WO2025152191A1

WO2025152191A1 - Automatic gain control

Info

Publication number: WO2025152191A1
Application number: PCT/CN2024/073387
Authority: WO
Inventors: Renato Barbosa ABREU; Tao Tao; Paolo Baracca; Thomas Haaning Jacobsen; Dong Li
Original assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy; Nokia Technologies Oy
Current assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy; Nokia Technologies Oy
Priority date: 2024-01-20
Filing date: 2024-01-20
Publication date: 2025-07-24
Anticipated expiration: 2026-07-20

Abstract

Example embodiments of the disclosure relate to, apparatuses, methods and computer readable medium for automatic gain control (AGC). In a method, a first apparatus monitors resource information for a first transmission to be transmitted by a second apparatus or a second transmission to be transmitted by a third apparatus. The first apparatus determines that a transmission starting or end point of the second transmission overlaps or is within a time resource of the first transmission, based on the resource information. The first apparatus determines that the second transmission is to cause analogue-to-digital converter saturation or quantization noise, based on first and second estimated receiving power associated with the first transmission and the second transmission, and based on AGC parameters of the first or second apparatus. The first apparatus performs an action or transmits an indication that an action is to be performed for gain control based on the determining.

Description

AUTOMATIC GAIN CONTROL

FIELDS

Various example embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunication and in particular, to, apparatuses, methods and computer readable medium for automatic gain control (AGC) .

BACKGROUND

With the rapid development of the communication technology, the improvement of signal quality is crucial for communication. Automatic gain control (AGC) is a technology in communication systems that automatically adjusts the gain of a receiver to maintain the signal strength within an appropriate range, ensuring the signal quality. A way to adjust the gain for reception from an apparatus while reducing the overhead of AGC is desired.

SUMMARY

In a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus. The first apparatus comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus at least to: monitor resource information for at least a first transmission to be transmitted by a second apparatus and a second transmission to be transmitted by a third apparatus; determine that at least one of a transmission starting point or a transmission end point of the second transmission overlaps or is within a time resource of the first transmission, based on the monitored resource information; determine that the second transmission is to cause at least one of analogue-to-digital converter (ADC) saturation or quantization noise of the first transmission, based on first estimated receiving power associated with the first transmission and second estimated receiving power associated with the second transmission, and based on at least one of a set of automatic gain control (AGC) parameters of the first apparatus or the set of AGC parameters of the second apparatus; and perform at least one of performing an action for gain control of the first transmission or transmitting an indication that an action is to be performed for gain control of the first transmission based on the determining.

In a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second apparatus. The second apparatus comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus at least to: transmit resource information for a first transmission to be transmitted; and receive, from the first apparatus, an indication that an action is to be performed for gain control of the first transmission.

In a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: monitoring resource information for at least a first transmission to be transmitted by a second apparatus and a second transmission to be transmitted by a third apparatus; determining that at least one of a transmission starting point or a transmission end point of the second transmission overlaps or is within a time resource of the first transmission, based on the monitored resource information; determining that the second transmission is to cause at least one of analogue-to-digital converter (ADC) saturation or quantization noise of the first transmission, based on first estimated receiving power associated with the first transmission and second estimated receiving power associated with the second transmission, and based on at least one of a set of automatic gain control (AGC) parameters of the first apparatus or the set of AGC parameters of the second apparatus; and performing at least one of performing an action for gain control of the first transmission or transmitting an indication that an action is to be performed for gain control of the first transmission based on the determining.

In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: transmitting resource information for a first transmission to be transmitted; and receiving, from the first apparatus, an indication that an action is to be performed for gain control of the first transmission.

In a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus. The first apparatus comprises means for monitoring resource information for at least a first transmission to be transmitted by a second apparatus and a second transmission to be transmitted by a third apparatus; means for determining that at least one of a transmission starting point or a transmission end point of the second transmission overlaps or is within a time resource of the first transmission, based on the monitored resource information; means for determining that the second transmission is to cause at least one of analogue-to-digital converter (ADC) saturation or quantization noise of the first transmission, based on first estimated receiving power associated with the first transmission and second estimated receiving power associated with the second transmission, and based on at least one of a set of automatic gain control (AGC) parameters of the first apparatus or the set of AGC parameters of the second apparatus; and means for performing at least one of performing an action for gain control of the first transmission or transmitting an indication that an action is to be performed for gain control of the first transmission based on the determining.

In a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second apparatus. The second apparatus comprises means for transmitting resource information for a first transmission to be transmitted; and means for receiving, from the first apparatus, an indication that an action is to be performed for gain control of the first transmission.

In a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium comprises instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to the third aspect.

In an eighth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium comprises instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to the fourth aspect.

It is to be understood that the Summary section is not intended to identify key or essential features of embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become easily comprehensible through the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, where:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication environment in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;

FIG. 2 illustrates example sub-network use cases;

FIG. 3 illustrates example NR sidelink slot formats;

FIG. 4 illustrates example sub-networks with different slot sizes;

FIG. 5A-FIG. 5C illustrate example sub-network scenarios with potential AGC issues;

FIG. 6 illustrates a signaling flow for gain control according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates example estimated receiving power of transmissions according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 illustrates an example flowchart of an implementation for an inter-sub-network communication;

FIG. 9 illustrates an example flowchart of an implementation for an intra-sub-network communication;

FIG. 10 illustrates an example flowchart of a further implementation for an intra-sub-network communication;

FIG. 11 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a first apparatus according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a second apparatus according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 13 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a device that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 14 illustrates a block diagram of an example computer readable medium in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar element.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It is to be understood that these embodiments are described only for the purpose of illustration and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure. Embodiments described herein can be implemented in various manners other than the ones described below.

In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skills in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

References in the present disclosure to “one embodiment, ” “an embodiment, ” “an example embodiment, ” and the like indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but it is not necessary that every embodiment includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

It shall be understood that although the terms “first, ” “second, ” …, etc. in front of noun (s) and the like may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another and they do not limit the order of the noun (s) . For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

As used herein, “at least one of the following: <a list of two or more elements>” and “at least one of <a list of two or more elements>” and similar wording, where the list of two or more elements are joined by “and” or “or” , mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all the elements.

As used herein, unless stated explicitly, performing a step “in response to A” does not indicate that the step is performed immediately after “A” occurs and one or more intervening steps may be included.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a” , “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” , “comprising” , “has” , “having” , “includes” and/or “including” , when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and/or components etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and/or combinations thereof.

