EP4511997A1

EP4511997A1 - Abeamforming configuration at a repeater

Info

Publication number: EP4511997A1
Application number: EP23792461.8A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Yi Wang; Yingyang Li; Alexei Davydov; Guotong Wang; Sergey PANTELEEV
Original assignee: Intel Corp
Current assignee: Intel Corp
Priority date: 2022-04-20
Filing date: 2023-04-19
Publication date: 2025-02-26
Also published as: EP4511997A4; WO2023205202A1

Abstract

A computer-readable storage medium stores instructions for execution by one or more processors of a Network-Controlled Repeater (NCR) to configure the NCR for communication with a base station in a 5G NR network, and to cause the NCR to perform operations including decoding first Operations, Administration and Maintenance (0AM) signaling received at an NCR-MT unit of the NCR. A first beam index associated with a transmit beam for DL transmissions and a second beam index associated with a receive beam for UL receptions are determined using the first 0AM signaling. DL data is encoded for transmission by an NCR-FWD unit of the NCR to a UE in a DL access link using the transmit beam associated with the first beam index. UL data is received by the NCR- FWD unit from the UE in a UL access link using the receive beam associated with the second beam index.

Description

ABEAMFORMING CONFIGURATION AT A REPEATER

PRIORITY CLAIM

[0001] This application claims the benefit of priority to the following patent applications:

[0002] International Application No. PCT/CN2022/087904, filed April 20, 2022, and entitled “BEAMFORMING AT A REPEATER;”

[0003] U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/395,643, filed August 5, 2022, and entitled “BEAMFORMING AT A REPEATER;”

[0004] U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/411,403, filed September 29, 2022, and entitled “BEAMFORMING AT A REPEATER;”

[0005] U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/415,762, filed October 13,

2022, and entitled “BEAMFORMING AT A REPEATER;” and

[0006] International Application No. PCT/CN2023/073061, filed January 19,

2023, and entitled “BEAMFORMING AT A REPEATER.”

[0007] Each of the above-listed applications is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0008] Aspects pertain to wireless communications. Some aspects relate to wireless networks including 3 GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) networks, 3 GPP LTE (Long Term Evolution) networks, 3 GPP LTE-A (LTE Advanced) networks, (MulteFire, LTE-U), and fifth-generation (5G) networks including 5G new radio (NR) (or 5G-NR) networks, 5G-LTE networks such as 5G NR unlicensed spectrum (NR-U) networks and other unlicensed networks including Wi-Fi, CBRS (OnGo), etc. Other aspects are directed to techniques for configuring beamforming at a repeater (e.g., a network-controlled repeater or NCR).

BACKGROUND [0009] Mobile communications have evolved significantly from early voice systems to today’s highly sophisticated integrated communication platform. With the increase in different types of devices communicating with various network devices, the usage of 3 GPP LTE systems has increased. The penetration of mobile devices (user equipment or UEs) in modem society has continued to drive demand for a wide variety of networked devices in many disparate environments. Fifth-generation (5G) wireless systems are forthcoming and are expected to enable even greater speed, connectivity, and usability. Nextgeneration 5G networks (or NR networks) are expected to increase throughput, coverage, and robustness and reduce latency and operational and capital expenditures. 5G-NR networks will continue to evolve based on 3GPP LTE- Advanced with additional potential new radio access technologies (RATs) to enrich people’s lives with seamless wireless connectivity solutions delivering fast, rich content and services. As the current cellular network frequency is saturated, higher frequencies, such as millimeter wave (mmWave) frequency, can be beneficial due to their high bandwidth.

[0010] Potential LTE operation in the unlicensed spectrum includes (and is not limited to) the LTE operation in the unlicensed spectrum via dual connectivity (DC), or DC-based LAA, and the standalone LTE system in the unlicensed spectrum, according to which LTE-based technology solely operates in the unlicensed spectrum without requiring an “anchor” in the licensed spectrum, called MulteFire. Further enhanced operation of LTE and NR systems in the licensed, as well as unlicensed spectrum, is expected in future releases and 5G systems. Such enhanced operations can include techniques for configuring beamforming at a repeater (e.g., an NCR).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0011] In the figures, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, like numerals may describe similar components in different views. Like numerals having different letter suffixes may represent different instances of similar components. The figures illustrate generally, by way of example, but not by way of limitation, various aspects discussed in the present document.

[0012] FIG. 1 A illustrates an architecture of a network, in accordance with some aspects.

[0013] FIG. IB and FIG. 1C illustrate a non-roaming 5G system architecture in accordance with some aspects.

[0014] FIG. 2, FIG. 3, and FIG. 4 illustrate various systems, devices, and components that may implement aspects of disclosed embodiments.

[0015] FIG. 5 is a diagram of a network-controlled repeater (NCR) used in the communication path between a base station and user equipment, in accordance with some aspects.

[0016] FIG. 6 is a diagram 600 of reporting beam information from a repeater to a base station, in accordance with some aspects.

[0017] FIG. 7 is diagram 700 of reporting beam information from a repeater to a base station, in accordance with some aspects.

[0018] FIG. 8 is diagram 800 of a repeater reporting association/relation between beams, in accordance with some aspects.

[0019] FIG. 9 is diagram 900 of a repeater reporting association/relation between beams, in accordance with some aspects.

[0020] FIG. 10 is diagram 1000 of a repeater reporting association/relation between beams, in accordance with some aspects.

[0021] FIG. 11 is a diagram 1100 of a number of time units indicated by a side control information, in accordance with some aspects.

[0022] FIG. 12 is a diagram 1200 of a number of time units determined by PDCCH monitoring periodicity and reference symbols, in accordance with some aspects.

[0023] FIG. 13 is a diagram 1300 of beamforming antenna weight vectors (AWV), in accordance with some aspects. [0024] FIG. 14 is a diagram 1400 of the azimuth angle of the boresight direction 9 for multiple beams, in accordance with some aspects.

[0025] FIG. 15 is a diagram 1500 of direction for a 1st beam and clock- wise rotation for other beams, in accordance with some aspects.

[0026] FIG. 16 is a diagram 1600 of an angle of 3dB beamwidth, in accordance with some aspects.

[0027] FIG. 17 is a diagram 1700 of beam repetition indication by a base station, in accordance with some aspects.

[0028] FIG. 18 is a diagram 1800 of configuring a list of beams, in accordance with some aspects.

[0029] FIG. 19 is a diagram 1900 of configuring a list of beams, in accordance with some aspects.

[0030] FIG. 20 is a diagram 2000 of configuring beams using synchronization signal block (SSB) transmissions, in accordance with some aspects.

[0031] FIG. 21 is a diagram 2100 of configuring beams using channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) transmissions, in accordance with some aspects.

[0032] FIG. 22 illustrates a block diagram of a communication device such as an evolved Node-B (eNB), a new generation Node-B (gNB) (or another RAN node), an NCR, an access point (AP), a wireless station (STA), a mobile station (MS), or user equipment (UE), in accordance with some aspects.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] The following description and the drawings sufficiently illustrate aspects to enable those skilled in the art to practice them. Other aspects may incorporate structural, logical, electrical, process, and other changes. Portions and features of some aspects may be included in or substituted for, those of other aspects. Aspects outlined in the claims encompass all available equivalents of those claims.

[0034] FIG. 1 A illustrates an architecture of a network in accordance with some aspects. The communication network 140A is shown to include user equipment (UE) 101 and UE 102. The UE 101 and UE 102 are illustrated as smartphones (e.g., handheld touchscreen mobile computing devices connectable to one or more cellular networks) but may also include any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as Personal Data Assistants (PDAs), pagers, laptop computers, desktop computers, wireless handsets, drones, or any other computing device including a wired and/or wireless communications interface. UE 101 and UE 102 can be collectively referred to herein as UE 101, and UE 101 can be used to perform one or more of the techniques disclosed herein.

[0035] Any of the radio links described herein (e.g., as used in the communication network 140 A or any other illustrated network) may operate according to any exemplary radio communication technology and/or standard.

[0036] LTE and LTE- Advanced are standards for wireless communications of high-speed data for UE such as mobile telephones. In LTE-Advanced and various wireless systems, carrier aggregation is a technology according to which multiple carrier signals operating on different frequencies may be used to carry communications for a single UE, thus increasing the bandwidth available to a single device. In some aspects, carrier aggregation may be used where one or more component carriers operate on unlicensed frequencies.

[0037] Aspects described herein can be used in the context of any spectrum management scheme including, for example, dedicated licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, (licensed) shared spectrum (such as Licensed Shared Access (LSA) in 2.3-2.4 GHz, 3.4-3.6 GHz, 3.6-3.8 GHz, and further frequencies and Spectrum Access System (SAS) in 3.55-3.7 GHz and further frequencies). [0038] Aspects described herein can also be applied to different Single Carrier or OFDM flavors (CP-OFDM, SC-FDMA, SC-OFDM, filter bank-based multicarrier (FBMC), OFDMA, etc.) and in particular 3 GPP NR (New Radio) by allocating the OFDM carrier data bit vectors to the corresponding symbol resources.

[0039] In some aspects, any of the UE 101 and UE 102 can comprise an Internet-of-Things (loT) UE or a Cellular loT (CIoT) UE, which can comprise a network access layer designed for low-power loT applications utilizing shortlived UE connections. In some aspects, any of the UE 101 and UE 102 can include a narrowband (NB) loT UE (e.g., such as an enhanced NB-IoT (eNB- loT) UE and Further Enhanced (FeNB-IoT) UE). An loT UE can utilize technologies such as machine-to-machine (M2M) or machine-type communications (MTC) for exchanging data with an MTC server or device via a public land mobile network (PLMN), Proximity-Based Service (ProSe), or device-to-device (D2D) communication, sensor networks, or loT networks. The M2M or MTC exchange of data may be a machine-initiated exchange of data. An loT network includes interconnecting loT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure), with short-lived connections. The loT UEs may execute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate the connections of the loT network.

[0040] In some aspects, any of the UE 101 and UE 102 can include enhanced MTC (eMTC) UEs or further enhanced MTC (FeMTC) UEs.

[0041] The UE 101 and UE 102 may be configured to connect, e.g., communicatively coupled, with a radio access network (RAN) 110. The RAN 110 may be, for example, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), a NextGen RAN (NG RAN), or some other type of RAN. The UE 101 and UE 102 utilize connections 103 and 104, respectively, each of which comprises a physical communications interface or layer (discussed in further detail below); in this example, the connections 103 and 104 are illustrated as an air interface to enable communicative coupling and can be consistent with cellular communications protocols, such as a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) protocol, a code-division multiple access (CDMA) network protocol, a Push-to-Talk (PTT) protocol, a PTT over Cellular (POC) protocol, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) protocol, a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) protocol, a fifth-generation (5G) protocol, a New Radio (NR) protocol, and the like.

[0042] In an aspect, the UE 101 and UE 102 may further directly exchange communication data via a ProSe interface 105. The ProSe interface 105 may alternatively be referred to as a sidelink interface comprising one or more logical channels, including but not limited to a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), a Physical Sidelink Discovery Channel (PSDCH), and a Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH).

[0043] The UE 102 is shown to be configured to access an access point (AP) 106 via connection 107. The connection 107 can comprise a local wireless connection, such as, for example, a connection consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, according to which the AP 106 can comprise a wireless fidelity (WiFi®) router. In this example, the AP 106 is shown to be connected to the Internet without connecting to the core network of the wireless system (described in further detail below).

[0044] The RAN 110 can include one or more access nodes that enable connections 103 and 104. These access nodes (ANs) can be referred to as base stations (BSs), NodeBs, evolved NodeBs (eNBs), Next Generation NodeBs (gNBs), RAN network nodes, and the like, and can comprise ground stations (e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations providing coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). In some aspects, communication nodes 111 and 112 can be transmission/reception points (TRPs). In instances when the communication nodes 111 and 112 are NodeBs (e.g., eNBs or gNBs), one or more TRPs can function within the communication cell of the NodeBs. The RAN 110 may include one or more RAN nodes for providing macrocells, e.g., macro RAN nodes, and one or more RAN nodes for providing femtocells or picocells (e.g., cells having smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macrocells), e.g., low power (LP) RAN node or an unlicensed spectrum based secondary RAN node. [0045] Any of the communication nodes 111 and 112 can terminate the air interface protocol and can be the first point of contact for UE 101 and UE 102. In some aspects, any of the communication nodes 111 and 112 can fulfill various logical functions for the RAN 110 including, but not limited to, the radio network controller (RNC) functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management, and data packet scheduling, and mobility management. In an example, any of the communication nodes 111 and/or 112 can be a new generation Node-B (gNB), an evolved node-B (eNB), or another type of RAN node.

[0046] The RAN 110 is shown to be communicatively coupled to a core network (CN) 120 via an SI interface 113. In aspects, the CN 120 may be an evolved packet core (EPC) network, a NextGen Packet Core (NPC) network, or some other type of CN (e.g., as illustrated in FIGS. 1B-1C). In this aspect, the SI interface 113 is split into two parts: the Sl-U interface 114, which carries user traffic data between the communication nodes 111 and 112 and the serving gateway (S-GW) 122, and the SI -mobility management entity (MME) interface 115, which is a signaling interface between the communication nodes 111 and 112 and MMEs 121.

[0047] In this aspect, the CN 120 comprises the MMEs 121, the S-GW 122, the Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (P-GW) 123, and a home subscriber server (HSS) 124. The MMEs 121 may be similar in function to the control plane of legacy Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Nodes (SGSN). The MMEs 121 may manage mobility aspects in access such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. The HSS 124 may comprise a database for network users, including subscription-related information to support the network entities' handling of communication sessions. The CN 120 may comprise one or several HSSs 124, depending on the number of mobile subscribers, the capacity of the equipment, the organization of the network, etc. For example, the HSS 124 can provide support for routing/roaming, authentication, authorization, naming/addressing resolution, location dependencies, etc.

[0048] The S-GW 122 may terminate the SI interface 113 towards the RAN 110, and route data packets between the RAN 110 and the CN 120. In addition, the S-GW 122 may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-RAN node handovers and also may provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities of the S-GW 122 may include lawful intercept, charging, and some policy enforcement.

[0049] The P-GW 123 may terminate an SGi interface toward a PDN. The P- GW 123 may route data packets between the EPC network (e.g., CN 120) and external networks such as a network including the application server 184 (alternatively referred to as application function (AF)) via an Internet Protocol (IP) interface 125. The P-GW 123 can also communicate data to other external networks 131 A, which can include the Internet, IP multimedia subsystem (IPS) network, and other networks. Generally, the application server 184 may be an element offering applications that use IP bearer resources with the core network (e.g., UMTS Packet Services (PS) domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). In this aspect, the P-GW 123 is shown to be communicatively coupled to an application server 184 via an IP interface 125. The application server 184 can also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., Voice-over- Internet Protocol (VoIP) sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social networking services, etc.) for the UE 101 and UE 102 via the CN 120.

