and the relay device (e.g., round-trip time for signal transmission). slot_duration represents the length of a time unit (or duration, such as slot length, frame length, subframe length, symbol length, or a certain time length (e.g., 1 millisecond)). The meanings of the same parameters in other positions are the same, and the meanings of the parameters will not be described again.

[0337] In another possible implementation, in the above implementation C1 (i.e., when the second time unit is used for the relay device to forward downlink information of the second network device), the second time unit can also be determined according to the second duration. This can further delay the position of the second time unit in the time domain resources, thereby reserving more time for the relay device to process information forwarding and further avoiding timing errors, thereby improving communication performance.

[0338] Taking the first time unit as a time unit (e.g., time slot) n as an example, the second time unit (or the effective time of the first information) can be any of the following:

[0339] Time unit (n+K+slot_offset+offset_value);

[0340] Time unit (n + offset_value);

[0341] Time unit (n+K+offset_value);

[0342] Time unit (n + slot_offset + offset_value);

[0343] Time unit (n+K+slot_offset+offset_value+△T);

[0344] Time unit (n + offset_value + ΔT);

[0345] Time unit (n+K+offset_value+△T); or,

[0346] Time unit (n + slot_offset + offset_value + ΔT).

[0347] In this embodiment, △T can represent the second duration. When the unit of △T is a time unit, △T can also represent the number of time units corresponding to the second duration. When the unit of any of K, slot_offset, or offset_valu is not a time unit, these parameters in the above formula can also represent the number of time units corresponding to that parameter.

[0348] In this embodiment, the units of the parameters used to calculate the second time unit (such as multiples of n, K, slot_offset, offset_value, or ΔT) may be consistent or inconsistent, or the units of the parameters used to calculate the time slot may be the length of the time unit (e.g., the time slot) corresponding to different subcarrier intervals. For example, the subcarrier interval between the first information sent by the first network device and the uplink signal of the second network device is different, and the time slot length is different. In these cases, the units of the parameters used to calculate the second time unit can be converted to a consistent unit for calculation, for example, all converted to the length of the time unit (e.g., the time slot) corresponding to the same subcarrier interval. Alternatively, these parameters can be converted to a unified unit for calculation first, for example, all parameters used to calculate the second time unit can be converted to time (e.g., milliseconds) for calculation, and then the time slot in which the obtained time value is located can be used as the second time unit.

[0349] For example, coefficients (e.g., scaling factors) can be set for the parameters used to calculate the second time unit (e.g., at least one of the index n, K, slot_offset, offset_value, or ΔT of the first time unit). For instance, the coefficient corresponding to the index n of the first time unit could be S1, K S2, slot_offset S3, offset_value S4, and ΔT S5. The parameters in the formula used to calculate the second time unit can be replaced; for example, n can be replaced with... or Or n*S1, etc. Similarly, K can be replaced with or Or K*S2, etc. Similarly, slot_offset can be replaced with... or Or slot_offset*S3, etc. Similarly, offset_value can be replaced with... or Or offset_value*S4, etc. Similarly, △T can be replaced with or Or △T*S5, etc.

[0350] Based on the aforementioned example of the second time unit, the following are examples of formulas for several possible second time units, such as any of the following:

[0351] Time unit

[0352] Time unit

[0353] Time unit or,

[0354] Time unit

[0355] These formulas are examples. Any parameter in any formula used to determine the second time unit can be modified. The related solutions are similar to those described above, and will not be listed one by one in the embodiments of this application.

[0356] For example, at least one of S1, S2, S3, S4, or S5 may be related to the subcarrier spacing; see the description in the aforementioned implementation C1 for details, which will not be repeated here. △T This is related to the subcarrier spacing corresponding to the set ΔT. For example, the subcarrier spacing = 2^u * 15kHz. (This is from an embodiment of this application.) * can represent rounding down, and * can represent multiplication. μ can be the subcarrier interval for transmitting uplink or uplink information. n is the index number of the first time unit. The definitions of the other parameters can be found in the description above, and will not be repeated here. The relevant descriptions of the units of each parameter in these formulas can be found in the relevant descriptions of the units of each parameter used to calculate the time slot above, and will not be repeated here.

[0357] Figure 9 exemplarily illustrates the relationship between the uplink and corresponding uplink time units of a first network device and a second network device on the relay device side according to an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 9, the relay device receives the first information in time slot n (for ease of understanding, the first information is illustrated as being carried in PDCCH#1). The second time unit determined by the network device and the relay device is any one of the terms in the above formula, for example, the second time unit is the uplink time slot (n+K+slot_offset+offset_value). As can be seen from Figure 9, the relay device determines that the resources used to forward the uplink information of the second network device are located after the reception time of the first information based on the first duration, which can improve the success rate of the relay device forwarding the information of the second network device.

[0358] In implementation C2, the second time unit can also be a third time unit. The difference from implementation C1 is that these third time units are time units configured for the first network device to forward uplink information from the second network device via a relay device. Related details can be found in the description of the aforementioned implementation C1, and are similar, so they will not be repeated here.

[0359] The following example is illustrated in Figure 10, which demonstrates the relationship between the downlink time unit of the first network device and the uplink time unit of the second network device on the relay device side according to another embodiment of this application. For example, the first time unit is time slot n, and the first information is received by the relay device in time slot n. The first duration is represented as offset_value, and the first time unit offset value is represented as slot_offset. The first information indicates multiple third time units, namely time slot (n+1), time slot (n+3), and time slot (n+5). The first information can also indicate more third time units; these three are used as examples in Figure 10. The difference between Figure 10 and Figure 8 is that in Figure 10, time slots (n+1), (n+3), and (n+5) are time domain resources configured by the first network device for the relay device that can be used to forward uplink information of the second network device, while in Figure 8, these three time slots are time slots in which the relay device can forward downlink information of the second network device. Similar to Figure 8, in Figure 10, the relay device needs to forward information in the third time unit that meets the first condition. For example, as shown in Figure 10, the relay device needs to start forwarding information (e.g., uplink information) from the second network device and other devices (e.g., terminal devices) in the third time unit (e.g., time slot (n+5)) of the time slot (n+K+slot_offset+offset_value) and thereafter. As can be seen from Figure 10, time slot (n+5) is the earliest time slot to satisfy the first condition, and time slot (n+5) is the second time unit. The first information is also valid after time slot (n+5), and the relay device can forward information from the second network device and other devices (e.g., terminal devices) in the third time unit after time slot (n+5).