As used in this application, the term “circuitry” may refer to one or more or all of the following:

(a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and/or digital circuitry) and

(b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable) :

(i) a combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuit (s) with software/firmware and

(ii) any portions of hardware processor (s) with software (including digital signal processor (s) ) , software, and memory (ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and

(c) hardware circuit (s) and or processor (s) , such as a microprocessor (s) or a portion of a microprocessor (s) , that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation.

This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

As used herein, the term “communication network” refers to a network following any suitable communication standards, such as New Radio (NR) , Long Term Evolution (LTE) , LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) , Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) , High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) , Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) and so on. Furthermore, the communications between a terminal device and a network device in the communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation communication protocols, including, but not limited to, the first generation (1G) , the second generation (2G) , 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G) , the fourth generation (4G) , 4.5G, the fifth generation (5G) , the sixth generation (6G) communication protocols, and/or any other protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied in various communication systems. Given the rapid development in communications, there will of course also be future type communication technologies and systems with which the present disclosure may be embodied. It should not be seen as limiting the scope of the present disclosure to only the aforementioned system.

As used herein, the term “network device” refers to a node in a communication network via which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. The network device may refer to a base station (BS) or an access point (AP) , for example, a node B (NodeB or NB) , an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB) , an NR NB (also referred to as a gNB) , a Remote Radio Unit (RRU) , a radio header (RH) , a remote radio head (RRH) , a relay, an Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) node, a low power node such as a femto, a pico, a non-terrestrial network (NTN) or non-ground network device such as a satellite network device, a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite and a geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) satellite, an aircraft network device, and so forth, depending on the applied terminology and technology. In some example embodiments, radio access network (RAN) split architecture comprises a Centralized Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) at an IAB donor node. An IAB node comprises a Mobile Terminal (IAB-MT) part that behaves like a UE toward the parent node, and a DU part of an IAB node behaves like a base station toward the next-hop IAB node.

The term “terminal device” refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example rather than limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE) , a Subscriber Station (SS) , a Portable Subscriber Station, a Mobile Station (MS) , or an Access Terminal (AT) . The terminal device may include, but not limited to, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, a tablet, a wearable terminal device, a personal digital assistant (PDA) , portable computers, desktop computer, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback appliances, vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE) , laptop-mounted equipment (LME) , USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer-premises equipment (CPE) , an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD) , a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery) , an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and/or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and/or an automated processing chain contexts) , a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and/or industrial wireless networks, and the like. The terminal device may also correspond to a Mobile Termination (MT) part of an IAB node (e.g., a relay node) . In the following description, the terms “terminal device” , “communication device” , “terminal” , “user equipment” and “UE” may be used interchangeably.

As used herein, the term “resource, ” “transmission resource, ” “resource block, ” “physical resource block” (PRB) , “uplink resource, ” or “downlink resource” may refer to any resource for performing a communication, for example, a communication between a terminal device and a network device, such as a resource in time domain, a resource in frequency domain, a resource in space domain, a resource in code domain, or any other combination of the time, frequency, space and/or code domain resource enabling a communication, and the like. In the following, unless explicitly stated, a resource in both frequency domain and time domain will be used as an example of a transmission resource for describing some example embodiments of the present disclosure. It is noted that example embodiments of the present disclosure are equally applicable to other resources in other domains.

Regarding AGC in 5G sidelink, in wireless communication systems, the received signal may have an unpredictable signal power and may vary over a wide dynamic range caused by multi-path fading channels and unwanted signals such as strong interference signals. Therefore, an AGC is necessary for making the power of the received signal approximately constant by dynamically adjusting the AGC gain of the incoming signal to prevent quantization errors or saturation at an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) . In addition, in order to maintain the average power of the received signal close to a desired level and demodulate a received signal accurately, the AGC should be able to track the signal power and set the gain accordingly. In systems where the same frequency band is used for downlink and uplink subframes, where they are separately transmitted by a time division, applying a common AGC scheme may lead to significant performance degradation due to a large AGC gain variation which is caused by a signal level difference between the downlink and uplink subframes.

Example embodiments of the present disclosure propose a scheme of AGC adjustment. With this scheme, resource information for at least a first transmission to be transmitted by a second apparatus and a second transmission to be transmitted by a third apparatus is monitored by a first apparatus, where the first, second, and third apparatuses may be, for example, sub-network devices. The first apparatus determines that at least one of a transmission starting point or a transmission end point of the second transmission overlaps or is within a time resource of the first transmission, based on the monitored resource information. The first apparatus determines that the second transmission is likely to cause at least one of ADC saturation or quantization noise of the first transmission, based on first estimated receiving power associated with the first transmission and second estimated receiving power associated with the second transmission, and based on at least one of a set of AGC parameters of the first apparatus or the set of AGC parameters of the second apparatus. Then, the first apparatus performs an action for gain control of the first transmission and/or transmits an indication that an action is to be performed for gain control of the first transmission.

According to one proposed scheme, the first apparatus determines whether to perform an action for gain control and/or whether to transmit an indication that an action is to be performed for gain control of the first transmission. In this way, there is no need to place multiple additional AGC symbols for gain control, and overhead may be reduced.

It is to be noted that the proposed scheme herein may be applied in general for different networks and may also be applied in general for intra-network transmissions or inter-network transmissions in any type of networks. In the following, some example embodiments will be described using a sub-network as an example while the example embodiments herein can be applied in general for other networks.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication environment 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication environment 100 comprises a first apparatus 110 and a second apparatus 120, and/or a third apparatus 130. In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110, the second apparatus 120 and the third apparatus 130 may be sub-network devices. For example, each of the first apparatus 110, the second apparatus 120 and the third apparatus 130 may be a sub-network UE, or a sub-network AP.

It is to be understood that the number of apparatuses as shown in FIG. 1 is only for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitations. The communication environment 100 may include any suitable number of apparatuses adapted for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.

In the communication environment 100, the first apparatus 110 and the second apparatus 120 may communicate with each other, and the first apparatus 110 and the third apparatus 130 may communicate with each other. In some example embodiments, a link from the first apparatus 110 to the second apparatus 120 or a link from the third apparatus 130 to the first apparatus 110 may be an uplink (UL) or downlink (DL) . For example, a link from a sub-network UE to a sub-network AP may be called an uplink, in this case, the sub-network UE is a TX device (or a transmitter) and the sub-network AP is a RX device (or a receiver) . On the other hand, a link from a sub-network AP to a sub-network UE may be called a downlink, and in this case, the sub-network AP is a TX device (or a transmitter) and the sub-network UE is a RX device (or a receiver) . A link from a sub-network UE to another sub-network UE may be referred to as a sidelink (SL) . In SL, one of the sub-network UEs is a TX device (or a transmitter) , and the other of the sub-network UEs is a RX device (or a receiver) .

