CN115706599A

CN115706599A - Relay frequency shift method and device

Info

Publication number: CN115706599A
Application number: CN202110898569.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 颜矛; 刘凤威; 马传辉
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-08-05
Filing date: 2021-08-05
Publication date: 2023-02-17
Also published as: WO2023011208A1

Abstract

A relay frequency shift method and a device thereof are provided, the method comprises the following steps: the base station determines a frequency shift value of the first signal (e.g., SSB) according to a frequency range or GSCN range of the first signal, and indicates the frequency shift value to the relay device. And the relay equipment shifts the frequency of the first signal according to the frequency shift value indicated by the base station. Due to the fact that frequency shift values corresponding to different frequency ranges or GSCN ranges are different, the flexibility of relay frequency shift can be improved, and the complexity of frequency shift is reduced.

Description

Relay frequency shift method and device

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a relay frequency shift method and apparatus.

Background

Because the distance between the base station and the terminal is relatively long, the corresponding path loss is high, and normal communication between the terminal and the base station may not be possible. A simpler method is to assist the communication between the terminal and the base station by the relay, and the working process comprises: in the downlink transmission process, the base station sends a downlink signal to the relay equipment, and the relay equipment forwards the downlink signal to the terminal. In the uplink transmission process, the terminal sends an uplink signal to the relay equipment, and the relay equipment forwards the uplink signal to the base station. In the process of forwarding the signal, the relay device may change the frequency of the uplink signal or the downlink signal, and how to determine the frequency shift value of the relay device is a problem to be solved in the present application.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a relay frequency shift method and a relay frequency shift device, which are used for determining a frequency shift value of relay equipment.

In a first aspect, a relay frequency shift method is provided, where an execution subject of the method is a network device, or may be a component (processor, chip, circuit, or other) configured in the network device, or may be a software module, and the like, and includes: determining a frequency shift value of a first signal according to a frequency range corresponding to the first signal or a Global Synchronization Channel Number (GSCN) range, where the frequency shift value refers to a difference between a frequency of the first signal received by a relay device and a frequency of the first signal sent by the relay device; and sending the indication information of the frequency shift value to the relay equipment.

In a second aspect, a relay frequency shift method is provided, where the execution subject of the method is a relay device, or may be a component (processor, chip, circuit or other device) configured in the relay device, or may be a software module, and includes: receiving indication information of a frequency shift value from a network device, wherein the frequency shift value refers to a difference value between the frequency of a first signal received by a relay device and the frequency of the first signal sent by the relay device; and performing frequency shift on the first signal according to the frequency shift value.

By adopting the method of the first aspect or the second aspect, because the frequency shift values corresponding to different frequency ranges or GSCN ranges are different, the flexibility of relaying frequency shift can be improved, the complexity of frequency shift can be reduced, and the signaling overhead can be reduced.

In a first design, the frequency of the first signal before frequency shift and the frequency of the first signal after frequency shift are both located on the GSCN.

Case 1.1: when the frequency of the first signal before frequency shift and the frequency of the first signal after frequency shift belong to the same frequency range. As to the condition that the frequency shift value of the first signal needs to satisfy, see the following.

When the frequency of the first signal before frequency shift and the frequency of the first signal after frequency shift both belong to a first frequency range, the first frequency range includes 0 to 3000MHz, and the frequency shift value of the first signal satisfies the following formula:

N ₁ ·1200+M ₁ ·50[kHz]

wherein, the N is ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to-2499 and less than or equal to 2499, the M ₁ E { -5, -3, -1, 3,5}; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

N ₁ ·80·K+M ₁

wherein the unit of the frequency shift value is resource element or subcarrier, N ₁ Is an integer of-2499 or more and 2499 or less, M ₁ E { -1,0,1}; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

N ₁ ·20·K

wherein the unit of the frequency shift value is a resource block, and N is ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to-833, less than or equal to 833, said K is an integer, or K =2 ^-μ The μ represents a subcarrier spacing index of the first signal; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

when the frequency of the first signal before frequency shift and the frequency of the first signal after frequency shift both belong to a second frequency range, the second frequency range includes 3000 to 24250MHz, and the frequency shift value of the first signal satisfies the following formula:

N ₁ ·1.44[MHz]

wherein, the N is ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to-14756, less than or equal to 14756; alternatively, the first and second liquid crystal display panels may be,

N ₁ ·96·K

wherein the unit of the frequency shift value is a resource element or a subcarrier, and N is ₁ Is an integer less than or equal to-14756, greater than or equal to 14756, said K being an integer, or K =2 ^-μ The μ represents a subcarrier spacing index of the first signal; alternatively, the first and second liquid crystal display panels may be,

N ₁ ·8·K

wherein the unit of the frequency shift value is a resource block, and N is ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to-14756, less than or equal to 14756, K is an integer, or K =2 ^-μ The μ represents a subcarrier spacing index of the first signal; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

when the frequency of the first signal before frequency shifting and the frequency of the first signal after frequency shifting both belong to a third frequency range, the third frequency range includes 24250 to 100000MHz, and the frequency-shifted value of the first signal satisfies the following formula:

N ₁ ·17.28[MHz]

wherein, the N is ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to-4383, less than or equal to 4383; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

N ₁ ·288·K

wherein the unit of the frequency shift value is a resource element or a subcarrier, and N is ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to-4383, less than or equal to 4383, said K is an integer, or K =2 ^-μ The μ represents a subcarrier spacing index of the first signal; alternatively, the first and second liquid crystal display panels may be,

N ₁ ·24·K

wherein the unit of the frequency shift value is a resource block, and N is ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to-4383, less than or equal to 4383, said K is an integer, or K =2 ^-μ And the μ represents a subcarrier spacing index of the first signal.

Case 1.2, when the frequency of the first signal before frequency shift and the frequency of the first signal after frequency shift belong to the same GSCN range, the condition that the frequency shift value of the first signal needs to satisfy can be seen as follows.

When the frequency of the first signal before frequency shift and the frequency of the first signal after frequency shift both belong to a first GSCN range, the first GSCN range includes GSCNs with indexes of 2 to 7498, and the frequency shift value of the first signal satisfies the following formula:

N ₁ ·0.4[MHz]

wherein, the N is ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to-7499, less than or equal to 7499; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

when the frequency of the first signal before frequency shift and the frequency of the first signal after frequency shift both belong to a second GSCN range, the second GSCN range includes GSCNs with indices of 7499 to 22255, and the frequency shift value of the first signal satisfies the following formula:

N ₁ ·1.44[MHz]

wherein, the N is ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to-14756, less than or equal to 14756; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

when the frequency of the first signal before frequency shift and the frequency of the first signal after frequency shift both belong to a third GSCN range, the third GSCN range includes GSCNs with indexes 22256 to 26639, and the frequency shift value of the first signal satisfies the following formula:

N ₁ ·17.28[MHz]

wherein, the N is ₁ Is an integer of at least 4383 and at least 4383.

Case 1.3, when the frequency of the first signal before frequency shift and the frequency of the first signal after frequency shift belong to different frequency ranges, the condition that the frequency shift value of the first signal needs to satisfy can be seen below.

When the frequency of the first signal before frequency shift belongs to a first frequency range and the frequency of the first signal after frequency shift belongs to a second frequency range, the first frequency range includes 0 to 3000MHz, the second frequency range includes 3000 to 24250MHz, and the frequency shift value of the first signal satisfies the following formula:

3000+N ₂ ·1.44-N ₁ ·1.2-M ₁ ·0.05[MHz]

wherein, the N is ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to 2499, the N2 is an integer greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 2499, M ₁ E to {1,3,5}; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

200000+N ₂ ·96·K ₂ -N ₁ ·80·K ₁ -1

wherein the unit of the frequency shift value is a resource element or a subcarrier, the N1 is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to 2499, the N2 is an integer greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 2499, the K1 and K2 are integers, or,

the mu ₁ Index the subcarrier spacing of the first signal, the mu ₂ A subcarrier spacing index for the second signal; alternatively, the first and second liquid crystal display panels may be,

when the first signal before frequency shift belongs to a first frequency range and the first signal after frequency shift belongs to a third frequency range, the third frequency range includes 24250 to 100000MHz, and the frequency shift value of the first signal satisfies the following formula:

24250.08+N ₂ ·17.28-N ₁ ·1.2-M ₁ ·0.05[MHz]

wherein, the N is ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to 2499, said N ₂ Is an integer greater than or equal to 0, less than or equal to 4383, M ₁ E to {1,3,5}; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

1616672+N ₂ ·288·K ₂ -N ₁ ·80·K ₂ -1

wherein the unit of the frequency shift value is a resource element or a subcarrier, and N is ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to 2499, said N ₂ Is an integer greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 4388, K ₂ Is an integer, or alternatively,

the mu ₂ Indexing a subcarrier spacing of the second signal; alternatively, the first and second liquid crystal display panels may be,

when the frequency of the first signal before frequency shift belongs to a second frequency range and the frequency of the first signal after frequency shift belongs to a third frequency range, the frequency shift value of the first signal satisfies the following formula:

21250.08+N ₂ ·17.28-N ₁ ·1.44

wherein, the N is ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to 0, less than or equal to 2499, said N ₂ Is an integer greater than or equal to 0, less than or equal to 4383; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

1416672+N ₂ ·288·K ₂ -N ₁ ·96·K ₁

wherein the unit of the frequency shift value is a resource element or a subcarrier, and N is ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 2499, the said N ₂ Is an integer greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 4383, K ₁ And K ₂ Is an integer, or, alternatively,

the mu ₁ Is the subcarrier spacing index of the first signal, the mu ₂ Is indexed by the subcarrier spacing of the second signal.

In a second design, the frequency of the first signal before frequency shift is not on the GSCN, and the first signal after frequency shift is on the GSCN.

In case 2.1, the frequency of the first signal before frequency shift and the frequency of the first signal after frequency shift belong to the same frequency range. The conditions to be met by the first signal before frequency shifting can be seen below.

When the frequency of the first signal before frequency shift belongs to a first frequency range, the first frequency range includes 0 to 3000MHz, and the frequency of the first signal before frequency shift satisfies the following formula:

N _bs ·1200+M _bs ·50+15·K _bs [kHz],

wherein, the N is _bs Is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to 2498, M _bs E {1,3,5}, said K _bs Is an integer greater than or equal to 1, less than or equal to 80; alternatively, the first and second liquid crystal display panels may be,

when the frequency of the first signal before frequency shift belongs to a second frequency range, the second frequency range including 3000 to 24250MHz, the frequency of the first signal before frequency shift satisfies the following formula:

3000+N _bs ·1.44+0.015·K _bs [MHz]

wherein, the N is _bs Is an integer greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 14755, and K is _bs Is an integer greater than or equal to 1, less than or equal to 96; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

when the frequency of the first signal before frequency shift belongs to a third frequency range, the third frequency range includes 24250 to 100000MHz, and the frequency of the first signal before frequency shift satisfies the following formula:

24250.08+N _bs ·17.28+0.06·K _bs [MHz]

wherein, the N is _bs Is an integer greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 4382, K _bs Is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to 288.

In case 2.1 above, see below for the condition that the frequency shift value of the first signal needs to be met.

N ₁ ·1200+M ₁ ·50+15·K ₁ [kHz]

wherein, the N is ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to-2499, less than or equal to 2499, K ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to-80, less than or equal to 80, M ₁ E { -5, -3, -1, 3,5}; alternatively, the first and second liquid crystal display panels may be,

N ₁ ·1.44+0.015·K ₁ [MHz]

wherein, the N is ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to-14756 and less than or equal to 14756, and K is ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to-96, less than or equal to 96; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

when the frequency of the first signal before frequency shift and the frequency of the first signal after frequency shift both belong to a third frequency range, the third frequency range includes 24250 to 100000MHz, and the frequency shift value of the first signal satisfies the following formula:

N ₁ ·17.28+0.06·K ₁ [MHz]

wherein, the N is ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to-4383, less than or equal to 4383, K ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to-288, less than or equal to 288.

