WO2024080018A1

WO2024080018A1 - Wireless relay device and wireless relay method

Info

Publication number: WO2024080018A1
Application number: PCT/JP2023/031436
Authority: WO
Inventors: 大輔栗田; 浩樹原田; ウェイチースン; ジンワン; ランチン
Original assignee: 株式会社Ｎｔｔドコモ
Priority date: 2022-10-13
Filing date: 2023-08-30
Publication date: 2024-04-18

Abstract

This wireless relay device comprises: a communication unit that receives signaling including control information relating to a relay function from a base station; a control unit that controls the relay function on the basis of the control information; and a relay unit that performs the relay function of receiving a first signal from the base station, transmitting the first signal to a terminal, receiving a second signal from the terminal, and transmitting the second signal to the base station. The relay unit transmits the first signal to the terminal by using a plurality of Transmission/Reception Points (TRPs). The control unit controls the plurality of TRPs on the basis of the control information.

Description

Radio relay device and radio relay method

The present invention relates to a wireless relay device and a wireless relay method in a wireless communication system.

3GPP (registered trademark) (3rd Generation Partnership Project) is currently studying a wireless communication method called 5G or NR (New Radio) (hereinafter, this wireless communication method will be referred to as "NR") in order to achieve even larger system capacity, even faster data transmission speeds, and even lower latency in wireless sections. In 5G, various wireless technologies and network architectures are being studied to meet the requirements of achieving a throughput of 10 Gbps or more while keeping latency in wireless sections to 1 ms or less (for example, Non-Patent Document 1).

Next-generation communications are expected to use high-frequency bands. Due to the characteristics of these high-frequency bands, there is a demand for improved communication quality due to the reduced number of scatterers, the reduced shadowing effect, and increased attenuation over distance. It is expected that beam control and an environment that guarantees communication quality will be required.

For example, in high frequency bands, there is a problem that blind spots are easily created due to the strong directional nature of radio waves. Therefore, methods are being tried to improve communication quality in multipath environments by using passive repeaters or active reflectors (RIS: Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces), smart repeaters that receive, amplify, and re-radiate signals, etc. (for example, Non-Patent Document 2).

As mentioned above, wireless relay devices such as reflectors or smart repeaters that relay radio waves by reflecting or transmitting radio waves from a radio wave source such as a base station to a radio wave receiving destination such as a terminal are being considered. Here, it is necessary to clarify communication control, particularly when a wireless relay device controlled by a network relays wireless signals between base stations and terminals.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and aims to relay wireless signals in a wireless communication system using a wireless relay device controlled by a network.

According to the disclosed technology, a wireless relay device is provided that has a communication unit that receives signaling including control information related to a relay function from a base station, a control unit that controls the relay function based on the control information, and a relay unit that performs a relay function of receiving a first signal from the base station, transmitting the first signal to a terminal, receiving a second signal from the terminal, and transmitting the second signal to the base station, the relay unit transmitting the first signal to the terminal using multiple TRPs (Transmission/Reception Points), and the control unit controlling the multiple TRPs based on the control information.

The disclosed technology allows wireless signals to be relayed in a wireless communication system by a wireless relay device controlled by a network.

1 is a diagram illustrating a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a base station 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a terminal 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a wireless relay device 30 according to an embodiment of the present invention. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of operation of the wireless relay device 30 according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of communication in a high frequency band. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a reflective wireless relay device 30 according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a transparent wireless relay device 30 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a network controlled repeater in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an example (1) of transmission by TRP. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an example (2) of transmission by TRP. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an example (3) of transmission by TRP. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining an example (1) of a notification according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a second example of a notification according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a notification example (3) according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a notification example (4) according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a notification example (5) according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining a sixth example of a notification according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining a notification example (7) according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an example (1) of TDM mapping in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an example (2) of TDM mapping in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining an example (3) of TDM mapping in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining an example (4) of TDM mapping in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an example (1) of beam notification in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an example (2) of beam notification in an embodiment of the present invention. A diagram for explaining an example (1) of a backhaul link in an embodiment of the present invention. A diagram for explaining an example (2) of a backhaul link in an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a base station 10, a terminal 20, or a wireless relay device 30 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a vehicle 2001 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Below, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the embodiment described below is an example, and the embodiment to which the present invention can be applied is not limited to the following embodiment.

In operating the wireless communication system according to the embodiment of the present invention, existing technology is used as appropriate. However, the existing technology is, for example, the existing LTE, but is not limited to the existing LTE. Furthermore, the term "LTE" used in this specification has a broad meaning including LTE-Advanced and systems subsequent to LTE-Advanced (e.g., NR) unless otherwise specified.

In addition, in the embodiment of the present invention described below, terms such as SS (Synchronization signal), PSS (Primary SS), SSS (Secondary SS), PBCH (Physical broadcast channel), PRACH (Physical random access channel), PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel), PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel), PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel), and PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel), which are used in existing LTE, are used. This is for convenience of description, and similar signals, functions, etc. may be called by other names. Furthermore, the above-mentioned terms in NR correspond to NR-SS, NR-PSS, NR-SSS, NR-PBCH, NR-PRACH, etc. However, even if a signal is used in NR, it is not necessarily specified as "NR-".

Furthermore, in an embodiment of the present invention, the duplex method may be a TDD (Time Division Duplex) method, an FDD (Frequency Division Duplex) method, or another method (e.g., Flexible Duplex, etc.).

In addition, in the embodiment of the present invention, when radio parameters and the like are "configured," this may mean that predetermined values are pre-configured, or that radio parameters notified from the base station 10 or the terminal 20 are configured.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a wireless communication system in an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the wireless communication system in the embodiment of the present invention includes a base station 10 and a terminal 20. There may be multiple base stations 10 and multiple terminals 20.

The base station 10 is a communication device that provides one or more cells and performs wireless communication with the terminal 20. The physical resources of the wireless signal are defined in the time domain and the frequency domain, and the time domain may be defined by the number of OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) symbols, and the frequency domain may be defined by the number of subcarriers or the number of resource blocks. In addition, the TTI (Transmission Time Interval) in the time domain may be a slot or a subslot, and the TTI may be a subframe.

The base station 10 is capable of performing carrier aggregation, which bundles multiple cells (multiple CCs (component carriers)) together to communicate with the terminal 20. In carrier aggregation, one primary cell (PCell, Primary Cell) and one or more secondary cells (SCell, Secondary Cell) are used.

The base station 10 transmits a synchronization signal, system information, etc. to the terminal 20. The synchronization signal is, for example, NR-PSS and NR-SSS. The system information is, for example, transmitted on NR-PBCH or PDSCH, and is also called broadcast information. As shown in FIG. 1, the base station 10 transmits control signals or data to the terminal 20 on DL (Downlink), and receives control signals or data from the terminal 20 on UL (Uplink). Note that, here, those transmitted on control channels such as PUCCH and PDCCH are called control signals, and those transmitted on shared channels such as PUSCH and PDSCH are called data, but these names are merely examples.

The terminal 20 is a communication device equipped with a wireless communication function, such as a smartphone, a mobile phone, a tablet, a wearable terminal, or a communication module for M2M (Machine-to-Machine). As shown in FIG. 1, the terminal 20 receives control signals or data from the base station 10 in DL and transmits control signals or data to the base station 10 in UL, thereby utilizing various communication services provided by the wireless communication system. The terminal 20 may be referred to as a UE, and the base station 10 may be referred to as a gNB.

The terminal 20 is capable of performing carrier aggregation, which bundles multiple cells (multiple CCs) together to communicate with the base station 10. In carrier aggregation, one primary cell and one or more secondary cells are used. A PUCCH-SCell having a PUCCH may also be used.

In the wireless communication system according to the embodiment of the present invention, the base station 10 is, for example, a wireless base station operated in 5G or 6G and forms a cell. The cell is a relatively large cell and is called a macro cell.

Base station 10A to base station 10D are base stations operated in 5G or 6G. Base station 10A to base station 10D form cells CA to D, respectively, which are smaller in size than a macro cell. Cells A to D may be called small cells, macro cells, etc. As shown in FIG. 1, cells A to D may be formed to be included in a macro cell.

A macrocell may generally be interpreted as a communication area with a radius of several hundred meters to several tens of kilometers that is covered by a single base station. A small cell may also be interpreted as a general term for a cell that has low transmission power and covers a smaller area than a macrocell.

Note that the base station 10 and base stations 0A to 10D may be written as gNodeB (gNB) or BS (Base Station), etc. Furthermore, the terminal 20 may be written as UE or MS, etc. Furthermore, the specific configuration of the wireless communication system, including the number and types of base stations and terminals, is not limited to the example shown in FIG. 1.

Furthermore, the wireless communication system is not necessarily limited to a wireless communication system conforming to 5G or 6G. For example, the wireless communication system may be a next-generation wireless communication system conforming to 6G or a wireless communication system conforming to LTE.

As an example, the base station 10 and base stations 10A-10D perform wireless communication with the terminal 20 according to 5G or 6G. The base station 10 and base stations 10A-10D and the terminal 20 may support Massive MIMO, which generates a more directional beam by controlling wireless signals transmitted from multiple antenna elements, Carrier Aggregation (CA), which uses a bundle of multiple component carriers (CCs), Dual Connectivity (DC), which simultaneously communicates between the terminal 20 and each of two NG-RAN nodes, and IAB (Integrated Access and Backhaul), which integrates wireless backhaul between wireless communication nodes such as gNBs and wireless access to the terminal 20.