[0360] In this example, time slots (n+1) and (n+3) do not belong to the second time unit and cannot be used to forward the second information. In this example, time slot (n+K+slot_offset+offset_value) is time slot (n+4), and time slot (n+4) is not the third time unit. Therefore, the first second time unit is time slot (n+5) following time slot (n+K+slot_offset+offset_value). If time slot (n+K+slot_offset+offset_value)(time slot (n+4)) is the third time unit, then time slot (n+K+slot_offset+offset_value)(time slot (n+4)) can be considered the first second time unit.

[0361] Figure 10 above illustrates an example where the first condition is that the number of time units between the starting position of the third time unit and the first time unit is greater than or equal to the sum of the first duration, the value of K, and the offset value of the first time unit. The first condition can also be other conditions. For example, in Figure 10 above, the second time unit could be the time slot (n + offset_value) and the subsequent third time unit, or the second time unit could be the time slot (n + offset_value + K) and the subsequent third time unit, or the second time unit could be the time slot (n + offset_value + slot_offset) and the subsequent third time unit, etc.

[0362] Step 605: The relay device forwards the information transmitted between the first network device and other devices in the fourth time unit.

[0363] Step 605 is an optional step, and it is shown in dashed lines in Figure 6 for ease of understanding.

[0364] Step 605 can be replaced by: the relay device forwarding information from the first network device in the fourth time unit according to the first information. The information forwarded by the relay device from the first network device includes information from the first network device and / or information sent to the first network device. For example, the relay device forwarding information from the first network device may include / be replaced by: the first network device sending information to the relay device, the relay device receiving information from the first network device according to the first information, and the relay device forwarding the information (e.g., the relay device forwarding the information to a terminal device, other relay devices, or other network devices besides the first network device). Another example is that the relay device forwarding information from the first network device may include / be replaced by: a terminal device, other relay devices, or other network devices besides the first network device sending information to the relay device, the relay device receiving the information according to the first information, and the relay device forwarding the information to the first network device. The information forwarded by the relay device from the first network device may include at least one of the following: information corresponding to service data transmitted between the first network device and the terminal device, information corresponding to broadcast data, or information corresponding to control commands sent by the first network device to the terminal device. In another possible implementation, the terminal device can communicate with the first network device through a relay device. For example, the relay device can forward uplink and / or downlink information transmitted between the terminal device and the first network device in the fourth time unit and the time units after the fourth time unit.

[0365] The fourth time unit is determined based on the first time unit. The fourth time unit is also determined based on at least one of the following: a third duration, the value of K, or the offset value of the second time unit. The third duration is associated with the latency between the first network device and the relay device, and the value of K is associated with the latency of the relay device processing uplink information and / or processing downlink information. The third duration is associated with the latency between the first network device and the relay device.

[0366] In one possible implementation, when the relay device forwards downlink information from the first time unit in the fourth time unit, the fourth time unit is determined based on the first time unit, and is also determined based on at least one of the value of K or the second time unit offset value. For example, when the relay device forwards downlink information from the first network device, the determination of the first duration can disregard the third duration, thereby reducing latency. Alternatively, when the relay device forwards uplink information from the first network device, the third duration can be considered, thereby improving the success rate of information forwarding by the relay device and avoiding timing errors. The second time unit offset value may be equal to or unequal to the first time unit offset value. The second time unit offset value can be a parameter defined by a standard. The second time unit offset value can be configured by the first network device, for example, by the first network device indicating the second time unit offset value through first information, DCI, or other information. For example, the second time unit offset value may be a time slot offset value or a time slot offset amount, with a maximum value not exceeding 14 time slots. The second time unit offset value can be a value dynamically configured by the first network device to the relay device, or a default value agreed upon by the protocol, such as a second time unit offset value of 0 or 1.

[0367] In another possible implementation, the determination process of the fourth time unit can also use a parameter first duration (e.g., offset_value), which can be set to 0. This keeps the formula for determining the fourth time unit consistent with the formula for determining the second time unit, thereby reducing the complexity of scheme description and implementation.

[0368] Figure 11 exemplarily illustrates a schematic diagram of the relationship between uplink and downlink time units on the relay device side according to an embodiment of this application. Figure 11 is an example of Figure 7 with the addition of a first information scheduling relay device forwarding information from a first network device. As shown in Figure 11, the relay device receives the first information in time slot n. The fourth time unit determined by the network device and the relay device is time slot (n+K+slot_offset). The second time unit in Figure 11 is time slot (n+K+slot_offset+offset_value). Alternatively, the fourth time unit is time slot (n+K+slot_offset+offset_value), where offset_value is set to zero in the formula used to determine the fourth time unit; the value of offset_value used to determine the second time unit can be non-zero (e.g., it can be a positive or negative number) or zero.

[0369] As shown in Figure 11, the methods for determining the fourth time unit and the second time unit in this embodiment differ, and the parameters used are different. This scheme does not use the parameter `offset_value` to increase the latency of the relay device forwarding information from the first network device, thus avoiding the problem of excessive latency in the first network device and improving communication efficiency. Furthermore, this scheme adds the parameter `offset_value` for the scenario where the relay device forwards information from the second network device, thereby avoiding timing errors that occur when the first network device schedules the relay device to forward information from the second network device, thus improving the success rate of information forwarding by the relay device.