In the following, for the purpose of illustration, some example embodiments are described with the at least one of the first apparatus 110, the second apparatus 120, or the third apparatus 130 operating as a sub-network AP or a subnetwork UE. However, in some example embodiments, operations described with respect to a sub-network AP may be implemented at a sub-network UE or other devices, and operations described with respect to a sub-network UE may be implemented at a sub-network AP or other devices.

Communications in the communication environment 100 may be implemented according to any proper communication protocol (s) , comprising, but not limited to, cellular communication protocols of the first generation (1G) , the second generation (2G) , the third generation (3G) , the fourth generation (4G) , the fifth generation (5G) , the sixth generation (6G) , and the like, wireless local network communication protocols such as Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 and the like, and/or any other protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. Moreover, the communication may utilize any proper wireless communication technology, comprising but not limited to: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) , Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) , Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) , Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) , Time Division Duplex (TDD) , Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) , Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple (OFDM) , Discrete Fourier Transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) and/or any other technologies currently known or to be developed in the future.

Regarding 6G sub-networks, the in-X sub-network (also referred to as the sub-network) is a promising component to meet the extreme performance requirements in terms of at least one of latency, reliability or throughput envisioned for certain 6G short-range scenarios. Sub-networks are generally installed in specific entities, for example, in-vehicle, in-body, in-house, or the like, to provide a life-critical data service with extreme performances over the local capillary coverage. The sub-networks have several pivotal properties and technical features including support of extreme performance requirements in terms of at least one of latency, reliability, or throughputs. The sub-networks have low transmit power, which implies limited coverage range (for example, in the order of a few meters) . The sub-networks may have a star or tree topology with one in-X AP and one or more in-X UEs under the control of AP. The sub-networks have overall mobility of APs and associated UEs but the sub-networks lack or have limited mobility across different sub-networks. The sub-networks are part of 6G network but have to continue to work also when out of network coverage.

The system designed for sub-networks may take the above technical features into account. In some mechanisms, sub-networks may be seen as a potential evolution of 5G sidelink, however some enhancements are needed from the air interface, for example, to allow an out-of-coverage sub-network AP to sense the channel, get resources and schedule those resources to sub-network devices (somehow beyond what 5G sidelink Mode 2 allows) . In addition, some enhancements are needed for architectural enablers, for example, for improved authentication or policy enforcement policies in such scenarios, or to sync user plane (UP) and control plane (CP) functions between sub-network AP and 6G network.

FIG. 2 illustrates several example sub-network use cases. As shown in FIG. 2, there are several example sub-network use cases including an in-robot/in-production module sub-network 210, an in-vehicle sub-network 220, an in-body sub-network 230, and an in-house sub-network 240. In particular, the use cases of the in-robot/in-production module sub-network 210 and the in-vehicle sub-network 220 have extreme performance requirements in both reliability (for example, up to 6 nines or more) and latency (for example, down to the level of 100us or even below) , e.g., for the high demanding periodic deterministic communication services in 6G system.

FIG. 3 illustrates example NR sidelink slot formats. As shown in FIG. 3, the example NR sidelink slot formats include an NR sidelink slot format 310 having slots with physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) /physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) and an NR slot format 320 having slots with PSCCH/PSSCH and physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) . In the 5G NR Sidelink slot structure, the first symbol of each sidelink slot may be an AGC symbol (for example, AGC symbols 322 and 324) , used by the sidelink Rx UE to adjust the AGC gain of the incoming signal to minimize the quantization noise and prevent saturation at the transceiver ADC. For NR Sidelink, AGC may also occur prior to the PSFCH symbol 326. The AGC symbol is typically a repetition of the next symbol of the slot.

In some mechanisms, the sidelink Rx UE may be assumed to set the AGC gain based on a carrier wide measurement, because it is assumed that analog filtering prior to the ADC is used to filter out-of-band signals while signals within the carrier frequency band are not filtered. Further, it is assumed that the SL Rx UE will apply this AGC gain for the entire duration of the subframe considering the power is expected to remain constant within the subframe.

In Release-18, for the coexistence of the LTE SL and the NR SL, potential AGC issues which could be caused by an NR SL to an LTE SL are discussed. AGC issues may occur when the LTE SL Rx UE experiences a change of power level during the SL slot, which may be caused by an NR SL Tx UE in some situations, for example, when the NR SL and the LTE SL are frequency domains multiplexed on the same carrier. This may occur due to two causes:

- Cause A. When the NR SL is using a sub-carrier spacing (SCS) higher than 15 kHz SCS (for example, 30kHz SCS corresponding to 0.5ms slot length) , which means that NR SL slots overlaps a fraction of the LTE SL subframe.

- Cause B. When the NR SL is configured to transmit a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) feedback in PSFCH, and hence the slot format 320 from FIG. 3 is used. In this case, an NR SL UE transmitting PSFCH will initiate its transmission starting at the symbol 11 where the AGC for PSFCH is transmitted.

In 6G sub-networks, the communication in different sub-networks may use different slot configurations, for example, different number of symbols or using different SCS, resulting in different symbol durations, therefore different transmit time intervals (TTI) . The various transmission starting points from multiple sub-networks may cause variation in the Rx power in the middle of the slot. For example, an AP may use different slot formats and SCS to communicate to other APs compared to the one used to communicate within the network. In another example, within a sub-network, UEs may use a shorter slot (may be with higher SCS) , which may cause an Rx power variation within the slot of a neighbor AP.

In addition, a sub-network device which needs to communicate with another element of the same sub-network is expected to utilize very low transmit power, for example, 0 or -10 dBm. These communications may be expected to occur between devices near each other, ranging even less than 1 m, for example, for wearables in a in/on-body network. Furthermore, such device, for example is a smartphone acting as a sub-network AP, may also transmit toward a gNB in the uplink or another AP/device outside the sub-network in SL, but using higher power, e.g., 23 dBm. Thus, different communication links may require very different transmission power levels. Therefore, when mixing these different communication links (for example, close proximity links due to wearables in a in/on-body network and a longer-range link such as in the uplink or AP-to-AP SL) , it is expected that these will have different transmission powers and different transmission starting points, causing larger variation of power during a reception, impacting the reception performance.