Case 2.2, the frequency of the first signal before frequency shift and the frequency of the first signal after frequency shift belong to different frequency ranges. The frequency shift value of the first signal needs to satisfy the condition, which can be seen below.

When the frequency of the first signal before frequency shift belongs to a first frequency range and the frequency range of the first signal after frequency shift belongs to a second frequency range, the first frequency range includes 0 to 3000MHz, the second frequency range includes 3000 to 24250MHz, and the frequency shift value of the first signal satisfies the following formula:

3000+N ₂ ·1.44-N ₁ ·1.2-M ₁ ·0.05-0.015·K ₁ [MHz]

wherein, the N is ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to 2499, said N ₂ Is an integer greater than or equal to 0, less than or equal to 2499, K ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to-80, less than or equal to 80, M ₁ E to {1,3,5}; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

when the frequency of the first signal before frequency shift belongs to the first frequency range and the frequency of the first signal after frequency shift belongs to the third frequency range, the third frequency range includes 24250 to 100000MHz, and the frequency shift value of the first signal satisfies the following formula:

24250.08+N ₂ ·17.28-N ₁ ·1.2-M ₁ ·0.05-0.015·K ₁ [MHz]

wherein, the N is ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to 2499, said N ₂ Is an integer greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 4383, K ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to-1152 and less than or equal to 1152, M ₁ E to {1,3,5}; alternatively, the first and second liquid crystal display panels may be,

when the frequency of the first signal before frequency shift belongs to the second frequency range and the frequency of the first signal after frequency shift belongs to the third frequency range, the frequency shift value of the first signal satisfies the following condition:

21250.08+N ₂ ·17.28-N ₁ ·1.44-0.015·K ₁

wherein, the N is ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to 0, less than or equal to 2499, said N ₂ Is an integer greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 4383, K ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to-1152 and less than or equal to 1152.

It should be noted that, by using the above formula to calculate the frequency shift value of the relay device, the frequency-shifted first signal can be located on the GSCN, and the success rate of receiving the first signal by the terminal is improved. Especially, when the first signal is a synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel block (SSB), the terminal can be made to normally access the network.

In a third aspect, a relay frequency shift method is provided, where an execution subject of the method is a network device, or may be a component (processor, chip, circuit, or other) configured in the network device, or may be a software module, and includes: determining a frequency shift value of a first signal according to a first mapping relation, wherein the frequency shift value is a difference value between the frequency of the first signal received by the relay equipment and the frequency of the first signal sent by the relay equipment; and sending the indication information of the frequency shift value to the relay equipment, wherein the first mapping relation satisfies the following formula:

f _Δ =4 · k or f _Δ =384 · k or f _Δ ＝1152·k

Wherein, the f _Δ A frequency shift value representing the first signal, said f _Δ The unit of (a) is a resource element or a subcarrier, and k is an integer; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

f _Δ k or f _Δ =32 · k or f _Δ ＝96·k

Wherein, the f _Δ A frequency shift value representing the first signal, said f _Δ The unit of (a) is a resource block, and k is an integer;

optionally, in the above formula f _Δ In =32 · k, the k ∈ {1,2,3,4}.

In one design, when the frequency of the first signal belongs to the first frequency range, the frequency shift value may specifically satisfy the formula: f. of _Δ K or f =4 · k _Δ K (= k); or, when the frequency of the first signal belongs to a second frequency range, the formula satisfied by the frequency shift value is f _Δ =384 · k or, f _Δ =32 · k. Or, when the frequency of the first signal belongs to a third frequency range, the formula satisfied by the frequency shift value is specifically: f. of _Δ =1152 · k or f _Δ ＝96·k。

In a fourth aspect, a relay frequency shift method is provided, where the execution subject of the method is a relay device, or may be a component (processor, chip, circuit or other device) configured in the relay device, or may be a software module, and includes: receiving indication information of a frequency shift value from a network device, wherein the frequency shift value is a difference value between the frequency of a first signal received by a relay device and the frequency of the first signal sent by the relay device; according to the frequency shift value, frequency shift is carried out on the first signal from the network equipment, and the mapping relation of the frequency shift value meets the following formula:

f _Δ =4 · k or f _Δ =384 · k or f _Δ ＝1152·k

f _Δ k or f _Δ =32 · k or f _Δ ＝96·k

optionally, in the above formula f _Δ In =32 · k, the k ∈ {1,2,3,4}.

In one design, when the frequency of the first signal belongs to a first frequency range, the formula satisfied by the frequency shift value may be specifically: f. of _Δ K or f =4 · k _Δ K (= k); or, when the frequency of the first signal belongs to a second frequency range, the formula satisfied by the frequency shift value is f _Δ =384 · k or, f _Δ =32 · k. Or, when the frequency of the first signal belongs to the thirdIn the frequency range, the formula satisfied by the frequency shift value is specifically: f. of _Δ =1152 · k or f _Δ ＝96·k。

In the method of the third aspect or the fourth aspect, after the frequency shift is performed on the first signal by using the method, the receiving end does not need to perform additional phase compensation, thereby simplifying subsequent operations after frequency shift. It can be understood that, when the first signal is an uplink signal, the receiving end is a base station, and when the first signal is a downlink signal, the receiving end is a terminal.

In one possible design, the frequency shift value is associated with a bandwidth of a control resource set (CSS) of a type0 Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH).

In the design, when the frequency shift value is associated with the bandwidth, the relay device or the terminal and the like can determine the size of the frequency shift value according to the bandwidth without separately configuring the size of the frequency shift value for the relay device or the terminal, so that the signaling overhead is saved.

In one possible design, further comprising: determining the absolute frequency of the first signal after frequency shift, wherein the absolute frequency of the first signal after frequency shift satisfies the following formula:

F _REF ＝F _REF-Offs +ΔF _Global (N _REF –N _REF-Offs –N _REF-Shift )

wherein, F is _REF Representing the absolute frequency of said first signal, said F _REF-Offs Representing the start of the frequency of said first signal, said Δ F _Global Representing a frequency granularity of the first signal, N _REF Number representing said first signal, said N _REF-Offs Represents a frequency start number of the first signal, N _REF-Shift Representing a parameter associated with the frequency shift value.

In a fifth aspect, a relay frequency shift method is provided, where the execution subject of the method is a relay device, or may be a component (processor, chip, circuit or other components) configured in the relay device, or may be a software module, and includes: the relay equipment determines the size of the frequency shift value according to the condition met by the frequency shift value; as for the condition that the frequency shift value is satisfied, see any one of the first to fourth aspects described above. And the relay equipment shifts the frequency of the first signal according to the determined frequency shift value. Optionally, the frequency-shifted first signal may be located on the GSCN, so as to improve the probability that the receiving end successfully receives the first signal.

In the design of the fifth aspect, the relay device autonomously determines the size of the frequency shift value according to the condition that the frequency shift value needs to meet, and does not need to be notified by the base station, thereby saving signaling overhead.

In a sixth aspect, a relay frequency shift method is provided, where an execution subject of the method is a network device, or may be a component (processor, chip, circuit or other) configured in the network device, or may be a software module, and includes: the network device stores a mapping relationship between a frequency range and a frequency shift value in advance, or stores a mapping relationship between a GSCN range and a frequency shift value. The mapping relationship between the frequency range and the frequency shift value, or the mapping relationship between the GSCN range and the frequency shift value may satisfy the formula described in the first aspect or the second aspect. Different frequency ranges or GSCN ranges may correspond to different frequency shift values. The following description takes the mapping relationship between the stored frequency range and the stored frequency shift value as an example. The network device may determine a frequency range corresponding to a first signal to be sent, which may be referred to as a target frequency range; and determining a target frequency shift value according to the target frequency range and the mapping relation between the frequency range and the frequency shift value. The target frequency shift value is a frequency shift value of the first signal; and the network equipment sends the indication information of the frequency shift value of the first signal to the terminal equipment.

In a seventh aspect, a relay frequency shift method is provided, where an execution subject of the method is a relay device, or may be a component (processor, chip, circuit, or other component) configured in the relay device, or may be a software module, and includes: the relay device stores a mapping relationship between a frequency range and a frequency shift value in advance, or stores a mapping relationship between a GSCN range and a frequency shift value. The mapping relationship between the frequency range and the frequency shift value, or the mapping relationship between the GSCN range and the frequency shift value may satisfy the formula described in the first aspect or the second aspect. Different frequency ranges or GSCN ranges may correspond to different frequency shift values. The following description is given by taking the mapping relationship between the stored frequency range and the stored frequency shift value as an example. When the relay device receives a first signal from the network device, determining a frequency range corresponding to the first signal, which may be called a target frequency range; and determining a target frequency shift value according to the target frequency range and the mapping relation between the frequency range and the frequency shift value. And performing frequency shift on the first signal according to the target frequency shift value.

In an eighth aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes a unit or a module corresponding to one to execute the methods/operations/steps/actions described in the first aspect, the third aspect, the fifth aspect or the sixth aspect, and the unit or the module may be a hardware circuit, or may be software, or may be implemented by a hardware circuit and a software combination.

In a ninth aspect, a communications apparatus is provided that includes a processor and a memory. Wherein the memory is used for storing computer programs or instructions, and the processor is coupled with the memory; the computer program or instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the apparatus to perform the method of the first, third, fifth or sixth aspect described above.

In a tenth aspect, a communication device is provided, which comprises a processor that may implement the method described in the first, third, fifth or sixth aspect above. The apparatus may also include a communication interface for the apparatus to communicate with other devices. Illustratively, the communication interface may be a transceiver, circuit, bus, module, pin, or other type of communication interface, the other device may be a relay device, or the like.

In an eleventh aspect, a communication device is provided, where the device includes a unit or a module corresponding to one to execute the method/operation/step/action described in the second aspect, the fourth aspect, or the seventh aspect, and the unit or the module may be a hardware circuit, a software circuit, or a combination of a hardware circuit and a software circuit.

In a twelfth aspect, a communications apparatus is provided that includes a processor and a memory. Wherein the memory is used for storing computer programs or instructions, and the processor is coupled with the memory; the computer program or instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the apparatus to perform the method of the second, fourth, or seventh aspect described above.

In a thirteenth aspect, a communication device is provided, and the device includes a processor, and the processor may implement the method described in the second, fourth, or seventh aspect. The apparatus may also include a communication interface for the apparatus to communicate with other devices. Illustratively, the communication interface may be a transceiver, circuit, bus, module, pin, or other type of communication interface, the other device may be a network device, or the like.

In a fourteenth aspect, there is provided a computer readable storage medium having a computer program or instructions stored therein, which when executed by an apparatus, causes the apparatus to perform the method of the first, third, fifth or sixth aspect described above.

A fifteenth aspect provides a computer readable storage medium having stored therein a computer program or instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the method of the second, fourth, or seventh aspect.

In a sixteenth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising a computer program or instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, causes the apparatus to perform the method of the first, third, fifth or sixth aspect described above.

A seventeenth aspect provides a computer program product comprising a computer program or instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, causes the apparatus to perform the method of the second, fourth, or seventh aspect.