[0370] Figure 11 illustrates downlink forwarding operations where a first network device controls a relay device to forward downlink information from the first network device. The embodiments of this application can also be applied to uplink communication scenarios. For example, the first information sent by the first network device indicates the uplink beam direction (or uplink transmission port) or uplink forwarding time domain resources, etc. The time unit for the relay device to forward the uplink information from the first network device based on the first information can be extended with a third duration. This ensures the normal order of the relay device forwarding the uplink information from the first network device and the reception time of the first information, and also ensures that the uplink has sufficient time to adjust the uplink beam direction (or uplink transmission port) or uplink forwarding time domain resources based on the first information.

[0371] On the other hand, compared to directly extending the existing parameter K or slot_offset value, the solution provided in this application can introduce a new parameter, the first duration. This solution avoids modifying the parameter range supported by the ground relay device (i.e., avoids modifying the value of K or slot_offset), and also eliminates the need for the ground relay device (in low-latency scenarios) to support high-latency scenarios, thus avoiding increasing the capability of the ground relay device. The solution provided in this application only needs to increase the capability of the relay device in high-latency scenarios.

[0372] On the other hand, the K value ensures that the relay device has sufficient time to complete internal signal processing, beam adjustment, etc. The slot_offset value provides more flexibility for forwarding indication information; for example, the relay device can forward information within a certain time range. Furthermore, the K value ensures the validity and availability of the slot_offset value. The "first duration" proposed in this application embodiment can "resist" the impact of large round-trip delays between the relay device and the network device.

[0373] In another possible implementation, the first duration may change as the locations of the first network device, relay device, and second network device change. Therefore, to reduce latency, the first duration can be updated as latency changes, or updated periodically. Updating the first duration makes the time unit for the relay device to forward information from the second network device more reasonable and more consistent with the actual situation, thereby avoiding timing errors and minimizing control signaling activation delay or data transmission delay, thus improving communication performance.

[0374] The following describes two schemes for updating the first duration using implementation methods D1 and D2. In implementation method D1, the first network device can send information indicating the updated first duration to the relay device. In implementation method D2, the first network device and the relay device can determine the updated first duration according to agreed-upon rules or specified rules, thereby reducing signaling transmission overhead.

[0375] In implementation D1, the first network device can send information to the relay device to indicate the first duration after the update.

[0376] The first network device can determine to update the first duration if it determines that the change in the first delay difference is greater than a threshold. In this embodiment of the application, for ease of understanding, the two first durations can be referred to as the first duration before the update and the first duration after the update, respectively. The first duration before the update is updated to obtain the first duration after the update.

[0377] In one possible implementation, the first network device sends information indicating the updated first duration, and the corresponding relay device receives the information indicating the updated first duration. The relay device can determine the updated first duration based on the information indicating the updated first duration, thereby reducing the complexity of the scheme for determining the updated first duration on the relay device side.

[0378] The information used to indicate the updated first duration may include the updated first duration itself, or the number of time units corresponding to the updated first duration. The relay device directly determines the updated first duration or the number of time units corresponding to the updated first duration based on the information used to indicate the updated first duration. In this example, the first network device can calculate the updated first duration. In one possible implementation, The offset_value represents the first duration after the update. This indicates rounding up, time_diff represents the first delay (e.g., the first delay after the update), and slot_duration represents the length of a time unit.

[0379] In another possible implementation, the information used to indicate the updated first duration includes information indicating the difference between the first duration before the update and the first duration after the update. This difference can be the time difference between the first duration before the update and the first duration after the update, or it can be the difference between the number of time units corresponding to the first duration before the update and the number of time units corresponding to the first duration after the update. In this example, the first network device can calculate the difference between the first duration before the update and the first duration after the update. The relay device can determine the updated first duration or the number of time units corresponding to the updated first duration based on this difference. For example: Updated first duration = (First duration before the update - ΔS). Another example: Updated first duration = (First duration before the update + ΔS). ΔS can be the difference between the first duration before the update and the first duration after the update. Another example: Number of time units corresponding to the updated first duration = (Number of time units corresponding to the first duration before the update - Number of time units corresponding to ΔS). For example: the number of time units corresponding to the first duration after the update = (the number of time units corresponding to the first duration before the update + the number of time units corresponding to ΔS). The relationship between the parameters in these examples can be expressed by the following formula: ΔS = initial offset_value - updated offset_value, or ΔS = updated offset_value - initial offset_value, where the initial offset_value can be understood as the first duration before the update, and the updated offset_value can be understood as the first duration after the update. The relay device can also calculate the first duration after the update based on this relationship, for example, ΔT updated value = initial offset_value - ΔS, or ΔS updated value = ΔS + initial offset_value.

[0380] In implementation D2, the first network device and the relay device can determine the updated first duration according to agreed rules or specified rules, respectively.

[0381] In implementation D2, the first network device may not send information indicating the first duration after the update to the relay device, thereby reducing signaling overhead.

[0382] For example, it can be agreed that both the first network device and the relay transponder calculate the first duration based on the first delay difference, or that they respectively calculate based on... The formula is determined. That is, both the relay device and the first network device know the first delay difference. The advantage of this method is that it avoids frequent sending of update signaling; it only needs to be calculated based on the first delay difference. The content of this formula can be found in the foregoing description and will not be repeated here. In all formulas in this application embodiment, rounding up can be replaced with rounding down, and vice versa.

[0383] Because the relay device may not have established an RRC connection with the second network device, it may be unable to determine the frame timing or frame boundary of the uplink signal from the second network device. This application provides two possible methods for the relay device to determine the uplink timing of the second network device through the following embodiments E1 and E2. Embodiment E1 is described as an example where the two downlink signals sent by the first and second network devices to the relay device are transmitted simultaneously. Embodiment E2 is described as an example where the two downlink signals sent by the first and second network devices to the relay device are not transmitted simultaneously.