[0050] The P-GW 123 may further be a node for policy enforcement and charging data collection. Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) 126 is the policy and charging control element of the CN 120. In a non-roaming scenario, in some aspects, there may be a single PCRF in the Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) associated with a UE's Internet Protocol Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session. In a roaming scenario with a local breakout of traffic, there may be two PCRFs associated with a UE's IP-CAN session: a Home PCRF (H-PCRF) within an HPLMN and a Visited PCRF (V-PCRF) within a Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN). The PCRF 126 may be communicatively coupled to the application server 184 via the P-GW 123.

[0051] In some aspects, the communication network 140A can be an loT network or a 5G network, including a 5G new radio network using communications in the licensed (5GNR) and the unlicensed (5GNR-U) spectrum. One of the current enablers of loT is the narrowband loT (NB-IoT). [0052] An NG system architecture can include the RAN 110 and a 5G core network (e.g., CN 120). RAN 110 in an NG system can be referred to as NG- RAN. The RAN 110 can include a plurality of nodes, such as gNBs and NG- eNBs. The CN 120 (also referred to as a 5G core network or 5GC) can include an access and mobility function (AMF) and/or a user plane function (UPF). The AMF and the UPF can be communicatively coupled to the gNBs and the NG- eNBs via NG interfaces. More specifically, in some aspects, the gNBs and the NG-eNBs can be connected to the AMF by NG-C interfaces, and the UPF by NG-U interfaces. The gNBs and the NG-eNBs can be coupled to each other via Xn interfaces.

[0053] In some aspects, the NG system architecture can use reference points between various nodes as provided by 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 23.501 (e.g., V15.4.0, 2018-12). In some aspects, each of the gNBs and the NG- eNBs can be implemented as a base station, a mobile edge server, a small cell, a home eNB, a RAN network node, and so forth. In some aspects, a gNB can be a master node (MN) and NG-eNB can be a secondary node (SN) in a 5G architecture. In some aspects, the master/primary node may operate in a licensed band and the secondary node may operate in an unlicensed band.

[0054] FIG. IB illustrates a non-roaming 5G system architecture in accordance with some aspects. Referring to FIG. IB, there is illustrated a 5G system architecture 140B in a reference point representation. More specifically, UE 102 can be in communication with RAN 110 as well as one or more other 5G core (5GC) network entities. The 5G system architecture MOB includes a plurality of network functions (NFs), such as access and mobility management function (AMF) 132, location management function (LMF) 133, session management function (SMF) 136, policy control function (PCF) 148, application function (AF) 150, user plane function (UPF) 134, network slice selection function (NSSF) 142, authentication server function (AUSF) 144, and unified data management (UDM)/home subscriber server (HSS) 146. The UPF 134 can provide a connection to a data network (DN) 152, which can include, for example, operator services, Internet access, or third-party services. The AMF 132 can be used to manage access control and mobility and can also include network slice selection functionality. The SMF 136 can be configured to set up and manage various sessions according to network policy. The UPF 134 can be deployed in one or more configurations according to the desired service type. The PCF 148 can be configured to provide a policy framework using network slicing, mobility management, and roaming (similar to PCRF in a 4G communication system). The UDM can be configured to store subscriber profiles and data (similar to an HSS in a 4G communication system).

[0055] The LMF 133 may be used in connection with 5G positioning functionalities. In some aspects, LMF 133 receives measurements and assistance information from the RAN 110 and the mobile device (e.g., UE 101) via the AMF 132 over the NLs interface to compute the position of the UE 101. In some aspects, NR positioning protocol A (NRPPa) may be used to carry the positioning information between NG-RAN and LMF 133 over a next-generation control plane interface (NG-C). In some aspects, LMF 133 configures the UE using the LTE positioning protocol (LPP) via AMF 132. The RAN 110 configures the UE 101 using radio resource control (RRC) protocol over LTE- Uu and NR-Uu interfaces.

[0056] In some aspects, the 5G system architecture 140B configures different reference signals to enable positioning measurements. Example reference signals that may be used for positioning measurements include the positioning reference signal (NR PRS) in the downlink and the sounding reference signal (SRS) for positioning in the uplink. The downlink positioning reference signal (PRS) is a reference signal configured to support downlink-based positioning methods.

[0057] In some aspects, the 5G system architecture 140B includes an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) 168B as well as a plurality of IP multimedia core network subsystem entities, such as call session control functions (CSCFs). More specifically, the IMS 168B includes a CSCF, which can act as a proxy CSCF (P-CSCF) 162BE, a serving CSCF (S-CSCF) 164B, an emergency CSCF (E-CSCF) (not illustrated in FIG. IB), or interrogating CSCF (LCSCF) 166B. The P-CSCF 162B can be configured to be the first contact point for the UE 102 within the IMS 168B. The S-CSCF 164B can be configured to handle the session states in the network, and the E-CSCF can be configured to handle certain aspects of emergency sessions such as routing an emergency request to the correct emergency center or PSAP. The I-CSCF 166B can be configured to function as the contact point within an operator's network for all IMS connections destined to a subscriber of that network operator, or a roaming subscriber currently located within that network operator's service area. In some aspects, the I-CSCF 166B can be connected to another IP multimedia network 170, e.g. an IMS operated by a different network operator.

[0058] In some aspects, the UDM/HSS 146 can be coupled to an application server (AS) 160B, which can include a telephony application server (TAS) or another AS. The AS 160B can be coupled to the IMS 168B via the S-CSCF 164B or the I-CSCF 166B.

[0059] A reference point representation shows that interaction can exist between corresponding NF services. For example, FIG. IB illustrates the following reference points: N1 (between the UE 102 and the AMF 132), N2 (between the RAN 110 and the AMF 132), N3 (between the RAN 110 and the UPF 134), N4 (between the SMF 136 and the UPF 134), N5 (between the PCF 148 and the AF 150, not shown), N6 (between the UPF 134 and the DN 152), N7 (between the SMF 136 and the PCF 148, not shown), N8 (between the UDM/HSS 146 and the AMF 132, not shown), N9 (between two UPFs 134, not shown), N10 (between the UDM/HSS 146 and the SMF 136, not shown), Ni l (between the AMF 132 and the SMF 136, not shown), N12 (between the AUSF 144 and the AMF 132, not shown), N13 (between the AUSF 144 and the UDM/HSS 146, not shown), N14 (between two AMFs 132, not shown), N15 (between the PCF 148 and the AMF 132 in case of a non-roaming scenario, or between the PCF 148 and a visited network and AMF 132 in case of a roaming scenario, not shown), N16 (between two SMFs, not shown), and N22 (between AMF 132 and NSSF 142, not shown). Other reference point representations not shown in FIG. IB can also be used.

[0060] FIG. 1C illustrates a 5G system architecture 140C and a service-based representation. In addition to the network entities illustrated in FIG. IB, the 5G system architecture 140C can also include a network exposure function (NEF) 154 and a network repository function (NRF) 156. In some aspects, 5G system architectures can be service-based and interaction between network functions can be represented by corresponding point-to-point reference points Ni or as service-based interfaces.

[0061] In some aspects, as illustrated in FIG. 1C, service-based representations can be used to represent network functions within the control plane that enable other authorized network functions to access their services. In this regard, 5G system architecture 140C can include the following service-based interfaces: Namf 158H (a service-based interface exhibited by the AMF 132), Nsmf 1581 (a service-based interface exhibited by the SMF 136), Nnef 158B (a service-based interface exhibited by the NEF 154), Npcf 158D (a service-based interface exhibited by the PCF 148), a Nudm 158E (a service-based interface exhibited by the UDM/HSS 146), Naf 158F (a service-based interface exhibited by the AF 150), Nnrf 158C (a service-based interface exhibited by the NRF 156), Nnssf 158 A (a service-based interface exhibited by the NSSF 142), Nausf 158G (a service-based interface exhibited by the AUSF 144). Other service-based interfaces (e.g., Nudr, N5g-eir, and Nudsf) not shown in FIG. 1C can also be used.

[0062] FIGS. 2-13 illustrate various systems, devices, and components that may implement aspects of disclosed embodiments in different communication systems, such as 5G-NR networks including 5G non-terrestrial networks (NTNs). UEs, base stations (such as gNBs), and/or other nodes (e.g., satellites or other NTN nodes) discussed herein can be configured to perform the disclosed techniques.

[0063] FIG. 2 illustrates a network 200 in accordance with various embodiments. The network 200 may operate in a manner consistent with 3 GPP technical specifications for LTE or 5G/NR systems. However, the example embodiments are not limited in this regard and the described embodiments may apply to other networks that benefit from the principles described herein, such as future 3 GPP systems, or the like.

[0064] The network 200 may include a UE 202, which may include any mobile or non-mobile computing device designed to communicate with a RAN 204 via an over-the-air connection. The UE 202 may be but is not limited to, a smartphone, tablet computer, wearable computing device, desktop computer, laptop computer, in-vehicle infotainment, in-car entertainment device, instrument cluster, a head-up display device, onboard diagnostic device, dashtop mobile equipment, mobile data terminal, electronic engine management system, electronic/engine control unit, electronic/engine control module, embedded system, sensor, microcontroller, control module, engine management system, networked appliance, machine-type communication device, M2M or D2D device, loT device, etc.

[0065] In some embodiments, network 200 may include a plurality of UEs coupled directly with one another via a sidelink interface. The UEs may be M2M/D2D devices that communicate using physical sidelink channels such as but not limited to, PSBCH, PSDCH, PSSCH, PSCCH, PSFCH, etc.

[0066] In some embodiments, the UE 202 may additionally communicate with an AP 206 via an over-the-air connection. The AP 206 may manage a WLAN connection, which may serve to offload some/all network traffic from the RAN 204. The connection between the UE 202 and the AP 206 may be consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, wherein the AP 206 could be a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi®) router. In some embodiments, the UE 202, RAN 204, and AP 206 may utilize cellular- WLAN aggregation (for example, LWA/LWIP). Cellular- WLAN aggregation may involve the UE 202 configured by the RAN 204 to utilize both cellular radio resources and WLAN resources.

[0067] The RAN 204 may include one or more access nodes, for example, access node (AN) 208. AN 208 may terminate air-interface protocols for the UE 202 by providing access stratum protocols including RRC, Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), Radio Link Control (RLC), MAC, and LI protocols. In this manner, the AN 208 may enable data/voice connectivity between the core network (CN) 220 and the UE 202. In some embodiments, the AN 208 may be implemented in a discrete device or as one or more software entities running on server computers as part of, for example, a virtual network, which may be referred to as a CRAN or virtual baseband unit pool. The AN 208 be referred to as a BS, gNB, RAN node, eNB, ng-eNB, NodeB, RSU, TRxP, TRP, etc. The AN 208 may be a macrocell base station or a low-power base station for providing femtocells, picocells, or other like cells having smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macrocells. [0068] In embodiments in which the RAN 204 includes a plurality of ANs, they may be coupled with one another via an X2 interface (if the RAN 204 is an LTE RAN) or an Xn interface (if the RAN 204 is a 5G RAN). The X2/Xn interfaces, which may be separated into control/user plane interfaces in some embodiments, may allow the ANs to communicate information related to handovers, data/context transfers, mobility, load management, interference coordination, etc.

[0069] The ANs of the RAN 204 may each manage one or more cells, cell groups, component carriers, etc. to provide the UE 202 with an air interface for network access. The UE 202 may be simultaneously connected with a plurality of cells provided by the same or different ANs of the RAN 204. For example, the UE 202 and RAN 204 may use carrier aggregation to allow the UE 202 to connect with a plurality of component carriers, each corresponding to a Pcell or Scell. In dual connectivity scenarios, a first AN may be a master node that provides an MCG, and a second AN may be a secondary node that provides an SCG. The first/second ANs may be any combination of eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, etc. [0070] The RAN 204 may provide the air interface over a licensed spectrum or an unlicensed spectrum. To operate in the unlicensed spectrum, the nodes may use LAA, eLAA, and/or feLAA mechanisms based on CA technology with PCells/SCells. Before accessing the unlicensed spectrum, the nodes may perform medium/carrier-sensing operations based on, for example, a listen- before-talk (LBT) protocol.

[0071] In V2X scenarios, the UE 202 or AN 208 may be or act as a roadside unit (RSU), which may refer to any transportation infrastructure entity used for V2X communications. An RSU may be implemented in or by a suitable AN or a stationary (or relatively stationary) UE. An RSU implemented in or by a UE may be referred to as a “UE-type RSU”; an eNB may be referred to as an “eNB- type RSU”; a gNB may be referred to as a “gNB-type RSU”; and the like. In one example, an RSU is a computing device coupled with radio frequency circuitry located on a roadside that provides connectivity support to passing vehicle UEs. The RSU may also include internal data storage circuitry to store intersection map geometry, traffic statistics, and media, as well as applications/software to sense and control ongoing vehicular and pedestrian traffic. The RSU may provide very low latency communications required for high-speed events, such as crash avoidance, traffic warnings, and the like. Additionally, or alternatively, the RSU may provide other cellular/WLAN communications services. The components of the RSU may be packaged in a weatherproof enclosure suitable for outdoor installation and may include a network interface controller to provide a wired connection (e.g., Ethernet) to a traffic signal controller or a backhaul network.

[0072] In some embodiments, the RAN 204 may be an LTE RAN 210 with eNBs, for example, eNB 212. The LTE RAN 210 may provide an LTE air interface with the following characteristics: sub-carrier spacing (SCS) of 15 kHz; CP-OFDM waveform for downlink (DL) and SC-FDMA waveform for uplink (UL); turbo codes for data and TBCC for control; etc. The LTE air interface may rely on CSLRS for CSI acquisition and beam management;

PDSCH/PDCCH DMRS for PDSCH/PDCCH demodulation; and CRS for cell search and initial acquisition, channel quality measurements, and channel estimation for coherent demodulation/detection at the UE. The LTE air interface may operate on sub-6 GHz bands.

[0073] In some embodiments, the RAN 204 may be an NG-RAN 214 with gNBs, for example, gNB 216, or ng-eNBs, for example, ng-eNB 218. The gNB 216 may connect with 5G-enabled UEs using a 5G NR interface. The gNB 216 may connect with a 5G core through an NG interface, which may include an N2 interface or an N3 interface. The ng-eNB 218 may also connect with the 5G core through an NG interface but may connect with a UE via an LTE air interface. The gNB 216 and the ng-eNB 218 may connect over an Xn interface.

[0074] In some embodiments, the NG interface may be split into two parts, an NG user plane (NG-U) interface, which carries traffic data between the nodes of the NG-RAN 214 and a UPF 248 (e.g., N3 interface), and an NG control plane (NG-C) interface, which is a signaling interface between the nodes of the NG- RAN214 and an AMF 244 (e.g., N2 interface).

[0075] The NG-RAN 214 may provide a 5G-NR air interface with the following characteristics: variable SCS; CP-OFDM for DL, CP-OFDM, and DFT-s-OFDM for UL; polar, repetition, simplex, and Reed-Muller codes for control and LDPC for data. The 5G-NR air interface may rely on CSLRS, PDSCH/PDCCH DMRS similar to the LTE air interface. The 5G-NR air interface may not use a CRS but may use PBCH DMRS for PBCH demodulation; PTRS for phase tracking for PDSCH and tracking reference signal for time tracking. The 5G-NR air interface may operate on FR1 bands that include sub-6 GHz bands or FR2 bands that include bands from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz. The 5G-NR air interface may include a synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel (SS/PBCH) block (SSB) which is an area of a downlink resource grid that includes PSS/SSS/PBCH.