In an eighteenth aspect, there is provided a system comprising the apparatus of any of the above eighth to tenth aspects, and the apparatus of any of the eleventh to thirteenth aspects.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic architecture diagram of a mobile communication system applied in the present application;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of relay communication provided herein;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of same-frequency amplification forwarding provided in the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of downlink frequency shift amplification forwarding provided in the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of uplink frequency shift amplification forwarding provided in the present application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic representation of an SSB provided herein;

fig. 7 is a flowchart of a relay frequency shift method provided in the present application;

fig. 8 is a flow chart of NR initial access provided by the present application;

fig. 9a is a schematic diagram of SSBs before and after frequency shift on a GSCN;

fig. 9b is a schematic diagram of SSBs before frequency shift and SSBs after frequency shift on GSCN provided in the present application;

fig. 10 is another flowchart of a relay frequency shift method provided in the present application;

FIGS. 11 and 12 are schematic views of the apparatus provided herein;

fig. 13 is a schematic diagram of a base station according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 14 is a schematic diagram of a relay device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 is a schematic architecture diagram of a communication system 1000 to which the present application is applied. As shown in fig. 1, the communication system includes a radio access network 100 and a core network 200, and optionally, the communication system 1000 may further include an internet 300. The radio access network 100 may include at least one radio access network device (e.g., 110a and 110b in fig. 1) and may further include at least one terminal (e.g., 120a-120j in fig. 1). The terminal is connected with the wireless access network equipment in a wireless mode, and the wireless access network equipment is connected with the core network in a wireless or wired mode. The core network device and the radio access network device may be separate physical devices, or the function of the core network device and the logical function of the radio access network device may be integrated on the same physical device, or a physical device may be integrated with a part of the function of the core network device and a part of the function of the radio access network device. The terminals and the radio access network devices can be connected with each other in a wired or wireless mode. Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram, and other network devices, such as a wireless relay device and a wireless backhaul device, may also be included in the communication system, which are not shown in fig. 1.

The radio access network device may be a base station (base station), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a Transmission Reception Point (TRP), a next generation base station (next generation NodeB, gNB) in a fifth generation (5th generation, 5g) mobile communication system, a next generation base station in a sixth generation (6th generation, 6g) mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system, etc.; the present invention may also be a module or a unit that performs part of the functions of the base station, and for example, the module may be a Centralized Unit (CU) or a Distributed Unit (DU). The CU here completes the functions of a Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol and a packet data convergence layer protocol (PDCP) of the base station, and may also complete the function of a Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP); the DU performs functions of a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer and a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer of a base station, and also performs functions of a part of a Physical (PHY) layer or all of the physical layers, and for detailed descriptions of the above protocol layers, reference may be made to related technical specifications of the third generation partnership project (3 gpp). The radio access network device may be a macro base station (e.g., 110a in fig. 1), a micro base station or an indoor station (e.g., 110b in fig. 1), a relay node or a donor node, and the like. The present application does not limit the specific technology and the specific device form used by the radio access network device. For convenience of description, the following description will be made with a base station as an example of the radio access network device.

A terminal may also be referred to as a terminal equipment, a User Equipment (UE), a mobile station, a mobile terminal, etc. The terminal can be widely applied to various scenes, for example, device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-equipment (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), internet of things (IOT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, automatic driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearing, smart transportation, smart city, and the like. The terminal can be cell-phone, panel computer, take the computer of wireless transceiving function, wearable equipment, vehicle, unmanned aerial vehicle, helicopter, aircraft, steamer, robot, arm, intelligent house equipment etc.. The present application does not limit the specific technology and the specific device form used by the terminal. For convenience of description, the following description takes the UE as an example of the terminal.

The base stations and terminals may be fixed or mobile. The base station and the terminal can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on the water surface; it may also be deployed on airborne airplanes, balloons, and satellite vehicles. The application scenarios of the base station and the terminal are not limited.

The roles of base station and terminal may be relative, e.g., helicopter or drone 120i in fig. 1 may be configured to move the base station, for those terminals 120j that access radio access network 100 through 120i, terminal 120i is the base station; however, for the

base station

110a, 120i is a terminal, i.e. the

base station

110a and 120i communicate with each other via a radio interface protocol. Of course, 110a and 120i may communicate with each other through an interface protocol between the base station and the base station, and in this case, 120i is also the base station as compared to 110 a. Therefore, the base station and the terminal may be collectively referred to as a communication apparatus, 110a and 110b in fig. 1 may be referred to as a communication apparatus having a base station function, and 120a to 120j in fig. 1 may be referred to as a communication apparatus having a terminal function.

The base station and the terminal, the base station and the base station, and the terminal can communicate through a licensed spectrum, an unlicensed spectrum, or both; communication may be performed in a frequency spectrum of 6 gigahertz (GHz) or less, in a frequency spectrum of 6GHz or more, or in a frequency spectrum of 6GHz or less and in a frequency spectrum of 6GHz or more. The spectrum resources used for wireless communication are not limited in this application.

In the present application, the functions of the base station may also be performed by a module (e.g., a chip) in the base station, or may also be performed by a control subsystem including the functions of the base station. The control subsystem including the base station function can be a control center in the application scenarios such as a smart grid, industrial control, intelligent transportation, smart city and the like. The functions of the terminal may also be performed by a module (e.g., a chip or a modem) in the terminal, or by a device including the functions of the terminal.

In the application, a base station sends a downlink signal or downlink information to a terminal, and the downlink information is carried on a downlink channel; the terminal sends uplink signals or uplink information to the base station, and the uplink information is carried on an uplink channel. In order for a terminal to communicate with a base station, the terminal needs to establish a radio connection with a cell controlled by the base station. The cell in which a radio connection is established with a terminal is called a serving cell of the terminal. When the terminal communicates with the serving cell, it is also interfered by signals from neighboring cells.

In one communication scenario, the UE may not be able to directly communicate with the base station due to the longer distance between the base station and the UE and the higher corresponding path loss. As shown in fig. 2, in one design, to increase the communication distance between the base station and the UE, communication between the base station and the UE may be assisted by a relay device. Further, the relay method may include on-frequency amplification forwarding (see fig. 3), and frequency shift amplification forwarding (see fig. 4 and 5). In the same-frequency amplification forwarding, the relay equipment directly amplifies and forwards the received signal without changing the frequency of the signal. For example, as shown in fig. 3, the source of the transmission from the base station or UE, whether uplink transmission or downlink transmissionThe start signal being at frequency f ₀ The signal is also at the frequency f after being forwarded by the relay device ₀ . In frequency shift amplification forwarding, the relay device may change the frequency of the received signal. For example, in downlink transmission, as shown in fig. 4, a downlink signal transmitted by the base station is located at f ₀ The relay device may transmit the downlink signal at the frequency f ₀ Frequency shift to f _rn . The relay device being at frequency f _rn And sending a downlink signal to the UE. Similarly, as shown in fig. 5, in uplink transmission, the uplink signal sent by the UE is located at f ₀ The relay device may transmit the uplink signal at the frequency f ₀ Frequency shift to f _rn . The relay device being at frequency f _rn And transmitting the uplink signal to a base station.

The same-frequency amplification forwarding may be affected by the self-excitation effect, which results in insufficient amplification gain or amplification factor of the relay device for the signal. The self-excitation effect means that the signal of the repeater antenna is further amplified at the receiving antenna, and the signal gradually rises from the repeater antenna to the receiving antenna and exceeds the normal working range of the device. The self-excited effect causes signal distortion, which degrades communication performance in relay communication. The frequency shift amplification forwarding is not easy to generate self-excitation effect due to filtering of the received signal before amplification, and may have larger amplification gain. In frequency shift amplification forwarding, how to determine a frequency shift value of a relay device is a technical problem to be solved by the application.

The application provides a relay frequency shift method, which comprises the following steps: the base station determines a frequency parameter, such as a frequency shift value, etc., of the first signal. The base station sends the indication information of the frequency parameter to the relay equipment, and the relay equipment shifts the frequency of the first signal according to the frequency parameter, so that the first signal after frequency shift is ensured to be positioned on the GSCN. Since the UE receives the first signal on the GSCN, the success rate of the UE receiving the first signal may be improved.

To facilitate understanding, reference will first be made to a communication noun or term referred to herein, which also forms a part of the specification.

1. Synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel block (SSB)

As shown in fig. 6, the SSB includes at least one of the following: primary Synchronization Signal (PSS), secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS), physical broadcast signal (PBCH), or demodulation reference signal (DMRS), etc. Note that in the example of fig. 6, PBCH DMRS is contained in PBCH.

In a New Radio (NR), two SSBs are defined, one is a Cell Defining (CD) SSB, referred to as CD-SSB for short. The other is a non-cell defining (NCD) SSB, abbreviated as NCD-SSB. Although the CD-SSB and the NCD-SSB are both located on the synchronization grid and can be searched by the UE, the UE can successfully complete the access based on the CD-SSB, otherwise the network cannot be accessed.

2. Synchronous grid (synchronization raster)

In NR, a synchronization grid is defined, which corresponds to the frequency locations where SSBs may be transmitted, based on which the UE may search for SSBs before accessing the network. The spacing of the synchronization grids may be 1.2MHz, 1.3MHz, 1.4MHz, etc., at carrier frequencies below 3 GHz. The spacing of the synchronization grids may be 1.44MHz, in the carrier frequency range of 3 to 24.25 GHz; the spacing of the synchronization grids may be 17.28MHz in the carrier frequency range of 24.25 to 100 GHz. The interval of the synchronization grid is generally larger, so that the number of searching times required when the UE is synchronized is reduced.

As shown in Table 1, the frequency domain locations SS of the SSB, a global synchronization grid (SSB), are defined over all frequency bands _REF Corresponding to a Global Synchronization Channel Number (GSCN).

Table 1: GSCN parameter of global synchronization grid (GSCN parameters for the global frequency raster)

As can be seen from Table 1, each SSB has a frequency location corresponding to a GSCN. The frequency locations of the SSBs in table 1 are the frequency locations where SSBs may be transmitted, and the base station transmits the SSBs at the above possible SSB frequency locations. The GSCN may be configured to the UE in advance, and the UE searches the SSB on a frequency corresponding to the GSCN. If the SSB sent by the base station is not located on the GSCN, the UE may not search for the SSB. Or in other words, the GSCN is an index of a global synchronization grid, and the frequency position of the grid corresponding to the index is the frequency position where the SSB may be sent. For example, in the frequency range of 0-3000MHz, when N is 1 and M is 3, the frequency position SS of SSB _REF Equal to 1350kHz (1 x 1200khz +3 x 50khz = 1350khz), GSCN is equal to 3 (3 x 1+ (3-3)/2 = 3), i.e. the index is equal to the frequency position of the grid corresponding to GSCN of 3, equal to 1350kHz of the frequency position of the above-mentioned SSB. The base station may transmit the SSB at frequency location 1350kHz. The UE may receive the SSB on a grid corresponding to the GSCN index of 3, i.e., in frequency location 1350KHz.

3. Sub-carrier wave

In a multi-carrier waveform, the transmitted signal is a bandwidth signal in which there are many signals of different frequencies, which are called sub-carriers. Data of the base station and the UE are modulated on the subcarriers which are orthogonal in a period of time. Taking the subcarrier spacing of 15, 30 or 60kHz now supported by cellular systems as an example, the empty space in each frequency domain is called a subcarrier, which can be used to transmit data. Take the example of a supported subcarrier spacing of 15 to 240 kHz. The mapping relationship between the subcarrier spacing Δ f and the subcarrier spacing index μ can be seen in table 2 below.

TABLE 2 mapping relationship between subcarrier spacing Δ f and subcarrier spacing index μ

μ	Δf＝2 ^μ ·15[kHz]	Cyclic prefix
			0	15	Is normal
1	30	Is normal and normal
			2	60	Normal, extended
3	120	Is normal
			4	240	Is normal

4. Resource block (resource block, RB)

A resource block is also called a Physical Resource Block (PRB), and is a basic unit of frequency resources in an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) based communication system. One resource block may be composed of N Resource Elements (REs), one resource element is also referred to as a subcarrier, and a value of N is generally 12.

5. SSB configuration

The base station may configure the SSB to the UE through a cell FrenquecyInfoDL in the RRC signaling, where the cell includes at least an absolute radio frequency channel number of the SSB, an absolute radio frequency channel number of point a (PointA), and the like.