In some mechanisms, the AGC may be used to regulate the Rx gain for sub-network devices. However, the AGC may come with overhead if additional AGC symbols are placed multiple times during a longer slot. If no additional AGC symbol is placed, the device needs to decide whether to tune the gain in the middle of the slot with the risk of missing the symbol while a tuning is applied or to miss the rest of the slot. If not tuned, a significantly changed RX power may cause saturation or high quantization noise. FIG. 4 illustrates example sub-networks with different slot sizes. In this example shown in FIG. 4, a sub-network 1 (SN1) 401, a sub-network 2 (SN2) 402, and a sub-network 3 (SN3) 403 have different slot sizes. A device such as in the SN1 401 may suffer an AGC issue due to sudden power variations in a scenario where the communication with smaller slots may be dynamically starting or ending in a neighboring sub-network, such as the SN2 402 and the SN3 403.

In some examples, it may be assumed that UEs in a sub-network have more limited capability compared to an AP (i.e., has a low power amplifier dynamic range) . In addition, they may not accurately measure the signal level and perform the AGC tuning within cyclic prefix duration. A similar limitation may be considered for NR SL, therefore a full symbol for AGC is presented in the beginning of the NR SL slot.

There are some different situations in which the issue of RX power varying during the reception may be severe. FIG. 5A-FIG. 5C illustrate example sub-network scenarios with potential AGC issues. As shown in FIG. 5A, a UE 502 may suffer AGC issues while receiving a signal within a sub-network (for example, the SN1 401) , due to the high-power communication between APs (for example, APs 504, 506, or 508) starting/ending during its slot. For example, a UE receiving a signal within the sub-network may have its reception affected by a high-power transmission of its AP to another AP. In another example, a UE receiving a signal within the sub-network may have its reception affected by a high-power transmission from another AP nearby to its AP or to other AP.

As shown in FIG. 5B, the AP 504 may suffer AGC issues while receiving within the sub-network (for example, the SN1 401) due to a high-power communication between APs starting/ending during an intra-SN slot. For example, an AP receiving from another AP has its reception affected by transmissions initiated from UEs within sub-network. As shown in FIG. 5C, the AP 504 may suffer AGC issues for receiving transmissions from other APs (for example, the AP 506 or the AP 508) due to a transmission within SN stating/ending during inter-SN slots. For example, an AP receiving low power transmissions from UEs within a sub-network may have its reception affected by its own transmission to another AP. An AP receiving low power transmissions from UEs within sub-network may have its reception affected by transmission from other APs.

Furthermore, there are some situations in which the issue of RX power varying during the reception may have some impact but may be less severe. For example, a UE receiving signal within sub-network may have its reception affected by a low power transmission of a UE in a very nearby sub-network. An AP receiving low power transmissions from UEs within a sub-network may have its reception affected by a low power transmission of a UE in a very nearby sub-network. An AP receiving from another AP may have its reception affected by a low power transmission of a UE in a very nearby sub-network.

The proposed scheme herein provides a solution regarding how and when to adjust the gain for reception from a sub-network device, while mitigating receiver saturation due to a high-power variation caused by a transmission that might be partially or fully overlapping in time, while minimizing the AGC overhead.

Example embodiments will be discussed in detailed below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 6 illustrates a signaling flow 600 for gain control according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purposes of discussion, the signaling chart 600 will be discussed with reference to FIG. 1, for example, by using the first apparatus 110, the second apparatus 120 and the third apparatus 130. It is to be understood that the signaling flow 600 may involve more apparatuses or fewer apparatuses, and the number of apparatuses illustrated in FIG. 6 is only for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitations.

As shown in FIG. 6, the second apparatus 120 transmits (610) resource information for a first transmission to be transmitted. In some example embodiments, the third apparatus 130 may transmit (612) resource information for a second transmission to be transmitted by the third apparatus. In some examples, the resource information for the first transmission or the second transmission may be scheduling allocations and/or resource reservations from the second apparatus 120 or the third apparatus 130.

In some example embodiments, the resource information for the first transmission from the second apparatus 120 and/or the resource information for the second transmission from the third apparatus 130 may be directly transmitted to the first apparatus 110, or may be transmitted to a further apparatus. The first apparatus 110 monitors (614) the resource information for at least the first transmission to be transmitted by the second apparatus 120 and a second transmission to be transmitted by the third apparatus 130.

In some examples, to determine the overlapping transmission starting and end points as well as to estimate the power, the first apparatus 110 may monitor scheduling allocations (which may be provided by a network base station or by an AP in charge of allocating resources) , resource reservations (which may be allocated in a distributed way, such as in sidelink mode 2 and exchanged via SCI) , or by monitoring inter-UE coordination signaling (such as in sidelink inter UE coordination indications of preferred resource) .

Then, the first apparatus 110 determines (620) that at least one of a transmission starting point or a transmission end point of the second transmission overlaps or is within a time resource of the first transmission, based on the monitored resource information. In some example embodiments, consider an inter-sub-network communication scenario in which the first transmission is an inter-network communication and the second transmission is an intra-network communication. The first apparatus 110 determines which intra-sub-network communication has transmission starting and end points overlapping or within the slot of its inter-sub-network communication, and within the operating band of the inter-sub-network communication.

In some example embodiments, consider an intra-sub-network communication scenario in which the first transmission is an intra-network communication and the second transmission is an inter-network communication. The first apparatus 110 determines which neighboring sub-network communication have transmission starting and end points overlapping or within the slot of its intra-sub-network communication, and within the operating band of the intra-sub-network communication.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may receive, from the second apparatus 120, an AGC capability of the second apparatus 120, the AGC capability comprising the set of AGC parameters of the second apparatus 120. For example, the AGC parameters may include at least one of a convergence speed, a dynamic range, a linearity region, or a resolution.

The first apparatus 110 determines (630) that the second transmission is likely to cause at least one of ADC saturation or quantization noise of the first transmission, based on first estimated receiving power associated with the first transmission and second estimated receiving power associated with the second transmission, and based on at least one of a set of AGC parameters of the first apparatus or the set of AGC parameters of the second apparatus.