The wireless communication system may also be compatible with higher frequency bands than the following frequency ranges (Frequency Range, FR) defined in 3GPP Release 15. For example, FR1 may be compatible with 410 MHz-7.125 GHz, and FR2 may be compatible with 24.25 GHz-52.6 GHz. Furthermore, the wireless communication system may be compatible with frequency bands exceeding 52.6 GHz up to 114.25 GHz. Such frequency bands may be referred to as millimeter wave bands.

Here, the base station 10 that supports massive MIMO can transmit beams. Massive MIMO generally means MIMO communication using an antenna with 100 or more antenna elements, and the multiplexing effect of multiple streams enables faster wireless communication than before. Advanced beamforming is also possible. The beam width can be dynamically changed depending on the frequency band used or the state of the terminal 20. In addition, the use of narrow beams can increase the received signal power due to the beamforming gain. Furthermore, effects such as reduced interference and effective use of wireless resources are expected.

The wireless communication system may also include a wireless relay device 30. In an embodiment of the present invention, as an example, the wireless relay device 30 may be a reflector (RIS), a phase control reflector, a passive repeater, an IRS (Intelligent Reflecting Surface), etc. Specific examples of a reflector (RIS: Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface) may include what is called a metamaterial reflector, a dynamic metasurface, a metasurface lens, etc. (e.g., Non-Patent Document 2).

In an embodiment of the present invention, the wireless relay device 30 relays, for example, a wireless signal transmitted from the base station 10A. In the description of the embodiment of the present invention, "relay" may refer to at least one of "reflection," "transmission," "concentration (concentrating radio waves at approximately one point)," and "diffraction." The terminal 20 can receive the wireless signal relayed by the wireless relay device 30. Furthermore, the wireless relay device 30 may relay a wireless signal transmitted from the terminal 20, or may relay a wireless signal transmitted from the base station 10.

As an example, the wireless relay device 30 can change the phase of the wireless signal that is relayed to the terminal 20. From this perspective, the wireless relay device 30 may be called a phase-variable reflector. Note that in this embodiment, the wireless relay device 30 may have a function of changing the phase of the wireless signal and relaying it, but is not limited to this. The wireless relay device 30 may also be called a repeater, relay device, reflect array, IRS, transmit array, or the like.

In addition, in an embodiment of the present invention, a wireless relay device 30 such as a RIS may be called a battery-less device, a metamaterial functional device, an intelligent reflecting surface, a smart repeater, etc. As an example, a wireless relay device 30 such as a RIS or a smart repeater may be defined as having the functions shown in 1)-5) below.

1) It may have a receiving function for signals transmitted from the base station 10. The signals may be DL signals such as SSB (SS/PBCH block), PDCCH, PDSCH, DM-RS (Demodulation Reference Signal), PT-RS (Phase Tracking Reference Signal), CSI-RS (Channel State Information Reference Signal), RIS-only signals, etc. It may have a receiving function for signals carrying information related to metamaterial functions. It may also have a transmitting function for transmitting the signals to the terminal 20. SSB may be a signal including a synchronization signal and notification information.

2) It may have a function of transmitting signals to the base station 10. The signals may be UL signals such as PRACH, PUCCH, PUSCH, DM-RS, PT-RS, SRS (Sounding Reference Signal), RIS-only signals, etc. It may have a function of transmitting information related to metamaterial functions. It may also have a receiving function of receiving the signals from the terminal 20.

3) It may have a frame synchronization function with the base station 10. It may also have a frame synchronization function with the terminal 20.

4) The terminal 20 may have a function of reflecting a signal transmitted from the base station 10 or the terminal 20. For example, the reflection function may be a function related to phase change, a function related to beam control (for example, a function related to control of TCI (Transmission Configuration Indication)-state and QCL (Quasi Co Location), a selection and application of a beam, and a selection and application of a spatial filter/precoding weight).
5) It may have a function of changing the power of a signal transmitted from the base station 10 or the terminal 20. For example, the power changing function may be power amplification.

In addition, "receive and transmit" or "relay" in a wireless relay device 30 such as a RIS or a smart repeater may mean that up to function A below is performed, but transmission is made without performing function B below.
Function A: Apply a phase shifter.
Function B: No compensation circuit (e.g., amplification, filtering) is used.

As another example,
Function A: Apply phase shifters and compensation circuits.
Function B: No frequency conversion is performed.

In addition, in a wireless relay device 30 such as a RIS, when the phase is changed, the amplitude may be amplified. Furthermore, "relaying" in a wireless relay device 30 such as a RIS may mean transmitting a received signal as is without performing processing at the layer 2 or layer 3 level, transmitting a received signal at the physical layer level as is, or transmitting a received signal as is without interpreting the signal (in which case, a phase change or amplitude amplification, etc. may be performed).

(Device configuration)
Next, a functional configuration example of the base station 10, the terminal 20, and the wireless relay device 30 that executes the processes and operations in the embodiment of the present invention will be described. The base station 10, the terminal 20, and the wireless relay device 30 each include a function to execute the embodiments described below. However, the base station 10, the terminal 20, and the wireless relay device 30 may each include only one of the functions of the embodiments.

<Base Station 10>
Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the base station 10. As shown in Fig. 2, the base station 10 has a transmitting unit 110, a receiving unit 120, a setting unit 130, and a control unit 140. The functional configuration shown in Fig. 2 is merely an example. As long as the operation related to the embodiment of the present invention can be executed, the names of the functional divisions and the functional units may be any. The transmitting unit 110 and the receiving unit 120 may be called a communication unit.

The transmitting unit 110 has a function of generating a signal to be transmitted to the terminal 20 and transmitting the signal wirelessly. The receiving unit 120 has a function of receiving various signals transmitted from the terminal 20 and acquiring, for example, information of a higher layer from the received signals. The transmitting unit 110 also has a function of transmitting NR-PSS, NR-SSS, NR-PBCH, DL/UL control signals, DL data, etc. to the terminal 20. The transmitting unit 110 also transmits setting information, etc., which will be described in the embodiments.

The setting unit 130 stores preset setting information and various setting information to be transmitted to the terminal 20 in a storage device, and reads it out from the storage device as necessary. The control unit 140 performs, for example, resource allocation and overall control of the base station 10. Note that the functional unit related to signal transmission in the control unit 140 may be included in the transmitting unit 110, and the functional unit related to signal reception in the control unit 140 may be included in the receiving unit 120. The transmitting unit 110 and the receiving unit 120 may be called the transmitter and the receiver, respectively.

<Terminal 20>
Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the terminal 20. As shown in Fig. 3, the terminal 20 has a transmitting unit 210, a receiving unit 220, a setting unit 230, and a control unit 240. The functional configuration shown in Fig. 3 is merely an example. As long as the operation related to the embodiment of the present invention can be executed, the names of the functional divisions and functional units may be any. The transmitting unit 210 and the receiving unit 220 may be called a communication unit.

The transmitter 210 creates a transmission signal from the transmission data and transmits the transmission signal wirelessly. The receiver 220 receives various signals wirelessly and obtains higher layer signals from the received physical layer signals. The transmitter 210 also transmits HARQ-ACK, and the receiver 220 receives setting information etc., which will be explained in the embodiment.

The setting unit 230 stores various setting information received from the base station 10 by the receiving unit 220 in a storage device, and reads it out from the storage device as necessary. The setting unit 230 also stores setting information that is set in advance. The control unit 240 performs control of the entire terminal 20, etc. Note that the functional unit related to signal transmission in the control unit 240 may be included in the transmitting unit 210, and the functional unit related to signal reception in the control unit 240 may be included in the receiving unit 220. The transmitting unit 210 and the receiving unit 220 may also be called a transmitter and a receiver, respectively.

<Wireless relay device 30>
Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of the wireless relay device 30 according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 4, the wireless relay device 30 has a transmitting unit 310, a receiving unit 320, a control unit 330, a variable unit 340, and an antenna unit 350. As long as the operation according to the embodiment of the present invention can be performed, the functional divisions and the names of the functional units may be any. The transmitting unit 310 and the receiving unit 320 may be called a communication unit.

The antenna section 350 includes at least one antenna connected to the variable section 340. For example, the antenna section 350 may be arranged as an array antenna. In the embodiment of the present invention, the antenna section 350 may be specifically referred to as a relay antenna. The variable section 340 and the antenna section 350 may be referred to as a relay section.

The variable section 340 is connected to the antenna section 350 and can change the phase, load, amplitude, etc. For example, the variable section 340 may be a variable phase shifter, phase shifter, amplifier, etc. For example, by changing the phase of the radio waves that reach the relay antenna from the radio wave generating source, it is possible to change the direction or beam of the radio waves, etc.

The control unit 330 is a control means for controlling the variable unit 340. In an embodiment of the present invention, the control unit 330 functions as a control unit for controlling the relay state when relaying radio waves from the base station 10 or the terminal 20 without signal interpretation. Here, the control unit 330 may change the relay state based on control information received from the base station 10 or the terminal 20 via the communication unit, or may change the relay state based on the reception state of the radio waves from the base station 10 or the terminal 20. For example, the control unit 330 may select appropriate reception beams and transmission beams (directions) based on control information such as SSB, and control the variable unit 340. Similarly, the control unit 330 may select an appropriate combination of reception direction and transmission direction based on criteria such as the highest reception quality or the highest received power from the reception state, and control the variable unit 340.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the control unit 330 can control the variable unit 340 based on, for example, information on the propagation path between the terminal 20 or the base station 10A and the antenna unit 350 (including information estimated from the reception state and control information; the same applies below). For example, the control unit 330 can relay the radio wave received from the base station 10A to a specific direction such as the radio wave receiving destination (terminal 20 in this case) by changing the phase without using transmission power using a known method such as an active repeater or RIS. Specifically, the control unit 330 controls the phase of the radio signal to be relayed to the terminal 20 or the base station 10A based on the estimated propagation path information H _PT and H _RP . That is, by changing the phase of an array antenna or the like based on the same principle as beamforming, etc., the radio wave can be relayed to a specific direction. Note that the radio relay device 30 controls (changes) only the phase of the radio signal (radio wave) by the control unit 330, and may relay without power supply without amplifying the power of the relayed radio signal.