In one design, the absolute frequency of the SSB satisfies the following equation 1:

F _REF ＝F _REF-Offs +ΔF _Global (N _REF –N _REF-Offs ) Equation 1

In the above formula 1, F _REF Representing the absolute frequency of SSB, said F _REF-Offs Denotes the starting point of the SSB frequency, said Δ F _Global Granularity representing SSB frequency, N _REF ARFCH representing SSB, said N _REF-Offs Indicating the SSB frequency start number. With respect to the values of the parameters in the above formula 1, the following table 3 can be seen:

TABLE 3

Example one

As shown in fig. 7, the present application provides a flow of a relay frequency shift method, which at least includes the following steps:

700: the base station determines a frequency parameter of the first signal, where the frequency parameter may be a frequency shift value, a relay frequency shift value, or a frequency difference between a signal received by the relay device and a signal transmitted by the relay device. In the following description, the base station determines the frequency shift value of the first signal as an example. The 700 is optional.

701: the base station sends the indication information of the frequency shift value to the relay device, where 701 is optional.

In one design, a mapping relationship between a frequency range and a frequency shift value, or a mapping relationship between a GSCN range and a frequency shift value is stored in the base station. When the base station is sending the first signal, the base station may obtain the frequency range of the first signal, or the GSCN range, and search the frequency shift value corresponding to the frequency range of the current first signal or the GSCN range in the pre-stored mapping relationship. And the base station informs the relay equipment of the frequency shift value. In one design, the base station may notify the relay device of the specific value of the frequency shift value. Alternatively, the base station may notify the relay device of the index of the frequency shift value. After receiving the index, the relay device determines the specific frequency shift value according to the index. For example, the mapping relationship between the frequency shift value and the index value can be seen from the following table 4 a.

Table 4a: mapping relation between frequency shift value and index

Index	Frequency shift value
		Index 1	Frequency shift value 1
Index 2	Frequency shift value 2
		…	…
Index N	Frequency shift value N

Alternatively, as described in example one or example two below, the frequency shift value needs to satisfy a certain condition or calculation formula. The above-mentioned condition or calculation formula that the frequency shift value needs to satisfy can be known by the relay device. For example, the base station is configured in advance to the relay device, or specified by a protocol, or the like. The base station may notify the relay device of the frequency shift value condition or the value of each unknown parameter in the calculation formula. For example, the parameter N in Table 5 below can be set ₁ And M ₁ And informing the relay device of the value of (3). Or, the relay device may be notified of a set of values of unknown parameters, and the relay device may select a specific value from the set, calculate a frequency shift value, and so on,and are not limited.

In one design, the conditions or calculation formulas, etc. satisfied by the frequency shift values are not the same in different frequency ranges or GSCN ranges. The relay device may determine the frequency shift value according to a frequency range or GSCN range in which the first signal is located, and a condition or a calculation formula satisfied by different frequency ranges or GSCN ranges.

It should be noted that the relay device may only operate in a certain frequency range, and the relay device may directly receive the indication information of the frequency shift value and determine the frequency shift value according to the frequency band in which the relay device operates, a preset rule, and the like.

702: the relay device receives a first signal from a base station.

703: and the relay equipment shifts the frequency of the first signal according to the frequency shift value.

For example, when receiving the first signal from the base station, the relay device may shift the frequency of the first signal according to the magnitude of the frequency shift value notified by the base station. For example, according to the example of fig. 3, the frequency f at which the relay device receives the first signal is ₀ The first signal can be transmitted at the frequency f according to the frequency shift value notified by the base station ₀ Frequency shift to f _rn At a frequency f _rn A first signal is sent to the UE, etc. It should be noted that, in the present application, after the relay device shifts the frequency of the first signal according to the frequency shift value indicated by the base station, the frequency-shifted first signal may be located on the GSCN. The GSCN corresponds to a grid, and the first signal is located on the GSCN, which may mean that the frequency position of the grid corresponding to the GSCN overlaps or is the same as the frequency position where the base station may send the SSB, where the overlapping means that the frequency position of the grid corresponding to the GSCN completely overlaps or partially overlaps with the frequency position where the base station may send the SSB, and the like, without limitation. The frequency positions of the two are the same, which may mean that the frequency positions of the two are completely the same. Or the introduction of the partial 2 synchronization grid can be explained with reference to the above communication terminology with respect to the first signal being located on the GSCN. Because the UE searches the downlink signal on the GSCN and the frequency-shifted first signal is located on the GSCN, the UE can search the first signal and the success rate of receiving the first signal by the UE is improved.

704: and the relay equipment transmits the frequency-shifted first signal to the UE.

With respect to the operations 702 to 704 described above, it may be described that: the relay equipment receives the first signal from the base station, shifts the frequency of the first signal and forwards the first signal to the UE. Of course, the relay device also needs to amplify the first signal so that the first signal supports a longer transmission distance. It should be appreciated that frequency-shift amplified forwarding may enable the relay device to forward the first signal with greater amplification or greater output power without causing a self-excited effect.

It should be noted that in the above description of fig. 7, the determination of the frequency shift value of the downlink signal is described as an example. It is understood that the flow shown in fig. 7 can be applied to the process of shifting the frequency of the uplink signal. For example, the first signal may be an uplink signal. The base station may: a frequency parameter, such as a frequency shift value, of the uplink signal is determined. And indicates the above frequency parameters to the relay device. Subsequently, the relay device may perform frequency shift and the like on the uplink signal according to the indicated frequency parameter, and the process is similar to that described above and is not described again.

Example one

In this example one, the process of 700 above may include: and the base station determines the frequency shift value of the first signal according to the frequency range or the GSCN range corresponding to the first signal.

The first signal may be a downlink signal to be transmitted by the base station, for example, an SSB. The UE can be accessed to the network smoothly only according to the cell access SSB, namely the CD-SSB. Accordingly, unless otherwise specified, SSB in this application refers to CD-SSB. The frequency shift value refers to a difference value between the frequency of the first signal received by the relay device and the frequency of the first signal sent by the relay device. For example, let f be the frequency of the first signal transmitted by the base station ₀ The frequency f of the first signal received by the relay device _rn,rx The frequency of the first signal after the frequency shift of the relay equipment is f _rn,tx Then frequency shift value f _Δ ＝f _rn,tx -f _rn,rx . In one case, the frequency f of the first signal is received by the relay device _rn,rx To the base stationFrequency f of the first signal ₀ Same, i.e. f _rn,rx ＝f ₀ Then shift the frequency value f _Δ ＝f _rn,tx -f ₀ . Illustratively, in the present application, the frequency shift value f _Δ May be related to at least one of the following parameters: GSCN number of first signal, frequency f of relay equipment receiving first signal _rn,rx Frequency f of the first signal after frequency shift of the relay equipment _rn,tx Or the frequency f of the first signal transmitted by the base station ₀ And the like. In the description of the present application, the frequency of the first signal or SSB may refer to a center frequency of the first signal or SSB, or a frequency position of a starting subcarrier (or resource block), or a carrier frequency, or other frequencies, and the like, without limitation. For a specific process of determining the frequency shift value of the first signal according to the corresponding frequency range or GSCN range of the first signal, the following description may be referred to.

Through the above description, it can be seen that the base station may determine the magnitude of the frequency shift value according to the frequency range or the GSCN range corresponding to the first signal, the base station indicates the magnitude of the frequency shift value to the relay device, and the relay device shifts the frequency of the first signal according to the frequency shift value. The reason for the above operation can be explained as follows: the UE may search for a downlink signal, such as an SSB, on the GSCN. According to the current scheme, the frequency shift value of the relay device is not specified, and the relay device can arbitrarily shift the frequency of the received downlink signal, which may cause the frequency-shifted downlink signal not to be on the GSCN and the UE may not receive the downlink signal. In the present application, the base station determines the frequency shift value of the downlink signal according to the frequency range or GSCN range of the downlink signal. The subsequent relay equipment shifts the frequency of the downlink signal according to the frequency shift value indicated by the base station, so that the downlink signal after frequency shift is ensured to be positioned on the GSCN, and the success rate of receiving the downlink signal by the UE is improved.

For convenience of illustration, in the following description, the first signal is taken as an SSB as an example to explain the present application. First, the initial random access procedure in NR, as shown in fig. 8, includes at least the following:

800: the base station transmits a synchronization signal at a specific location. In NR, a synchronization signal transmitted by a base station is referred to as SSB, which may be periodically transmitted by the base station, etc. As can be seen from the above description of the SSB of part 1 in terms of communication, the SSB may be composed of PSS, SSS, PBCH, DMRS, and the like. The content carried by the PBCH is called a main system information block (MIB), and the MIB may indicate main information such as a search space (i.e., search space 0) and a control resource set (control resource set 0) of a system information block (SIB 1). Herein, the SSB indicating SIB1 is referred to as CD SSB. While SSBs without indication of SIB1 are referred to as NCD SSBs.

After the UE is powered on or needs to re-access the network, the UE may scan the synchronization signal of the base station to perform downlink time and frequency synchronization, which is referred to as a cell search process. In the cell search procedure, the UE may receive an SSB, for example, a cell definition SSB, and receive SIB1 in subsequent 801 according to information such as a search space and a control resource set of SIB1 indicated by the cell definition SSB. According to the random access resource configuration information carried in SIB1 in 801, at least one random access resource and the like are determined, or it may be described that the SIB1 carries at least one random access resource configured for the UE.

801: the base station sends the system message in a broadcast mode at a specific position, and a signal carrying the system message is called SIB. The SIB may be SIB1. The SIB1 may carry information such as a PDCCH search space, such as a configuration of a random access resource, a message 2, a message 4, and the like, and may be used for the UE to perform random access, establish a connection between the UE and the base station, and access the base station.

802: the UE selects a random access resource associated with the SSB according to the random access resource configuration information and the synchronized SSB, where the resource includes a time resource, a frequency domain resource, and a code domain resource, and the code domain resource may include a random access preamble (preamble) code, etc.

As can be seen from the above description 800, the base station configures at least one random access resource for the UE through SIB1 in 801, and each random access resource may have a mapping relationship with the SSB. The UE may select a random access resource corresponding to the synchronized SSB according to the mapping relationship. The UE may perform a random access procedure using the random access resources. For example, the random access procedure of the UE may include:

the UE may send a random access preamble, also referred to as message 1, on a random access resource. The base station tries to receive the random access preamble on the random access resource, and sends a message 2 to the UE after the random access preamble is successfully received. The UE uplink transmission is scheduled in the message 2, and the message of the scheduled uplink transmission may be referred to as a message 3. That is, the UE may transmit the message 3 to the base station according to the scheduling of the message 2 when receiving the message 2. Optionally, in order to solve the problem of random access collision, the base station may further send a message 4 to the UE after receiving the message 3. The reason for this may be: on the same random access resource, there may be a plurality of UEs sending a message 3 to the base station, the base station may select one UE among the plurality of UEs and send a message 4 to the UE, and a UE that does not receive the message 4 among the plurality of UEs may initiate random access again on other random access resources.

As can be seen from the above description, if the UE fails to successfully receive the SSB, the UE random access procedure may fail. As can be seen from the above description of the term interpretation section 2, the grid corresponding to each GSCN corresponds to the frequency location of the SSB that the base station may transmit. In the present application, the SSB sent by the base station needs to perform relay frequency shift through the relay device, and then the SSB after the relay frequency shift may not be located on the GSCN, thereby causing failure of the UE random access process. Meanwhile, in the present application, the frequency range of the SSB and the GSCN range are in a corresponding relationship. For example, referring to the above table 1, the first frequency range corresponds to a first GSCN range, the second frequency range corresponds to a second GSCN range, the third frequency range corresponds to a third GSCN range, and so on. In the application, the base station determines the frequency shift value of the SSB based on the frequency range of the SSB or the GSCN range, and indicates the frequency shift value to the relay device, so that the SSB after the frequency shift of the relay device is ensured to be positioned on the GSCN, and the probability of UE random access success is improved.

