Direct Transport Block Forwarding in Wireless Relay Nodes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current wireless communication systems, such as LTE and NR, face inefficiencies in relaying operations due to the need for data to traverse the entire protocol stack of relay nodes, which can lead to increased latency and complexity in one-to-many and many-to-one relaying operations.
Innovation Solution
Implementing direct transport block (TB) forwarding, where TBs are transmitted through only the Physical (PHY) layer and the hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) portion of the Media Access Control (MAC) layer in the relay node's protocol stack, allowing for direct forwarding to destination nodes without processing through the entire stack.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If data traverses the entire protocol stack of relay nodes in traditional relaying operations, then complete protocol processing and reliability are ensured, but latency increases and processing efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the necessary protocol processing functions (PHY layer and HARQ portion of MAC layer) from the complete protocol stack, eliminating unnecessary upper layer processing. This allows direct transport block forwarding through the relay node while maintaining essential reliability mechanisms, thereby reducing latency without sacrificing protocol processing completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the protocol stack processing into distinct parts: essential lower layer processing (PHY and HARQ) is performed at the relay node, while upper layer processing is handled separately. This segmentation enables parallel processing paths where direct forwarding can occur for time-sensitive data while maintaining complete protocol processing for reliability-critical data.
2Reliability
If data traverses the entire protocol stack of relay nodes, then comprehensive error checking and protocol compliance are achieved, but device complexity and processing overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and retains only the essential error checking functions (HARQ at MAC layer and PHY layer processing) while removing complex upper layer protocol processing from the direct forwarding path. This reduces device complexity and processing overhead while maintaining comprehensive error checking through the retained HARQ mechanisms.
3Reliability
If traditional relaying operations process data through the complete protocol stack, then protocol compliance and data integrity are ensured, but processing speed and throughput decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments data flow into two paths: a fast path for direct transport block forwarding that maintains data integrity through PHY and HARQ processing, and a complete processing path for data requiring full protocol stack handling. This segmentation enables high-speed processing for time-sensitive data while ensuring data integrity through essential error checking mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables continuous direct forwarding of transport blocks through the relay node without interrupting the data flow for complete protocol stack processing. This maintains continuous useful action at high speed while essential integrity checks (HARQ) operate continuously in the background, ensuring data integrity without slowing down the overall processing speed.
Data Source
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AI summary
Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for direct TB forwarding. In aspects, a relay node receives, from a source node, an indication to directly forward one or more TBs to one or more destination nodes, wherein directly forwarding includes transmitting a TB of the one or more TBs to the one or more destination nodes through only a PHY layer and a HARQ portion of a MAC layer in a protocol stack of the relay node, receives, from the source node, control information for one or more data channels configuring: one DL grant and two or more SL grants, or two or more DL grants and one SL grant, decoding one or more TBs based, at least in part, on the control information, and directly forwards the one or more TBs to the one or more destination nodes based on the indication and the control information.