[0384] Implementation method E1 is described using the example of two downlink signals sent simultaneously by the first network device and the second network device to the relay device.

[0385] For example, the relay device determines the frame timing corresponding to the uplink signal of the first network device. For instance, the relay device can synchronize with the first network device downlink using the synchronization signal received from the downlink broadcast signal of the first network device, determine the frame timing of the downlink signal of the first network device, and determine the frame timing corresponding to the uplink signal of the first network device based on some parameters (e.g., timing advance TA) and the frame timing of the downlink signal. The relay device obtains a first delay difference (e.g., time_diff). The details of the first delay difference (e.g., time_diff) can be found in the foregoing description and will not be repeated here. The relay device determines the frame timing corresponding to the uplink signal of the second network device based on the frame timing corresponding to the uplink signal of the first network device and the first delay difference. In this scheme, even if the second network device has not established a connection with the relay device (e.g., an RRC connection), the relay device can still determine the frame timing corresponding to the uplink signal of the second network device and then send the uplink signal to the second network device.

[0386] The frame timing of the uplink signal can also be called uplink frame timing or uplink timing, and can be written as "uplink frame timing" in the standard. The frame timing in the uplink frame timing in the embodiments of this application can also include / be replaced by: frame boundary, frame boundary timing, time slot boundary, time slot timing, time slot boundary timing, frame start position, time slot start position, or frame time domain start position, or frame time domain end position, or the time of receiving the frame, or the time of receiving the time slot, etc.

[0387] In this embodiment, the first time delay difference is determined by the relay device based on the downlink signals synchronously transmitted by the first network device and the second network device. The downlink signals synchronously transmitted by the first and second network devices may include / be replaced by signals from time units (e.g., frames / time slots / symbols) with the same index number transmitted simultaneously by the first and second network devices. For example, the first and second network devices simultaneously transmit the signal of the nth time slot (or the signal of frame n, or the boundary signal of frame n), or simultaneously transmit the boundary signal of frame x. The first and second network devices are time-synchronized. n is zero or a positive integer.

[0388] Figure 12 exemplarily illustrates a possible time unit relationship between the uplink and downlink of a first network device and a second network device on the relay device side, applicable to an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 12, duration t21 is the offset between the uplink frame timing of the first network device and the uplink frame timing of the second network device. Duration t22 is the offset between the downlink frame timing of the first network device and the downlink frame timing of the second network device. Duration t23 is the offset between the downlink frame timing and the uplink frame timing of the second network device on the relay device side.

[0389] For example, the duration t22 can be the first delay difference, which can be represented as time_diff.

[0390] The duration t21 is associated with the first time delay difference. In the example in Figure 12, the value of duration t21 is (-time_diff).

[0391] The uplink frame timing of the second network device determined by the relay device can be: (uplink frame timing of the first network device + (-time_diff)).

[0392] Here, (-time_diff) is a positive value, for example, indicating that the uplink frame timing of the second network device is later than that of the first network device; (-time_diff) is a negative value, for example, indicating that the uplink frame timing of the second network device is earlier than that of the first network device. In other possible examples, the definitions of positive and negative values ​​for (-time_diff) can also be interchanged, and the definitions of positive and negative values ​​for (-time_diff) can be agreed upon by the protocol.

[0393] Implementation E2 will be described as an example in which the two downlink signals sent by the first network device and the second network device to the relay device are not sent simultaneously.

[0394] For example, the relay device determines the frame timing corresponding to the uplink signal of the first network device. The relay device acquires a first delay difference (e.g., time_diff). The relay device receives information indicating a second delay difference. The information indicating the second delay difference may be sent by the first network device or other devices. The second delay difference is the offset between the frame timing of the downlink signal sent by the first network device and the frame timing of the downlink signal sent by the second network device. The relay device determines the frame timing corresponding to the uplink signal of the second network device based on the frame timing corresponding to the uplink signal of the first network device, the first delay difference, and the second delay difference. In this scheme, even if the second network device has not established a connection with the relay device (e.g., an RRC connection), the relay device can still determine the frame timing corresponding to the uplink signal of the second network device and then send the uplink signal to the second network device. The relevant content regarding the frame timing corresponding to the uplink signal and the first delay difference can be found in the description of the aforementioned embodiment E1, and will not be repeated here.

[0395] In this embodiment, the second delay difference is the offset between the frame timing of the downlink signal transmitted by the first network device and the frame timing of the downlink signal transmitted by the second network device. The second delay difference can be represented as ΔX, which can be positive, negative, or zero. For example, a positive ΔX indicates that the downlink transmission time of the second network device (e.g., the time when the second network device transmits downlink time slot n) is later than the downlink transmission time of the first network device (e.g., the time when the first network device transmits downlink time slot n), and a negative ΔX indicates that the downlink transmission time of the second network device (e.g., the time when the second network device transmits downlink time slot n) is earlier than the time when the first network device transmits downlink time slot n. In other possible examples, the definitions of positive and negative ΔX can be interchanged, and these definitions can be agreed upon through a protocol.

[0396] For example, the second delay difference includes / is: the difference between the transmission time of the first network device transmitting the downlink signal in the nth time unit and the transmission time of the second network device transmitting the downlink signal in the nth time unit, where n is zero or a positive integer. For example, the second delay difference includes / is: the transmission time difference between the first network device and the second network device transmitting frames / slots / symbols with the same index number. For example, the second delay difference includes / is: the difference between the transmission time of the first network device transmitting downlink signal in time slot n (or time unit n) and the transmission time of the second network device transmitting downlink signal in time slot n (or time unit n). For example, the second delay difference includes / is: the difference between the transmission time of the first network device transmitting the signal carried by the downlink time slot n (or downlink time unit n) time domain resource and the transmission time of the second network device transmitting the signal carried by the downlink time slot n (or downlink time unit n) time domain resource.