In the present application, how to determine the frequency shift value of the SSB according to the frequency range or the GSCN range can be specifically described in the following cases:

in the first case: as shown in fig. 9a, the frequency of the SSB before frequency shifting and the frequency of the SSB after frequency shifting are both located on the GSCN. The first case is described in further detail below.

1.1, the frequency of the SSB before frequency shift and the frequency of the SSB after frequency shift belong to the same frequency range.

For example, as shown in the following table 4b, the pre-divided frequency range includes a first frequency range including 0-3000MHz, a second frequency range including 3000-24250MHz, and a third frequency range including 24250-100000MHz. The SSB before frequency shift and the SSB after frequency shift belong to the same frequency range, which means that the SSB before frequency shift and the SSB after frequency shift both belong to the first frequency range, the second frequency range, or the third frequency range.

TABLE 4b

Each column of parameters in Table 4b is illustrated for the first frequency range of 0-3000 MHz. When the frequency range of the SSB is in the above-mentioned 0-3000MHz, the frequency location where the base station transmits the SSB may satisfy the following formula 2;

N _bs ·1200+M _bs ·50[kHz]equation 2

The GSCN for the base station to send the SSB satisfies the following formula 3, and the value range of the GSCN for the base station to send the SSB is an integer from 2 to 7498.

Wherein, in the above formula 2 or formula 3, N _bs Is an integer of 1 to 2449, M _bs E {1,3,5}, i.e., M _bs Is 1,3 or 5.

As a simple example, when N _bs Is taken to be 1,M _bs When the value of (3) is obtained, the frequency position of the SSB calculated according to the above formula 2Equal to 1350kHz, the GSCN of the SSB calculated according to equation 3 above is equal to 3. That is, the frequency position is 1350KHz, corresponding to a GSCN index of 3.

Similarly, taking the first frequency range as 0-3000MHz as an example, the frequency position of the SSB after frequency shift by the relay device satisfies the following equation 4, the GSCN of the SSB after frequency shift satisfies the following equation 5, and the GSCN of the SSB after frequency shift ranges from 2 to 7498.

N _rn ·1200+M _rn ·50[kHz]Equation 4

Wherein, in the above formula 4 or formula 5, N _rn Is an integration between 1 and 2499, M _rn ∈{1,3,5}。

As a simple example, when N _rn Is taken as 2,M _rn When the value of (3) is obtained, the frequency position of the shifted SSB calculated according to the above formula 3 is 2250kHz, and the GSCN of the SSB calculated according to the above formula 4 is 6. That is, the frequency location 2250KHz, corresponding to a GSCN index of 6.

In table 4b, the descriptions of the second frequency range and the third frequency range are similar to the first frequency range, and are not described one by one. It should be noted that in table 4b above, there is a mapping relationship between the frequency range and the GSCN range. For example, a first frequency range of 0-3000MHz may be mapped to a first GSCN range of 2-7498, a second frequency range of 3000-24250MHz may be mapped to a second GSCN range of 7499-22255, and a third frequency range of 24250-100000MHz may be mapped to a third GSCN range of 22256-26639.

In this example one, the frequency shift value f for the SSB _Δ The conditions to be satisfied can be seen in tables 5 to 8 below. A different point may be that in the following tables 5, 7 and 8, the frequency range and the frequency shift value f are described _Δ In table 5, the frequency shift value f _Δ Is measured in kHz and the frequency shift value f in Table 7 _Δ The value unit of (2) is a resource element or subcarrier, and the frequency shift value f is shown in Table 8 _Δ The value unit of (a) is a resource block. In the following Table 6, GSCN ranges and frequency shift values f are described _Δ Of the mapping relation, frequency shift value f _Δ The value of (d) is in MHz. It should be understood that, in the present application, the value ranges of the respective parameters in all tables are only illustrative and not limiting. For example, in the following table 5, table 6, table 7, or table 8, the parameter N is set ₁ And/or M ₁ The values of (a) are merely examples and are not limiting. In further implementations, information indicative of the frequency shift value may be used to determine N ₁ And/or M ₁ Or the indication of the frequency shift value may be used to determine the frequency shift value f _Δ 。

Table 5: value of frequency of relay _Δ Satisfies the conditions

In the present application, table 5 can be derived from table 4 b. For example, the equation for calculating the frequency shift value in table 5 can be obtained by subtracting the frequency position of the SSB after the relay frequency shift in table 4b from the frequency position of the SSB transmitted by the base station. In the above Table 5, N ₁ Can be taken as N _rn And N _bs Difference of (D), M ₁ Can be taken as M _rn And M _bs The difference in the values of (a), (b), etc.

Alternatively, table 6: frequency shift value f _Δ Satisfies the conditions

Alternatively, table 7: frequency shift value f _Δ Satisfies the conditions

Alternatively, table 8: frequency shift value f _Δ The conditions are satisfied as follows:

in the above table 7 or table 8, the μ denotes a subcarrier spacing index of the SSB. For example, when the subcarrier spacing index of the SSB is 15kHz, the specific value of μ is 0. Or, when the subcarrier spacing index of the SSB is 30kHz, the specific value of μ is 3. For the mapping relationship between the subcarrier spacing and μ, see table 2 in section 3 of the above explanation of communication nouns.

In this case 1.1, the base station can calculate the frequency shift values f corresponding to different frequency ranges according to the conditions in table 5, table 7 or table 8 _Δ And the frequency shift values f corresponding to different frequency ranges _Δ The relay device is notified. When the relay device receives the SSB, if the SSB belongs to the first frequency range, the relay device shifts the frequency of the SSB according to the frequency shift value corresponding to the first frequency range notified by the base station. Similarly, if the SSB belongs to the second frequency range or the third frequency range, the relay device shifts the frequency of the SSB according to the frequency shift value corresponding to the second frequency range or the third frequency range notified by the base station. Alternatively, the base station may calculate the frequency shift value f corresponding to different GSCN ranges according to the conditions in table 6 above _Δ And the frequency shift values f corresponding to different GSCN ranges _Δ The relay device is notified. When the relay equipment receives the SSB, if the SSB is determined to belong to the first GSCN range, the frequency of the SSB is shifted according to the frequency shift corresponding to the first GSCN range. Similarly, if the relay device determines that the SSB belongs to the second GSCN range or the third GSCN range, the frequency shift value f corresponding to the second GSNC range or the third GSCN range notified by the base station is used _Δ The SSB is frequency shifted. Alternatively, in the present application, the conditions in table 5, table 6, table 7, or table 8 may be defined by a protocol, or the conditions may be notified to the relay device by the base station. The base station may specifically notify the relay device, and in table 5, table 6, table 7, or table 8, values of unknown parameters in each formula are taken in different frequency ranges or GSCN ranges. For example, the base station informs the relay devices of the different frequency ranges N in Table 5 ₁ And M ₁ Or N in different GSCN ranges in Table 6 ₁ Or N in different frequency ranges in Table 7 ₁ 、M ₁ And K, or N in different frequency ranges in Table 8 ₁ And K values, etc. The relay device, upon receiving the SSB, determines a frequency range or GSCN range to which the SSB belongs. Continuing with the example of determining that the SSB belongs to the frequency range, the frequency range to which the determined SSB belongs may be referred to as a target frequency range. The frequency shift calculation formula corresponding to the target frequency range is queried according to the mapping relationship between the frequency range and the frequency shift value calculation formula contained in table 5, table 7, or table 8, and is referred to as a target frequency shift calculation formula. And calculating the specific frequency shift value of the SSB according to the specific value of each parameter in the target frequency shift calculation formula notified by the base station. And shifting the frequency of the SSB according to the calculated frequency shift value. Or, the base station may notify the relay device, and the value range of the parameter in each frequency shift calculation formula in any one of tables 5 to 8 may be a subset of the value ranges specified in tables 5 to 8. For example, taking the first frequency range in Table 5 as an example, in Table 1 above, N is specified ₁ The value range of (a) is an integer between-7499 and 7499. The value range notified to the relay device by the base station may be an integer between-X1 and X1, and the value of X1 is less than 7499. When the relay device specifically calculates the frequency shift value, N may be determined in the range from-X1 to X1 according to a preset rule or other manners ₁ The specific value of (a).

Note that, in case 1.1 described above, the frequency shift value is calculated in accordance with the condition in any one of tables 5 to 8. The relay equipment shifts the frequency of the SSB according to the calculated frequency shift value, and the SSB after frequency shift can be positioned on the GSCN, so that the probability of UE random access success is improved. And the SSBs before and after the frequency shift belong to the same frequency range.

1.2, the frequency of the SSB before frequency shift and the frequency of the SSB after frequency shift belong to different frequency ranges. Take the example of dividing 3 frequency ranges in advance, which are the first frequency range, the second frequency range and the third frequency range respectively. The frequency range of the SSB before frequency shifting and the frequency range of the SSB after frequency shifting may constitute 9 frequency range combinations. In the present application, the frequency range combination composed of the frequency range of the SSB before frequency shift and the frequency range of the SSB after frequency shift is (first frequency range, second frequency range), (first frequency range, third frequency range), or (second frequency range, third frequency range), respectively, as an example for explanation.

As for the conditions to be satisfied by the frequency shift value of the SSB, see table 9 or table 10 below. In table 9 or table 10, the mapping relationship between the frequency range before and after the frequency shift and the frequency shift value is described. In table 9, the unit of the frequency shift value is MHz, and in table 10, the unit of the frequency shift value is a resource element, a subcarrier, or the like.

TABLE 9 frequency Shift value f _Δ Satisfy the condition

Or, table 10 frequency shift value f _Δ Satisfy the condition

In the above Table 10, the μ ₁ Is a subcarrier spacing index of SSB, the mu ₂ A subcarrier spacing index for signals other than SSB, e.g., a subcarrier spacing of SIB1, etc.

Similar to the above case 1.1, in this case 1.2, the base station may calculate frequency shift values corresponding to different frequency ranges of SSBs before and after frequency shift according to the conditions in table 9 or table 10, and notify the UE. When the relay equipment receives the SSB, determining a frequency range for receiving the SSB, wherein the frequency range can be considered as a frequency range before the SSB shifts frequency; the relay device may determine the frequency range of the shifted SSB, and the frequency range of the shifted SSB may be autonomously determined by the relay device, or notified to the relay device by the base station, or specified by a protocol, which is not limited; the relay device forms a frequency range combination before and after the SSB frequency shift, which may be referred to as a target frequency range combination; the relay device may determine a frequency shift value corresponding to the target frequency range combination as a target frequency shift value in a mapping relationship between different frequency range combinations and the frequency shift value notified by the base station; and the relay equipment shifts the frequency of the SSB according to the target frequency shift value. By adopting the method, the SSB after frequency shift can be ensured to be positioned on the GSCN, and the probability of UE random access success is improved. Unlike case 1.1 above, the SSBs before and after the frequency shift belong to different frequency ranges.

In the second case: as shown in fig. 9b, the SSB before frequency shifting is not on the GSCN, and the SSB after frequency shifting is on the GSCN. Regarding the second case, the following two cases can be further subdivided.

2.1, the frequency of the SSB before frequency shift and the frequency of the SSB after frequency shift belong to the same frequency range. For example, the frequency of the SSB before frequency shifting and the frequency of the SSB after frequency shifting may all belong to the first frequency range, the second frequency range, or the third frequency range, etc. For specific values of the first frequency range, the second frequency range and the third frequency range, see table 11 below.