Furthermore, in an embodiment of the present invention, the control unit 330 may acquire information based on the reception state. Furthermore, the receiving unit 320 may acquire control information from the base station 10A or the terminal 20. For example, the receiving unit 320 may receive various signals such as SSB (including the various signals exemplified in the above-mentioned functions) transmitted from the base station 10A or the terminal 20 as control information.

In addition, the control unit 330 may estimate propagation path information (H PT and H RP ) between the radio wave source (e.g., the base station 10A or the terminal 20) and the antenna unit 350 based on the reception state (e.g., change in reception _power , _etc. ) during control by the variable unit 340.

The propagation path information (propagation channel information) for each propagation path is specifically information such as amplitude or phase, and in an embodiment of the present invention, is information estimated regarding the propagation path of the radio waves arriving at the antenna unit 350. As an example, the control unit 330 may estimate the propagation path information of the antenna unit 350 based on the change in received power when the phase of the variable unit 340 of the array-shaped antenna unit 350 is switched to orthogonal, using a principle similar to that of I/Q (In-phase/Quadrature) detection.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the wireless relay device 30 in an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5, as an example, the wireless relay device 30 is interposed between the base station 10A (or another base station 10, etc.) and the terminal 20, and relays (reflects, transmits, aggregates, diffracts, etc.) wireless signals transmitted and received between the base station 10A and the terminal 20.

As a specific example, when the wireless quality is good, the base station 10A and the terminal 20 transmit and receive wireless signals directly without going through the wireless relay device 30. On the other hand, when the wireless quality deteriorates, for example when there is an obstruction between the base station 10A and the terminal 20, the wireless relay device 30 relays the wireless signals transmitted and received between the base station 10A and the terminal 20.

Specifically, the wireless relay device 30 estimates propagation path information H PT , H RT between the radio wave generating source such as the base station 10A or the terminal 20 and the relay _antenna based on a change in the received power when controlling the variable unit 340 such as a variable phase shifter, and relays the radio signal to the radio wave receiving destination such as the terminal 20 by controlling the variable unit 340 such as a variable phase shifter based on the estimated propagation path information. Note that _the wireless relay device 30 is not limited to estimating the propagation path information H _PT , H _RT , and may relay the radio signal to the radio wave receiving destination such as the base station 10A or the terminal 20 by controlling the variable unit 340 such as a variable phase shifter based on control information received from the base station 10A or the terminal 20.

Here, a propagation path or propagation channel refers to an individual communication path for wireless communication, and in this case, it is the communication path between each transmitting and receiving antenna (such as the base station antenna and terminal antenna in the figure).

As an example, the wireless relay device 30 includes an antenna unit 350 having a small multi-element antenna compatible with massive MIMO, and a variable unit 340 having a variable phase device or phase shifter that changes the phase of the wireless signal, essentially the radio wave, to a specific phase, and uses the variable unit 340 to control the phase of the radio wave relayed to the terminal 20 or base station 10A.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of communication in a high frequency band. As shown in FIG. 6, when using a high frequency band of several GHz to several tens of GHz or more, blind zones are likely to occur due to the strong linearity of radio waves. If there is line of sight between the base station 10A and the terminal 20, there is no effect on wireless communication between the base station 10A and the terminal 20 even when the high frequency band is used. On the other hand, if the line of sight between the base station 10A and the terminal 20 is blocked by an obstruction such as a building or tree, for example, the wireless quality will deteriorate significantly. In other words, if the terminal 20 moves into a blind zone blocked by an obstruction, communication may be interrupted.

Considering the existence of applications (remote control, etc.) that take advantage of high speed, large capacity, and low latency characteristics, it is important to eliminate blind spots, ensure uninterrupted communication within the wireless communication system, and ensure a connection between the base station and terminals.

Therefore, technology has been developed that can relay radio waves between the base station 10A and the terminal 20, such as radio wave propagation control devices such as RIS or smart repeaters. In this way, communication characteristics can be improved by controlling the propagation characteristics of the base station signal, and it is possible to expand coverage without the need for a signal source, and reduce installation and operation costs by adding base stations.

　Conventional radio wave propagation control devices are of two types: passive and active. Passive types have the advantage of not needing control information, but are unable to keep up with moving objects or environmental changes. On the other hand, active types have the disadvantage of needing control information and increasing overhead, but they can variably control the propagation characteristics of radio waves by changing the load (phase) state of the control antenna, and can keep up with moving objects and environmental changes.

There are two types of active radio wave propagation control devices and control methods: the feedback (FB) model and the propagation path information model. In the FB model, a variable radio wave propagation control device randomly changes the load (phase) state and has the terminal 20 or the like feed back the communication state, and searches for optimal conditions. On the other hand, in the propagation path information model, the load state is determined based on propagation path information between the base station and the radio wave propagation control device, making it possible to perform optimal radio wave propagation control. Either type can be applied in the embodiments of the present invention.

Furthermore, there are various types of relay methods, such as reflection, transmission, diffraction, and aggregation. In this embodiment, as an example, the following describes the configuration of the reflection type and the transmission type (for the diffraction type and the aggregation type, see Non-Patent Document 2, etc.).

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a reflective wireless relay device 30 in an embodiment of the present invention. An example of the system configuration of a reflective wireless relay device 30 will be described with reference to FIG. 7. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the relationship between a transmitting antenna Tx of a base station 10A or the like, a relay antenna Sx of a transparent wireless relay device 30, and a receiving antenna Rx of a terminal 20 or the like. As shown in FIG. 7, in the embodiment of the present invention, MIMO is used as an example, and there are multiple propagation paths between Tx and Sx and multiple propagation paths between Sx and Rx, and the wireless relay device 30 relays radio waves by controlling a variable unit 340 having a variable phase shifter or the like of the relay antenna Sx.

As shown in Figure 7, in the case of the reflective type, the array-like relay antennas are arranged facing the same direction. This makes it possible to estimate the propagation path of the relay antennas based on the reception state observed when the phase conditions of the relay antennas are changed multiple times.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a transparent type wireless relay device 30 in an embodiment of the present invention. An example of the system configuration of the transparent type wireless relay device 30 will be described with reference to FIG. 8. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the relationship between the transmitting antenna Tx of the base station 10A, the relay antenna Sx of the transparent type wireless relay device 30, and the receiving antenna Rx of the terminal 20. As shown in FIG. 8, in the embodiment of the present invention, MIMO is used as an example, and there are multiple propagation paths between Tx and Sx and multiple propagation paths between Sx and Rx. As shown in the figure, the wireless relay device 30 relays radio waves arriving from one side to the other side via a variable unit 340 such as a variable phase shifter of the relay antenna Sx. Thus, in the case of the transparent type, the reference antenna on the left side of the figure and the relay antenna on the right side of the figure are arranged in pairs facing in opposite directions so that radio waves arriving from one side can be relayed to the other side. Whether the type is transparent or reflective, the power that has arrived at the relay antenna may be detected by a power detector or the like to measure the reception state. In addition, the propagation path of the relay antenna can be estimated based on the received signal observed when the phase conditions of the relay antenna are changed multiple times.

Future networks such as 6G will require even higher quality than 5G. For example, ultra-high speeds on the order of tera bps and high reliability and low latency at the level of optical communications will be required. In addition, designs will need to take into account ultra-extended coverage, ultra-long distance communications, ultra-reliable communications, virtual cells, flexible networks, mesh networks, enhanced side links, and RIS or smart repeaters.

In order to achieve this quality, it is expected that extremely high frequencies, such as terahertz waves, will be used. For example, when using extremely high frequencies such as terahertz waves, the expected advantages are high speed due to the use of ultra-wideband and low latency due to short symbol lengths, but there are also expected disadvantages such as narrow coverage due to a large attenuation rate and reduced reliability due to high line-to-line propagation. It is necessary to consider how to ensure redundancy for each location where 6G communications are required, in other words, how to increase the number of communication transmission points.

As described above, the RIS reflects or transmits the beam transmitted from the base station 10 or terminal 20 in a predetermined direction and delivers it to the terminal 20 or base station 10. A passive RIS is a device that does not change control of reflection angle or beam width, etc. according to the position of the mobile station, and does not require control information, but precise beam control is difficult. An active RIS is a device that changes control of reflection angle and beam width, etc. according to the position of the mobile station, and allows precise beam control, but requires control information, which increases overhead. A RIS can increase the number of communication transmission points.

The RIS may be any of the names shown in 1)-5) below, but is not limited to these.
1) Battery less device
2) Metamaterial functional device 3) Intelligent reflecting surface
4) Smart repeater
5) Network-controlled repeater

The RIS may be any device having a specific function, and the specific function may be, for example, at least one of the functions 1) and 2) shown below.