[0397] Figure 13 exemplarily illustrates a possible schematic diagram of the uplink and downlink time unit relationship of a first network device and a second network device on the relay device side, applicable to an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 13, duration t31 is the offset between the uplink frame timing of the first network device and the uplink frame timing of the second network device. Duration t32 is the offset between the downlink frame timing of the first network device and the downlink frame timing of the second network device. Duration t33 is the offset between the downlink frame timing and the uplink frame timing of the second network device on the relay device side.

[0398] The second time delay difference can be represented as ΔX, and the first time delay difference can be represented as time_diff.

[0399] The transmission time difference between the downlink signals of the first network device and the second network device determined by the relay device and the arrival time at the relay point is (time_diff-△X).

[0400] In the example in Figure 13, the value of duration t31 is (2*△X-time_diff). The value of duration t32 is time_diff.

[0401] The uplink frame timing for the second network device determined by the relay device can be:

[0402] (Uplink frame timing of the first network device + (2*△X-time_diff).

[0403] Here, (2*△X-time_diff) is a positive value, for example, indicating that the uplink frame timing of the second network device is later than that of the first network device; (2*△X-time_diff) is a negative value, for example, indicating that the uplink frame timing of the second network device is earlier than that of the first network device. In other possible examples, the definitions of positive and negative values ​​for (2*△X-time_diff) can be interchanged, and the definitions of positive and negative values ​​for (2*△X-time_diff) can be agreed upon through the protocol.

[0404] In this embodiment, the signaling or information sent by the network device (such as at least one of the following: first information, downlink control information, information indicating a first duration, information indicating an updated first duration, or information indicating a first delay difference) can be sent in multiple ways. For example, any of these signaling or information can be carried in at least one of the following broadcast information: system information block (SIB) 1, SIB 19, other system information (OSI), master information block (MIB), physical broadcast channel message, etc. The signaling or information sent by the network device (such as at least one of the following: first information, downlink control information, information indicating a first duration, information indicating an updated first duration, or information indicating a first delay difference) is broadcast, multicast, or unicast by the network device to the relay device. Broadcasting or multicasting the above signaling to the relay device can avoid scheduling different resources for different relay devices to send the above signaling, saving the signaling overhead of scheduling resources and reducing the system scheduling complexity.

[0405] In another possible implementation, if transmitted during the radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment phase and subsequent communication, the signaling or information sent by the network device (e.g., at least one of the following: first information, downlink control information, information indicating a first duration, information indicating an updated first duration, or information indicating a first delay difference) can be carried in at least one of the following: RRC signaling (e.g., RRC setup message, RRC reconfiguration message, RRC recovery message, etc.), DCI, group DCI, media access control (MAC) control element (CE), and timing advance command (TAC). The signaling or information sent by the network device (e.g., at least one of the following: first information, downlink control information, information indicating a first duration, information indicating an updated first duration, or information indicating a first delay difference) can be indicated by information or tables, or transmitted unicast or multicast to the relay device along with data transmission or in a separately allocated PDSCH bearer. The advantage of sending the above signaling to relay devices individually or in groups is that it allows for flexible control of the parameter values ​​of each / group of relay devices. Different parameter values ​​can be configured for relay devices based on their location or region to optimize system parameters and relay device / system communication performance. For example, different first duration values ​​can be configured for relay devices based on their location to optimize the forwarding delay of each / group of relay devices and improve system communication efficiency.

[0406] It is understood that, in order to achieve the functions in the above embodiments, the terminal device, relay device, first network device, and second network device may include hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. Those skilled in the art should readily recognize that, based on the units and method steps of the various examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed in this application, this application can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in hardware or by computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0407] Based on the same concept, and based on the content shown in at least one of Figures 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, 1F, 1G, 1H, 1I, 1J, 1K, 1L, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 2E, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, or 13, as well as the other content mentioned above, Figures 14, 15, and 16 are schematic diagrams of possible communication devices provided in embodiments of this application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the terminal device, relay device, first network device, or second network device in the method embodiments of Figures 4 or 6, and therefore can also achieve the beneficial effects of the above method embodiments. In the embodiments of this application, the communication device may be a relay device or a chip (or chip system, circuit, or module) inside a relay device involved in the embodiments shown in Figures 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, 1F, 1G, 1H, 1I, 1J, 1K, 1L, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 2E, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, or 13; it may also be a network device or a chip (or chip system, circuit, or module) inside a network device; or it may be a terminal device or a chip (or chip system, circuit, or module) inside a terminal device.

[0408] As shown in Figure 14, the communication device 1300 includes a processing unit 1310 and a transceiver unit 1320. The transceiver unit 1320 can also be referred to as a communication unit. The transceiver unit 1320 may include a transmitting unit and a receiving unit.

[0409] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the relay device in the method embodiment shown in FIG4 or FIG6, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is used to receive downlink control information from the first network device and forward information from the second network device according to the downlink control information.

[0410] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the relay device in the method embodiment shown in FIG4 or FIG6, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is used to determine that the relay device forwards the information of the second network device when the resource indicated by the resource indication information belongs to the resource associated with the second network device.

[0411] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the relay device in the method embodiment shown in FIG4 or FIG6, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is used to receive first indication information. The processing unit 1310 is used to determine, based on the first indication information, that the downlink control information includes a first field.

[0412] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the relay device in the method embodiment shown in FIG4 or FIG6, in one possible implementation, the processing unit 1310 is used to determine that the downlink control information includes a first field when the downlink control information is in the first format.

[0413] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the relay device in the method embodiment shown in FIG4 or FIG6, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is used to receive information indicating the validity period of the first information, and the processing unit 1310 is used to stop forwarding the information of the second network device according to the first information after the validity period has expired.

[0414] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the relay device in the method embodiment shown in FIG4 or FIG6, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is used to receive downlink control information from the first network device in a first time unit and forward information from the second network device in a second time unit.