[0076] In some embodiments, the 5G-NR air interface may utilize BWPs (bandwidth parts) for various purposes. For example, BWP can be used for dynamic adaptation of the SCS. For example, the UE 202 can be configured with multiple BWPs where each BWP configuration has a different SCS. When a BWP change is indicated to the UE 202, the SCS of the transmission is changed as well. Another use case example of BWP is related to power saving. In particular, multiple BWPs can be configured for the UE 202 with different amounts of frequency resources (for example, PRBs) to support data transmission under different traffic loading scenarios. A BWP containing a smaller number of PRBs can be used for data transmission with a small traffic load while allowing power saving at the UE 202 and in some cases at the gNB 216. A BWP containing a larger number of PRBs can be used for scenarios with higher traffic loads.

[0077] The RAN 204 is communicatively coupled to CN 220 which includes network elements to provide various functions to support data and telecommunications services to customers/subscribers (for example, users of UE 202). The components of the CN 220 may be implemented in one physical node or separate physical nodes. In some embodiments, NFV may be utilized to virtualize any or all of the functions provided by the network elements of the CN 220 onto physical compute/storage resources in servers, switches, etc. A logical instantiation of the CN 220 may be referred to as a network slice, and a logical instantiation of a portion of the CN 220 may be referred to as a network subslice.

[0078] In some embodiments, the CN 220 may be connected to the LTE radio network as part of the Enhanced Packet System (EPS) 222, which may also be referred to as an EPC (or enhanced packet core). The EPC 222 may include MME 224, SGW 226, SGSN 228, HSS 230, PGW 232, and PCRF 234 coupled with one another over interfaces (or “reference points”) as shown. Functions of the elements of the EPC 222 may be briefly introduced as follows.

[0079] The MME 224 may implement mobility management functions to track the current location of the UE 202 to facilitate paging, bearer activation/deactivation, handovers, gateway selection, authentication, etc.

[0080] The SGW 226 may terminate an SI interface toward the RAN and route data packets between the RAN and the EPC 222. The SGW 226 may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-RAN node handovers and also may provide an anchor for inter-3 GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful intercept, charging, and some policy enforcement.

[0081] The SGSN 228 may track the location of the UE 202 and perform security functions and access control. In addition, the SGSN 228 may perform inter-EPC node signaling for mobility between different RAT networks; PDN and S-GW selection as specified by MME 224; MME selection for handovers; etc. The S3 reference point between the MME 224 and the SGSN 228 may enable user and bearer information exchange for inter-3 GPP access network mobility in idle/active states.

[0082] The HSS 230 may include a database for network users, including subscription-related information to support the network entities’ handling of communication sessions. The HSS 230 can provide support for routing/roaming, authentication, authorization, naming/addressing resolution, location dependencies, etc. An S6a reference point between the HSS 230 and the MME 224 may enable the transfer of subscription and authentication data for authenticating/authorizing user access to the LTE CN 220.

[0083] The PGW 232 may terminate an SGi interface toward a data network (DN) 236 that may include an application/content server 238. The PGW 232 may route data packets between the LTE CN 220 and the data network 236. The PGW 232 may be coupled with the SGW 226 by an S5 reference point to facilitate user plane tunneling and tunnel management. The PGW 232 may further include a node for policy enforcement and charging data collection (for example, PCEF). Additionally, the SGi reference point between the PGW 232 and the data network 236 may be an operator external public, a private PDN, or an intra-operator packet data network, for example, for the provision of IMS services. The PGW 232 may be coupled with a PCRF 234 via a Gx reference point.

[0084] The PCRF 234 is the policy and charging control element of the LTE CN 220. The PCRF 234 may be communicatively coupled to the app/content server 238 to determine appropriate QoS and charging parameters for service flows. The PCRF 234 may provision associated rules into a PCEF (via Gx reference point) with appropriate TFT and QCI.

[0085] In some embodiments, the CN 220 may be a 5GC 240. The 5GC 240 may include an AUSF 242, AMF 244, SMF 246, UPF 248, NSSF 250, NEF 252, NRF 254, PCF 256, UDM 258, and AF 260 coupled with one another over interfaces (or “reference points”) as shown. Functions of the elements of the 5GC 240 may be briefly introduced as follows.

[0086] The AUSF 242 may store data for the authentication of UE 202 and handle authentication-related functionality. The AUSF 242 may facilitate a common authentication framework for various access types. In addition to communicating with other elements of the 5GC 240 over reference points as shown, the AUSF 242 may exhibit a Nausf service-based interface.

[0087] The AMF 244 may allow other functions of the 5GC 240 to communicate with the UE 202 and the RAN 204 and to subscribe to notifications about mobility events with respect to the UE 202. The AMF 244 may be responsible for registration management (for example, for registering UE 202), connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception of AMF-related events, and access authentication and authorization. The AMF 244 may provide transport for SM messages between the UE 202 and the SMF 246, and act as a transparent proxy for routing SM messages. AMF 244 may also provide transport for SMS messages between UE 202 and an SMSF. AMF 244 may interact with the AUSF 242 and the UE 202 to perform various security anchor and context management functions. Furthermore, AMF 244 may be a termination point of a RAN CP interface, which may include or be an N2 reference point between the RAN 204 and the AMF 244; and the AMF 244 may be a termination point of NAS (Nl) signaling, and perform NAS ciphering and integrity protection. AMF 244 may also support NAS signaling with the UE 202 over an N3 IWF interface.

[0088] The SMF 246 may be responsible for SM (for example, session establishment, tunnel management between UPF 248 and AN 208); UE IP address allocation and management (including optional authorization); selection and control of UP function; configuring traffic steering at UPF 248 to route traffic to proper destination; termination of interfaces toward policy control functions; controlling part of policy enforcement, charging, and QoS; lawful intercept (for SM events and interface to LI system); termination of SM parts of NAS messages; downlink data notification; initiating AN specific SM information, sent via AMF 244 over N2 to AN 208; and determining SSC mode of a session. SM may refer to the management of a PDU session, and a PDU session or “session” may refer to a PDU connectivity service that provides or enables the exchange of PDUs between the UE 202 and the data network 236.

[0089] The UPF 248 may act as an anchor point for intra-RAT and inter-RAT mobility, an external PDU session point of interconnecting to data network 236, and a branching point to support multi-homed PDU sessions. The UPF 248 may also perform packet routing and forwarding, perform packet inspection, enforce the user plane part of policy rules, lawfully intercept packets (UP collection), perform traffic usage reporting, perform QoS handling for a user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL/DL rate enforcement), perform uplink traffic verification (e.g., SDF-to-QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, and perform downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering. UPF 248 may include an uplink classifier to support routing traffic flows to a data network.

[0090] The NSSF 250 may select a set of network slice instances serving the UE 202. The NSSF 250 may also determine allowed NSSAI and the mapping to the subscribed S-NSSAIs if needed. The NSSF 250 may also determine the AMF set to be used to serve the UE 202, or a list of candidate AMFs based on a suitable configuration and possibly by querying the NRF 254. The selection of a set of network slice instances for the UE 202 may be triggered by the AMF 244 with which the UE 202 is registered by interacting with the NSSF 250, which may lead to a change of AMF. The NSSF 250 may interact with the AMF 244 via an N22 reference point and may communicate with another NSSF in a visited network via an N31 reference point (not shown). Additionally, the NSSF 250 may exhibit an Nnssf service-based interface.

[0091] The NEF 252 may securely expose services and capabilities provided by 3GPP network functions for the third party, internal exposure/re-exposure, AFs (e.g., AF 260), edge computing or fog computing systems, etc. In such embodiments, the NEF 252 may authenticate, authorize, or throttle the AFs. NEF 252 may also translate information exchanged with the AF 260 and information exchanged with internal network functions. For example, the NEF 252 may translate between an AF-Service-Identifier and an internal 5GC information. NEF 252 may also receive information from other NFs based on the exposed capabilities of other NFs. This information may be stored at the NEF 252 as structured data, or a data storage NF using standardized interfaces. The stored information can then be re-exposed by the NEF 252 to other NFs and AFs, or used for other purposes such as analytics. Additionally, the NEF 252 may exhibit a Nnef service-based interface.

[0092] The NRF 254 may support service discovery functions, receive NF discovery requests from NF instances, and provide information on the discovered NF instances to the NF instances. NRF 254 also maintains information on available NF instances and their supported services. As used herein, the terms “instantiate,” “instantiation,” and the like may refer to the creation of an instance, and an “instance” may refer to a concrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during the execution of program code. Additionally, the NRF 254 may exhibit the Nnrf service-based interface.

[0093] The PCF 256 may provide policy rules to control plane functions to enforce them, and may also support a unified policy framework to govern network behavior. The PCF 256 may also implement a front end to access subscription information relevant to policy decisions in a UDR of the UDM 258. In addition to communicating with functions over reference points as shown, the PCF 256 exhibits an Npcf service-based interface.

[0094] The UDM 258 may handle subscription-related information to support the network entities’ handling of communication sessions and may store the subscription data of UE 202. For example, subscription data may be communicated via an N8 reference point between the UDM 258 and the AMF 244. The UDM 258 may include two parts, an application front end, and a UDR. The UDR may store subscription data and policy data for the UDM 258 and the PCF 256, and/or structured data for exposure and application data (including PFDs for application detection, and application request information for multiple UE) for the NEF 252. The Nudr service-based interface may be exhibited by the UDR to allow the UDM 258, PCF 256, and NEF 252 to access a particular set of the stored data, as well as to read, update (e.g., add, modify), delete, and subscribe to the notification of relevant data changes in the UDR. The UDM may include a UDM-FE, which is in charge of processing credentials, location management, subscription management, and so on. Several different front ends may serve the same user in different transactions. The UDM-FE accesses subscription information stored in the UDR and performs authentication credential processing, user identification handling, access authorization, registration/mobility management, and subscription management. In addition to communicating with other NFs over reference points as shown, the UDM 258 may exhibit the Nudm service-based interface.

[0095] The AF 260 may provide application influence on traffic routing, provide access to NEF, and interact with the policy framework for policy control.

[0096] In some embodiments, the 5GC 240 may enable edge computing by selecting operator/3rd party services to be geographically close to a point that the UE 202 is attached to the network. This may reduce latency and load on the network. To provide edge-computing implementations, the 5GC 240 may select a UPF 248 close to the UE 202 and execute traffic steering from the UPF 248 to data network 236 via the N6 interface. This may be based on the UE subscription data, UE location, and information provided by the AF 260. In this way, the AF 260 may influence UPF (re)selection and traffic routing. Based on operator deployment, when AF 260 is considered to be a trusted entity, the network operator may permit AF 260 to interact directly with relevant NFs. Additionally, the AF 260 may exhibit a Naf service-based interface.

[0097] The data network 236 may represent various network operator services, Internet access, or third-party services that may be provided by one or more servers including, for example, application/content server 238. [0098] In some aspects, network 200 is configured for NR positioning using the location management function (LMF) 245, which can be configured as an LMF node or as functionality in a different type of node. In some embodiments, LMF 245 is configured to receive measurements and assistance information from NG- RAN 214 and UE 202 via the AMF 244 (e.g., using an NLs interface) to compute the position of the UE. In some embodiments, the NR positioning protocol A (NRPPa) protocol can be used for carrying the positioning information between NG-RAN 214 and LMF 245 over a next-generation control plane interface (NG-C). In some embodiments, LMF 245 configures the UE 202 using LTE positioning protocol (LPP) (e.g., LPP -based communication link) via the AMF 244. In some aspects, NG-RAN 214 configures the UE 202 using, e.g., radio resource control (RRC) protocol signaling over, e.g., LTE-Uu and NR-Uu interfaces. In some aspects, UE 202 uses the LTE-Uu interface to communicate with the ng-eNB 218 and the NR-Uu interface to communicate with the gNB 216. In some aspects, ng-eNB 216 and gNB 216 use NG-C interfaces to communicate with the AMF 244.

[0099] In some embodiments, the following reference signals can be used to achieve positioning measurements in NR communication networks: NR positioning reference signal (NR PRS) in the downlink and sounding reference signal (SRS) for positioning in the uplink. The downlink positioning reference signal (PRS) can be used as a reference signal supporting downlink-based positioning techniques. In some aspects, the entire NR bandwidth can be covered by transmitting PRS over multiple symbols that can be aggregated to accumulate power.

[00100] FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a wireless network 300 in accordance with various embodiments. The wireless network 300 may include a UE 302 in wireless communication with AN 304. The UE 302 and AN 304 may be similar to, and substantially interchangeable with, like-named components described elsewhere herein.

[00101] The UE 302 may be communicatively coupled with the AN 304 via connection 306. Connection 306 is illustrated as an air interface to enable communicative coupling and can be consistent with cellular communications protocols such as an LTE protocol or a 5G NR protocol operating at mmWave or sub-6 GHz frequencies.

[00102] The UE 302 may include a host platform 308 coupled with a modem platform 310. The host platform 308 may include application processing circuitry 312, which may be coupled with protocol processing circuitry 314 of the modem platform 310. The application processing circuitry 312 may run various applications for the UE 302 that source/sink application data. The application processing circuitry 312 may further implement one or more layer operations to transmit/receive application data to/from a data network. These layer operations may include transport (for example UDP) and the Internet (for example IP) operations.

[00103] The protocol processing circuitry 314 may implement one or more layer operations to facilitate the transmission or reception of data over connection 306. The layer operations implemented by the protocol processing circuitry 314 may include, for example, MAC, RLC, PDCP, RRC, and NAS operations.

[00104] The modem platform 310 may further include digital baseband circuitry 316 that may implement one or more layer operations that are “below” layer operations performed by the protocol processing circuitry 314 in a network protocol stack. These operations may include, for example, PHY operations including one or more of HARQ-ACK functions, scrambling/descrambling, encoding/decoding, layer mapping/de-mapping, modulation symbol mapping, received symbol/bit metric determination, multi-antenna port precoding/decoding, which may include one or more of space-time, spacefrequency or spatial coding, reference signal generation/detection, preamble sequence generation and/or decoding, synchronization sequence generation/detection, control channel signal blind decoding, and other related functions.

[00105] The modem platform 310 may further include transmit circuitry 318, receive circuitry 320, RF circuitry 322, and RF front end (RFFE) 324, which may include or connect to one or more antenna panels 326. Briefly, the transmit circuitry 318 may include a digital -to-analog converter, mixer, intermediate frequency (IF) components, etc.; the receive circuitry 320 may include an analog-to-digital converter, mixer, IF components, etc.; the RF circuitry 322 may include a low-noise amplifier, a power amplifier, power tracking components, etc.; RFFE 324 may include filters (for example, surface/bulk acoustic wave filters), switches, antenna tuners, beamforming components (for example, phase-array antenna components), etc. The selection and arrangement of the components of the transmit circuitry 318 receive circuitry 320, RF circuitry 322, RFFE 324, and antenna panels 326 (referred to generically as “transmit/receive components”) may be specific to details of a specific implementation such as, for example, whether the communication is TDM or FDM, in mmWave or sub-6 GHz frequencies, etc. In some embodiments, the transmit/receive components may be arranged in multiple parallel transmit/receive chains, may be disposed of in the same or different chips/modules, etc.