In some example embodiments, for inter-sub-network communication, the first apparatus 110 determines which of the at least one of the transmission starting point and the transmission end point may affect the reception of the inter-sub-network communication based on the power of transmissions of the intra-sub-network devices and based on AGC parameters of the first apparatus 110. In some example embodiments, for the intra-sub-network communication, the first apparatus 110 determines which of the at least one of the transmission starting point and the transmission end point may affect the reception of the intra-sub-network communication based on the power of transmissions of neighboring sub-networks and based on AGC parameters of the intra-sub-network devices.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may determine an action, in accordance with a determination that a combined receiving power of the first estimated receiving power and the second estimated receiving power is larger than first threshold power or is less than second threshold power.

In some example embodiments, the thresholds (for example, the first threshold power, or the second threshold power) may be defined based on the limits which allow the AGC to operate in a linearity region around a reference signal level and may also consider an additional AGC headroom. For determining whether AGC adjustment is needed, the device may compare how much the estimated receive power varies in relation to the receive power from the latest AGC adjustment.

FIG. 7 illustrates example estimated receiving power of transmissions according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 7, in this example, TX0 710 is the transmission of interest (for example, to be received by the first apparatus 110 in the sub-network) . TX1 712, TX2 714 and TX3 716 are transmissions (for example, detected by monitoring resource reservations or scheduling allocations) with transmission starting and end points (for example, a transmission starting point 720 and a transmission end point 722) within the desired transmission slot, which may potentially cause the need for an AGC gain adjustment depending on power variation. It is to be noted that the power units (p. u. ) of the TX 0 710, the TX1 712, the TX2 714, the TX3 716, and a combined receiving power at the receiver input 730 could be any power unit. In addition, as shown in FIG. 7, the combined receiving power at the receiver input 730 may be a combination of the estimated receiving power of the TX 0 710, the TX1 712, the TX2 714, the TX3 716, and the transmission to be received. Based on the combined receiving power and the threshold power, how and when to perform an AGC adjustment may be determined.

In some examples, the first apparatus 110 (for example, a sub-network AP) may further monitor sidelink control information (SCI) with resource reservations to determine when transmissions on the configured resource pools may happen, as well as measure the reference signal received power (RSRP) to estimate the power. Besides, the first apparatus 110 may further consider its AGC capability as well as the capabilities from sub-network UEs which may be collected in advance, for example, through capability exchange or assistance information.

In some example embodiments, the first estimated receiving power may be determined based on at least one of: measured RSRP of the first transmission, AGC/ADC parameters of the first apparatus, or AGC/ADC parameters of the second apparatus. In a similar way, the second estimated receiving power may be determined based on at least one of: measured reference signal received power (RSRP) of the second transmission, AGC/ADC parameters of the first apparatus, or AGC/ADC parameters of the second apparatus.

In some example embodiments, the first threshold power and the second threshold power may be associated with the power variation of the combined receiving power of the first transmission and the second transmission.

The first apparatus 110 performs (640) an action for gain control of the first transmission. Alternatively, or in addition, the first apparatus 110 transmits (650) an indication that an action is to be performed for gain control of the first transmission based on the determining. Correspondingly, the second apparatus 120 receives (652) the indication from the first apparatus 110.

In some example embodiments, the action for gain control of the first transmission may comprise performing AGC retuning for the first transmission. For example, the first apparatus 110 may perform AGC retuning at a time instant associated with the transmission starting point and the transmission end point during a slot.

In some example embodiments, the second apparatus 120 performs (660) an action in response to the received indication from the first apparatus 110. According to the received indication, the second apparatus 120 may perform AGC retuning, apply an AGC gain offset, enable a configured AGC symbol, or trigger a reconfiguration (for example, rescheduling or reselection) for the resource information for the first transmission.

In some example embodiments, the indication that an action is to be performed for gain control may comprise an indication that the AGC retuning is to be performed for the first transmission. For example, the first apparatus 110 may indicate the second apparatus 120 a time instant associated with the transmission starting time and the transmission end point during a slot where the second apparatus 120 should perform the AGC retuning. The time instant, for example, may be at the transmission starting point, such as at the beginning of a symbol.

Alternatively, or in addition, the action may comprise applying an AGC gain offset for the first transmission. For example, the first apparatus 110 may apply an AGC gain offset after a time instant associated with the transmission starting point and the transmission end point during a slot. Alternatively, or in addition, the indication may comprise an indication that the AGC gain offset is to be applied for the first transmission. For example, the first apparatus 110 may indicate to the second apparatus 120 the AGC gain offset to be applied after a time instant associated with the transmission starting point and the transmission end point during a slot. The time instant, for example, may be after the transmission starting point, such as after the beginning of a symbol.

In some example embodiments, the AGC gain offset may be based on an estimated power variation, or a precomputed value based on the power difference between resource pools of inter-sub-network and intra-sub-network communications. For example, the AGC gain offset may be determined based on the first estimated receiving power or the second estimated receiving power. Alternatively, or in addition, the AGC gain offset may be determined based on a difference between the first estimated receiving power and the second estimated receiving power.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may determine the AGC gain offset based on previous gains applied for past occasions where transmission overlapping occurred. Alternatively, or in addition, the gain offset may be pre-computed based on the power difference between time overlapping resource pools.

Alternatively, or in addition, the indication may comprise an indication that a configured AGC symbol is to be enabled for the first transmission. In some example embodiments, the set of AGC parameters of the first apparatus may comprise first AGC convergence time of the first apparatus 110, and the set of AGC parameters of the second apparatus may comprise second AGC convergence time of the second apparatus 120. In accordance with a determination that at least one of the first AGC convergence time or the second AGC convergence time is larger than threshold time, the first apparatus 110 configures an AGC symbol for the first transmission, or an AGC symbol for a retransmission of the first transmission at a reserved retransmission occasion for the first transmission. The indication may comprise the indication that the configured AGC symbol is to be enabled.

In some implementations, if an AGC convergence speed of the first apparatus 110 is above the threshold time, for example, a time limit T (such as the cyclic prefix duration) , the first apparatus 110 may configure AGC symbol (s) for the inter-sub-network communication slot at the determined transmission starting point (s) or following the transmission end point (s) . In some implementations, if an AGC convergence speed of a number of devices (for example, X%percent of devices) of the intra-sub-network are above a time limit L (for example, the cyclic prefix duration) , the first apparatus 110 may configure AGC symbol (s) at the determined transmission starting point (s) or following the transmission end point (s) . In some cases, it may be assumed that the first apparatus 110 cannot perform the AGC retuning without an extra AGC symbol.