[0415] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the relay device in the method embodiment shown in FIG4 or FIG6, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is used to receive information for indicating a first duration.

[0416] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the relay device in the method embodiment shown in FIG4 or FIG6, in one possible implementation, the processing unit 1310 is used to determine the first duration based on the first delay difference.

[0417] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the relay device in the method embodiment shown in FIG4 or FIG6, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is used to transmit information for indicating a first time delay difference.

[0418] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the relay device in the method embodiment shown in FIG4 or FIG6, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is used to send information for indicating a first duration.

[0419] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the relay device in the method embodiment shown in FIG4 or FIG6, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is used to receive or send information indicating the updated first duration.

[0420] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the relay device in the method embodiment shown in FIG4 or FIG6, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is used to receive information for configuring at least one resource set.

[0421] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the relay device in the method embodiment shown in FIG4 or FIG6, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is used to receive downlink control information from the first network device in a first time unit, and forward the information from the first network device in a fourth time unit.

[0422] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the relay device in the method embodiment shown in FIG4 or FIG6, in one possible implementation, the processing unit 1310 is used to determine the frame timing corresponding to the uplink signal of the first network device, obtain the first delay difference, and determine the frame timing corresponding to the uplink signal of the second network device based at least on the frame timing corresponding to the uplink signal of the first network device and the first delay difference.

[0423] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the relay device in the method embodiment shown in FIG4 or FIG6, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is used to receive information for indicating the second delay difference, and the processing unit 1310 is used to determine the frame timing corresponding to the uplink signal of the second network device based on the frame timing corresponding to the uplink signal of the first network device, the first delay difference, and the second delay difference.

[0424] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the first network device in the method embodiment shown in FIG4 or FIG6, in one possible implementation, the processing unit 1310 is used to acquire downlink control information and send downlink control information to the relay device through the transceiver unit 1320.

[0425] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the first network device in the method embodiment shown in FIG4 or FIG6, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is used to send first instruction information.

[0426] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the first network device in the method embodiment shown in FIG4 or FIG6, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is used to send information indicating the effective duration of the first information.

[0427] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the first network device in the method embodiment shown in FIG4 or FIG6, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is used to send downlink control information to the relay device in the first time unit and send information for indicating the first duration.

[0428] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the first network device in the method embodiment shown in FIG4 or FIG6, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is used to receive information for indicating a first delay difference.

[0429] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the first network device in the method embodiment shown in FIG4 or FIG6, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is used to receive information for indicating a first duration.

[0430] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the first network device in the method embodiment shown in FIG4 or FIG6, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is used to send information indicating the updated first duration.

[0431] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the first network device in the method embodiment shown in FIG4 or FIG6, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is used to receive information for indicating the updated first duration.

[0432] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the first network device in the method embodiment shown in FIG4 or FIG6, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is used to send information for configuring at least one resource set.

[0433] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the first network device in the method embodiment shown in FIG4 or FIG6, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is used to send downlink control information to the relay device in a first time unit, receive information from the relay device in a fourth time unit, or send information to the relay device in a fourth time unit.

[0434] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the first network device in the method embodiment shown in FIG4 or FIG6, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is used to send information for indicating a second delay difference.

[0435] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiment shown in FIG4 or FIG6, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is used to receive information from the first network device through the relay device, and / or send information to the first network device through the relay device; receive information from the second network device through the relay device, and / or send information to the second network device through the relay device.

[0436] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the second network device in the method embodiment shown in FIG4 or FIG6, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is used to: receive information for indicating a second time unit; receive information from a relay device in the second time unit, and / or send information to the relay device.

[0437] For a more detailed description of the processing unit 1310 and the transceiver unit 1320 described above, please refer to the relevant descriptions in the method embodiments shown in Figure 4 or Figure 6.

[0438] As shown in Figure 15, the communication device 1400 includes a processor 1410 and an interface circuit 1420. The processor 1410 and the interface circuit 1420 are coupled to each other. It can be understood that the interface circuit 1420 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface. The input / output interface is used for inputting and / or outputting information; output can be understood as sending, and input can be understood as receiving. Optionally, the communication device 1400 may also include a memory 1430 for storing instructions executed by the processor 1410, or storing input data required by the processor 1410 to execute instructions, or storing data generated after the processor 1410 executes instructions.

[0439] When the communication device 1400 is used to implement the method shown in FIG4 or FIG6, the processor 1410 is used to implement the function of the processing unit 1310, and the interface circuit 1420 is used to implement the function of the transceiver unit 1320.

[0440] Please refer to Figure 16. The communication device shown in Figure 16 can also be a schematic diagram of a possible baseband architecture. As shown in Figure 16, the communication device may include a processing system, which may include one or more processors. The processors can be used to execute processes, such as process #1...process #N shown in Figure 16.

[0441] A processing system can be implemented using a bus architecture, typically represented by a bus. A bus can include any number of interconnect buses and bridges, depending on the specific application and overall design constraints of the processing system. The bus communicatively couples various circuits together, including one or more processors (typically represented by a processor), memory, and computer-readable media (typically represented by computer-readable media, such as computer-readable media #1…computer-readable media #N shown in Figure 16). The bus can also link various other circuits, such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and therefore will not be described further. The bus interface provides the interface between the bus and transceivers, and between the bus and interfaces.

[0442] The communication device may also include a transceiver (not shown in Figure 16), which may be replaced by interface circuitry or a communication interface, etc. The transceiver provides a communication interface or means for communicating with various other devices via a wireless transmission medium. The transceiver may be coupled to an antenna array, and the transceiver and antenna array may be used together for communication with a corresponding network type. At least one interface (e.g., a network interface and / or a user interface) provides a communication interface or means for communication via an internal bus or via an external transmission medium.