TABLE 11

It should be noted that, in table 11, the mapping relationship between the frequency location of the SSB transmitted by the base station and the frequency location of the SSB after frequency shift in different frequency ranges is described. Unlike the first case, in this design, the SSB transmitted by the base station is not located on the GSCN, that is, there is no mapping relationship between the frequency location of the SSB transmitted by the base station and the GSCN. However, the SSB after frequency shifting is located on the GSCN, that is, even if the SSB sent by the base station is not located on the GSCN, by adopting the design, the SSB after frequency shifting can be ensured to be located on the GSCN, and the probability of successful random access of the UE is improved. In the design, the UE generally cannot directly detect the SSB, so that the SSB sent by the base station is not directly accessed to the base station, and the base station can distinguish the UE directly connected to the base station from the UE connected to the base station through the relay.

In this design, the conditions for the shift values to be satisfied can be seen in table 12 below.

Table 12: frequency shift value f _Δ Satisfied condition(s)

For example, the table 12 can be obtained by table 11, and the calculation formula of the frequency shift value in table 12 can be obtained by making a difference between the frequency position of the SSB after frequency weighting in the above table 11 and the frequency position of the SSB transmitted by the base station.

In this design, the base station may calculate the magnitudes of the frequency shift values in different frequency ranges according to the description in table 12 above, and notify the relay device of the mapping relationship between the different frequency ranges and the frequency shift values. When the relay equipment receives the SSB, whether the SSB is on the GSCN can be judged; if not on the GSCN, the frequency range to which the SSB belongs is determined, referred to as the target frequency range. And determining a frequency shift value corresponding to the target frequency range according to the mapping relation between the different frequency ranges and the frequency shift value notified by the base station, wherein the frequency shift value is called a target frequency shift value. And the relay equipment shifts the frequency of the SSB according to the target frequency shift value. Alternatively, the table 12 is obtained by the relay device in advance, and the relay device may be notified by the base station, or may be defined by a protocol, and the like, which is not limited. Subsequently, the base station may notify the relay device of the specific values of each parameter in each frequency shift value calculation formula in table 12, or the value ranges of each parameter, and the like. When the relay device receives the SSB and determines that the SSB sent by the base station does not belong to the GSCN, the relay device may autonomously calculate a frequency shift value by combining the frequency shift value calculation formula of the table 12 and the values of each parameter notified by the base station.

2.2, the frequency of the SSB before frequency shift and the frequency of the SSB after frequency shift belong to different frequency ranges. Similarly, the pre-divided frequency range including the first frequency range, the second frequency range and the third frequency range is taken as an example. The frequency range to which the SSB before frequency shift belongs and the frequency range to which the SSB after frequency shift belongs may constitute a combination of 9 frequency ranges. In table 13a, the combination of the SSB frequency ranges before the frequency shift and the SSB frequency ranges after the frequency shift is respectively illustrated as (the first frequency range, the second frequency range), (the first frequency range, the third frequency range), (the second frequency range, and the third frequency range).

Table 13a: condition that the frequency shift value satisfies

In this design, the base station may also notify the relay device of the magnitudes of the shift values corresponding to different combinations of frequency ranges, as calculated in table 13a above. Or, the table 13a is known in advance by the UE, and the base station may notify the UE of values of each parameter in the calculation formula of the frequency shift value in the table 13 a. The relay device may calculate a frequency shift value, etc. by combining the calculation formula in table 13a and the values of each parameter notified by the base station. A point different from the above case 2.1 may be that, when the SSB is received by the base station and it is determined that the SSB is not on the GSCN, the frequency range of the SSB before frequency shift and the frequency range of the SSB after frequency shift may be combined into a frequency range combination, referred to as a target frequency range combination; in table 13a or the mapping relationship between different frequency range combinations and frequency shift values notified by the base station, the target frequency range combination and the corresponding frequency shift value are searched.

It should be noted that, in the above cases 2.1 and 2.2, the base station notifies the relay device of the magnitude of the frequency shift value, or the value of each parameter in the frequency shift value calculation formula is taken as an example for description. In one design, before sending the SSB, the base station may further notify the relay device of a frequency range or a GSCN range to which the SSB to be currently sent belongs, which may be referred to as a target frequency range or a target GSCN range. When the relay device receives the SSB, it may search a frequency shift value calculation formula corresponding to the target frequency range or the target GSCN range in a mapping relationship between the frequency range recorded in any one of tables 5 to 13a and the frequency shift value calculation formula or a mapping relationship between the GSCN range and the frequency shift value calculation formula according to the target frequency range or the target GSCN range, and calculate the frequency shift value according to the searched calculation formula; and the relay equipment performs frequency shift value and the like on the SSB according to the target frequency shift value. For example, the base station notifies the relay device of the frequency range or GSCN range to which the SSB belongs, mainly considering that some relay devices may only be responsible for frequency shift forwarding of the SSB, and may not care about the frequency range or GSCN range of the SSB. Alternatively, in another design, when receiving the SSB, the relay device may determine the frequency range or GSCN range to which the SSB belongs according to the frequency location of the SSB. And the relay equipment determines the relay frequency shift according to the frequency range or GSCN range to which the SSB belongs. The specific rule for determining the frequency shift value according to the frequency range to which the SSB belongs or the GSCN range may be specified by a protocol or notified by the base station. For example, the relay apparatus may calculate a frequency shift value of the SSB and the like according to a frequency shift calculation formula in any one of tables 5 to 13a described above.

Example two

In this second example, the specific implementation process of the above 700 may include: and the base station determines the frequency shift value of the first signal according to the first mapping relation.

For example, the first mapping relationship may satisfy the following formula 14, formula 15, or formula 16.

f _Δ =4 · k or f _Δ =384 · k or f _Δ =1152 · k; equation 14

In the above equation 14, f _Δ A frequency shift value representing the first signal, said f _Δ The unit of (a) is a resource element or a subcarrier, and k is an integer; alternatively, the first and second liquid crystal display panels may be,

f _Δ k or f _Δ =32 · k or f _Δ =96 · k; equation 15

In the above equation 15, f _Δ A frequency shift value representing the first signal, said f _Δ The unit of (a) is a resource block, and k is an integer. In one design, the above equation f _Δ K ∈ {1,2,3,4}, in =32 · k.

In example two above, in one possible implementation, when the first signal belongs to a first frequency range, the first signal may satisfy the above equation: f. of _Δ =4 · k or f _Δ K (= k). Alternatively, when the first signal belongs to a second frequency range, the first signal may satisfy the above formula: f. of _Δ =384 · k or f _Δ =32 · k. Alternatively, when the first signal belongs to a third frequency range, the first signal may satisfy the above formula: f. of _Δ 1152 · k; or, f _Δ And =96 · k.

In the current scheme, after the relay device performs the relay frequency shift, a phase deviation is generated in the signal reaching the receiving end, and the signal can be normally demodulated only by performing additional phase compensation on the receiving end. In the present application, when the frequency shift value calculated by the above formula 14, formula 15, or formula 16 is used to perform frequency shift, the receiving end does not need to perform additional phase compensation, thereby simplifying the influence caused by relay frequency shift. Moreover, the relay device shifts the frequency according to the frequency shift value calculated by the above formula 14, formula 15 or formula 16, and the SSB after frequency shift can be located on the GSCN, thereby ensuring that the UE normally accesses the network.

The following continues to describe the reasoning process of the above formula 14, formula 15 or formula 16, and the first signal is described as SSB.

In the current scheme, in the process of communicating between the UE and the base station, if the relay device performs relay frequency shift, the transceiving process can be approximately described as follows, see the following table 13 b: the baseband signal at the transmitting end is recorded as:

wherein a is _k,l Is a data signal to be transmitted; after the baseband signal is converted, the transmission signal on the antenna is expressed as:

the relay terminal received signal may be

Wherein h is _k,l For the sender-to-relay channel coefficient, f ₀ A carrier frequency of a sending end; the signals converted at the receiving end are:

wherein g is _k,l Is an end-to-end channel coefficient, f ₂ Is the receiving end carrier frequency. It can be seen that the converted signal at the receiving end may have phase deviation

The offset is related to time l (i is the OFDM symbol index).

TABLE 13b

If the phase deviation is present

Not equal to 1, a phase offset related to time l (i is the OFDM symbol index) remains at the receiving end, and the signal cannot be demodulated. The receiving end needs additional phase compensation for the received signal. Through research, the frequency shift value is f _Δ While the corresponding phase is compensated to

If it is used

The phase compensation value corresponds to

The value of (1) is not needed, and the receiving end may not perform additional phase compensation. When the following bar is satisfied, k' is present so that

Therefore, when the frequency shift value f _Δ In the manner of resource elements, the condition that the frequency shift value satisfies can be seen in table 14 below, where k is an integer in table 14.

Table 14: frequency shift value f _Δ Satisfied condition(s)

On the other hand, for the convenience of UE access, if the frequency-shifted SSB is guaranteed to be located on the GSCN, the frequency shift value is also required to satisfy the condition in table 7. Combining the above two conditions, the least common multiple can be taken for the values in table 7 and table 14, so as to obtain the above formula 14, formula 15 or formula 16 by inference.

It can be seen from the above that, the relay device performs frequency shift on the SSB according to the frequency shift value calculated by the above formula 14, formula 15, or formula 16, and the receiving end UE does not need additional phase compensation, thereby simplifying subsequent operations after the relay frequency shift. And the SSB after frequency shift can be ensured to be positioned on the GSCN, so that the UE can be accessed normally.

In addition to the above example one or examples, the determined frequency shift value in 700 may satisfy the following condition: frequency shift value | f _Δ For example, the value of N may be 24, 48, or 96, and the unit of N may be a resource block, a subcarrier interval corresponding to an SSB, a subcarrier interval of SIB1, or a common subcarrier interval. Alternatively, the frequency shift value may be an integer multiple of 4.32 MHz. For example, f _Δ ＝4.32×N[MHz]Wherein N is an integer. Alternatively, the frequency shift value may be an integer multiple of 34.56MHz, i.e., f _Δ ＝34.56×N[MHz]Wherein N is an integer.

Alternatively, the frequency shift value may be an integer multiple of 5.76 MHz. For example, f _Δ ＝5.76×N[MHz]Wherein N is an integer. Alternatively, the frequency shift value may be an integer multiple of 69.12MHz, i.e., f _Δ ＝69.12×N[MHz]Wherein N is an integer.

Optionally, in the first embodiment, if the frequency shift value is greater than the bandwidth that SIB1 may schedule, for example, greater than the bandwidth of the control resource set (CORESET for Type0-PDDCH CSS) of the Type 0PDCCH CSS

The signal after frequency shift and the signal before frequency shift are staggered in frequency, and mutual interference is prevented. Therefore, in the present application, the frequency shift value f _Δ CORESET Bandwidth that can be matched with Type0-PDCCH CSS

It is related. In the present application, by frequency shifting the value of the frequency with

Association, the relay device or the UE may be based on

The frequency shift value is determined, the base station does not need to configure the frequency shift value independently, and signaling overhead is saved.

Optionally, in the first embodiment, the absolute frequency after the SSB frequency shift determined by the base station, the relay device, or the UE may satisfy the following formula 17:

F _REF ＝F _REF-Offs +ΔF _Global (N _REF –N _REF-Offs –N _REF-Shift ) (ii) a Equation 17

In the formula 17, F _REF Representing the absolute frequency of the SSB after frequency shift, said F _REF-Offs Denotes the frequency starting point of SSB, the Δ F _Global Representing the frequency granularity of SSB, N _REF Denotes the SSB number, i.e. the ARFCH of the SSB, said N _REF-Offs Denotes the SSB frequency start number, said N _REF-Shift Representing a parameter associated with the frequency shift value.

It should be noted that comparing the above equation 17 with equation 1 described in section 5 for the interpretation of communication nouns, it can be seen that the difference between the two equations is: in the above equation 17, the parameter N is newly added _REF-Shift . In this application, the base station may configure the parameter N by using a field for configuring a frequency shift value of the SSB, for example, frequency shift SSB, or a field for configuring a frequency shift value of pointana, for example, frequency shift pointana, in the SSB configuration information _REF-Shift Configured to a relay device or UE, etc.