In some examples, the first apparatus 110 may perform a (re) configuration of the AGC symbols at the determined starting point (s) or following the end point (s) for periodic transmissions, or for reserved retransmissions occasions, such that the device has enough time to configure the AGC symbol.

Alternatively, or in addition, the indication may comprise an indication that the resource information for the first transmission is to be reconfigured. For example, for the inter-sub-network communication, the first apparatus 110 may trigger a rescheduling or reselection for the resources for the inter-sub-network transmissions to another slot, for example, by indicating a conflict or non-preferred resource (for example, via sidelink inter-UE coordination signaling) . Alternatively, or in addition, the first apparatus 110 may reschedule the intra-sub-network transmission to another slot.

In another example, for the intra-sub-network communication, the first apparatus 110 may reschedule the intra-sub-network transmission to another slot. Alternatively, or in addition, the first apparatus 110 may trigger a rescheduling or reselection for the resources for the inter-sub-network transmissions to another slot.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may determine, based on a limit of an amplifier gain of the first apparatus 110, that the resource information for the first transmission is to be reconfigured (for example, rescheduled) . The decision to reschedule to another slot may be based on the limits of amplifier gains. For example, if the amplifier (for example, low noise amplifier, secondary noise amplifier) gains may not be sufficient to avoid an AGC saturation or reaching noise level for a transmission scheduled in a certain slot, then a resource reservation or rescheduling to a different transmission slot may be triggered.

In some example embodiments, the second apparatus 120 may transmit, to the first apparatus 110, a capability to perform the action by the second apparatus in response to receiving the transmitted indication. In this way, the first apparatus 110 may be informed of what the second apparatus 120 is capable of supporting in relation to the actions.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may determine, for data of the first transmission received in a slot, that at least one of the ADC saturation or the quantization noise is expected during a later part of the slot, and buffer a part of the data received in an earlier part of the slot. In response to receiving a retransmitted data associated with the data of the first transmission, the first apparatus 110 may combine the buffered part of the data with the retransmitted data. For example, in case of reserved retransmissions (for example, as in sidelink) , for the data receiving in the current slot, if severe ADC saturation is expected during, for example, the second half slot, and the data packet cannot be detected correctly, the receiver may buffer only the first half slot signal. The part related to the second half slot with expected severe distortion interference may be cleared or flushed. The buffered first half slot signal may be combined with the next retransmission to obtain the effective combination gains while avoiding the interference caused by the ADC saturation.

Several example processes regarding the gain control will be described with respect to FIG. 8 to FIG. 10.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example flowchart of an implementation for an inter-sub-network communication. In this example flowchart, a sub-network AP 810 operates as an example implementation of the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1. At least one neighboring sub-network AP 820 operates as an example implementation of the second apparatus 120 and at least one sub-network UE 830 operates as an example implementation of the third apparatus 130.

As shown in FIG. 8, at 840, the sub-network AP 810 may exchange transmission parameters applied for intra-sub-network communications and parameters applied for inter-sub-network communications with the sub-network AP 820. The sub-network AP 810 may perform signaling with other APs (for example, the neighboring sub-network AP 820) and/or central network node for exchanging their transmission parameters applied for their AP-AP communications (i.e., for inter-sub-network communications) . The transmission parameters, for example, may comprise a frame configuration, a slot size, an SCS, a transmission direction pattern, a bandwidth part (BWP) and resource pools (RPs) for AP-AP and AP-UE communications, a power range or target transmit power for the RPs, e.g. via synchronization signal block (SSB) or radio resource control (RRC) .

In some example embodiments, the transmission parameters exchanged between APs may include different power level indications for the RPs used for inter-sub-network communications and RPs used for intra-sub-network communications. In addition, they may include different power levels, or a power offset between each channel, e.g., the data channel power of AP-AP communication may be offset to the channel control channel power by -3dB for reducing in-device self-interference. The power level indications for the different RPs and channels may be provided by (pre) configuration (e.g. via RRC) , or may be dynamically indicated with the resource reservation signal or together with inter-UE coordination signaling.

At 842, the sub-network AP 810 may exchange AGC and/or ADC capability (for example, the convergence speed, the dynamic range, the linearity region, the resolution, or the like) with the sub-network AP 820.

At 844, the sub-network AP 810 may monitor scheduling allocations and/or resource pool transmission reservations. For example, the sub-network AP 810 may monitor resource reservations from the sub-network UE 830 and scheduling allocations and/or resource reservations from the sub-network AP 820.

At 850, the sub-network AP 810 may determine which transmission starting point and/or transmission end point may affect the reception based on the estimated power and AGC parameters. In some examples, the AP may perform the determination at least based on the scheduled and/or reserved transmissions monitored within the sub-network.

At 852, the sub-network AP 810 may determine whether to at least perform AGC retuning, apply an AGC gain offset, enable an AGC symbol, or trigger a rescheduling/reselection.

In some example embodiments, for the case of intra-sub-network communication where the AP is the receiver device, it may be the AP to perform the AGC returning or to apply the AGC gain offset and may not provide indication to the sub-network UE. If the sub-network AP 810 determines that the AGC retuning is to be performed, the sub-network AP 810 may perform the AGC retuning. If the sub-network AP 810 determines that the AGC gain offset is to be applied, the sub-network AP 810 may apply the AGC gain offset. In some examples, the AP 810 may dynamically indicate, for example, through MAC CE signaling, whether the AGC symbol associated to the determined transmission starting/end points may be needed for a transmission on a candidate resource.

At 854, if the sub-network AP 810 determines that the AGC symbol is to be enabled, the sub-network AP 810 may indicate, to the sub-network AP 820, that an AGC symbol associated to the determined transmission starting/end points may be needed for an AP-AP communication transmission slot.

At 856, if the sub-network AP 810 determines that a rescheduling or reselection is to be triggered, the sub-network AP 810 may transmit a request to the sub-network AP 820 for rescheduling or reselection of the resources for the AP-AP communication.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example flowchart of an implementation for an intra-sub-network communication. In this example flowchart, the sub-network AP 810 operates as an example implementation of the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1. At least one sub-network UE 830 operates as an example implementation of the second apparatus 120 and at least one neighboring sub-network AP 820 operates as an example implementation of the third apparatus 130.