[00106] In some embodiments, the protocol processing circuitry 314 may include one or more instances of control circuitry (not shown) to provide control functions for the transmit/receive components.

[00107] A UE reception may be established by and via the antenna panels 326, RFFE 324, RF circuitry 322, receive circuitry 320, digital baseband circuitry 316, and protocol processing circuitry 314. In some embodiments, the antenna panels 326 may receive a transmission from the AN 304 by receivebeamforming signals received by a plurality of antennas/antenna elements of the one or more antenna panels 326.

[00108] A UE transmission may be established by and via the protocol processing circuitry 314, digital baseband circuitry 316, transmit circuitry 318, RF circuitry 322, RFFE 324, and antenna panels 326. In some embodiments, the transmit components of the UE 302 may apply a spatial filter to the data to be transmitted to form a transmit beam emitted by the antenna elements of the antenna panels 326.

[00109] Similar to the UE 302, the AN 304 may include a host platform 328 coupled with a modem platform 330. The host platform 328 may include application processing circuitry 332 coupled with protocol processing circuitry 334 of the modem platform 330. The modem platform may further include digital baseband circuitry 336, transmit circuitry 338, receive circuitry 340, RF circuitry 342, RFFE circuitry 344, and antenna panels 346. The components of the AN 304 may be similar to and substantially interchangeable with the like- named components of the UE 302. In addition to performing data transmission/reception as described above, the components of the AN 304 may perform various logical functions that include, for example, RNC functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management, and data packet scheduling.

[00110] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. Specifically, FIG. 4 shows a diagrammatic representation of hardware resources 400 including one or more processors (or processor cores) 410, one or more memory/storage devices 420, and one or more communication resources 430, each of which may be communicatively coupled via a bus 440 or other interface circuitry. For embodiments where node virtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor 402 may be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices/sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources 400.

[00111] The one or more processors 410 may include, for example, a processor 412 and a processor 414. The one or more processors 410 may be, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a DSP such as a baseband processor, an ASIC, an FPGA, a radio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor (including those discussed herein), or any suitable combination thereof.

[00112] The memory/storage devices 420 may include a main memory, disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory/storage devices 420 may include but are not limited to, any type of volatile, non-volatile, or semi-volatile memory such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), Flash memory, solid-state storage, etc. [00113] The communication resources 430 may include interconnection or network interface controllers, components, or other suitable devices to communicate with one or more peripheral devices 404 or one or more databases 406 or other network elements via a network 408. For example, the communication resources 430 may include wired communication components (e.g., for coupling via USB, Ethernet, etc.), cellular communication components, NFC components, Bluetooth® (or Bluetooth® Low Energy) components, WiFi® components, and other communication components.

[00114] Instructions 450 may comprise software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, or other executable code for causing at least any of the one or more processors 410 to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. The instructions 450 may reside, completely or partially, within at least one of the one or more processors 410 (e.g., within the processor’s cache memory), the memory/storage devices 420, or any suitable combination thereof. Furthermore, any portion of the instructions 450 may be transferred to the hardware resources 400 from any combination of the peripheral devices 404 or the databases 406. Accordingly, the memory of the one or more processors 410, the memory/storage devices 420, the peripheral devices 404, and the databases 406 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

[00115] For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components outlined in one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes, and/or methods as outlined in the example sections below. For example, baseband circuitry associated with one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples set forth below. For another example, circuitry associated with a UE, base station, satellite, network element, etc. as described above in connection with one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples set forth below in the example section.

[00116] The term “application” may refer to a complete and deployable package, or environment to achieve a certain function in an operational environment. The term “ AI/ML application” or the like may be an application that contains some artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML) models and application-level descriptions. In some embodiments, an AI/ML application may be used for configuring or implementing one or more of the disclosed aspects.

[00117] The term “machine learning” or “ML” refers to the use of computer systems implementing algorithms and/or statistical models to perform a specific task(s) without using explicit instructions but instead relying on patterns and inferences. ML algorithms build or estimate mathematical model(s) (referred to as “ML models” or the like) based on sample data (referred to as “training data,” “model training information,” or the like) to make predictions or decisions without being explicitly programmed to perform such tasks. Generally, an ML algorithm is a computer program that learns from experience concerning some task and some performance measure, and an ML model may be any object or data structure created after an ML algorithm is trained with one or more training datasets. After training, an ML model may be used to make predictions on new datasets. Although the term “ML algorithm” refers to different concepts than the term “ML model,” these terms as discussed herein may be used interchangeably for the present disclosure.

[00118] The term “machine learning model,” “ML model,” or the like may also refer to ML methods and concepts used by an ML-assisted solution. An “ML-assisted solution” is a solution that addresses a specific use case using ML algorithms during operation. ML models include supervised learning (e.g., linear regression, k-nearest neighbor (KNN), decision tree algorithms, support machine vectors, Bayesian algorithm, ensemble algorithms, etc.) unsupervised learning (e.g., K-means clustering, principal component analysis (PCA), etc.), reinforcement learning (e.g., Q-learning, multi-armed bandit learning, deep RL, etc.), neural networks, and the like. Depending on the implementation a specific ML model could have many sub-models as components and the ML model may train all sub-models together. Separately trained ML models can also be chained together in an ML pipeline during inference. An “ML pipeline” is a set of functionalities, functions, or functional entities specific to an ML-assisted solution; an ML pipeline may include one or several data sources in a data pipeline, a model training pipeline, a model evaluation pipeline, and an actor. The “actor” is an entity that hosts an ML-assisted solution using the output of the ML model inference). The term “ML training host” refers to an entity, such as a network function, that hosts the training of the model. The term “ML inference host” refers to an entity, such as a network function, that hosts the model during inference mode (which includes both the model execution as well as any online learning if applicable). The ML host informs the actor about the output of the ML algorithm, and the actor decides on an action (an “action” is performed by an actor as a result of the output of an ML-assisted solution). The term “model inference information” refers to information used as an input to the ML model for determining inference(s); the data used to train an ML model and the data used to determine inferences may overlap, however, “training data” and “inference data” refer to different concepts.

[00119] Coverage is a fundamental aspect of cellular network deployments. Mobile operators rely on different types of network nodes to offer blanket coverage in their deployments. One type of network node is the radio frequency (RF) repeater which is configured to amplify-and-forward any signal that they receive. While an RF repeater presents a cost-effective means of extending network coverage, it has its limitations. An RF repeater does an amplify-and-forward operation without being able to take into account various factors that could improve performance, e.g., adaptive transmitter/receiver spatial beamforming, etc. A network-controlled repeater (NCR) is an enhancement over conventional RF repeaters with the capability to receive and process side control information from the network. Side control information could allow a network-controlled repeater to perform its amplify-and-forward operation more efficiently. Potential benefits could include mitigation of unnecessary noise amplification, transmissions and receptions with better spatial directivity, and simplified network integration.

[00120] The disclosed techniques include systems and methods for beamforming at a repeater under the control of a base station (e.g., an NCR). More specifically, the disclosed techniques include beamforming control procedures, beamforming control information, and beamforming capability report. [00121] FIG. 5 is a diagram of a network-controlled repeater (NCR) 500 used in the communication path between a base station and user equipment, in accordance with some aspects.

[00122] In some embodiments, NCR 500 includes a control part (e.g., NCR mobile termination (NCR-MT) unit or MT) and a forwarding part (e.g., NCR forwarding (NCR-FWD) unit or also referred to as a radio unit (RU)).

[00123] The control unit (denoted as MT in the following description) is used to receive the control signaling from the gNB side, and it may also provide feedback to the gNB side (e.g., the confirmation of the control signaling).

[00124] The forwarding unit (denoted as RU in the following description) is configured to amplify-and-forward the signal received from the gNB to the UE, or the signal received from the UE to the gNB.

[00125] The path between the gNB and the NCR is denoted as a donor path. The donor path includes the following four communication links:

[00126] (a) gNB - repeater RU (link 1);

[00127] (b) gNB - repeater MT (link 2);

[00128] (c) repeater RU - gNB (link 3); and

[00129] (d) repeater MT - gNB (link 4).

[00130] The path between the NCR and the UE is denoted as an access path. The access path includes the following two communication links:

[00131] (a) repeater RU - UE (link 5); and

[00132] (b) UE - repeater RU (link 6).

[00133] In some aspects, links 1 and 3 in the donor path are also referred to as backhaul communication links, links 2 and 4 in the donor path are also referred to as control communication links, and links 5 and 6 of the access path are also referred to as access communication links.

[00134] In some aspects, the repeater receives RF signals from the gNB via link 1 and then forwards the RF signals to the UE via link 5 without decoding the signals. The repeater receives RF signals from the UE via link 6 and then forwards the RF signals to the gNB via link 3 without decoding the signals. [00135] In some aspects, the repeater receives and decodes control information from the gNB via link 2, and the repeater may communicate feedback to the gNB via link 4 (e.g., the NCR 500 sends LI or L2 ACK to the gNB for the received control information). The repeater can adjust parameters for the repeater RU part according to the received control information (e.g., the repeater adjusts spatial beamforming for link 5 and link 6).

[00136] In some aspects, at the repeater side, a single RF is shared for link 1 and link 2, and a single RF is shared for link 3 and link 4. In another aspect, at the repeater side, a separate RF is applied for link 1 and link 2, and a separate RF is applied for link 3 and link 4.

Mechanisms to Control the Beamforming at a Repeater

[00137] To improve spatial directivity and reduce interference, beamforming can be performed at the repeater side under the gNB’s control. For the beam management for repeater RU in the access path, beam sweeping at the repeater side at least for some broadcast signals is needed to enable full coverage (e.g., UEs in any direction under the coverage of repeater can access the network by the aid of repeater). For unicast signals, it is desirable that the repeater can use a proper beam pointing to the UE. For beam management in the donor path, the repeater may perform beam management as a normal UE. Alternatively, the repeater may determine the beam or inform beam information to the network by Operations, Administration, and Maintenance (0AM) configuration signaling. For easy description, the beam information exchange between the repeater and the gNB by 0AM signaling or by Uu interface as legacy UE is simply described as an operation between the NCR and the gNB. In some embodiments, a single radio frequency (RF) is shared for the repeater MT and the repeater RU in the donor path. The same beam is applied for both the repeater MT and the repeater RU. In some aspects, separate RF is applied for the repeater MT and the repeater RU in the donor path. The beam for the repeater RU can be derived from the beam for repeater MT.

[00138] In the following description, mechanisms to support the beam management for the repeater by gNB's control are provided. The disclosed techniques include beam management for the access path, though the same mechanisms may also apply to the donor path. [00139] In the following, beam information can be equivalent to reference signal (RS) information.

Information Reported by the Repeater to the Base Station (gNB)

[00140] For beam sweeping, the gNB may transmit a set of reference signals, with the same beam in link 1 and the repeater can forward these reference signals with different beams in link 5. For example, the gNB transmits SSB 0 and SSB1 with the same Tx beam (Beam B2 in FIG. 6) in link 1, and the repeater forwards 2 SSBs with different beams (Beam SI and S2) to UE in link 5. For another example, assuming the gNB identifies the UE under beam S2 and the gNB wants to refine the beam for this UE, then the gNB transmits CSI-RS 1, 2, 3, and 4 with the same Tx beam in link 1 and the gNB controls the repeater to forward 4 CSI-RSs with different beams (Beam S21, S22, S23, and S24 in FIG. 7) to the UE in link 5. The number of CSI-RSs to be transmitted also depends on the number of beams to sweep in the access path. It can be seen that the number of reference signals to be transmitted depends on the number of beams to be swept in the access path.

[00141] To aid the gNB to determine the proper number of RS to be transmitted, the repeater may need to report the beam number to the gNB. Furthermore, comparing FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, the gNB may prefer different beam widths and beam directions for different beam management steps. To aid the gNB to determine a proper beam management mechanism for the repeater, it is beneficial to report beam relations to the gNB.

[00142] In some aspects, the repeater reports the number of supported beams. The number of supported beams can be indicated according to at least one of the following options:

[00143] (a) Repeater reports a maximum number of supported beams.

[00144] (b) Repeater reports a maximum number of supported beams for a beam management approach.

[00145] (b.1) Repeater may support one or more beam management approaches, which depends on capability.

[00146] (b.2) If a repeater can support more than one beam management approach, the repeater reports a maximum number of supported beams for each beam management approach. [00147] (c) Repeater reports a maximum number of supported beam groups.

[00148] (d) Repeater reports a maximum number of supported beams within a beam group.

[00149] (d.1) Repeater may support one or more beams within a beam group, which depends on capability.

[00150] (d.2) If a repeater can support more than one beam within a beam group, the repeater reports a maximum number of supported beams within each beam group.

[00151] (d.3) If a repeater does not report the number of beams for a beam group, the default number is 1.

[00152] (e) Repeater reports a maximum number of supported beams for simultaneous transmission or reception.

[00153] (e.1) The number of beams for simultaneous transmission or simultaneous reception is for a carrier.

[00154] (e.1.1 ) The same number is assumed for each carrier.

[00155] (e.1.2) The number can be different for each carrier, and the repeater reports the number for each carrier respectively.

[00156] (e.2) The number of beams for simultaneous transmission or simultaneous reception is for a passband.

[00157] (e.2.1) The same number is assumed for each passband.

[00158] (e.2.2) The number can be different for each passband, and the repeater reports the number for each passband respectively.

[00159] (e.3) The number of beams for simultaneous transmission or simultaneous reception is for a carrier group.

[00160] (e.3.1) The same number is assumed for each carrier group.

[00161] (e.3.2) The number can be different for each carrier group, and the repeater reports the number for each carrier group respectively.

[00162] (e.3.3) Repeater reports the carriers for each carrier group.

[00163] (e.4) The number of beams for simultaneous transmission or simultaneous reception is for all carriers by a repeater. For example, the repeater reports the number of beams for simultaneous transmission or simultaneous reception for a carrier group and also reports the number of carrier groups with different beams for simultaneous transmission or simultaneous reception.

[00164] In some aspects, the number of supported beams above can be the number of configured beams, and/or the number of activated beams.

[00165] In some embodiments, the number of supported beams above can be reported in the form of a number of supported Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) capabilities or a number of supported reference signal capabilities. For example, the repeater may report the maximum number of configured TCI states, the maximum number of activated TCI states, and additional active TCI states (e.g., to differentiate beams for SSB and beams for CSI-RS). For another example, the repeater may report the maximum number of configured/activated CSI-RS/SSB and the maximum number of configured/activated groups of CSI-RS/SSB.