1) UE Function: A function for receiving signals transmitted from the base station 10 (e.g., DL signals, SSB, PDCCH, PDSCH, DM-RS, PT-RS, CSI-RS, RIS-dedicated signals). The receiving function may receive information related to the metamaterial function described below in 2). A function for transmitting signals to the base station 10 (e.g., UL signals, PRACH, PUCCH, PUSCH, DM-RS, PT-RS, SRS, RIS-dedicated signals). The transmitting function may transmit information related to the metamaterial function described below in 2). A function for frame synchronization with the base station 10.

2) Metamaterial function A reflection function (e.g., phase change) of a signal transmitted from the base station 10 or the terminal 20. The phase may be changed for each of the multiple reflecting elements of the RIS to reflect the signal, or a common phase change may be performed by multiple reflecting elements to reflect the signal. A function related to beam control (e.g., TCI-state, a function related to control of QCL, selective application of beam, selective application of spatial filter/precoding weight). A power change function (e.g., power amplification) of a signal transmitted from the base station 10 or the terminal 20. A different power change may be performed for each of the reflecting elements of the RIS, or a common power change may be performed by multiple reflecting elements.

"Receiving and transmitting" in RIS may mean reflecting radio waves/signals. Hereinafter, the terms "base station" and "terminal" are used, but are not limited to these and may be replaced with communication devices. RIS may be replaced with smart repeater, relay, etc.

For example, the RIS may operate under the assumptions set forth below in 1)-6).
1) The network operator configures the RIS. 2) The RIS is fixed and does not move. 3) The RIS relays signals from only one base station. 4) It can receive and transmit control signals. 5) It operates in half-duplex mode. 6) It operates in a single RIS environment.

Network-controlled repeaters, which are wireless relay devices controlled by a network, are being considered (for example, Non-Patent Document 3). Unlike conventional repeaters that amplify and forward, network-controlled repeaters can control, for example, beam, timing, DL or UL, ON or OFF, and transmission power from the network. Hereinafter, "network-controlled repeaters" are also referred to as "repeaters."

The network-controlled repeater is used as an in-band RF repeater to extend coverage in the FR1 and FR2 bands. In particular, it is intended for use in FR2 deployments in outdoor and outdoor to indoor (O2I) scenarios. For example, the environment of the network-controlled repeater may be a single-hop, non-mobile environment. The network-controlled repeater may also be transparent to the UE. The network-controlled repeater can simultaneously maintain a gNB-repeater link and a repeater-UE link.

Network Control The following studies are being conducted on side control information for controlling repeaters from the network.
- Information related to beamforming - Information related to transmission or reception timing - Information related to UL-DL TDD setting - ON-OFF information for interference control and power saving - Power control for interference control

Side control information via L1 and L2 signaling is also being considered. Identification and authentication of network control repeaters is also being considered.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a network-controlled repeater in an embodiment of the present invention. A network-controlled repeater (NCR) may be configured as shown in FIG. 9. Hereinafter, the network-controlled repeater is also referred to as NCR. An NCR-MT (Mobile Termination) may be defined as a device having a function of communicating with a base station 10 via a control link (C-link). For example, it becomes possible to exchange side control information via the control link. The control link may be based on an NR-Uu interface.

NCR-Fwd (Forwarding) may be defined as a device having the function of amplifying and forwarding UL and DL RF signals between the base station 10 and the terminal 20 via a backhaul link and an access link. The operation of the NCR-Fwd may be controlled based on side control information received from the base station 10. As shown in FIG. 9, the backhaul link corresponds to communication between the base station 10 and the NCR-Fwd, and the access link corresponds to communication between the terminal 20 and the NCR-Fwd.

For example, in FR2, beam-related information is useful and recommended as side control information that controls the operation of NCR 30 at least for the access link. As a beam-related notification in the access link, a beam index or a source RS index such as a TCI indicator is assumed.

To instruct the beam in the access link of the NCR-Fwd, the NCR30 may operate, for example, as shown in 1)-7) below.

1) In FR2, beam-related information is used as side control information that controls the operation of NCR 30 for at least the access link.
2) Supports dynamic and semi-static notifications.
3) Explicitly indicate time domain resources for each beam notification.
4) Supports dynamic beam notification, semi-static beam notification, and semi-persistent notification.
5) Time domain resource granularity supports slot level and symbol level.
6) Assume beam correspondence of DL and UL access links in NCR-Fwd.
7) Use beam index for beam notification in access link.

Here, M-TRP (Multiple Transmission/Reception Point) transmission is supported for UE beam management.

Figure 10 is a diagram for explaining an example (1) of transmission by TRP. As shown in Figure 10, S-TRP (Single TRP) transmission is supported, and one PDCCH schedules one PDSCH.

Figure 11 is a diagram for explaining an example (2) of transmission by TRP. Figure 11 shows an example of S-DCI (Single DCI) and M-TRP framework. One PDCCH schedules multiple PDSCH/PUSCH for multiple TRPs. Multiple beams are notified for one PDSCH/PUSCH.

Figure 12 is a diagram for explaining an example (3) of transmission by TRP. Figure 12 shows an example of M-DCI (Multiple DCI) and M-TRP framework. One PDCCH schedules PDSCH/PUSCH to one TRP, and multiple PDCCHs schedule multiple PDSCH/PUSCH to multiple TRPs. One beam is notified for one PDSCH/PUSCH.

In addition, dynamic switching between S-TRP and M-TRP may be supported. Semi-static switching between single PDCCH-based M-TRP and multiple PDCCH-based M-TRP may be supported.

The following operations may be supported in S-DCI and M-TRP:

PDSCH: 2 beams are notified. Spatial Division Multiplex (SDM) PDSCH: 2 beams are used for the same time/frequency domain resources, and each beam is used for a different layer. Frequency Division Multiplex (FDM) PDSCH: 2 beams are used for the same time domain resources, and each beam is used for a different frequency domain resource. Time Division Multiplex (TDM) PDSCH: 1 beam is used for 1 time domain resource, and a different beam is used for a different time domain resource. Single Frequency Network (SFN) PDSCH: 2 beams are used for the same time/frequency domain resources.

PUSCH: 2 beams are signaled. TDM PUSCH: 1 beam is used for 1 time domain resource, different beams are used for different time domain resources. SDM PUSCH: 2 beams are used for the same time/frequency domain resource, each beam is used for a different layer. SFN PUSCH: 2 beams are used for the same time/frequency domain resource.

PUCCH: 2 beams are signaled. TDM PUCCH: 1 beam is used for 1 time domain resource, different beams are used for different time domain resources. SFN PUCCH: 2 beams are used for the same time/frequency domain resource.

The following operations may be supported in M-DCI and M-TRP:

PDSCH: 1 beam is notified. 2 PDSCHs of different TRPs overlapping in the time / frequency domain
PUSCH: 1 beam is notified. 2 PUSCHs of different TRPs overlapping in the time / frequency domain
PUCCH: 1 beam is notified. 2 PUCCHs of different TRPs overlapping in the time / frequency domain

Below, Proposals 0 to 7 are explained as methods for supporting the M-TRP framework in NCR access links.

FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an example (1) of a notification in an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 13, the M-TRP framework may be applied to a scenario of simultaneous transmission and reception using multiple beams transmitted from or received at one UE.

FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining a notification example (2) in an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 14, the M-TRP framework may be applied to a scenario of simultaneous transmission and reception using multiple beams transmitted from or received at multiple UEs.

The following explains Proposal 0.

FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining an example (3) of notification in an embodiment of the present invention. M-TRP transmission in the NCR access link may be supported based on the implementation. As shown in FIG. 15, two NCR nodes may support M-TRP transmission in the access link. The gNB may independently control the access link beams of the two NCR nodes using side control information. Each NCR node may be notified of one beam per unit time as the beam control of the access link. In addition, when the NCR-Fwd operates multiple carriers, multiple carrier groups, or multiple subbands, one beam may be notified for one carrier, one carrier group, or one subband as the beam control of the access link.

Proposal 1 is explained below.

FIG. 16 is a diagram for explaining an example (4) of notification in an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 16, one NCR node may have multiple TRPs or panels (hereinafter, "TRP or panel" will be referred to as "TRP") in the NCR-Fwd in the access link. The NCR may report the capabilities related to the access link beam of the NCR-Fwd of each TRP to the gNB for each TRP. The report may be made via a control link. The capabilities may include the number of TRPs supported, the number of NCR-Fwd access link beams supported by each TRP, the beam type (wide beam or narrow beam) supported by each TRP, the beam width of each TRP, etc.

The NCR may report to the gNB the correspondence between the NCR-Fwd access link beams and the TRPs. The NCR may report to the gNB which beams belong to which TRPs. The NCR may report to the gNB a capability indicating whether or not the NCR-Fwd supports simultaneous transmission and reception using multiple beams from multiple TRPs. Note that, as a default, simultaneous transmission and reception using multiple beams from multiple TRPs by the NCR-Fwd may be supported.

The following explains Proposal 2. Proposal 2 is based on Proposal 1.

FIG. 17 is a diagram for explaining a notification example (5) in an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 17, one piece of side control information may notify an NCR-Fwd access link beam for one TRP. One beam per unit time in one TRP may be notified by the side control information. In addition, when the NCR-Fwd operates multiple carriers, multiple carrier groups, or multiple subbands, one beam may be notified for one carrier, one carrier group, or one subband as access link beam control.

If multiple beams for multiple TRPs are notified per unit time, the NCR-Fwd may perform simultaneous transmission and reception using the multiple beams.

The side control information may determine which TRP to notify of the beam information as shown below in 1)-4).

1) Explicitly notify the TRP index in side control information.
2) Identifying the TRP based on the group of CORESET/SS sets associated with the side control information.
3) Identifying the TRP based on the RNTI associated with the side control information.
4) Identifying the TRP based on a group of NCR-MT beams in a control link associated with the side control information.