As shown in FIG. 9, at 910, the sub-network AP 810 may exchange transmission parameters applied for intra-sub-network communications and parameters applied for inter-sub-network communications with the sub-network AP 820. The sub-network AP 810 may perform signaling with other APs (for example, the neighboring sub-network AP 820) and/or central network node for exchanging their transmission parameters applied for their AP-AP communications (i.e., for inter-sub-network communications) , such as, frame configuration, slot size, SCS, transmission direction pattern, bandwidth part (BWP) and resource pools (RP) sfor AP-AP and AP-UE communications, power range or target transmit power for the RPs, e.g. via SSB or RRC.

At 912, the sub-network AP 810 may exchange AGC and/or ADC capability (for example, the convergence speed, the dynamic range, the linearity region, the resolution, or the like) with the sub-network UE 830.

At 914, the sub-network AP 810 may monitor scheduling allocations and/or resource pool transmission reservations. For example, the sub-network AP 810 may monitor resource reservations from the sub-network UE 830 and scheduling allocations and/or resource reservations from the sub-network AP 820.

At 920, the sub-network AP 810 may determine which transmission starting and/or end points may affect the reception based on the estimated power and on AGC parameters. In some examples, the AP 810 may perform the determination at least for the scheduled and/or reserved transmissions of neighboring sub-network and inform the intra-sub-network devices in advance.

At 922, the sub-network AP 810 may determine whether to at least perform AGC retuning, apply an AGC gain offset, enable an AGC symbol, or trigger a rescheduling/reselection. The AP 810 may dynamically indicate, for example, through MAC CE signaling, whether the AGC symbol associated to the determined transmission starting/end points may be needed for a transmission on a candidate resource.

At 924, if the sub-network AP 810 determines that the AGC retuning is to be performed, the sub-network AP 810 may indicate to perform the AGC retuning at the determined transmission starting/end points of an AP-UE communication transmission slot.

At 926, if the sub-network AP 810 determines that the AGC gain offset is to be applied, the sub-network AP 810 may indicate to apply a pre-computed or indicated gain offset at the determined transmission starting/end points for the AP-UE communication transmission slot.

At 928, if the sub-network AP 810 determines that the AGC symbol is to be enabled, the sub-network AP 810 may indicate that the AGC symbol associated to the determined transmission starting/end points is enabled for an AP-UE communication transmission slot.

At 930, if the sub-network AP 810 determines that a rescheduling or reselection is to be triggered, the sub-network AP 810 may indicate a rescheduling or reselection of the resources for the AP-UE communication.

In some example embodiments, the described implementation for AP-AP inter-sub-network communication may be similarly implemented by a UE which performs inter-sub-network communication, i.e., a UE from one sub-network which monitors allocations and communicate with devices of other neighboring sub-networks. Furthermore, the described implementation for AP-UE intra-sub-network communication may be similarly implemented by a UE which performs intra-sub-network communication, i.e., a UE which monitors allocations from its sub-network and other neighboring sub-networks and transmit to AP or other UEs of its sub-network.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example flowchart of a further implementation for an intra-sub-network communication. In this example flowchart, the at least one sub-network UE 830 operates as an example implementation of the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1. The sub-network AP 810 operates as an example implementation of the second apparatus 120 and at least one neighboring sub-network AP 820 operates as an example implementation of the third apparatus 130.

As shown in FIG. 10, at 1010, the sub-network UE 830 may exchange transmission parameters applied for intra-sub-network communications and parameters applied for inter-sub-network communications with the sub-network AP 810. At 1012, the sub-network UE 830 may exchange transmission parameters applied for intra-sub-network communications and parameters applied for inter-sub-network communications with the sub-network AP 820.

At 1014, the sub-network UE 830 may exchange AGC and/or ADC capability (for example, the convergence speed, the dynamic range, the linearity region, the resolution) with the sub-network AP 810.

At 1016, the sub-network UE 830 may monitor scheduling allocations and/or resource pool transmission reservations. for example, the sub-network UE 830 may monitor resource reservations from the sub-network AP 810 and/or from the sub-network AP 820.

At 1022, the sub-network UE 830 may determine which transmissions starting and end points may affect the reception based on the estimated power and on AGC parameters.

At 1022, the sub-network UE 830 may determine whether to at least perform AGC retuning, apply an AGC gain offset, enable an AGC symbol, or trigger a rescheduling/reselection.

At 1026, if the sub-network UE 830 determines that the AGC retuning is to be performed, the sub-network UE 830 may indicate to perform the AGC retuning at the determined transmission starting/end points of a UE-AP communication transmission slot.

At 1028, if the sub-network UE 830 determines that the AGC gain offset is to be applied, the sub-network UE 830 may indicate to apply a pre-computed or indicated gain offset at the determined transmission starting/end points for the UE-AP communication transmission slot.

At 1030, if the sub-network UE 830 determines that the AGC symbol is to be enabled, the sub-network UE 830 may indicate that the AGC symbol associated to the determined transmission starting/end points is enabled for a UE-AP communication transmission slot.

At 1032, if the sub-network UE 830 determines that a rescheduling or reselection is to be triggered, the sub-network UE 830 may request rescheduling or reselection of the resources for the UE-AP communication.

It is to be noted that, the proposed method may be employed for mitigating AGC issues in intra-sub-network communications (for example, UE-AP, AP-UE or UE-UE within the sub-network) and in inter-sub-network communications (for example, AP-AP) , as mentioned above.

With the proposed embodiments, the sub-network device (such as an AP or alternatively a capable UE) may be allowed to acquire knowledge about the slot configuration, transmit power settings, and AGC constraints of sub-network devices. Based on that, the sub-network device may properly configure AGC for communication within and between sub-networks as well as aid the sub-network devices on determining whether to perform AGC retuning when receiving a signal.

FIG. 11 shows a flowchart of an example method 1100 implemented at the first apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 1100 will be described from the perspective of the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1.

At block 1110, monitoring resource information for at least a first transmission to be transmitted by a second apparatus and a second transmission to be transmitted by a third apparatus.

At block 1120, determining that at least one of a transmission starting point or a transmission end point of the second transmission overlaps or is within a time resource of the first transmission, based on the monitored resource information.

At block 1130, determining that the second transmission is to cause at least one of analogue-to-digital converter (ADC) saturation or quantization noise of the first transmission, based on first estimated receiving power associated with the first transmission and second estimated receiving power associated with the second transmission, and based on at least one of a set of automatic gain control (AGC) parameters of the first apparatus or the set of AGC parameters of the second apparatus.