[00166] In one example, the beam management approaches include beam sweeping for the whole coverage, and beam sweeping within certain coverage (or direction). In another example, the beam management approaches include beam sweeping with a wider beam and beam sweeping with a narrow beam. In another example, the beam management approaches include beam sweeping for cell-specific SS/PBCH and beam sweeping for other signals, e.g., CSI-RS.

[00167] In some embodiments, the repeater reports the beamwidth information. The beamwidth information includes at least one of the following: [00168] (a) Information for minimum beam width.

[00169] (b) Information for different beam widths (e.g., whether the repeater supports beams with different beam widths). If a repeater can support different beam widths, the repeater may report the number of beams for each beam width. For example, the repeater reports XI beams with beamwidth type 1 and X2 beams with beam width type 2.

[00170] In some embodiments, the repeater reports the direction/angle of the beams (e.g., the azimuth angle of the boresight direction for a beam, elevation angle of the boresight direction for a beam, negative or positive angle to a reference direction (e.g., geographical North, the x-axis of antenna panel), and clockwise or counter-clockwise angle rotation). [00171] In some embodiments, the repeater reports the association/relation between the reported beams or the association/relation between the reported beam groups.

[00172] In some aspects, if a repeater reports the association between beam group il and i2, the gNB may assume the beams within beam group i2 are with a specific relation to a beam in beam group il. Alternatively, if a repeater reports the association between beam il and i2, gNB may assume that beam i2 is with specific relation to beam il.

[00173] In some embodiments, the specific relation between two beams/beam groups can be at least one of the following relations:

[00174] (a) One beam is within the coverage of another beam. For example, the beams within beam group i2 are within the direction determined by a beam in beam group i 1.

[00175] (b) Beams are complementary to each other. For example, the beams for each beam group il and i2 are complementary.

[00176] (c) One beam is to aid beam refinement for another beam.

[00177] In some aspects, only one specific relation for beams is supported for the repeater. In another option, more than one specific relation for beams is supported. The repeater may report the specific relation type. If the repeater does not report association for a beam or beam group, the gNB may assume no association between the beam/beam group with another beam/beam group, as shown in FIG. 9.

[00178] In some embodiments, the association/relation between the reported beams, or the association/relation between the reported beam groups is pre-defined.

[00179] In some aspects, some of the beams in a beam group are in specific relation to other beams in the same beam group. For example, within a beam group, the beams are within the direction of the beam with the lowest beam index.

[00180] In some aspects, the beams for beam management approach j2 are with specific relation to beams for beam management approach j 1. For example, the beam with beam management approach 2 is within the direction of the beam for beam management approach 1. In one way, assuming N beams for beam management approach j 1 and M beams for beam management approach j2, every consecutive M/N beams are within the direction of one beam for beam management approach j 1. The total number of beams is N+M. In another way, the total number of beams is N*M. Every M beam for beam management approach j2 is within the direction of one beam for beam management approach j l-

[00181] In some embodiments, beam correspondence for Tx and Rx beam at the repeater can be supported, e.g., by capability. The repeater can support the capability. The repeater may report beam information for Tx or Rx, and the same beam information applies to Rx or Tx beam, e.g., if beam correspondence is supported. Alternatively, the repeater may report beam information for Tx and Rx respectively.

[00182] For the above embodiments, the gNB may request the repeater to report one or more beam information. Alternatively, the repeater may report one or more beam information according to pre-defined conditions.

Information Indicated by the gNB to the Repeater

[00183] In some aspects, the gNB indicates the beam information for each time unit. Alternatively, the gNB indicates the beam information for each time and frequency unit.

[00184] In some aspects, the time unit can be one or multiple symbols, one or multiple slots, a subframe, or an absolute time duration. The gNB can configure the time unit, e.g., the gNB configures a set of consecutive L symbols as a time unit. Alternatively, the gNB configures the number of slots Ns and the number of time unit Nt within Ns slots. Then, each time unit consists of Ns/Nt slots, or Ns*Nsym/Nt symbols, where Nsym is the number of symbols per slot. Alternatively, the time unit is pre-defined, e.g., per symbol, or slot. The time unit for DL forwarding and UL forwarding can be the same or can be separately configured.

[00185] To determine the duration for a time unit, the gNB can configure a reference subcarrier spacing (SCS).

[00186] In one option, the gNB configures a single SCS. For example, a repeater may be configured with a single SCS, which applies to any time units indicated by the side control information by DCI. For another example, a repeater may be configured with a single SCS, which applies to any time units activated by a side control information by MAC CE.

[00187] In another option, a repeater may be configured with multiple SCSs. For example, the gNB configures multiple SCSs and the gNB indicates one SCS in a bit field in DCI for PDCCH-based side control information. The indicated SCS applies to all-time units indicated by the same DCI. For another example, the gNB configures multiple groups and each group consists of one or multiple sets of time units and gNB configures SCS for each group respectively. The gNB indicates one index for the group in DCI. Alternatively, the gNB configures multiple sets of time units and an SCS is configured for each set of time units. The gNB indicates a list of indices in a DCI wherein each index is a set index. For another example, the gNB configures multiple groups of time units for MAC CE activation where each group consists of one or multiple sets of time units and gNB configures SCS for each group respectively. The gNB activates one or multiple groups by a MAC CE. Alternatively, the gNB configures multiple sets of time units and an SCS is configured for each set of time units. The gNB activates one or multiple sets by a MAC CE. In the case of multiple sets to be indicated by DCI or MAC CE, a repeater expects the SCS of the multiple sets to be the same. Alternatively, the SCS of the multiple sets can be different.

[00188] Alternatively, the reference SCS is determined according to a rule, e.g., the SCS for control information reception, maximum or minimum SCS for links between gNB and repeater MT, SCS for initial BWP, or a pre-defined SCS.

[00189] The time and frequency unit can be a frequency region over one or multiple symbols/slots/subframes/an absolute time duration.

[00190] In some aspects, for each time unit or time-frequency unit, the beam information includes the information of the DL Tx beam for DL forwarding (link 5) or UL Rx beam for UL forwarding (link 6). For example, one control information can indicate beam information for several time units, wherein some of the time units are DL slots/symbols while some of the time units are UL slots/symbols. For a time unit, gNB indicates the beam index and whether the beam is for DL Tx or UL Rx. In another option, for each time unit or time-frequency unit, the beam information does not include the information of the DL Tx beam or UL Rx beam. The gNB can indicate the beam index or quasi-co-located (QCL) information, and the repeater derives the indicated beam index or QCL information for DL Tx or UL Rx according to UL/DL configuration.

[00191] In some embodiments, the beam information indicates each time unit in several time units, i.e., one-shot indication. With one approach, the start (offset from the reference slot/symbol/time unit) and duration (the number of time units) for the time units is indicated. The control information can indicate one or multiple sets of time units. One set of time units is corresponding to a one-time domain resource. For example, control information indicates beam information for 10-time units which starts from a reference slot/symbol/time unit, i.e., the offset is 0 and duration is 10. For another example, control information indicates beam information for multiple sets of time units.

[00192] FIG. 11 provides an example. Assuming a time unit consists of 7 symbols, and the reference slot is the slot containing PDCCH for control information. The gNB indicates a first set of time units that starts the next slot from a reference slot and duration is one time unit, and a second set of time units that starts 2 slots from the reference slot and duration is 2 time units, so the gNB indicates slot-level offset 1 and duration of 1 (i.e., the first 7 symbols in slot n+1), and slot-level offset 2 and duration of 2 (14 symbols in slot n+2). In the control information, the time units are provided and beam information for each set of time units is provided. With another approach, the start and duration for the time units are pre-defined/pre-configured. The start of the first time unit is the first symbol of the reference slot/symbol/time unit, and the duration is the number of time units configured by the gNB, or determined by the PDCCH monitoring periodicity for the side control information, with or without exclusion of some specific symbols. The specific symbol can be the symbol for the reception of SS/PBCH blocks indicated by MIB, or the UL symbol if the beam information is only for DL forwarding, or the DL symbol and SS/PBCH symbol if the beam information is only for UL forwarding. FIG. 12 provides an example. A time unit consists of 2 symbols, and the PDCCH monitoring periodicity is 5 slots. Without consideration of the exclusion of specific symbols, the duration of several time units is 5*14=70 symbols, which is 35- time units. Assuming a PDCCH for side control information is received in symbols #0 and #1 in slot n, and the reference symbol is X symbols after the end of a PDCCH MO, then the first symbol for the number of time units is symbol #(2+X) in slot n. In the control information, there is no need for the indication of the time units, only beam information for each time unit is provided. If the gNB prefers the repeater to not forward any signal in a time unit, gNB can indicate a special beam for the time unit, e.g., the time unit with beam k is not used for forwarding.

[00193] In some embodiments, the beam information indicated by the gNB is applied with periodicity. Compared with the embodiment above which is based on one-shot indication, this option provides a mechanism to indicate beam information that applies to the indicated time unit within each period. For example, the gNB indicates a periodicity = 20 slots and indicates a beam index for each slot within the periodicity. Then, the indicated beam index for a slot n applies to slot n, slot n+20, slot n+40. . ., until new values indicated by another signaling take effect. Such configuration can save signaling overhead for periodic RS/channels, e.g., SS/PBCH, CORESET 0 with search space ID=0, cell-specific RACH occasions, etc. In one example, in the case of beam activation by MAC CE, a repeater may be configured with a single periodicity that applies to all time units activated by MAC CE. In another example, a repeater may be configured with multiple groups of time units for activation wherein each group consists of one or multiple sets of time units, and a periodicity for each group is configured respectively. The gNB activates one or multiple groups by a MAC CE. In another example, a repeater may be configured with multiple groups of time units for activation, wherein each group consists of one set of time units and a periodicity for each set of time units, is configured respectively. The gNB can activate one or multiple sets by a MAC CE. In another option, the gNB indicates the beam information for each specific channel/signal. In one example, the gNB indicates the beam information for each cell-specific SS/PBCH indicated by ssb-PositionsInBurst. Then, the repeater applies the indicated beam for each SS/PBCH until the repeater receives new information for each SS/PBCH. For example, the gNB indicates 8 SS/PBCH blocks, with SS/PBCH block index 0,1,. . .7. gNB indicates the beam index for each SS/PBCH. Then, the repeater uses the indicated beam to forward each SS/PBCH symbol.

[00194] For the above embodiments, the gNB could indicate one of the beam information signaling types, i.e., the indicated beam only applies to a set of time units once, or the indicated beam applies to a set of time units in every period, or the indicated beam applies to specific channel/signal.

[00195] In some aspects, for a time unit or time-frequency unit, or specific channel/signal, if the repeater receives more than one control information to indicate the beam, the repeater determines the beam according to the last received control information. Alternatively, if beam information is carried by a different type of signaling, the first type of signaling overrides the second type of signaling. For example, the first type of signaling is the signaling indicating beam information which only applies to a set of time units once, and the second type of signaling is the signaling indicating beam information which applies to a set of time units in every period. In some aspects, the first type of signaling is associated with a lower layer of protocol, compared with the second type of signaling, e.g., the overriding order is LI signaling (Physical layer, e.g., PDCCH) > L2 signaling (e.g., MAC layer) > L3 signaling (e.g., RRC layer). In some aspects, the overriding order is LI signaling (Physical layer, e.g., PDCCH) > L3 signaling (e.g., RRC layer) > L2 signaling (e.g., MAC layer). In some aspects, the overriding order depends on a configured priority, e.g., the first type of signaling is the signaling with higher priority and the second type of signaling is the signaling with lower priority. A repeater may be configured with a priority level for signaling, wherein the total number of candidate priority levels can be 2 or more than 2. For signaling without configured priority, the priority may be pre-defined, for example to the lowest priority. In the case of signaling with the same priority, any collision is expected to be avoided by network/gNB implementation, thus a repeater does not expect to receive a conflicting indication from different signaling with the same priority. Alternatively, in case of signaling of the same priority, the overriding order is determined based on the layer of protocol, e.g., when LI signaling conflicts with L2/L3 signaling, LI signaling overrides L2/L3 signaling. For another example, the overriding order depends on the configured priority and layer of protocol, e.g., LI signaling (Physical layer, e.g., PDCCH) can override L2 and L3 signaling regardless of any priority configuration, while the overring order among L2 and L3 signaling depends on the configured priority.

[00196] Alternatively, the repeater does not expect different beams to be indicated for the same unit or the same channel/signal. Alternatively, a repeater does not expect a different beam to be indicated for the same unit or same channel/signal by the same type of signaling, while a repeater may expect a different beam to be indicated for the same unit or same channel/signal by a different type of the signaling. Alternatively, the repeater does not expect different beams to be indicated for the same unit or the same channel/signal by different signaling with the same priority.

[00197] If the gNB configures priority for an L3 -signaling-based side control information, the gNB configures a priority that applies to all time units configured by one RRC signaling. Alternatively, the gNB configures a priority for a set of time units configured by one RRC signaling.

[00198] If the gNB configures priority for an L2-signaling-based side control information, gNB configures a priority that applies to all time units configured by one RRC signaling for MAC CE-based activation. Alternatively, the gNB configures a priority for each group of time units respectively wherein each group consists of one or multiple sets of time units. The gNB can activate one or multiple groups by a MAC CE. Alternatively, the gNB configures a priority for each group of time units respectively wherein each group consists of one set of time units. In one example, a repeater does not expect the priority of all time units activated by a MAC CE to be different. In another example, the priority of all time units activated by a MAC CE can be different. Alternatively, the gNB provides a priority in a MAC CE with a separate field from the time units field, and the priority applies to all time units activated by the MAC CE.

[00199] If the gNB configures priority for an LI signaling, gNB configures a priority for each group of time units respectively, wherein each group consists of one or multiple sets of time units. Alternatively, the gNB configures a priority for each set of time units respectively. Alternatively, the gNB provides a priority in a separate bit field in DCI, and the indicated priority applies to all time units indicated by the DCI. Alternatively, the gNB provides separate priority for each set of time units in separate bit fields in DCI.

[00200] In some embodiments, if the repeater does not receive any beam information for a time or time-frequency unit or a specific channel/signal, the repeater determines the beam for the time or time-frequency unit or a specific channel/signal according to one of the following options:

[00201] (a) Option 1 : The repeater determines the beam.

[00202] (b) Option 2: Repeater uses omnidirectional transmi ssi on/ recepti on .

[00203] (c) Option 3 : The repeater uses a default beam, e.g., gNB configures a default beam, the beam with the lowest index in a list of beams for the repeater, the beam which is associated with the lowest SS/PBCH index, or the beam which is last used.

[00204] (d) Option 4: The repeater does not forward in a time or timefrequency unit or specific channel/signal if beam information for the time or time-frequency unit or specific channel/signal is unavailable.

[00205] (e) Option 5: The repeater determines a beam according to one of options 1-4 above, if the time unit is not associated with specific symbol s/channels, otherwise, the repeater determines a beam according to a predefined rule for the time unit associated with specific symbol s/channels. The specific symbol/channel can be cell-specific SS/PBCH, Type 0 CSS with SS ID=0 &CORESET 0, cell-specific PRACH symbols, etc. In some aspects, the beam for the specific symbol is the Tx beam to forward the corresponding SS/PBCH or Rx beam associated with the corresponding SS/PBCH.