Example two

As shown in fig. 10, a second embodiment provides a flow of a relay frequency shift method, which can be used to configure a frequency parameter, such as a frequency shift value, determined in the first embodiment to a relay device, and includes at least the following steps:

1000: the relay equipment is accessed to the base station and establishes a connection relation with the base station.

1001: the relay device reports the relay capability to the base station, and the process may be referred to as relay capability reporting and may include at least one of whether the relay can support frequency shift forwarding, a frequency shift range, a frequency shift value, a signal amplification factor, a time delay of a terminal processing control instruction, a relay working bandwidth, or a relay working carrier frequency.

Optionally, if the frequency shift value is limited, that is, only a limited set of frequency shifts is supported, the supported frequency shift value may be reported. Or the frequency shift range is limited, reporting the supported range. If there is a corresponding relationship between the frequency shift value and the amplification factor, the corresponding relationship can also be reported. When reporting, the reporting overhead can be reduced based on a differential mode.

1002: the relay starts working, namely amplifying and forwarding. The trigger condition of the relay start operation may be at least one of: the relay equipment determines to start the work according to the base station indication information, and the relay equipment determines to start the work according to the UE. For example, the base station instructs the relay to turn on the amplify-and-forward mode, and further instructs at least one of the following: amplification factor, frequency position f of received signal _rn,rx And/or the frequency position f of the frequency-shifted signal _rn,tx Amplified signal bandwidth, downlink transmit power, uplink transmit power, time of operation (e.g., slot/OFDM symbol), 1002 may be optional.

Further, the base station may control whether the relay device is turned on to operate according to whether there is a user below the relay device. For example, if the base station determines that a user enters the working area of the relay device, the base station instructs the relay device to start working.

Further, the relay device may start the relay according to the transmission cycle and/or transmission time of information (e.g., SSB, random access, paging message) such as system information.

1003: and determining a frequency shift trigger condition and triggering a frequency shift forwarding working mode. This 1003 is optional, i.e., the relay turns on the frequency shift forwarding function by default.

In one design, the relay device may determine whether to turn on frequency shift forwarding based on at least one of: received signal strength, amplification factor, path loss between the relay transmit antenna and the receive antenna. For example, if the difference between the path loss and the amplification factor between the transmitting antenna and the receiving antenna does not reach a predetermined value, frequency shift forwarding is started. By doing so, it is possible for the relay device to take a larger magnification factor for the received signal, so that the relay device has a better beneficial effect on the communication assistance between the UE and the base station. For another example, if the signal quality of the relay receiving base station is greater than the threshold value or the amplification factor is less than the threshold value, the frequency shift (same frequency) forwarding mode is not started to assist downlink communication, otherwise, the frequency shift forwarding mode is adopted to assist downlink communication; for another example, if the signal of the relay receiving UE is greater than the threshold or the amplification factor is less than the threshold, the frequency shift (same frequency) forwarding mode is not started to assist the uplink communication, otherwise, the frequency shift forwarding mode is used to assist the uplink communication. The threshold value of the signal quality or the threshold value to be multiplied may be determined by the base station configuration information or may be a pre-configured value.

Or, in another design, the base station determines whether the relay needs to start frequency shift forwarding according to the requirement (or QoS requirement, such as delay, rate, etc.) of the downlink communication or the uplink communication for the signal quality. At this time, the base station may instruct the relay device to perform frequency shift forwarding, the base station may further instruct a frequency shift value, and the UE determines a specific frequency shift value according to the instruction information and enters a frequency shift relay mode.

The premise of this 1003 is that the relay device supports an operation method of determining whether to shift frequency forwarding or not according to the configuration information.

1004: and configuring frequency shift parameters. For example, including the frequency shift value f _Δ ＝f _rn,tx -f _rn,rx For a specific determination method of the frequency shift value, reference may be made to the description in the first embodiment, or the center frequency point f after frequency shift _rn,tx And the like. The frequency shift parameter may be determined by the base station to be sent to the relay device; the relay equipment can also request the base station to configure specific values after determining one or more values of the frequency shift parameters according to the self condition; the base station may further determine one or more values of the frequency shift parameter determined by the UE and one or more values of the frequency shift parameter determined by the relay device, and after the UE and the relay device report the parameters, the base station finally determines the frequency shift parameter.

1005: and the relay equipment performs frequency shift, amplification and forwarding on the SSB according to the configuration information, and assists synchronization between the UE and the base station.

1006: and determining a frequency shift closing condition and triggering to close the frequency shift forwarding working mode. This 1006 is optional.

In one design, the relay device may determine whether to turn off frequency shift forwarding based on at least one of: received signal strength, amplification factor, and path loss between the relay transmit antenna and the receive antenna. For example, if the difference between the path loss and the amplification factor between the transmitting antenna and the receiving antenna exceeds a predetermined value, the frequency shift forwarding is turned off. By the method, the relay equipment does not perform frequency shift when receiving signals for amplifying and forwarding, so that the relay operation is simplified, and the power consumption and the complexity are reduced. For another example, if the quality of the signal received by the relay device from the base station is greater than the threshold value or the amplification factor is less than the threshold value, the relay device closes the frequency shift (same frequency) forwarding mode to assist downlink communication. The threshold value of the signal quality or the threshold value to be multiplied may be determined by the base station configuration information or may be a pre-configured value.

Or, in another design, the base station determines whether the relay needs to turn off frequency shift forwarding according to the signal quality requirement (or QoS requirement, such as delay and rate) of downlink communication or uplink communication. At this time, the base station may instruct the relay to close frequency shift forwarding, and the UE enters an intra-frequency forwarding relay mode according to the instruction information.

The premise with the above 1006 is that the relay device supports the working method of determining whether to turn off frequency shift forwarding according to the configuration information.

1007: the relay equipment enters a common-frequency forwarding working mode, namely, the relay amplifies and forwards the SSB signal to assist the synchronization between the UE and the base station.

1008: the relay is turned off. The trigger condition for the relay shutdown operation may be at least one of: and determining by the base station, determining by the relay equipment to close the work according to the base station indication information, and determining by the relay equipment to close the work according to the UE signal. For example, the base station instructs the relay to turn off the amplified forwarding mode. This 1008 is optional.

1009: the UE communicates directly with the base station.

It should be noted that 1002 and 1003 in fig. 10 may be combined into one, and it may be considered that only the relay mode is turned on, and then the frequency shift forwarding module is turned on. 1006 and 1008 in fig. 10 may also be combined into one, and it may be considered that the relay mode is turned off as long as the frequency shift forwarding module is turned off.

It is to be understood that, in order to implement the functions in the above-described embodiments, the base station and the relay device include corresponding hardware structures and/or software modules that perform the respective functions. Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the various illustrative elements and methods described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as hardware or combinations of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is performed as hardware or computer software driven hardware depends on the particular application scenario and design constraints imposed on the solution.

Fig. 11 and 12 are schematic structural diagrams of possible communication devices provided in the present application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the relay device or the base station in the above method embodiments, and therefore, the beneficial effects of the above method embodiments can also be achieved.

As shown in fig. 11, the communication device 1100 includes a processing unit 1110 and a transceiving unit 1120. The communication apparatus 1100 is used to implement the functions of the relay device or the base station in the method embodiment shown in fig. 7 described above. The processing unit 1110 may perform internal processing; a transceiving unit 1120 that can communicate with the outside; the transceiver 1120 may also be referred to as a communication interface, an input/output interface, and the like. For example, the transceiver 1120 may include a transmitting unit and a receiving unit, wherein the transmitting unit is configured to perform the transmitting operation of the base station or the relay device in the above method embodiments; the receiving unit is configured to perform the receiving operation of the base station or the relay device in the foregoing method embodiment, and the like.

When the communication apparatus 1100 is used to implement the functionality of the base station in example one of the method embodiments shown in fig. 7: the processing unit 1110 is configured to determine a frequency shift value of the first signal according to a frequency range or a GSCN range corresponding to the first signal; the transceiver 1120 is configured to send the indication information of the frequency shift value to the relay device.

When the communication apparatus 1100 is used to implement the function of the relay device in example one of the method embodiments shown in fig. 7: the transceiver 1120 is configured to receive indication information of a frequency shift value from a network device; the processing unit 1110 is configured to shift the frequency of the first signal according to the frequency shift value.

When the communication apparatus 1100 is used to implement the function of the base station in example two in the method embodiment shown in fig. 7, the processing unit 1110 is configured to determine the frequency shift value of the first signal according to the mapping relationship of the frequency shift values. The transceiving unit 1120 is configured to send the indication information of the frequency shift value to the relay device.

When the communication apparatus 1100 is used to implement the function of the relay device in example two in the method embodiment shown in fig. 7: the transceiving unit 1120 is configured to receive indication information of a frequency shift value from a network device; the processing unit 1110 is configured to shift the frequency of the first signal from the network device according to the frequency shift value.

The more detailed description of the processing unit 1110 and the transceiver 1120 can be directly obtained by referring to the related description in the embodiment of the method shown in fig. 7, which is not repeated herein.

As shown in fig. 12, the communications apparatus 1200 includes at least one processor 1210. The communication device 1200 may also include an interface circuit 1220. The processor 1210 and the interface circuit 1220 are coupled to each other. It is understood that the interface circuit 1220 may be a transceiver or an input-output interface, etc. The transceiver includes a receiver and a transmitter. The receiver is used for implementing the receiving operation of the base station or the relay device in the above method embodiment, and the transmitter is used for implementing the transmitting operation of the base station or the relay device in the above method embodiment. The input and output interfaces comprise an input interface, an output interface and the like. The input interface is used for realizing the receiving and other operations of the base station or the relay device in the method embodiment, and the output interface is used for realizing the sending and other operations of the base station or the relay device in the method embodiment.

Optionally, the communication device 1200 may further include a memory 1230 for storing instructions to be executed by the processor 1210 or for storing input data required by the processor 1210 to execute the instructions or for storing data generated by the processor 1210 after executing the instructions.

When the communication apparatus 1200 is used to implement the method shown in fig. 7, the processor 1210 is used to implement the functions of the processing unit 1110, and the interface circuit 1220 is used to implement the functions of the transceiver 1120.

When the communication device is a module applied to a base station, the base station module implements the functions of the base station in the method embodiments. The base station module receives information from other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the base station, and the information is sent to the base station by the terminal; alternatively, the base station module sends information to other modules in the base station (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the base station to the terminal. The base station module may be a baseband chip of a base station, or may be a DU or other modules, where the DU may be a DU under an open radio access network (O-RAN) architecture.

As shown in fig. 13, a possible schematic diagram of a base station 1300 is provided, which includes: an antenna 1310, a signal transceiver 1320, a processor 1330, and a memory 1340. Wherein the memory 1340 is configured to store computer program codes or instructions, etc., and the processor 1330 is configured to execute the programs or instructions to determine a frequency shift value of the first signal according to the frequency range or GSCN range of the first signal, etc. The signal transceiving unit 1320 is configured to transmit, to the relay apparatus via the antenna 1310, indication information of the frequency shift value of the first signal, and the like. It will be appreciated that the signal transceiving elements may be transceivers, including transmitters and receivers. The transmitter may transmit signals to other devices, such as relay devices or terminals. The receiver may receive signals from other devices, such as a core network, a relay device or a terminal, etc.

As shown in fig. 14, a possible schematic diagram of a relay device 1400 is provided, which includes: a controller 1401, a signal amplifier 1402, a signal transmitting and receiving unit 1403, a signal transmitting and receiving unit 1404, an antenna 1405, an antenna 1406, and the like. The signal transceiving unit may be a transceiver including a transmitter and a receiver. For example, the signal transceiver unit 1403 may receive the first signal from the base station and the indication information of the frequency shift value of the first signal via the antenna 1405; the controller 1401 may shift the frequency of the first signal according to the frequency range of the first signal or the GSCN range, etc.; the signal amplifier 1402 may amplify the first signal. The order of frequency shift and amplification of the first signal is not limited. For example, the first signal may be shifted and amplified simultaneously, or the first signal may be shifted first and then amplified, or the first signal may be amplified first and then shifted, and the like, without limitation. The controller and signal amplifier may be one or more processors. The signal transceiving unit 1404 transmits a first signal to the terminal via the antenna 1406. The first signal may be a frequency shifted and amplified signal or the like.