[0443] The processor is responsible for managing the bus and general processing, including executing software stored on a computer-readable medium. When executed by the processor, the software causes the processing system to perform the various functions described below for any particular device. Functions achievable by the processor, memory, and computer-readable medium may include one or more of the following: encoding, decoding, rate matching, rate dematching, scrambling, descrambling, modulation, demodulation, layer mapping, fast fourier transform (FFT), inverse fast fourier transform (IFFT), inverse discrete fourier transform (IDFT), precoding, resource element (RE) mapping, channel equalization, RE demapping, digital beamforming (BF), adding CP, removing CP, etc.

[0444] The signaling involved in the embodiments of this application can be implemented by a processor, a memory, and a computer-readable medium.

[0445] When the communication device shown in FIG16 is used to implement the method shown in FIG4 or FIG6, the processor is used to implement the function of the processing unit 1310 and the transceiver is used to implement the function of the transceiver unit 1320.

[0446] When the aforementioned communication device is a chip used in a relay device, the chip of the relay device implements the functions of the relay device in the above method embodiments. The chip of the relay device receives information from the base station, which can be understood as the information being first received by other modules (such as radio frequency modules or antennas) in the relay device, and then sent to the chip of the relay device by these modules. The chip of the relay device sends information to the base station, which can be understood as the information being first sent to other modules (such as radio frequency modules or antennas) in the relay device, and then sent to the base station by these modules.

[0447] When the aforementioned communication device is a chip applied to a base station, the base station chip implements the functions of the network device in the above method embodiments. The base station chip receives information from a relay device, which can be understood as the information being first received by other modules in the base station (such as an RF module or antenna), and then sent to the base station chip by these modules. The base station chip sends information to the relay device, which can be understood as the information being sent down to other modules in the base station (such as an RF module or antenna), and then sent back to the relay device by these modules.

[0448] Based on the same concept, embodiments of this application also provide a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program or instructions, which, when executed by a communication device, implements the method shown in FIG4 or FIG6.

[0449] Based on the same concept, embodiments of this application also provide a computer program product, which stores a computer program, the computer program including program instructions, which can implement the method shown in Figure 4 or Figure 6 when executed by a computer.

[0450] In this application, entity A sends information to entity B, either directly or indirectly through other entities. Similarly, entity B receives information from entity A, either directly or indirectly through other entities. Entities A and B can be RAN nodes or terminals, or modules within RAN nodes or terminals. Information transmission and reception can be between RAN nodes and terminals, such as between a base station and a terminal; between two RAN nodes, such as between a CU and a DU; or between different modules within a single device, such as between a terminal chip and other modules of the terminal, or between a base station chip and other modules of the base station.

[0451] It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of this application may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0452] The method steps in the embodiments of this application can be implemented in hardware or in software instructions executable by a processor. The software instructions can consist of corresponding software modules, which can be stored in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, erasable programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, registers, hard disks, portable hard disks, compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), or any other form of storage medium well known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to a processor, enabling the processor to read information from and write information to the storage medium. The storage medium can also be a component of the processor. The processor and storage medium can reside in an ASIC. Alternatively, the ASIC can reside in a base station or terminal. The processor and storage medium can also exist as discrete components in a base station or terminal.

[0453] In the above embodiments, implementation can be achieved, in whole or in part, through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented, in whole or in part, as a computer program product. A computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When a computer program or instruction is loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions of the embodiments of this application are performed. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user equipment, or other programmable device. The computer program or instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, a computer program or instructions can be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired or wireless means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, hard disk, or magnetic tape; it can also be an optical medium, such as a digital video optical disc; or it can be a semiconductor medium, such as a solid-state drive. The computer-readable storage medium may be a volatile or non-volatile storage medium, or may include both types of storage media.

[0454] In the various embodiments of this application, unless otherwise specified or in case of logical conflict, the terminology and / or descriptions of different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features of different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

[0455] In this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "more than one" means two or more. "And / or" describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A alone, A and B simultaneously, or B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In the textual description of this application, the character " / " generally indicates an "or" relationship between the preceding and following related objects; in the formulas of this application, the character " / " indicates a "division" relationship between the preceding and following related objects. "Including at least one of A, B, or C" can mean: including A; including B; including C; including A and B; including A and C; including B and C; including A, B, and C.

[0456] It is understood that the various numbers involved in the embodiments of this application (such as the numerical numbers "first" and "second", and the letter numbers "A1" and "A2") are only for the convenience of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. The order of the above-mentioned process numbers does not imply the order of execution; the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, The method is applicable to relay devices in non-terrestrial networks (NTNs), and the method includes: The relay device receives downlink control information from a first network device, the downlink control information including first information, the first information being used to instruct the relay device to forward information from the second network device, the relay device having established a connection with the first network device, and the relay device having not established a connection with the second network device or having established a connection; Based on the downlink control information, the information of the second network device is forwarded, and the information of the second network device includes information from the second network device and / or information sent to the second network device.

2. The method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, At least one of the following must be satisfied: At least one of the relay device, the first network device, or the second network device is located on the NTN device; The relay device communicates with the first network device via an NTN device; or, The relay device communicates with the second network device via an NTN device.

3. The method as described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The information in the first message used to instruct the relay device to forward information from the second network device includes: The identification information of the second network device; and / or, Resource indication information, which is used to indicate the resources used by the relay device to forward information from the second network device, wherein the resource indicated by the resource indication information belongs to the resources associated with the second network device.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, The first information is carried in the first field of the downlink control information; The method further includes: Receive first indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate that the downlink control information includes the first field; Based on the first indication information, it is determined that the downlink control information includes the first field.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that, The first information is carried in the first field of the downlink control information, and the downlink control information is in the first format; The method further includes: If the downlink control information is in the first format, it is determined that the downlink control information includes the first field.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive information indicating the validity duration of the first information; After the effective duration has elapsed, the forwarding of information from the second network device based on the first information shall cease.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that, The receiving of downlink control information from the first network device includes: The downlink control information is received from the first network device in the first time unit; The forwarding of information corresponding to the second network device includes: The relay device forwards information from the second network device in a second time unit, which is determined based on a first duration and the first time unit. The first duration is associated with a first delay difference, which is the offset between the frame timing of the downlink signal received by the relay device from the first network device and the frame timing of the downlink signal received by the relay device from the second network device.