[00206] In some aspects, the gNB indicates beam information for the repeater by RRC, MAC CE, or PHY layer signaling.

[00207] In some aspects, the gNB configures the beam information for each beam index by RRC or MAC signaling, and the gNB indicates the beam index or QCL information for each time unit or time-frequency unit by MAC and PHY, MAC, or PHY indication.

[00208] In some aspects, for beam index or QCL indication, the gNB could configure a list with beam index or a list of QCL information by RRC signaling. The MAC CE activates a subset of the list, and the PHY layer indicates one value of the activated subset for each time or time-frequency unit. Alternatively, the gNB could configure a list with beam index or a list of QCL information by MAC CE, and the PHY layer indicates one value of the list for each time or time-frequency unit.

[00209] In some embodiments, the indicated beams shall be applied from a reference symbol/slot or a reference time unit. The reference slot/symbol/time unit is determined according to at least one of the following options:

[00210] (a) Option 1 : The reference slot/symbol/time unit is the next slot/next symbol/next time unit to the last symbol where the repeater detects the control information.

[00211] (b) Option 2: The reference slot/symbol/time unit is the slot/last symbol/time unit where the repeater transmits A/N for the control information.

[00212] (c) Option 3 : The reference slot/symbol/time unit is the next slot/next symbol/next time unit to the last symbol where the repeater transmits A/N for the control information.

[00213] (d) Option 4: The reference slot/symbol/time unit is the next slot/next symbol/next time unit to the last symbol where the repeater detects the control information plus a pre-defined offset. For example, the reference slot/symbol/time unit is the next slot/symbol/time unit no earlier than the last symbol of the control information plus a PDSCH processing delay.

[00214] (e) Option 5: The reference slot/symbol/time unit is the next slot/next symbol/next time unit to the last symbol where the repeater transmits A/N for the control information plus a pre-defined offset.

[00215] The pre-defined offset can be fixed, e.g., 3ms, or configured by the gNB, and/or determined according to a specific processing time, e.g., PDCCH processing time, or PDSCH processing time, or PUSCH/PUCCH processing time, etc. For beam information carried by different signaling (RRC, MAC CE, or PHY signaling), the pre-defined offset can be different.

[00216] For beam information carried by different signaling (RRC, MAC CE, or PHY signaling), the reference symbol/slot/time unit to apply the beam information can be different. [00217] In some embodiments, the beam information the gNB indicated to the repeater includes at least one of the following: beam index, beamforming parameters, beam type, and beam relation information.

[00218] For beam index indication, at least one of the following parameters can be indicated by the gNB: a total number of beams/RSs, beam index/RS resource index, beam group index/RS group index, beam index within a beam group/RS index within an RS group, and the number of repeated beams at gNB side.

[00219] For example, there are 2 beam groups and 4 beams within each beam group. The gNB can indicate beam group index 0 or 1 and beam index 0, 1, 2, or 3 within each beam group. For another example, still assuming a total of 8 beams, the gNB can indicate beam index 0-7 and indicate the beam group index 0 or 1. If the gNB also indicates more than one beam type, the gNB can indicate the total number of beams for each beam type.

[00220] For example, the gNB configures a set of SSBs with an SSB index and/or a set of CSI-RS with a CSI-RS resource index. The gNB can indicate the SSB index or CSI-RS index for a time unit, the repeater should use the same spatial domain transmission filter associated with the indicated SSB or CSI-RS index for the time unit.

[00221] For beamforming parameters, at least one of the following parameters can be indicated by the gNB:

[00222] (a) beamforming Antenna Weight Vectors (AWV), as shown in

FIG. 13.

[00223] (b) the direction of the beam, e.g., the azimuth angle of the boresight direction© as shown in FIG. 14, the elevation angle of the boresight direction, negative or positive angle, smaller or larger than a reference angle, reference angle or reference direction (e.g., geographical North, the x-axis of antenna panel), clockwise or counter-clockwise angle rotation.

[00224] In one option, the gNB configures beam direction for each beam. In another option, the gNB configures beam direction for one or more specific beams, and the direction of other beams is derived based on the direction of the specific beam. [00225] For example, the gNB configures the azimuth angle of the boresight direction for each beam. For another example, the gNB indicates the azimuth angle of the boresight direction for 1st or 1st and last beam, the direction of other beams can be derived.

[00226] For example, the gNB configures the azimuth angle of the boresight direction for 1st beam, and the direction of other beams is rotated with a counter-clockwise angle. For another example, the gNB configures a negative or positive angle to a reference direction for 1st beam, and the direction of other beams is rotated with a clockwise angle, as shown in FIG. 15.

[00227] (c) beamwidth information, e.g., X dB beamwidth of a beam such as half power bandwidth (HPBW). Alternatively, beamwidth information indicates beamwidth level, e.g., there is two-level beamwidth, and the 1st level beamwidth is wider than the 2nd level beamwidth.

[00228] For the beam type, in one option, at least one of the following information can be indicated by the gNB:

[00229] (a) Type-1 beam/RS which could be used for coarse beam management.

[00230] (b) Type-2 beam/RS which could be used for beam refinement.

[00231] For beam type, in another option, at least one of the following information can be indicated by the gNB:

[00232] (a) Type-1 beam/RS which could be used for broadcast channel/signal.

[00233] (b) Type-2 beam/RS which could be used for unicast channel/signal.

[00234] For the beam type, in another option, SSB or CSI-RS can be indicated by the gNB.

[00235] FIG. 16 is a diagram 1600 of an angle of 3dB beamwidth, in accordance with some aspects.

[00236] In some aspects, the beam type indication is for the beams at the repeater side. Alternatively, the beam type indication is for the beams at the gNB side, and the repeater can derive the corresponding beam type at the repeater side. For example, if the gNB indicates SSB and CSI-RS respectively, the repeater may assume a different beam type should be used to forward SSB and CSI-RS.

[00237] In some aspects, to support the different purposes of channel measurement and beam management, several types of report quantity are defined for a CSI report, e g., CSI, Ll-RSRP, Ll-SINR, CRI, and SSBRI. In some aspects, the gNB may configure the NZP CSI-RS with repetition ON or OFF to inform UE the same downlink spatial domain transmission filter is used at the gNB side or not for different NZP CSI-RS within a CSI-RS resource set, for different beam management, e.g., the gNB side beam refinement or the UE side beam refinement. For repeater beam management, similarly, the gNB can configure different beam types which are similar to different NZP CSI-RS configurations with different report quantities. For example, if the gNB indicates a type-1 beam, the repeater expects to use a wider beam, and if the gNB indicates a type-2 beam, the repeater expects to use a narrower beam than a type-1 beam, if the repeater can support a narrower beam.

[00238] In some aspects, the indicated beam type or beam index may not necessarily restrict the content transmitted by the gNB. For example, the gNB transmits a unicast PDSCH to a UE and the repeater forwards the PDSCH, while gNB indicates a Type-1 beam. For another example, the gNB indicates SSB il for a time unit for the repeater, the gNB may transmit SSB i2 in the time unit.

[00239] For beam relation information for beam i, at least one of the following information can be indicated by the gNB:

[00240] (a) Explicit configuration:

[00241] (a.1) Beam/RS i is QCL with Beam/RS j with certain QCL type

D. Same spatial Tx filter can be applied for beam/RS i and beam/RS j.

[00242] (a.2) Beam/RS i is QCL with Beam/RS j with certain QCL type

E. Beam/RS i is covered by Beam/RS j.

[00243] (a.3) Beam/RS i is QCL with Beam/RS j with certain QCL type

F. Beam/RS i correlated with Beam/RS j.

[00244] (a.4) Beam/RS i is QCL with Beam/RS j with certain QCL type A or B or C for Doppler parameters and delay parameters. [00245] (a.5) Beam/RS i is to refine Beam/RS j . For example, CSI-RS i is to refine SSB j.

[00246] (a.6) Beam repetition information for Tx beams at the repeater side. The gNB may configure repetition on/off, or repetition factor for Tx beams at the repeater side. In case of repetition, the pattern of repeated beams can be pre-defined or configured, e.g., for 4 reference signals, repetition =2, whether to transmit 4 reference signals with beam i, beam i, beam j, beam j, or beam i, beam j, beam i, beam j should be determined. A similar mechanism can be applied for RX beams at the repeater side.

[00247] (b) Implicit configuration.

[00248] (b.1) Beam repetition information for Tx beams at the gNB side.

[00249] (b.1.1) If beam/RS i and beam/RS j at the repeater side are used to forward signals with the same Tx beam at the gNB side, the repeater assumes different spatial Tx filter is used for beam/RS i and beam/RS j.

[00250] In one option, if the number of beams with different directions supported by the repeater is smaller than the number of repeated Tx beams at the gNB side, the repeater may use the same beam direction for beam/RS i and beam/RS j, if all the supported beams are used. For example, if the gNB transmits SSB 0~ SSB3 with the same Tx beam, and the repeater can support 4 beams with a different direction, the repeater should use beams with different directions to forward SSB0-SSB3. If the repeater only supports beams in 2 different directions, the repeater can use one beam for two of SSB s and another beam for the other two SSBs.

[00251] In another option, if the number of beams with different directions supported by the repeater is larger than the number of repeated Tx beams at the gNB side, the repeater may select a subset of the beams.

[00252] (b.1.2) If beam/RS i and beam/RS j at the repeater side is used to forward signals with different Tx beam at the gNB side, the repeater assumes the same spatial Tx filter is used for beam/RS i and beam/RS j. Alternatively, it is up to the repeater to decide whether the same or different spatial Tx filter is used for beam/RS i and beam/RS j . Alternatively, a pre-defined beam is used for beam/RS i and beam/RS j, e.g., an omnidirectional beam. A similar mechanism can be applied for RX beams at the gNB side. [00253] (b.2) Purpose of RS or beam relation of RS transmitted by the gNB side.

[00254] (b.2.1) The purpose of RS can be beam refinement of one RS transmitted by the gNB side.

[00255] (b.2.2) The beam relation can be QCL type D, E, or F.

[00256] To indicate beam repetition information for Tx beams at the gNB side, the gNB can indicate RS groups. With an RS group, the gNB could indicate whether repetition is enabled. If the repetition is on, it is assumed all RSs within an RS group are transmitted with the same beam at the gNB side, otherwise, different beams are used for RSs. Alternatively, it is always assumed all RSs within an RS group are transmitted with the same beam. For example in FIG. 17, the gNB may indicate 3 SSB groups, 1st S SB group includes SSB0, 2nd SSB group includes SSB 1 and SSB2, and 3rd SSB group includes SSB 3. The gNB indicates repetition for the 2nd SSB group. Therefore, the repeater should assume different beams at the repeater side are expected to forward SSB1 and SSB2, i.e. by beam SI and beam S2 for SSB1 and SSB2.

[00257] For QCL type E or F, for example, the angle included in the X dB beamwidth of beam i is included in the Y dB beamwidth of beam j. For another example, a gain of beam j measured along the direction of peak transmission direction is at least X dB of gain of beam i. For another example, beam j has the minimum X dB beamwidth which at least contains all beam peak directions of beam i.

[00258] To establish a common understanding between the gNB and the repeater on beam information for each beam, in one option, the gNB configures a list of beams with at least one of the above beam information for corresponding beams. Then, the gNB indicates a beam for a time unit or specific channel/signal for the repeater.

[00259] For one example in IG. 18, the repeater determines the beam direction for each beam index. Assuming the gNB has already identified UE1 under beam 2 while not identified UE2 yet. To serve UE1 and to identify other UEs (UE2), the gNB indicates the repeater to sweep beams 4, 5, 6, 7 in slots n, n+1, n+2, and n+3, and the gNB indicates the repeater to use beam 2 in slots n+4 and n+5 to forward DL to serve UE1 (but repeater may not know the DL is for UE1) in Table 2. After gNB identifies UE2 under beam 5, gNB indicates repeater to use beam 5 in slot nl ~ slot nl+2 and beam 2 in slot nl+3~nl+5 to serve UE2 and UE1 in Table 3.

[00260] Table 1 : Beam configuration signaling:

[00261] Table 2: Beam indication signaling 1 :

[00262] Table 3: Beam indication signaling 2:

[00263] Table 4: Beam configuration signaling:

[00264] Table 5: Beam indication signaling 1 :

[00265] Table 6: Beam indication signaling 2:

[00266] Table 7: Beam indication signaling 3 :

[00267] Additional examples are illustrated in FIG. 20 and FIG. 21. In some aspects, the gNB indicates SSBO in the 1st SSB group, SSB1 and 2 in the 2nd SSB group with repetition, and SSB 3 in the 3rd SSB group. Therefore, the repeater expects to use a different beam to forward SSB 1 and SSB2. After the gNB identifies UE1 associated with SSB1, the gNB configures 4 CSI-RS resources, and the gNB indicates these 4 CSI-RS to refine the beam for SSB1. Then, the repeater expects to use a different beam to forward 4 CSI-RSs to refine the beam for SSB1. In addition, the gNB can also indicate the symbols for SSB or CSI-RS or simply indicate symbols with SSB/CSI-RS index. The repeater can use a beam that forwards the corresponding SSB/CSI-RS for symbols with indicated SSB/CSI-RS. The signaling is shown in Tables 8-1, 8-2, 9-1, and 9-2 respectively.

[00268] Table 8-1 : SSB information at gNB side:

[00269] Table 8-2: CSI-RS information:

[00270] Table 9-1 : Beam indication with SSB index:

[00271] Table 9-2: Beam indication with SSB index and CSI-RS index:

[00272] In some embodiments, to save configuration signaling overhead, the gNB can configure some of the beam information while another beam information is derived according to a pre-defined rule. For example, the gNB configures the beam index and beam group. According to the pre-defined rule, beam group 1 is for beam type 1, and beam group 2 is for beam type 2. Therefore, the repeater can determine the beam type according to beam index and beam group without explicit beam type information. For another example, the gNB configures the beam index and beam group. According to the predefined rule, every M beams within a beam group, in beam group 2 is QCL with beam i in beam group 1, with QCL type E. Therefore, the repeater can determine the beam relation for a beam in beam group 1 and a beam in beam group 2 according to beam index and beam group without explicit beam relation information. Taking 10 beams as an example, gNB configures beam index 0 and beam index 5 with beam group 1, and the gNB configures beam index 1,2, 3, 4, and beam 6,7, 8,9 with beam group 2. Then, M=4. The repeater can determine that beam index 1,2, 3, 4 in group 2 is QCL type E with beam index 0 in group 1 and beam index 6, 7, 8, 9 in group 2 is QCL type E with beam index 5 in group 1. For another example, the gNB configures the number of beam groups and the number of beams per beam group or the total number of beams. According to the pre-defined rule, the beam index and the beam group to which the beam belongs are determined. In some aspects, according to the pre-defined rule, the beam type and beam relation are determined. Taking 10 beams as an example, the gNB configures the number of beam group N=2, the number of beams for beam group 1 is 2, and the number of beams for beam group 2 is 8. The repeater can determine beam index 0 and beam 5 for beams in beam group 1 and beam index 1,2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9 is for beams in beam group 2. The beams in beam group 1 with beam type-1 and beams in beam group 2 with beam type-2, and beam index 1,2, 3, 4 in group 2 is QCL type E with beam index 0 in group 1 and beam index 6, 7, 8, 9 in group 2 is QCL type E with beam index 5 in group 1. Alternatively, the repeater can determine beam index 0 and 1 for beams in beam group 1 and beam index 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 is for beams in beam group 2. Beam indexes 2, 3, 4, and 5 in group 2 is QCL type E with a beam index of 0 in group 1, and beam index 6, 7, 8, 9 in group 2 is QCL type E with a beam index of 1 in group 1. For another example, the gNB indicates different RS types, e.g., SSB and CSI-RS at the gNB side, and the repeater can derive the beam relation for beams to forward SSB and CSI-RS, e.g., the beam for CSI-RS is to refine the beam for SSB.