When the communication device is a chip applied to a relay device, the relay device chip implements the functions of the relay device in the method embodiment. The relay device chip receives information from other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the relay device, wherein the information is sent to the relay device by the base station; alternatively, the relay device chip sends information to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the relay device, where the information is sent by the relay device to the terminal.

It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), other general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a transistor logic device, a hardware component, or any combination thereof. The general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but may be any conventional processor.

The method steps in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by software instructions executed by a processor. The software instructions may be comprised of corresponding software modules that may 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, a hard disk, a removable hard disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. Of course, the storage medium may also be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC may be located in a base station or a relay device. Of course, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a base station or a relay device.

In the above embodiments, all or part of the implementation may be realized by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are performed in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, computer network, network appliance, user equipment, or other programmable device. The computer program or instructions may be stored in a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another computer readable storage medium, for example, the computer program or instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center by wire or wirelessly. The computer readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. that integrates one or more available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape; optical media such as digital video disks; but may also be a semiconductor medium such as a solid state disk. The computer readable storage medium may be volatile or nonvolatile storage medium, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile types of storage media.

It is to be understood that, in the embodiments of the present application, a base station, a relay device, or a UE may perform part or all of the embodiments of the present application, and these operations or operations are merely examples, and the embodiments of the present application may also perform other operations or various modifications of the operations. Further, the various may be performed in a different order presented in the embodiments of the application, and not all of the operations in the embodiments of the application may be performed. In particular, in the flow of fig. 7, for convenience of explanation, the operation process of the relay device is described as receiving the first signal, performing frequency shift on the first signal, and transmitting the first signal. In practice, the process of shifting the frequency of the relay device may be a momentary operation, as illustrated in fig. 10, with the relay device at frequency f ₀ Directly after the first signal is received, at frequency f _rn And transmits the first signal.

In the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified or conflicting with respect to logic, the terms and/or descriptions in different embodiments have consistency and may be mutually cited, and technical features in different embodiments may be combined to form a new embodiment according to their inherent logic relationship.

In the present application, "at least one" means one or more, "a plurality" means two or more. "and/or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, meaning that there may be three relationships, e.g., a and/or B, which may mean: a alone, A and B together, and B alone, wherein A and B may be singular or plural. In the text description of the present application, the character "/" generally indicates that the preceding and following associated objects are in an "or" relationship; in the formula of the present application, the character "/" indicates that the preceding and following related objects are in a relationship of "division". "including at least one of a, B, and C" may mean: comprises A; comprises B; comprises C; comprises A and B; comprises A and C; comprises B and C; including A, B and C.

It is to be understood that the various numerical references referred to in the embodiments of the present application are merely for descriptive convenience and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The sequence numbers of the above processes do not mean the execution sequence, and the execution sequence of the processes should be determined by the functions and the inherent logic.

Claims

1. A method for relay frequency shift, comprising:

determining a frequency shift value of a first signal according to a frequency range corresponding to the first signal or a Global Synchronization Channel Number (GSCN) range, wherein the frequency shift value refers to a difference value between the frequency of the first signal received by a relay device and the frequency of the first signal sent by the relay device;

and sending the indication information of the frequency shift value to the relay equipment.

2. A method for relay frequency shift, comprising:

receiving indication information of a frequency shift value from a network device, wherein the frequency shift value refers to a difference value between a frequency of a first signal received by a relay device and a frequency of the first signal sent by the relay device, and the frequency shift value of the first signal is determined according to a frequency range corresponding to the first signal or a Global Synchronization Channel Number (GSCN) range;

and performing frequency shift on the first signal according to the frequency shift value.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein determining the frequency shift value of the first signal according to the corresponding frequency range of the first signal comprises:

N ₁ ·1200+M ₁ ·50[kHz]

wherein, the N is ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to-2499 and less than or equal to 2499, the M ₁ E { -5, -3, -1, 3,5}; alternatively, the first and second liquid crystal display panels may be,

N ₁ ·80·K+M ₁

wherein the unit of the frequency shift value is a resource element or a subcarrier, and N is ₁ Is an integer of more than or equal to-2499 and less than or equal to 2499, the M ₁ E { -1,0,1}; alternatively, the first and second liquid crystal display panels may be,

N ₁ ·20·K

N ₁ ·1.44[MHz]

N ₁ ·96·K

wherein the unit of the frequency shift value is a resource element or a subcarrier, and N is ₁ Is an integer less than or equal to-14756, greater than or equal to 14756, said K is an integer, or K =2 ^-μ The μ represents a subcarrier spacing index of the first signal; alternatively, the first and second liquid crystal display panels may be,

N ₁ ·8·K

N ₁ ·17.28[MHz]

N ₁ ·288·K

wherein the unit of the frequency shift value is a resource element or a subcarrier, and N is ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to-4383, less than or equal to 4383, said K is an integer, or K =2 ^-μ The μ represents a subcarrier spacing index of the first signal; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

N ₁ ·24·K

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein determining the frequency shift value of the first signal according to the GSCN range corresponding to the first signal comprises:

N ₁ ·0.4[MHz]

when the frequency of the first signal before frequency shift and the frequency of the first signal after frequency shift both belong to a second GSCN range, the second GSCN range includes GSCNs with indexes of 7499 to 22255, and the frequency shift value of the first signal satisfies the following formula:

N ₁ ·1.44[MHz]

when the frequency of the first signal before frequency shift and the frequency of the first signal after frequency shift both belong to a third GSCN range, the third GSCN range includes GSCNs with indexes of 22256 to 26639, and the frequency shift value of the first signal satisfies the following formula:

N ₁ ·17.28[MHz]

wherein, the N is ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to-4383 and less than or equal to 4383.

5. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein determining the frequency shift value of the first signal according to the corresponding frequency range of the first signal comprises:

3000+N ₂ ·1.44-N ₁ ·1.2-M ₁ ·0.05[MHz]

wherein, the N is ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to 2499, N2 is an integer greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 2499, M ₁ E to {1,3,5}; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

200000+N ₂ ·96·K ₂ -N ₁ ·80·K ₁ -1

the mu ₁ Index the subcarrier spacing of the first signal, the mu ₂ Indexing a subcarrier spacing of the second signal; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

24250.08+N ₂ ·17.28-N ₁ ·1.2-M ₁ ·0.05[MHz]

1616672+N ₂ ·288·K ₂ -N ₁ ·80·K ₂ -1

wherein the unit of the frequency shift value is resource element or subcarrier, N ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to 2499, said N ₂ Is an integer greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 4388, K ₂ Is an integer, or alternatively,

the mu ₂ Indexing a subcarrier spacing of the second signal; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

21250.08+N ₂ ·17.28-N ₁ ·1.44

wherein, the N is ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 2499, the said N ₂ Is an integer greater than or equal to 0, less than or equal to 4383; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

1416672+N ₂ ·288·K ₂ -N ₁ ·96·K ₁

wherein the unit of the frequency shift value is resource element or subcarrier, N ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 2499, the said N ₂ Is an integer greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 4383, K ₁ And K ₂ Is an integer, or alternatively,

the mu ₁ Is a subcarrier spacing index of the first signal, the mu ₂ Is the subcarrier spacing index of the second signal.

6. The method of any of claims 3 to 5, wherein the frequency of the first signal before the frequency shift and the frequency of the first signal after the frequency shift are both located on the GSCN.

7. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein determining the frequency shift value for the first signal based on the frequency range of the first signal comprises:

N ₁ ·1200+M ₁ ·50+15·K ₁ [kHz]

wherein, the N is ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to-2499 and less than or equal to 2499, the K ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to-80, less than or equal to 80, M ₁ E { -5, -3, -1, 3,5}; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

N ₁ ·1.44+0.015·K ₁ [MHz]

wherein, the N is ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to-14756 and less than or equal to 14756, K ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to-96, less than or equal to 96; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

N ₁ ·17.28+0.06·K ₁ [MHz]

8. A method as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein determining a frequency shift value for the first signal based on the frequency range of the first signal comprises:

3000+N ₂ ·1.44-N ₁ ·1.2-M ₁ ·0.05-0.015·K ₁ [MHz]

wherein, the N is ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to 1, less than or equal to 2499, said N ₂ Is an integer greater than or equal to 0, less than or equal to 2499, K ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to-80 and less than or equal to 80, M ₁ E to {1,3,5}; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

24250.08+N ₂ ·17.28-N ₁ ·1.2-M ₁ ·0.05-0.015·K ₁ [MHz]

wherein, the N is ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to 1, less than or equal to 2499, said N ₂ Is an integer greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 4383, K ₁ Is an integer greater than or equal to-1152 and less than or equal to 1152, and M is ₁ E to {1,3,5}; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

21250.08+N ₂ ·17.28-N ₁ ·1.44-0.015·K ₁

9. The method of claim 7 or 8, wherein the frequency of the first signal before the frequency shift is not on the GSCN and the first signal after the frequency shift is on the GSCN.

10. A method as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein determining a frequency shift value for the first signal based on the frequency range of the first signal comprises:

when the frequency range of the first signal belongs to a first frequency range, the first frequency range including 0 to 3000MHz, the frequency shift value of the first signal satisfies the following formula:

f _Δ =4 · k or f _Δ ＝k

Or, when the frequency range of the first signal belongs to a second frequency range, the second frequency range including 3000 to 24250MHz, the frequency shift of the first signal satisfies the following equation:

f _Δ =384 · k or f _Δ ＝32·k

Or, when the frequency range of the first signal belongs to a third frequency range, the third frequency range includes 24250 to 100000MHz, the frequency shift of the first signal satisfies the following formula:

f _Δ =1152 · k or f _Δ ＝96·k

Wherein, the f _Δ Representing the frequency shift value of said first signal, in formula f _Δ =4 · k or f _Δ =384 · k or f _Δ =1152 · k, the f _Δ Is a resource element or subcarrier, in the formula f _Δ K or f _Δ =32 · k or f _Δ In =96 · k, the f _Δ The unit of (b) is a resource block, and k is an integer.

11. The method of any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the frequency shift value is associated with a bandwidth of a control resource set of a type0 physical downlink control channel, PDCCH, common search space, CSS.

12. The method of any of claims 1 to 11, further comprising:

determining the absolute frequency of the first signal after frequency shift, wherein the absolute frequency of the first signal after frequency shift satisfies the following formula:

F _REF ＝F _REF - _offs +ΔF _Global (N _REF -N _REF - _Offs -N _REF-Shift )

wherein, the F _REF Representing the absolute frequency of said first signal, said F _REF-offs Representing the start of the frequency of said first signal, said Δ F _Global Representing a frequency granularity of the first signal, N _REF Number representing said first signal, said N _REF-offs Represents a frequency start number of the first signal, N _REF-Shift Representing a parameter associated with the frequency shift value.

13. A communications apparatus, comprising means for performing a method as claimed in any one of claims 1,3 to 12, or for performing a method as claimed in any one of claims 2,3 to 12.

14. A communications device comprising a processor and interface circuitry for receiving and transmitting signals from or sending signals to other communications devices than the communications device, the processor being arranged to implement the method of any one of claims 1,3 to 12, or the method of any one of claims 2,3 to 12, by logic circuitry or executing code instructions.

15. A computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program or instructions is stored which, when executed by a communication apparatus, implements the method of any one of claims 1,3 to 12, or implements the method of any one of claims 2,3 to 12.