The following explains Proposal 3. Proposal 3 is based on Proposal 1.

FIG. 18 is a diagram for explaining a notification example (6) in an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 18, one side control information may notify NCR-Fwd access link beams for multiple TRPs. Multiple beams may be notified per unit time in one TRP by the side control information. Each beam corresponds to one TRP. The NCR-Fwd may perform simultaneous transmission and reception using multiple access link beams in one unit time. In addition, when the NCR-Fwd operates multiple carriers, multiple carrier groups, or multiple subbands, one beam may be notified for one carrier, one carrier group, or one subband as access link beam control.

Multiple beams may be reported by multiple beam indices or by a beam group or beam pair index.

The following explains Proposal 4. Proposal 3 is based on Proposal 1.

FIG. 19 is a diagram for explaining a notification example (7) in an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 19, one side control information may notify NCR-Fwd access link beams for multiple TRPs. Multiple beams for multiple unit times may be notified by the side control information. Each beam corresponds to one TRP. Multiple beams may be applied to multiple unit times by TDM. One beam may be applied to one unit time. In addition, when the NCR-Fwd operates multiple carriers, multiple carrier groups, or multiple subbands, one beam may be notified for one carrier, one carrier group, or one subband as access link beam control.

The mapping pattern between multiple beams and multiple unit times may be predefined or may be set. The mapping shown in 1)-4) below may be applied. Multiple of 1)-4) below may be supported, or the network may notify any of 1)-4).

1) FIG. 20 is a diagram for explaining an example (1) of TDM mapping in an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 20, the mapping may be a cyclic pattern. For example, when X beams are notified, the first, second, ..., Xth beams may be applied to the first, second, ..., Xth unit times. When the target unit time is longer than X, the same pattern with a period of X may be repeated for the remaining unit times. FIG. 20 shows an example where X=2.

2) FIG. 21 is a diagram for explaining an example (2) of TDM mapping in an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 21, the mapping may be a pattern including continuous portions. For example, when X beams are notified, the first, second, ..., Xth beam may be applied to the first and second, third and fourth, ..., (2X-1)th and 2Xth unit times. When the target unit time is longer than 2X, the same pattern with a period of 2X may be repeated in the remaining unit times. FIG. 21 shows an example where X=2.

3) FIG. 22 is a diagram for explaining an example (3) of TDM mapping in an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 22, the mapping may be a pattern including continuous parts. For example, when X beams are notified, the first beam may be applied to the first N unit times, the second beam to the next N unit times, and so on, with the Xth beam being applied to the Xth N unit times. When the target unit time is longer than N×X, the same pattern with a period of N×X may be repeated for the remaining unit times. FIG. 22 shows an example where X=2 and N=4.

4) FIG. 23 is a diagram for explaining an example (4) of TDM mapping in an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 23, beams may be patterned evenly by unit time. For example, if M is the total number of time units and X beams are notified, the first beam is applied to the first floor (M/X) number of time units, the second beam is applied to the next floor (M/X) number of time units, and so on, until the Xth beam is applied to the remaining time units. FIG. 23 shows an example where X=2 and M=10.

The following explains Proposal 5. Proposal 5 is based on Proposals 2, 3, and 4.

Side control information notifying the NCR-Fwd access link beam may notify beam information from a set of candidate beam indexes such as 1) or 2) shown below. Note that one beam index may correspond to multiple beams.

1) FIG. 24 is a diagram for explaining an example (1) of beam notification in an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 24, multiple TRPs may share a common set of beam index candidates. For a certain TRP, the side control information notifies the beam index included in the common set.

2) FIG. 25 is a diagram for explaining an example (2) of beam notification in an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 25, an independent set of beam index candidates may be set for each TRP. For a certain TRP, the side control information notifies the beam index included in the set corresponding to the TRP.

Proposal 6 is explained below.

　A method for switching between the S-TRP framework and the M-TRP framework, or a method for switching to a different M-TRP framework, may be as follows. Note that S-TRP means using a single TRP for the NCR-Fwd access link.

S-TRP, Proposal 2, Proposal 3 and Proposal 4 may be switched by higher layer parameters. Proposal 2, Proposal 3 and Proposal 4 may be enabled by higher layer parameters. More specifically, Proposal 2 may be enabled when multiple groups of CORESET/SS sets are configured as different options of Proposal 2, or when multiple RNTIs are configured, or when multiple groups of NCR-MT beams of the control link are configured.

S-TRP, Proposal 2, Proposal 3 and Proposal 4 may be switched based on explicit notification by side control information.

The S-TRP, Proposal 3 and Proposal 4 may be switched based on the number of beams announced. For example, if multiple beams are announced, Proposal 3 or Proposal 4 may be enabled. For example, if a single beam is announced, the S-TRP framework may be enabled.

Proposal 7 is explained below.

When the M-TRP framework is enabled in the NCR-Fwd access link, notification of the beam to be applied to the NCR-Fwd backhaul link may be performed as shown below in 1)-3).

1) FIG. 26 is a diagram for explaining an example (1) of a backhaul link in an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 26, multiple beams may be notified for the backhaul link by replacing the "access link" in the above-mentioned proposals 1 to 6 with the "backhaul link."

2) FIG. 27 is a diagram for explaining an example (2) of a backhaul link in an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 26, one beam may be notified per unit time by side control information for the backhaul link, and the one beam may be applied.

3) As shown in FIG. 26, multiple beams may be applied to the backhaul link in one unit time. One of the multiple beams may be determined as the beam for the NCR-MT control link according to a predefined rule, and the other beams may be notified by side control information. Also, one of the multiple beams may be notified by side control information, and the other beams may be determined as the beam for the NCR-MT control link according to a predefined rule.

The following NCR capabilities may be defined:

• Whether to support Proposal 1, Proposal 2, Proposal 3 or Proposal 4 for NCR access links.
• Whether or not to support Proposal 7 for NCR backhaul links.

Note that embodiments of the present invention may be applied only when the corresponding capabilities are supported by the NCR and/or when corresponding higher layer signaling is provided.

In addition, in an embodiment of the present invention, the beam may be identified by referring to a spatial domain filter, spatial relationship, QCL, and TCI state. The side control information may be notified by RRC signaling, MAC-CE, or DCI. The unit time may be any of a slot, a symbol, a slot group, a symbol group, a subframe, etc.

The above-described embodiment allows the network-controlled repeater to control the beam applied to the wireless signal relayed in the access link or backhaul link of the NCR-Fwd.

In other words, in a wireless communication system, wireless signals can be relayed by a wireless relay device controlled by the network.

(Hardware configuration)
The block diagrams (FIGS. 2, 3, and 4) used in the description of the above embodiments show functional blocks. These functional blocks (components) are realized by any combination of at least one of hardware and software. The method of realizing each functional block is not particularly limited. That is, each functional block may be realized using one device that is physically or logically coupled, or may be realized using two or more devices that are physically or logically separated and directly or indirectly connected (for example, using wires, wirelessly, etc.). The functional block may be realized by combining software with the one device or the multiple devices.

Functions include, but are not limited to, judgement, determination, judgment, calculation, computation, processing, derivation, investigation, search, confirmation, reception, transmission, output, access, resolution, selection, selection, establishment, comparison, assumption, expectation, consideration, broadcasting, notifying, communicating, forwarding, configuring, reconfiguring, allocating, mapping, and assignment. For example, a functional block (component) that performs the transmission function is called a transmitting unit or transmitter. In either case, as mentioned above, there are no particular limitations on the method of realization.

For example, the base station 10, terminal 20, wireless relay device 30, etc. in one embodiment of the present disclosure may function as a computer that performs processing of the wireless communication method of the present disclosure. FIG. 28 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the base station 10, terminal 20, and wireless relay device 30 in one embodiment of the present disclosure. The above-mentioned base station 10, terminal 20, and wireless relay device 30 may be physically configured as a computer device including a processor 1001, a storage device 1002, an auxiliary storage device 1003, a communication device 1004, an input device 1005, an output device 1006, a bus 1007, etc.

In the following description, the term "apparatus" can be interpreted as a circuit, device, unit, etc. The hardware configurations of the base station 10, the terminal 20, and the wireless relay device 30 may be configured to include one or more of the devices shown in the figure, or may be configured to exclude some of the devices.

The functions of the base station 10, the terminal 20, and the wireless relay device 30 are realized by loading specific software (programs) onto hardware such as the processor 1001 and the memory device 1002, causing the processor 1001 to perform calculations, control communications by the communication device 1004, and control at least one of the reading and writing of data in the memory device 1002 and the auxiliary memory device 1003.

The processor 1001, for example, operates an operating system to control the entire computer. The processor 1001 may be configured as a central processing unit (CPU) including an interface with peripheral devices, a control unit, an arithmetic unit, registers, etc. For example, the above-mentioned control unit 140, control unit 240, etc. may be realized by the processor 1001.

The processor 1001 reads out a program (program code), software module, data, etc. from at least one of the auxiliary storage device 1003 and the communication device 1004 to the storage device 1002, and executes various processes according to the program. The program is a program that causes a computer to execute at least a part of the operations described in the above embodiment. For example, the control unit 140 of the base station 10 shown in FIG. 2 may be stored in the storage device 1002 and realized by a control program that runs on the processor 1001. For example, the control unit 240 of the terminal 20 shown in FIG. 3 may be stored in the storage device 1002 and realized by a control program that runs on the processor 1001. Although the above-mentioned various processes have been described as being executed by one processor 1001, they may be executed simultaneously or sequentially by two or more processors 1001. The processor 1001 may be implemented by one or more chips. The program may be transmitted from a network via a telecommunication line.