[00273] In some embodiments, a list of beams and beam information is determined according to a pre-defined rule. The gNB indicates a beam for a time unit or specific channel/signal. For example, the list of beams and beam information is determined according to the beam information report from the repeater. Taking FIGS. 11-12 as an example, the repeater reports beam group and beam index. The beam relation and beam width can be derived by a predefined rule. The gNB can indicate one of the beams from reported beams for a time unit or specific channel/signal. For another example, the repeater reports multiple beams which can be supported by the repeater. For each beam, a beam ID, beam type, and spatial relation/parameter are reported. The gNB can configure a set of beams to be used by the repeater, and the number of beams indicated by the gNB and the number of beams reported by the repeater can be different. For such cases, the gNB can provide a one-to-one mapping between a beam configured for the repeater to use and a beam reported by the repeater.

[00274] Table 10 provides an example. The repeater reports 10 beams, beam 0 and beam l is a wide beam, beams 2, 3, 4, and 5 are narrow beams with spatial parameters that beam 2, 3, 4, 5 is within the coverage of beam 0, and beams 6, 7, 8, and 9 are narrow beams with spatial parameters that the beam 6, 7, 8, 9 is within the coverage of beam 1. The gNB only configures 8 beams for the repeater, so the gNB configures one-to-one mapping for 6 beam indices as shown in Table 10. Alternatively, the one-to-one mapping can be provided by a code point of beam index information bit field for NCR in a PDCCH and the beam identification reported by NCR. For example, the set of beams configured by the gNB is 8 beams out of 10 beams reported by the NCR. Three bits for the beam index information bit field for a time domain resource are assumed. As shown in Table 11, for each code point, a beam identity reported by NCR is provided.

[00275] Alternatively, the gNB can configure a set of beams to be used by repeater by RRC or MAC CE, and the beam index indicated by the gNB by PDCCH can be the first S beams configured by the RRC or MAC CE, where S is the number of codepoints of the beam index information bit field in the PDCCH. For example, the NCR reports 10 beams, and the gNB configures beams 0, 1, 2, 7, 4, and 9 for NCR by MAC CE. If the beam index information bit field in PDCCH is 2 bits, 1st code point is beam index 0, 2nd code point is beam index 1, 3rd codepoint is beam index 2, and 4th codepoint is beam index 7.

[00276] Table 10: One-to-one mapping between beams configured by gNB and beams reported by NCR:

[00277] Table 11 : One-to-one mapping between beams configured by gNB and beams reported by NCR:

[00278] The gNB may configure beam information for repeater RU Tx or Rx, and the same beam information applies to repeater RU Rx or Tx beam, e.g., if beam correspondence is supported. Alternatively, the gNB may configure beam information for repeater RU Tx and Rx respectively.

[00279] For flexible symbols, in one option, the repeater may assume a default beam for repeater RU Tx or Rx, e.g., the default beam is omnidirectional transmission or a configured/pre-defined beam. In another option, the gNB indicates the beam information including Rx or Tx beam indication, regardless of beam correspondence. In some aspects, the repeater may know whether to forward the DL signal or forward the UL signal in flexible symbol according to beam indication. In another option, if the gNB does not indicate beam information, the repeater assumes no forwarding for DL or UL. Beam Index Determination

[00280] In some aspects, the repeater reports the beam index with the beam information. For example, the repeater reports two beam groups and reports beam index 0, 1,2,3 for beam group 1 and 4, 5, 6, 7 for beam group 2.

[00281] In some aspects, the beam index is derived according to a predefined rule.

[00282] In some aspects, a beam index is allocated first in ascending order of beams within a beam group, and second in ascending order of beam groups. For example, for the case shown in FIG. 8, the beam index is 0 and 1 for beams SI and S2 in beam group 1, and index 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 for beam SI 1, S12, S13, S14, S21, S22, S23 and S24 in beam group 2.

[00283] In another option, a beam index is allocated first in ascending order of beams with a specific relation, and second in ascending order of beams without specific relation. For example, for the case shown in FIG. 8, the beam index is 0 for beam SI in beam group 1, and index 1, 2, 3, and 4 for beams SI 1, SI 2, S13, S14 in beam group 2, and beam index 5 for beam S2 in beam group 1, and beam index 6, 7, 8, 9 for beam S21, S22, S23 and S24 in beam group 2.

[00284] In some aspects, a beam index is allocated first in ascending order of beams within a beam management approach, and second, in ascending order of beam management approaches.

[00285] In some embodiments, two beams with adjacent beam indexes point to adjacent directions, as shown in FIG. 18.

[00286] FIG. 19 is a diagram 1900 of configuring a list of beams, in accordance with some aspects.

[00287] In some aspects, the gNB only indicates reference signal type and index, e.g., SSB index or CSI-RS index. In some aspects, different RS types and different indices are associated with a different beam. Alternatively, the gNB only indicates the reference signal index. In some embodiments, a different RS index is associated with a different beam.

[00288] In some embodiments, a system and method of wireless communication for a 5G or an NR system, the repeater decodes a downlink control information that is used to control the transmission beam or reception beam at the repeater. The repeater determines the transmission beam or reception beam to forward signals from gNB to UE or from UE to gNB.

[00289] In some embodiments, the downlink control information is carried out by PDCCH or PDSCH.

[00290] In some aspects, the downlink control information includes at least one of the beam index, the reference signal resource index, beamforming parameters, beam type, and beam relation information.

[00291] In some embodiments, the reference signal resource index is SS/PBCH index, and/or CSI-RS resource index.

[00292] In some aspects, the beamforming parameters include beamforming antenna weight vectors, beam direction, or beamwidth information.

[00293] In some aspects, the beam type includes a beam for SSB or CSI- RS beam, a beam for coarse beam determination or beam refinement, beam for broadcast or unicast signals.

[00294] In some aspects, the beam relation information includes the purpose of the beam or QCL type of beam or beam repetition at the repeater side or beam repetition at the gNB side.

[00295] In some embodiments, the purpose of the beam is whether the beam is for beam refinement for a certain SSB i.

[00296] In some aspects, the beam repetition at the gNB side includes the same or different beam used at the gNB side and the number of the same beams used at the gNB side.

[00297] In some embodiments, the repeater determines the transmission beam or reception beam for each time unit.

[00298] In some aspects, the time unit is one or multiple symbols, one or multiple slots, one or multiple periods, and symbols for a specific reference signal.

[00299] In some aspects, the repeater determines the transmission beam or reception beam according to indicated beam index or RS index. [00300] In some aspects, the repeater determines to use a different transmission beam or reception beam associated with SSBs within a group, or with SSBs within a group configured with repetition.

[00301] In some aspects, the repeater determines to use different transmission beam or reception beam associated with CSI-RSs within a group, or with CSI-RSs within a group configured with repetition, and the CSI-RSs within the group is to refine the beam for SSB i that is configured with the CSI-RS.

[00302] In some embodiments, the repeater determines the transmission beam or reception beam for a time unit according to a pre-defined rule or up to the repeater's decision, if the repeater does not receive the downlink control information for the time unit.

[00303] In some aspects, the repeater determines the transmission beam or reception beam based on received downlink control information with predefined or configured time offset.

[00304] In some aspects, the repeater reports at least one of the number of supported beams, the number of supported reference signals, beamwidth information, the direction of the beam, and the relation between beams.

[00305] FIG. 22 illustrates a block diagram of a communication device such as an evolved Node-B (eNB), a new generation Node-B (gNB) (or another RAN node such as a base station), a network-controlled repeater (NCR), an access point (AP), a wireless station (STA), a mobile station (MS), or user equipment (UE), in accordance with some aspects and to perform one or more of the techniques disclosed herein. In alternative aspects, the communication device 2200 may operate as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to other communication devices.

[00306] Circuitry (e.g., processing circuitry) is a collection of circuits implemented in tangible entities of the device 2200 that include hardware (e.g., simple circuits, gates, logic, etc.). Circuitry membership may be flexible over time. Circuitries include members that may, alone or in combination, perform specified operations when operating. In an example, the hardware of the circuitry may be immutably designed to carry out a specific operation (e.g., hardwired). In an example, the hardware of the circuitry may include variably connected physical components (e.g., execution units, transistors, simple circuits, etc.) including a machine-readable medium physically modified (e.g., magnetically, electrically, moveable placement of invariant massed particles, etc.) to encode instructions of the specific operation.

[00307] In connecting the physical components, the underlying electrical properties of a hardware constituent are changed, for example, from an insulator to a conductor or vice versa. The instructions enable embedded hardware (e.g., the execution units or a loading mechanism) to create members of the circuitry in hardware via the variable connections to carry out portions of the specific operation when in operation. Accordingly, in an example, the machine-readable medium elements are part of the circuitry or are communicatively coupled to the other components of the circuitry when the device is operating. In an example, any of the physical components may be used in more than one member of more than one circuitry. For example, under operation, execution units may be used in the first circuit of a first circuitry at one point in time and reused by a second circuit in the first circuitry, or by a third circuit in a second circuitry at a different time. Additional examples of these components with respect to the device 2200 follow.

[00308] In some aspects, the device 2200 may operate as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to other devices. In a networked deployment, the communication device 2200 may operate in the capacity of a server communication device, a client communication device, or both in serverclient network environments. In an example, the communication device 2200 may act as a peer communication device in a peer-to-peer (P2P) (or other distributed) network environment. The communication device 2200 may be a UE, eNB, PC, a tablet PC, STB, PDA, mobile telephone, smartphone, a web appliance, network router, a switch or bridge, or any communication device capable of executing instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that communication device. Further, while only a single communication device is illustrated, the term "communication device" shall also be taken to include any collection of communication devices that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, such as cloud computing, software as a service (SaaS), and other computer cluster configurations. [00309] Examples, as described herein, may include, or may operate on, logic or several components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules are tangible entities (e.g., hardware) capable of performing specified operations and may be configured or arranged in a certain manner. In an example, circuits may be arranged (e.g., internally or with respect to external entities such as other circuits) in a specified manner as a module. In an example, the whole or part of one or more computer systems (e.g., a standalone, client, or server computer system) or one or more hardware processors may be configured by firmware or software (e.g., instructions, an application portion, or an application) as a module that operates to perform specified operations. In an example, the software may reside on a communication device-readable medium. In an example, the software, when executed by the underlying hardware of the module, causes the hardware to perform the specified operations.

[00310] Accordingly, the term "module" is understood to encompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physically constructed, specifically configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily (e.g., transitorily) configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a specified manner or to perform part or all of any operation described herein. Considering examples in which modules are temporarily configured, each of the modules needs not to be instantiated at any one moment in time. For example, where the modules comprise a general- purpose hardware processor configured using the software, the general -purpose hardware processor may be configured as respective different modules at different times. The software may accordingly configure a hardware processor, for example, to constitute a particular module at one instance of time and to constitute a different module at a different instance of time.

[00311] The communication device (e.g., UE) 2200 may include a hardware processor 2202 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combination thereof), a main memory 2204, a static memory 2206, and a storage device 2216 (e.g., hard drive, tape drive, flash storage, or other block or storage devices), some or all of which may communicate with each other via an interlink 2208 (e.g., a bus). [00312] The communication device 2200 may further include a display device 2210, an input device 2212 (e.g., a keyboard), and a user interface (UI) navigation device 2214 (e.g., a mouse). In an example, the display device 2210, input device 2212, and UI navigation device 2214 may be a touchscreen display. The communication device 2200 may additionally include a signal generation device 2218 (e.g., a speaker), a network interface device 2220, and one or more sensors 2221, such as a global positioning system (GPS) sensor, compass, accelerometer, or another sensor. The communication device 2200 may include an output controller 2228, such as a serial (e.g., universal serial bus (USB), parallel, or other wired or wireless (e.g., infrared (IR), near field communication (NFC), etc.) connection to communicate or control one or more peripheral devices (e.g., a printer, card reader, etc.).

[00313] The storage device 2216 may include a device-readable medium 2222, on which is stored one or more sets of data structures or instructions 2224 (e.g., software) embodying or utilized by any one or more of the techniques or functions described herein. In some aspects, registers of the hardware processor 2202, the main memory 2204, the static memory 2206, and/or the storage device 2216 may be, or include (completely or at least partially), the device-readable medium 2222, on which is stored the one or more sets of data structures or instructions 2224, embodying or utilized by any one or more of the techniques or functions described herein. In an example, one or any combination of the hardware processor 2202, the main memory 2204, the static memory 2206, or the storage device 2216 may constitute the device-readable medium 2222.

[00314] As used herein, the term “device-readable medium” is interchangeable with “computer-readable medium” or “machine-readable medium”. While the device-readable medium 2222 is illustrated as a single medium, the term “communication device-readable medium” may include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) configured to store the instructions 2224. The term “communication device-readable medium” is inclusive of the terms “machine-readable medium” or “computer-readable medium”, and may include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions (e.g., instructions 2224) for execution by the communication device 2200 and that causes the communication device 2200 to perform any one or more of the techniques of the present disclosure, or that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying data structures used by or associated with such instructions. Nonlimiting communication device-readable medium examples may include solid- state memories and optical and magnetic media. Specific examples of communication device-readable media may include non-volatile memory, such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g., Electrically Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM)) and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; Random Access Memory (RAM); and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. In some examples, communication device-readable media may include non-transitory communication device-readable media. In some examples, communication device-readable media may include communication device-readable media that is not a transitory propagating signal.

[00315] Instructions 2224 may further be transmitted or received over a communications network 2226 using a transmission medium via the network interface device 2220 utilizing any one of several transfer protocols. In an example, the network interface device 2220 may include one or more physical jacks (e.g., Ethernet, coaxial, or phonejacks) or one or more antennas to connect to the communications network 2226. In an example, the network interface device 2220 may include a plurality of antennas to wirelessly communicate using at least one of the single-input-multiple-output (SIMO), MIMO, or multiple-input-single-output (MISO) techniques. In some examples, the network interface device 2220 may wirelessly communicate using Multiple User MIMO techniques.