8. The method as described in claim 7, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive information indicating the first duration; or, The first duration is determined based on the first delay difference.

9. The method according to any one of claims 7-8, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send information indicating the first delay difference, the first delay difference being used to determine the first duration; or, Send information indicating the first duration.

10. The method according to any one of claims 7-9, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive or send information indicating an updated first duration; wherein the information indicating the updated first duration includes: information indicating the updated first duration; or, information indicating the difference between the first duration and the updated first duration.

11. The method according to any one of claims 7-10, characterized in that, The second time unit is also determined according to at least one of the following: The value of K is associated with the delay of the relay device in processing uplink information and / or the delay in processing downlink information; First time unit offset value, the first information also indicates the time unit offset value; The second duration is related to the latency between the second network device and the relay device.

12. The method according to any one of claims 7-11, characterized in that, The first information is also used to indicate at least one third time unit, the at least one third time unit being a candidate resource for the relay device to forward information from the second network device, the second time unit belonging to the at least one third time unit.

13. The method as described in claim 12, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive information for configuring at least one resource set, the at least one resource set including a first resource set, the first resource set including at least one third time unit, the first information being used to activate the at least one third time unit.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1-13, characterized in that, Based on the frame timing corresponding to the uplink signal of the first network device and the first delay difference, the frame timing corresponding to the uplink signal of the second network device is determined, and the first delay difference is the offset between the frame timing of the downlink signal received by the relay device from the first network device and the frame timing of the downlink signal received by the relay device from the second network device. or, The system receives information indicating a second delay difference, and determines the frame timing corresponding to the uplink signal of the second network device based on the frame timing corresponding to the uplink signal of the first network device, the first delay difference, and the second delay difference. The first delay difference is the offset between the frame timing of the downlink signal received by the relay device from the first network device and the frame timing of the downlink signal received by the relay device from the second network device. The second delay difference is the offset between the frame timing of the downlink signal transmitted by the first network device and the frame timing of the downlink signal transmitted by the second network device.

15. A communication method, characterized in that, The method is applicable to a first network device in a non-terrestrial network (NTN), and the method includes: Obtain downlink control information, the downlink control information including first information, the first information including information for instructing the relay device to forward information of the second network device, the information of the second network device including information from the second network device and / or information sent to the second network device, the relay device having established a connection with the first network device, the relay device not having established a connection with the second network device or having established a connection; Send the downlink control information to the relay device.

16. The method as described in claim 15, characterized in that, At least one of the following must be satisfied: At least one of the relay device, the first network device, or the second network device is located on the NTN device; The relay device communicates with the first network device via an NTN device; or, The relay device communicates with the second network device via an NTN device.

17. The method as described in claim 15 or 16, characterized in that, The information used to instruct the relay device to forward information from the second network device includes: The identification information of the second network device; and / or, Resource indication information, wherein the resource indicated by the resource indication information belongs to the resource associated with the second network device, and the resource indication information is used to indicate the resource used by the relay device to forward the information of the second network device.

18. The method according to any one of claims 15-17, characterized in that, The first information is carried in the first field of the downlink control information; The method further includes: Send a first indication message, which indicates that the downlink control information includes the first field.

19. The method according to any one of claims 15-18, characterized in that, The downlink control information is in a first format, and the downlink control information in the first format includes a first field, with the first information carried in the first field.

20. The method according to any one of claims 15-19, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send information indicating the validity period of the first information.

21. The method according to any one of claims 15-20, characterized in that, Sending the downlink control information to the relay device includes: The downlink control information is sent to the relay device in the first time unit; The method further includes: Sending information indicating a first duration, the first duration and the first time being used to determine whether the relay device forwards the second... The second time unit of information of the network device, wherein the first duration is associated with a first delay difference, the first delay difference being the offset between the frame timing of the downlink signal received by the relay device from the first network device and the frame timing of the downlink signal received by the relay device from the second network device.

22. The method as described in claim 21, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive information indicating the first delay difference, the first delay difference being used to determine the first duration; or, Receive information indicating the first duration.

23. The method according to any one of claims 21-22, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send or receive information indicating an updated first duration; wherein the information indicating the updated first duration includes: information indicating the updated first duration; or, information indicating the difference between the first duration and the updated first duration.

24. The method according to any one of claims 21-23, characterized in that, The first information is also used to indicate at least one third time unit, the at least one third time unit being a candidate resource for the relay device to forward information from the second network device, the second time unit belonging to the at least one third time unit.

25. The method as described in claim 24, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send information for configuring at least one resource set, the at least one resource set including a first resource set, the first resource set including at least one third time unit, the first information being used to activate the at least one third time unit.

26. A communication device, characterized in that, It includes modules for performing the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 14, or modules for performing the method as described in any one of claims 15 to 25.

27. A communication device, characterized in that, It includes at least one processor and an interface circuit, the interface circuit being used to receive signals from other communication devices and transmit them to the at least one processor or to send signals from the at least one processor to other communication devices, the at least one processor being used to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 14, or to implement the method as described in any one of claims 15 to 25, through logic circuits or executing code instructions.

28. A communication device, characterized in that, It includes at least one processor, which is used by logic circuitry or execution code instructions to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 14, or to implement the method as described in any one of claims 15 to 25.

29. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The storage medium stores a computer program or instructions, which, when executed by a communication device, implement the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 14, or the method as described in any one of claims 15 to 25.

30. A computer program product, characterized in that, The computer program product stores a computer program, the computer program including program instructions, which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 14, or to perform the method as described in any one of claims 15 to 25.

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