The storage device 1002 is a computer-readable recording medium, and may be composed of at least one of, for example, a ROM (Read Only Memory), an EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM), an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM), a RAM (Random Access Memory), etc. The storage device 1002 may also be called a register, a cache, a main memory, etc. The storage device 1002 can store executable programs (program codes), software modules, etc., for implementing a communication method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

The auxiliary storage device 1003 is a computer-readable recording medium, and may be, for example, at least one of an optical disk such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc ROM), a hard disk drive, a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk (e.g., a compact disk, a digital versatile disk, a Blu-ray (registered trademark) disk), a smart card, a flash memory (e.g., a card, a stick, a key drive), a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a magnetic strip, etc. The above-mentioned storage medium may be, for example, a database, a server, or other suitable medium that includes at least one of the storage device 1002 and the auxiliary storage device 1003.

The communication device 1004 is hardware (transmitting/receiving device) for communicating between computers via at least one of a wired network and a wireless network, and is also called, for example, a network device, a network controller, a network card, a communication module, etc. The communication device 1004 may be configured to include a high-frequency switch, a duplexer, a filter, a frequency synthesizer, etc., to realize at least one of, for example, Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and Time Division Duplex (TDD). For example, the transmitting/receiving antenna, an amplifier unit, a transmitting/receiving unit, a transmission path interface, etc. may be realized by the communication device 1004. The transmitting/receiving unit may be implemented as a transmitting unit or a receiving unit that is physically or logically separated.

The input device 1005 is an input device (e.g., a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, a switch, a button, a sensor, etc.) that accepts input from the outside. The output device 1006 is an output device (e.g., a display, a speaker, an LED lamp, etc.) that performs output to the outside. Note that the input device 1005 and the output device 1006 may be integrated into one structure (e.g., a touch panel).

Furthermore, each device such as the processor 1001 and the storage device 1002 is connected by a bus 1007 for communicating information. The bus 1007 may be configured using a single bus, or may be configured using different buses between each device.

Furthermore, the base station 10, the terminal 20, and the wireless relay device 30 may be configured to include hardware such as a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), or a field programmable gate array (FPGA), and some or all of the functional blocks may be realized by the hardware. For example, the processor 1001 may be implemented using at least one of these pieces of hardware.

Furthermore, the wireless relay device 30 may have a variable phase shifter, a phase shifter, an amplifier, an antenna, an array antenna, etc. as hardware constituting the variable section 340 and the antenna section 350, as necessary.

FIG. 29 shows an example configuration of a vehicle 2001. As shown in FIG. 29, the vehicle 2001 includes a drive unit 2002, a steering unit 2003, an accelerator pedal 2004, a brake pedal 2005, a shift lever 2006, front wheels 2007, rear wheels 2008, an axle 2009, an electronic control unit 2010, various sensors 2021-2029, an information service unit 2012, and a communication module 2013. Each aspect/embodiment described in this disclosure may be applied to a communication device mounted on the vehicle 2001, and may be applied to the communication module 2013, for example.

The drive unit 2002 is composed of, for example, an engine, a motor, or a hybrid of an engine and a motor. The steering unit 2003 includes at least a steering wheel (also called a handlebar), and is configured to steer at least one of the front wheels and the rear wheels based on the operation of the steering wheel operated by the user.

The electronic control unit 2010 is composed of a microprocessor 2031, memory (ROM, RAM) 2032, and a communication port (IO port) 2033. Signals are input to the electronic control unit 2010 from various sensors 2021 to 2029 provided in the vehicle 2001. The electronic control unit 2010 may also be called an ECU (Electronic Control Unit).

Signals from the various sensors 2021-2029 include a current signal from a current sensor 2021 that senses the motor current, a front and rear wheel rotation speed signal obtained by a rotation speed sensor 2022, a front and rear wheel air pressure signal obtained by an air pressure sensor 2023, a vehicle speed signal obtained by a vehicle speed sensor 2024, an acceleration signal obtained by an acceleration sensor 2025, an accelerator pedal depression amount signal obtained by an accelerator pedal sensor 2029, a brake pedal depression amount signal obtained by a brake pedal sensor 2026, a shift lever operation signal obtained by a shift lever sensor 2027, and a detection signal for detecting obstacles, vehicles, pedestrians, etc. obtained by an object detection sensor 2028.

The information service unit 2012 is composed of various devices, such as a car navigation system, an audio system, speakers, a television, and a radio, for providing (outputting) various information such as driving information, traffic information, and entertainment information, and one or more ECUs for controlling these devices. The information service unit 2012 uses information acquired from an external device via the communication module 2013 or the like to provide various multimedia information and multimedia services to the occupants of the vehicle 2001. The information service unit 2012 may include input devices (e.g., a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, a switch, a button, a sensor, a touch panel, etc.) that accept input from the outside, and may also include output devices (e.g., a display, a speaker, an LED lamp, a touch panel, etc.) that perform output to the outside.

The driving assistance system unit 2030 is composed of various devices that provide functions for preventing accidents and reducing the driving burden on the driver, such as a millimeter wave radar, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), a camera, a positioning locator (e.g., GNSS, etc.), map information (e.g., high definition (HD) maps, autonomous vehicle (AV) maps, etc.), a gyro system (e.g., IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit), INS (Inertial Navigation System), etc.), AI (Artificial Intelligence) chip, and AI processor, as well as one or more ECUs that control these devices. In addition, the driving assistance system unit 2030 transmits and receives various information via the communication module 2013 to realize driving assistance functions or autonomous driving functions.

The communication module 2013 can communicate with the microprocessor 2031 and components of the vehicle 2001 via the communication port. For example, the communication module 2013 transmits and receives data via the communication port 2033 between the drive unit 2002, steering unit 2003, accelerator pedal 2004, brake pedal 2005, shift lever 2006, front wheels 2007, rear wheels 2008, axle 2009, microprocessor 2031 and memory (ROM, RAM) 2032 in the electronic control unit 2010, and sensors 2021 to 29, which are provided on the vehicle 2001.

The communication module 2013 is a communication device that can be controlled by the microprocessor 2031 of the electronic control unit 2010 and can communicate with an external device. For example, it transmits and receives various information to and from the external device via wireless communication. The communication module 2013 may be located either inside or outside the electronic control unit 2010. The external device may be, for example, a base station, a mobile station, etc.

The communication module 2013 may transmit at least one of the signals from the various sensors 2021-2028 described above input to the electronic control unit 2010, information obtained based on the signals, and information based on input from the outside (user) obtained via the information service unit 2012 to an external device via wireless communication. The electronic control unit 2010, the various sensors 2021-2028, the information service unit 2012, etc. may be referred to as input units that accept input. For example, the PUSCH transmitted by the communication module 2013 may include information based on the above input.

The communication module 2013 receives various information (traffic information, signal information, vehicle distance information, etc.) transmitted from an external device and displays it on the information service unit 2012 provided in the vehicle 2001. The information service unit 2012 may be called an output unit that outputs information (for example, outputs information to a device such as a display or speaker based on the PDSCH (or data/information decoded from the PDSCH) received by the communication module 2013). The communication module 2013 also stores various information received from an external device in a memory 2032 that can be used by the microprocessor 2031. Based on the information stored in the memory 2032, the microprocessor 2031 may control the drive unit 2002, steering unit 2003, accelerator pedal 2004, brake pedal 2005, shift lever 2006, front wheels 2007, rear wheels 2008, axles 2009, sensors 2021 to 2029, etc. provided in the vehicle 2001.

(Summary of the embodiment)
As described above, according to an embodiment of the present invention, a wireless relay device is provided that has a communication unit that receives signaling from a base station including control information related to a relay function, a control unit that controls the relay function based on the control information, and a relay unit that performs a relay function of receiving a first signal from the base station, transmitting the first signal to a terminal, receiving a second signal from the terminal, and transmitting the second signal to the base station, wherein the relay unit transmits the first signal to the terminal using multiple TRPs (Transmission/Reception Points), and the control unit controls the multiple TRPs based on the control information.

With the above configuration, the network-controlled repeater can control the beam applied to the wireless signal relayed in the access link or backhaul link of the NCR-Fwd. In other words, in a wireless communication system, wireless signals can be relayed by a wireless relay device controlled by the network.

The control unit may determine the beam to be applied by the TRP based on the control information that differs for each TRP. With this configuration, the network controlled repeater can control the beam to be applied to the wireless signal relayed in the access link or backhaul link of the NCR-Fwd.

The control unit may determine the beam to be applied by the TRP based on the control information for one of the multiple TRPs. With this configuration, the network controlled repeater can control the beam to be applied to the wireless signal relayed in the access link or backhaul link of the NCR-Fwd.

The control unit may apply one beam to the TRP per unit time. With this configuration, the network controlled repeater can control the beam to be applied to the wireless signal relayed in the access link or backhaul link of the NCR-Fwd.

The control unit may map the multiple beams indicated by the control information to multiple unit times. With this configuration, the network control repeater can control the beams to be applied to the wireless signals relayed in the access link or backhaul link of the NCR-Fwd.

Furthermore, according to an embodiment of the present invention, a wireless relay method is provided in which a wireless relay device executes the following steps: receiving signaling including control information related to a relay function from a base station; controlling the relay function based on the control information; executing a relay function of receiving a first signal from the base station, transmitting the first signal to a terminal, receiving a second signal from the terminal, and transmitting the second signal to the base station; transmitting the first signal to the terminal using multiple TRPs (Transmission/Reception Points); and controlling the multiple TRPs based on the control information.