[00316] The term "transmission medium" shall be taken to include any intangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions for execution by the communication device 2200, and includes digital or analog communications signals or another intangible medium to facilitate communication of such software. In this regard, a transmission medium in the context of this disclosure is a device-readable medium. [00317] The terms “machine-readable medium,” “computer-readable medium,” and “device-readable medium” mean the same thing and may be used interchangeably in this disclosure. The terms are defined to include both machine-storage media and transmission media. Thus, the terms include both storage devices/media and carrier waves/modulated data signals.

[00318] Described implementations of the subject matter can include one or more features, alone or in combination as illustrated below by way of examples.

[00319] Example 1 is an apparatus of a Network-Controlled Repeater (NCR) configured for operation in a Fifth Generation New Radio (5G NR) network, the apparatus comprising: processing circuitry, wherein to configure the NCR for communication with a base station and a user equipment (UE) in the 5G NR network, the processing circuitry is to: decode first Operations, Administration and Maintenance (0AM) signaling received at an NCR-mobile terminal (NCR-MT) unit of the NCR; determine a first beam index associated with a transmit beam for downlink (DL) transmissions and a second beam index associated with a receive beam for uplink (UL) receptions using the first 0AM signaling; encode DL data for transmission by an NCR-forwarding (NCR-FWD) unit of the NCR to the UE in a DL access link using the transmit beam associated with the first beam index; and decode UL data received by the NCR- FWD unit from the UE in an UL access link using the receive beam associated with the second beam index; and a memory coupled to the processing circuitry and configured to store the 0AM signaling.

[00320] In Example 2, the subject matter of Example 1 includes subject matter where the processing circuitry is to: encode second 0AM signaling for transmission within the 5G NR network, the second 0AM signaling reporting a number of beams supported by the NCR, wherein the first 0AM signaling is responsive to the number of beams indicated by the second 0 AM signaling.

[00321] In Example 3, the subject matter of Examples 1-2 includes subject matter where the processing circuitry is to: encode second 0AM signaling for transmission within the 5G NR network, the second 0AM signaling reporting a plurality of beam widths supported by the NCR for the DL transmissions and the UL receptions, wherein the first 0AM signaling is responsive to the plurality of beam widths indicated by the second OAM signaling.

[00322] In Example 4, the subject matter of Examples 1-3 includes subject matter where the processing circuitry is to: encode second OAM signaling for transmission within the 5G NR network, the second OAM signaling reporting an association between a first set of beams and a second set of beams supported by the NCR for the DL transmissions and the UL receptions, wherein the first OAM signaling is responsive to the association between the first set of beams and the second set of beams indicated by the second OAM signaling.

[00323] In Example 5, the subject matter of Examples 1-4 includes subject matter where the processing circuitry is to: decode configuration signaling received at the NCR-MT unit of the NCR from the base station, the configuration signaling indicating beam information for a second transmit beam for the DL transmissions; and encode second DL data for transmission by the NCR-FWD unit of the NCR to the UE in the DL access link using the second transmit beam associated with the beam information.

[00324] In Example 6, the subject matter of Example 5 includes subject matter where the processing circuitry is to: determine a second receive beam for the UL receptions using the beam information indicated by the configuration signaling; and decode second UL data received by the NCR-FWD unit from the UE in the UL access link using the second receive beam associated with the beam information.

[00325] In Example 7, the subject matter of Examples 5-6 includes subject matter where the configuration signaling is one of radio resource control (RRC) signaling, downlink control information (DCI), or media access control (MAC) signaling received at the NCR-MT unit of the NCR from the base station, and the configuration signaling indicates the beam information for one or more sets of time units configured for the UL receptions or the DL transmissions.

[00326] In Example 8, the subject matter of Example 7 includes subject matter where a time unit of the one or more sets of time units comprises one or more symbols. [00327] In Example 9, the subject matter of Example 8 includes subject matter where the configuration signaling indicates a starting symbol of the one or more symbols and duration associated with the UL receptions or the DL transmissions.

[00328] In Example 10, the subject matter of Examples 1-9 includes, transceiver circuitry coupled to the processing circuitry; and one or more antennas coupled to the transceiver circuitry.

[00329] Example 11 is a computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors of a base station, the instructions to configure the base station for communication with a Network- Controlled Repeater (NCR) in a Fifth Generation New Radio (5G NR) network, and to cause the base station to perform operations comprising: decoding Operations, Administration and Maintenance (0AM) signaling received by the base station; determining a first beam index associated with a transmit beam for downlink (DL) transmissions and a second beam index associated with a receive beam for uplink (UL) receptions using the 0AM signaling; encoding DL data for transmission to an NCR-forwarding (NCR-FWD) unit of the NCR in a DL backhaul link using the transmit beam associated with the first beam index; and decoding UL data received from the NCR-FWD unit in a UL backhaul link using the receive beam associated with the second beam index.

[00330] In Example 12, the subject matter of Example 11 includes, the operations further comprising: encoding configuration signaling for transmission to an NCR-mobile terminal (NCR-MT) unit of the NCR, the configuration signaling indicating beam information for a second transmit beam for the DL transmissions; and encode second DL data for transmission to the NCR-FWD unit of the NCR using the second transmit beam associated with the beam information.

[00331] Example 13 is a computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors of a Network-Controlled Repeater (NCR), the instructions to configure the NCR for communication with a base station in a Fifth Generation New Radio (5G NR) network, and to cause the NCR to perform operations comprising: decoding first Operations, Administration and Maintenance (0AM) signaling received at an NCR-mobile terminal (NCR-MT) unit of the NCR; determining a first beam index associated with a transmit beam for downlink (DL) transmissions and a second beam index associated with a receive beam for uplink (UL) receptions using the first OAM signaling; encoding DL data for transmission by an NCR-forwarding (NCR- FWD) unit of the NCR to a user equipment (UE) in a DL access link using the transmit beam associated with the first beam index; and decoding UL data received by the NCR-FWD unit from the UE in an UL access link using the receive beam associated with the second beam index.

[00332] In Example 14, the subject matter of Example 13 includes, the operations comprising: encoding second OAM signaling for transmission within the 5G NR network, the second OAM signaling reporting a number of beams supported by the NCR, wherein the first OAM signaling is responsive to the number of beams indicated by the second OAM signaling.

[00333] In Example 15, the subject matter of Examples 13-14 includes the operations comprising: encoding second OAM signaling for transmission within the 5G NR network, the second OAM signaling reporting a plurality of beam widths supported by the NCR for the DL transmissions, and the UL receptions, wherein the first OAM signaling is responsive to the plurality of beam widths indicated by the second OAM signaling.

[00334] In Example 16, the subject matter of Examples 13-15 includes, the operations comprising: encoding second OAM signaling for transmission within the 5G NR network, the second OAM signaling reporting an association between a first set of beams and a second set of beams supported by the NCR for the DL transmissions and the UL receptions, wherein the first OAM signaling is responsive to the association between the first set of beams and the second set of beams indicated by the second OAM signaling.

[00335] In Example 17, the subject matter of Examples 13-16 includes, the operations comprising: decoding configuration signaling received at the NCR-MT unit of the NCR from the base station, the configuration signaling indicating beam information for a second transmit beam for the DL transmissions; and encoding second DL data for transmission by the NCR-FWD unit of the NCR to the UE in the DL access link using the second transmit beam associated with the beam information. [00336] In Example 18, the subject matter of Example 17 includes, the operations comprising: determining a second receive beam for the UL receptions using the beam information indicated by the configuration signaling; and decoding second UL data received by the NCR-FWD unit from the UE in the UL access link using the second receive beam associated with the beam information.

[00337] In Example 19, the subject matter of Examples 17-18 includes subject matter where the configuration signaling is one of radio resource control (RRC) signaling, downlink control information (DCI), or media access control (MAC) signaling received at the NCR-MT unit of the NCR from the base station, and the configuration signaling indicates the beam information for one or more sets of time units configured for the UL receptions or the DL transmissions.

[00338] In Example 20, the subject matter of Example 19 includes subject matter where a time unit of the one or more sets of time units comprises one or more symbols, and wherein the configuration signaling indicates a starting symbol of the one or more symbols and duration associated with the UL receptions or the DL transmissions.

[00339] Example 21 is at least one machine-readable medium including instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to perform operations to implement any of Examples 1-20.

[00340] Example 22 is an apparatus comprising means to implement any of Examples 1-20.

[00341] Example 23 is a system to implement any of Examples 1-20.

[00342] Example 24 is a method to implement any of Examples 1-20.

[00343] Although an aspect has been described concerning specific exemplary aspects, it will be evident that various modifications and changes may be made to these aspects without departing from the broader scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. This Detailed Description, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of various aspects is defined only by the appended claims, along with the full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus of a Network-Controlled Repeater (NCR) configured for operation in a Fifth Generation New Radio (5GNR) network, the apparatus comprising: processing circuitry, wherein to configure the NCR for communication with a base station and a user equipment (UE) in the 5G NR network, the processing circuitry is to: decode first Operations, Administration, and Maintenance (0AM) signaling received at an NCR-mobile terminal (NCR-MT) unit of the NCR; determine a first beam index associated with a transmit beam for downlink (DL) transmissions and a second beam index associated with a receive beam for uplink (UL) receptions using the first 0AM signaling; encode DL data for transmission by an NCR-forwarding (NCR- FWD) unit of the NCR to the UE in a DL access link using the transmit beam associated with the first beam index; and decode UL data received by the NCR-FWD unit from the UE in a UL access link using the receive beam associated with the second beam index; and a memory coupled to the processing circuitry and configured to store the 0AM signaling.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is to: encode second 0AM signaling for transmission within the 5G NR network, the second 0 AM signaling reporting a number of beams supported by the NCR, wherein the first 0AM signaling is responsive to the number of beams indicated by the second 0AM signaling.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is to: encode second OAM signaling for transmission within the 5G NR network, the second OAM signaling reporting a plurality of beam widths supported by the NCR for the DL transmissions and the UL receptions, wherein the first OAM signaling is responsive to the plurality of beam widths indicated by the second OAM signaling.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is to: encode second OAM signaling for transmission within the 5G NR network, the second OAM signaling reporting an association between a first set of beams and a second set of beams supported by the NCR for the DL transmissions and the UL receptions, wherein the first OAM signaling is responsive to the association between the first set of beams and the second set of beams indicated by the second OAM signaling.

5. The apparatus of any of claims 1-4, wherein the processing circuitry is to: decode configuration signaling received at the NCR-MT unit of the NCR from the base station, the configuration signaling indicating beam information for a second transmit beam for the DL transmissions; and encode second DL data for transmission by the NCR-FWD unit of the NCR to the UE in the DL access link using the second transmit beam associated with the beam information.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the processing circuitry is to: determine a second receive beam for the UL receptions using the beam information indicated by the configuration signaling; and decode second UL data received by the NCR-FWD unit from the UE in the UL access link using the second receive beam associated with the beam information.

7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the configuration signaling is one of radio resource control (RRC) signaling, downlink control information (DCI), or media access control (MAC) signaling received at the NCR-MT unit of the NCR from the base station, and the configuration signaling indicates the beam information for one or more sets of time units configured for the UL receptions or the DL transmissions.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein a time unit of the one or more sets of time units comprises one or more symbols.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the configuration signaling indicates a starting symbol of the one or more symbols and duration associated with the UL receptions or the DL transmissions.

10. The apparatus of any of claims 1-9, further comprising transceiver circuitry coupled to the processing circuitry; and one or more antennas coupled to the transceiver circuitry.

11. A computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors of a base station, the instructions to configure the base station for communication with a Network-Controlled Repeater (NCR) in a Fifth Generation New Radio (5G NR) network, and to cause the base station to perform operations comprising: decoding Operations, Administration, and Maintenance (0AM) signaling received by the base station; determining a first beam index associated with a transmit beam for downlink (DL) transmissions and a second beam index associated with a receive beam for uplink (UL) receptions using the 0AM signaling; encoding DL data for transmission to an NCR-forwarding (NCR-FWD) unit of the NCR in a DL backhaul link using the transmit beam associated with the first beam index; and decoding UL data received from the NCR-FWD unit in a UL backhaul link using the receive beam associated with the second beam index.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, the operations further comprising: encoding configuration signaling for transmission to an NCR-mobile terminal (NCR-MT) unit of the NCR, the configuration signaling indicating beam information for a second transmit beam for the DL transmissions; and encode second DL data for transmission to the NCR-FWD unit of the NCR using the second transmit beam associated with the beam information.

13. A computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors of a Network-Controlled Repeater (NCR), the instructions to configure the NCR for communication with a base station in a Fifth Generation New Radio (5G NR) network, and to cause the NCR to perform operations comprising: decoding first Operations, Administration, and Maintenance (OAM) signaling received at an NCR-mobile terminal (NCR-MT) unit of the NCR; determining a first beam index associated with a transmit beam for downlink (DL) transmissions and a second beam index associated with a receive beam for uplink (UL) receptions using the first OAM signaling; encoding DL data for transmission by an NCR-forwarding (NCR-FWD) unit of the NCR to a user equipment (UE) in a DL access link using the transmit beam associated with the first beam index; and decoding UL data received by the NCR-FWD unit from the UE in a UL access link using the receive beam associated with the second beam index.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, the operations comprising: encoding second OAM signaling for transmission within the 5GNR network, the second OAM signaling reporting a number of beams supported by the NCR, wherein the first OAM signaling is responsive to the number of beams indicated by the second OAM signaling.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, the operations comprising: encoding second OAM signaling for transmission within the 5GNR network, the second OAM signaling reporting a plurality of beam widths supported by the NCR for the DL transmissions and the UL receptions, wherein the first OAM signaling is responsive to the plurality of beam widths indicated by the second OAM signaling.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, the operations comprising: encoding second OAM signaling for transmission within the 5GNR network, the second OAM signaling reporting an association between a first set of beams and a second set of beams supported by the NCR for the DL transmissions and the UL receptions, wherein the first OAM signaling is responsive to the association between the first set of beams and the second set of beams indicated by the second OAM signaling.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of any of claims 13-16, the operations comprising: decoding configuration signaling received at the NCR-MT unit of the NCR from the base station, the configuration signaling indicating beam information for a second transmit beam for the DL transmissions; and encoding second DL data for transmission by the NCR-FWD unit of the NCR to the UE in the DL access link using the second transmit beam associated with the beam information.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, the operations comprising: determining a second receive beam for the UL receptions using the beam information indicated by the configuration signaling; and decoding second UL data received by the NCR-FWD unit from the UE in the UL access link using the second receive beam associated with the beam information.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the configuration signaling is one of radio resource control (RRC) signaling, downlink control information (DCI), or media access control (MAC) signaling received at the NCR-MT unit of the NCR from the base station, and the configuration signaling indicates the beam information for one or more sets of time units configured for the UL receptions or the DL transmissions.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein a time unit of the one or more sets of time units comprises one or more symbols, and wherein the configuration signaling indicates a starting symbol of the one or more symbols and duration associated with the UL receptions or the DL transmissions.