(Supplementary description of the embodiment)
Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the disclosed invention is not limited to such an embodiment, and those skilled in the art will understand various modifications, modifications, alternatives, replacements, and the like. Although the description has been given using specific numerical examples to facilitate understanding of the invention, unless otherwise specified, those numerical values are merely examples and any appropriate value may be used. The division of items in the above description is not essential to the present invention, and items described in two or more items may be used in combination as necessary, and items described in one item may be applied to items described in another item (as long as there is no contradiction). The boundaries of functional units or processing units in the functional block diagram do not necessarily correspond to the boundaries of physical parts. The operations of multiple functional units may be physically performed by one part, or the operations of one functional unit may be physically performed by multiple parts. The order of the processing procedures described in the embodiment may be changed as long as there is no contradiction. For convenience of the processing description, the base station 10 and the terminal 20 have been described using functional block diagrams, but such devices may be realized by hardware, software, or a combination thereof. The software operated by the processor possessed by the base station 10 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention and the software operated by the processor possessed by the terminal 20 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention may each be stored in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read only memory (ROM), EPROM, EEPROM, register, hard disk (HDD), removable disk, CD-ROM, database, server or any other suitable storage medium.

Furthermore, the notification of information is not limited to the aspects/embodiments described in the present disclosure and may be performed using other methods. For example, the notification of information may be performed by physical layer signaling (e.g., Downlink Control Information (DCI), Uplink Control Information (UCI)), higher layer signaling (e.g., Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, Medium Access Control (MAC) signaling), broadcast information (Master Information Block (MIB), System Information Block (SIB)), other signals, or a combination of these. Furthermore, RRC signaling may be referred to as an RRC message, and may be, for example, an RRC Connection Setup message, an RRC Connection Reconfiguration message, etc.

Each aspect/embodiment described in this disclosure may be a mobile communication system (mobile communications system) for mobile communications over a wide range of networks, including LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE-A (LTE-Advanced), SUPER 3G, IMT-Advanced, 4G (4th generation mobile communication system), 5G (5th generation mobile communication system), 6th generation mobile communication system (6G), xth generation mobile communication system (xG) (xG (x is, for example, an integer or a decimal number)), FRA (Future Ra The present invention may be applied to at least one of systems using IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi (registered trademark)), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX (registered trademark)), IEEE 802.20, UWB (Ultra-WideBand), Bluetooth (registered trademark), and other appropriate systems, and next-generation systems that are expanded, modified, created, or defined based on these. It may also be applied to a combination of multiple systems (for example, a combination of at least one of LTE and LTE-A with 5G, etc.).

The processing steps, sequences, flow charts, etc. of each aspect/embodiment described herein may be reordered unless inconsistent. For example, the methods described in this disclosure present elements of various steps using an exemplary order and are not limited to the particular order presented.

In this specification, certain operations that are described as being performed by the base station 10 may in some cases be performed by its upper node. In a network consisting of one or more network nodes having a base station 10, it is clear that various operations performed for communication with a terminal 20 may be performed by at least one of the base station 10 and other network nodes other than the base station 10 (such as, but not limited to, an MME or S-GW). Although the above example shows a case where there is one other network node other than the base station 10, the other network node may be a combination of multiple other network nodes (such as an MME and an S-GW).

The information or signals described in this disclosure may be output from a higher layer (or a lower layer) to a lower layer (or a higher layer). They may be input and output via multiple network nodes.

The input and output information may be stored in a specific location (e.g., memory) or may be managed using a management table. The input and output information may be overwritten, updated, or added to. The output information may be deleted. The input information may be sent to another device.

The determination in this disclosure may be based on a value represented by one bit (0 or 1), a Boolean (true or false) value, or a comparison of numerical values (e.g., a comparison with a predetermined value).

Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise.

Software, instructions, information, etc. may also be transmitted and received via a transmission medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using at least one of wired technologies (such as coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)), and/or wireless technologies (such as infrared, microwave), then at least one of these wired and wireless technologies is included within the definition of a transmission medium.

The information, signals, etc. described in this disclosure may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies. For example, the data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, chips, etc. that may be referred to throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or photons, or any combination thereof.

Note that the terms explained in this disclosure and the terms necessary for understanding this disclosure may be replaced with terms having the same or similar meanings. For example, at least one of the channel and the symbol may be a signal (signaling). Also, the signal may be a message. Also, the component carrier (CC) may be called a carrier frequency, a cell, a frequency carrier, etc.

As used in this disclosure, the terms "system" and "network" are used interchangeably.

In addition, the information, parameters, etc. described in this disclosure may be represented using absolute values, may be represented using relative values from a predetermined value, or may be represented using other corresponding information. For example, a radio resource may be indicated by an index.

The names used for the above-mentioned parameters are not limiting in any respect. Furthermore, the formulas etc. using these parameters may differ from those explicitly disclosed in this disclosure. The various channels (e.g., PUCCH, PDCCH, etc.) and information elements may be identified by any suitable names, and therefore the various names assigned to these various channels and information elements are not limiting in any respect.

In this disclosure, terms such as "base station (BS)", "radio base station", "base station", "fixed station", "NodeB", "eNodeB (eNB)", "gNodeB (gNB)", "access point", "transmission point", "reception point", "transmission/reception point", "cell", "sector", "cell group", "carrier", and "component carrier" may be used interchangeably. A base station may also be referred to by terms such as macrocell, small cell, femtocell, and picocell.

A base station can accommodate one or more (e.g., three) cells. When a base station accommodates multiple cells, the entire coverage area of the base station can be divided into multiple smaller areas, and each smaller area can also provide communication services by a base station subsystem (e.g., a small indoor base station (RRH: Remote Radio Head)). The term "cell" or "sector" refers to a part or the entire coverage area of at least one of the base station and base station subsystems that provide communication services in this coverage.

In this disclosure, a base station transmitting information to a terminal may be interpreted as the base station instructing the terminal to control or operate based on the information.

In this disclosure, terms such as "Mobile Station (MS)," "user terminal," "User Equipment (UE)," and "terminal" may be used interchangeably.

A mobile station may also be referred to by those skilled in the art as a subscriber station, mobile unit, subscriber unit, wireless unit, remote unit, mobile device, wireless device, wireless communication device, remote device, mobile subscriber station, access terminal, mobile terminal, wireless terminal, remote terminal, handset, user agent, mobile client, client, or some other suitable terminology.

At least one of the base station and the mobile station may be called a transmitting device, a receiving device, a communication device, etc. At least one of the base station and the mobile station may be a device mounted on a moving object, the moving object itself, etc. The moving object is a movable object, and the moving speed is arbitrary. It also includes the case where the moving object is stopped. The moving object includes, but is not limited to, for example, a vehicle, a transport vehicle, an automobile, a motorcycle, a bicycle, a connected car, an excavator, a bulldozer, a wheel loader, a dump truck, a forklift, a train, a bus, a handcar, a rickshaw, a ship and other watercraft, an airplane, a rocket, an artificial satellite, a drone (registered trademark), a multicopter, a quadcopter, a balloon, and objects mounted thereon. The moving object may also be a moving object that travels autonomously based on an operation command. It may be a vehicle (e.g., a car, an airplane, etc.), an unmanned moving object (e.g., a drone, an autonomous vehicle, etc.), or a robot (manned or unmanned). In addition, at least one of the base station and the mobile station may be a device that does not necessarily move during communication operations. For example, at least one of the base station and the mobile station may be an IoT (Internet of Things) device such as a sensor.

Furthermore, the base station in the present disclosure may be read as a user terminal. For example, each aspect/embodiment of the present disclosure may be applied to a configuration in which communication between a base station and a user terminal is replaced with communication between multiple terminals 20 (which may be called, for example, D2D (Device-to-Device) or V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything)). In this case, the terminal 20 may be configured to have the functions of the base station 10 described above. Furthermore, terms such as "uplink" and "downlink" may be read as terms corresponding to terminal-to-terminal communication (for example, "side"). For example, the uplink channel, downlink channel, etc. may be read as a side channel.

Similarly, the user terminal in this disclosure may be interpreted as a base station. In this case, the base station may be configured to have the functions of the user terminal described above.

As used in this disclosure, the terms "determining" and "determining" may encompass a wide variety of actions. "Determining" and "determining" may include, for example, judging, calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up, search, inquiry (e.g., searching in a table, database, or other data structure), and considering ascertaining as "judging" or "determining." Also, "determining" and "determining" may include receiving (e.g., receiving information), transmitting (e.g., sending information), input, output, accessing (e.g., accessing data in memory), and considering ascertaining as "judging" or "determining." Additionally, "judgment" and "decision" can include considering resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, comparing, etc., to have been "judged" or "decided." In other words, "judgment" and "decision" can include considering some action to have been "judged" or "decided." Additionally, "judgment (decision)" can be interpreted as "assuming," "expecting," "considering," etc.

The terms "connected," "coupled," or any variation thereof, refer to any direct or indirect connection or coupling between two or more elements, and may include the presence of one or more intermediate elements between two elements that are "connected" or "coupled" to each other. The coupling or connection between elements may be physical, logical, or a combination thereof. For example, "connected" may be read as "access." As used in this disclosure, two elements may be considered to be "connected" or "coupled" to each other using at least one of one or more wires, cables, and printed electrical connections, as well as electromagnetic energy having wavelengths in the radio frequency range, microwave range, and optical (both visible and invisible) range, as some non-limiting and non-exhaustive examples.

The reference signal may also be abbreviated as RS (Reference Signal) or may be called a pilot depending on the applicable standard.

As used in this disclosure, the phrase "based on" does not mean "based only on," unless expressly stated otherwise. In other words, the phrase "based on" means both "based only on" and "based at least on."

Any reference to an element using a designation such as "first," "second," etc., used in this disclosure does not generally limit the quantity or order of those elements. These designations may be used in this disclosure as a convenient method of distinguishing between two or more elements. Thus, a reference to a first and a second element does not imply that only two elements may be employed or that the first element must precede the second element in some way.

The "means" in the configuration of each of the above devices may be replaced with "part," "circuit," "device," etc.

When the terms "include," "including," and variations thereof are used in this disclosure, these terms are intended to be inclusive, similar to the term "comprising." Additionally, the term "or," as used in this disclosure, is not intended to be an exclusive or.

A radio frame may be composed of one or more frames in the time domain. Each of the one or more frames in the time domain may be called a subframe. A subframe may further be composed of one or more slots in the time domain. A subframe may have a fixed time length (e.g., 1 ms) that is independent of numerology.

Numerology may be a communication parameter that applies to at least one of the transmission and reception of a signal or channel. Numerology may indicate, for example, at least one of the following: Subcarrier Spacing (SCS), bandwidth, symbol length, cyclic prefix length, Transmission Time Interval (TTI), number of symbols per TTI, radio frame structure, a particular filtering operation performed by the transceiver in the frequency domain, a particular windowing operation performed by the transceiver in the time domain, etc.

A slot may consist of one or more symbols in the time domain (such as OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) symbols, SC-FDMA (Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access) symbols, etc.). A slot may be a time unit based on numerology.

A slot may include multiple minislots. Each minislot may consist of one or multiple symbols in the time domain. A minislot may also be called a subslot. A minislot may consist of fewer symbols than a slot. A PDSCH (or PUSCH) transmitted in a time unit larger than a minislot may be called PDSCH (or PUSCH) mapping type A. A PDSCH (or PUSCH) transmitted using a minislot may be called PDSCH (or PUSCH) mapping type B.

Radio frame, subframe, slot, minislot, and symbol all represent time units for transmitting signals. Radio frame, subframe, slot, minislot, and symbol may each be referred to by a different name that corresponds to the radio frame, subframe, slot, minislot, and symbol.

For example, one subframe may be called a Transmission Time Interval (TTI), multiple consecutive subframes may be called a TTI, or one slot or one minislot may be called a TTI. In other words, at least one of the subframe and the TTI may be a subframe (1 ms) in existing LTE, a period shorter than 1 ms (e.g., 1-13 symbols), or a period longer than 1 ms. Note that the unit representing the TTI may be called a slot, minislot, etc., instead of a subframe.

Here, TTI refers to, for example, the smallest time unit for scheduling in wireless communication. For example, in an LTE system, a base station performs scheduling to allocate wireless resources (such as frequency bandwidth and transmission power that can be used by each terminal 20) to each terminal 20 in TTI units. Note that the definition of TTI is not limited to this.

The TTI may be a transmission time unit for a channel-coded data packet (transport block), a code block, a code word, etc., or may be a processing unit for scheduling, link adaptation, etc. When a TTI is given, the time interval (e.g., the number of symbols) in which a transport block, a code block, a code word, etc. is actually mapped may be shorter than the TTI.

Note that when one slot or one minislot is called a TTI, one or more TTIs (i.e., one or more slots or one or more minislots) may be the minimum time unit of scheduling. In addition, the number of slots (minislots) that constitute the minimum time unit of scheduling may be controlled.

A TTI having a time length of 1 ms may be called a normal TTI (TTI in LTE Rel. 8-12), normal TTI, long TTI, normal subframe, normal subframe, long subframe, slot, etc. A TTI shorter than a normal TTI may be called a shortened TTI, short TTI, partial or fractional TTI, shortened subframe, short subframe, minislot, subslot, slot, etc.

Note that a long TTI (e.g., a normal TTI, a subframe, etc.) may be interpreted as a TTI having a time length of more than 1 ms, and a short TTI (e.g., a shortened TTI, etc.) may be interpreted as a TTI having a TTI length shorter than the TTI length of a long TTI and equal to or greater than 1 ms.

A resource block (RB) is a resource allocation unit in the time domain and frequency domain, and may include one or more consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain. The number of subcarriers included in an RB may be the same regardless of the numerology, and may be, for example, 12. The number of subcarriers included in an RB may be determined based on the numerology.

Furthermore, the time domain of an RB may include one or more symbols and may be one slot, one minislot, one subframe, or one TTI in length. One TTI, one subframe, etc. may each be composed of one or more resource blocks.

In addition, one or more RBs may be referred to as a physical resource block (PRB), a sub-carrier group (SCG), a resource element group (REG), a PRB pair, an RB pair, etc.

Furthermore, a resource block may be composed of one or more resource elements (REs). For example, one RE may be a radio resource area of one subcarrier and one symbol.

A bandwidth part (BWP), which may also be referred to as a partial bandwidth, may represent a subset of contiguous common resource blocks (RBs) for a given numerology on a given carrier, where the common RBs may be identified by an index of the RB relative to a common reference point of the carrier. PRBs may be defined in a BWP and numbered within the BWP.

The BWP may include a BWP for UL (UL BWP) and a BWP for DL (DL BWP). One or more BWPs may be configured within one carrier for the terminal 20.

At least one of the configured BWPs may be active, and the terminal 20 may not be expected to transmit or receive a specific signal/channel outside the active BWP. Note that "cell," "carrier," and the like in this disclosure may be read as "BWP."

The above-mentioned structures of radio frames, subframes, slots, minislots, and symbols are merely examples. For example, the number of subframes included in a radio frame, the number of slots per subframe or radio frame, the number of minislots included in a slot, the number of symbols and RBs included in a slot or minislot, the number of subcarriers included in an RB, as well as the number of symbols in a TTI, the symbol length, and the cyclic prefix (CP) length can be changed in various ways.

In this disclosure, where articles have been added through translation, such as a, an, and the in English, this disclosure may include that the nouns following these articles are plural.

In this disclosure, the term "A and B are different" may mean "A and B are different from each other." The term may also mean "A and B are each different from C." Terms such as "separate" and "combined" may also be interpreted in the same way as "different."

Each aspect/embodiment described in this disclosure may be used alone, in combination, or switched between depending on the execution. In addition, notification of specific information (e.g., notification that "X is the case") is not limited to being done explicitly, but may be done implicitly (e.g., not notifying the specific information).

In this disclosure, the variable section 340 and the antenna section 350 are an example of a relay section.

　Although the present disclosure has been described in detail above, it is clear to those skilled in the art that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described herein. The present disclosure can be implemented in modified and altered forms without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the claims. Therefore, the description of the present disclosure is intended as an illustrative example and does not have any limiting meaning with respect to the present disclosure.

This international patent application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2022-165063, filed on October 13, 2022, and the entire contents of Japanese Patent Application No. 2022-165063 are incorporated herein by reference.

10 Base station 110 Transmitter 120 Receiver 130 Setting unit 140 Control unit 20 Terminal 210 Transmitter 220 Receiver 230 Setting unit 240 Control unit 30 Wireless relay device 310 Transmitter 320 Receiver 330 Control unit 340 Variable unit 350 Antenna unit 1001 Processor 1002 Storage device 1003 Auxiliary storage device 1004 Communication device 1005 Input device 1006 Output device 2001 Vehicle 2002 Drive unit 2003 Steering unit 2004 Accelerator pedal 2005 Brake pedal 2006 Shift lever 2007 Front wheel 2008 Rear wheel 2009 Axle 2010 Electronic control unit 2012 Information service unit 2013 Communication module 2021 Current sensor 2022 RPM sensor 2023 Air pressure sensor 2024 Vehicle speed sensor 2025 Acceleration sensor 2026 Brake pedal sensor 2027 Shift lever sensor 2028 Object detection sensor 2029 Accelerator pedal sensor 2030 Driving assistance system unit 2031 Microprocessor 2032 Memory (ROM, RAM)
2033 Communication port (IO port)

Claims

A communication unit that receives signaling including control information related to a relay function from a base station;
A control unit that controls a relay function based on the control information;
a relay unit that performs a relay function of receiving a first signal from the base station, transmitting the first signal to a terminal, receiving a second signal from the terminal, and transmitting the second signal to the base station;
The relay unit transmits the first signal to the terminal using a plurality of TRPs (Transmission/Reception Points);
The control unit is a wireless relay device that controls the multiple TRPs based on the control information.
The wireless relay device of claim 1, wherein the control unit determines the beam to be applied by the TRP based on the control information that differs for each TRP.
The wireless relay device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit determines a beam to be applied to the TRP based on one of the control information for the multiple TRPs.
The wireless relay device of claim 1, wherein the control unit applies one beam to the TRP per unit time.
The wireless relay device according to claim 4, wherein the control unit maps the multiple beams indicated by the control information to multiple unit times.
receiving signaling including control information related to a relay function from a base station;
A procedure for controlling a relay function based on the control information;
performing a relay function of receiving a first signal from the base station, transmitting the first signal to a terminal, receiving a second signal from the terminal, and transmitting the second signal to the base station;
transmitting the first signal to the terminal using a plurality of TRPs (Transmission/Reception Points);
A wireless relay method in which a wireless relay device executes a procedure of controlling the multiple TRPs based on the control information.