At block 1140, performing at least one of performing an action for gain control of the first transmission or transmitting an indication that an action is to be performed for gain control of the first transmission based on the determining.

In some example embodiments, the method 1100 further comprises: in accordance with a determination that a combined receiving power of the first estimated receiving power and the second estimated receiving power is larger than first threshold power or is less than second threshold power, determining the action.

In some example embodiments, the action comprises at least one of: performing AGC retuning for the first transmission; or applying an AGC gain offset for the first transmission.

In some example embodiments, the indication comprises at least one of: an indication that the AGC retuning is to be performed for the first transmission; an indication that the AGC gain offset is to be applied for the first transmission; an indication that a configured AGC symbol is to be enabled for the first transmission; or an indication that the resource information for the first transmission is to be reconfigured.

In some example embodiments, the AGC gain offset is determined based on at least one of: variations of at least one of the first estimated receiving power or the second estimated receiving power, or a difference between the first estimated receiving power and the second estimated receiving power.

In some example embodiments, the method 1100 further comprises: in accordance with a determination that at least one of the first or second AGC convergence time is larger than threshold time, configuring an AGC symbol for the first transmission, or an AGC symbol for a retransmission of the first transmission at a reserved retransmission occasion for the first transmission, where the indication comprises the indication that the configured AGC symbol is to be enabled.

In some example embodiments, the method 1100 further comprises: determining, based on a limit of an amplifier gain of the first apparatus, that the resource information for the first transmission is to be reconfigured.

In some example embodiments, the method 1100 further comprises: determining, for data of the first transmission received in a slot, that at least one of the ADC saturation or the quantization noise is expected during a later part of the slot, buffer a part of the data received in an earlier part of the slot; and in response to receiving a retransmitted data associated with the data of the first transmission, combining the buffered part of the data with the retransmitted data.

In some example embodiments, the method 1100 further comprises: receiving, from the second apparatus, an AGC capability of the second apparatus, the AGC capability comprising the set of AGC parameters of the second apparatus; or receiving, from the second apparatus, a capability to perform the action by the second apparatus in response to the transmitted indication.

FIG. 12 shows a flowchart of an example method 1200 implemented at a second apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 1200 will be described from the perspective of the second apparatus 120 in FIG. 1.

At block 1210, transmitting resource information for a first transmission to be transmitted; and

At block 1220, receiving, from the first apparatus, an indication that an action is to be performed for gain control of the first transmission.

In some example embodiments, the indication comprises at least one of: an indication that AGC retuning is to be performed for the first transmission; an indication that an AGC gain offset is to be applied for the first transmission; an indication that a configured AGC symbol is to be enabled for the first transmission; or an indication that the resource information for the first transmission is to be reconfigured.

In some example embodiments, a first apparatus capable of performing any of the method 1100 (for example, the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1 may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 1100. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The first apparatus may be implemented as or included in the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises means for monitoring resource information for at least a first transmission to be transmitted by a second apparatus and a second transmission to be transmitted by a third apparatus; means for determining that at least one of a transmission starting point or a transmission end point of the second transmission overlaps or is within a time resource of the first transmission, based on the monitored resource information; means for determining that the second transmission is to cause at least one of analogue-to-digital converter (ADC) saturation or quantization noise of the first transmission, based on first estimated receiving power associated with the first transmission and second estimated receiving power associated with the second transmission, and based on at least one of a set of automatic gain control (AGC) parameters of the first apparatus or the set of AGC parameters of the second apparatus; and means for performing at least one of performing an action for gain control of the first transmission or transmitting an indication that an action is to be performed for gain control of the first transmission based on the determining.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for in accordance with a determination that a combined receiving power of the first estimated receiving power and the second estimated receiving power is larger than first threshold power or is less than second threshold power, determining the action.

In some example embodiments, the set of AGC parameters of the first apparatus comprises first AGC convergence time of the first apparatus, and the set of AGC parameters of the second apparatus comprises second AGC convergence time of the second apparatus, the first apparatus further comprises: means for in accordance with a determination that at least one of the first or second AGC convergence time is larger than threshold time, configuring an AGC symbol for the first transmission, or an AGC symbol for a retransmission of the first transmission at a reserved retransmission occasion for the first transmission, where the indication comprises the indication that the configured AGC symbol is to be enabled.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for determining, based on a limit of an amplifier gain of the first apparatus, that the resource information for the first transmission is to be reconfigured.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for determining, for data of the first transmission received in a slot, that at least one of the ADC saturation or the quantization noise is expected during a later part of the slot, buffer a part of the data received in an earlier part of the slot; and means for, in response to receiving a retransmitted data associated with the data of the first transmission, combining the buffered part of the data with the retransmitted data.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for receiving, from the second apparatus, an AGC capability of the second apparatus, the AGC capability comprising the set of AGC parameters of the second apparatus; or means for receiving, from the second apparatus, a capability to perform the action by the second apparatus in response to the transmitted indication.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises means for performing other operations in some example embodiments of the method 1100 or the first apparatus 110. In some example embodiments, the means comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the performance of the first apparatus.

In some example embodiments, a second apparatus capable of performing any of the method 1200 (for example, the second apparatus 120 in FIG. 1 may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 1200. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The second apparatus may be implemented as or included in the second apparatus 120 in FIG. 1.

In some example embodiments, the second apparatus comprises means for transmitting resource information for a first transmission to be transmitted; and means for receiving, from the first apparatus, an indication that an action is to be performed for gain control of the first transmission.

In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises means for performing other operations in some example embodiments of the method 1200 or the second apparatus 120. In some example embodiments, the means comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the performance of the second apparatus.

FIG. 13 is a simplified block diagram of a device 1300 that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 1300 may be provided to implement a communication device, for example, the first apparatus 110, the second apparatus 120, or the third apparatus 130 as shown in FIG. 1. As shown, the device 1300 includes one or more processors 1310, one or more memories 1320 coupled to the processor 1310, and one or more communication modules 1340 coupled to the processor 1310.

The communication module 1340 is for bidirectional communications. The communication module 1340 has one or more communication interfaces to facilitate communication with one or more other modules or devices. The communication interfaces may represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements. In some example embodiments, the communication module 1340 may include at least one antenna.

The processor 1310 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network and may include one or more of the following: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The device 1300 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock which synchronizes the main processor.

The memory 1320 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of the non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a Read Only Memory (ROM) 1324, an electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM) , a flash memory, a hard disk, a compact disc (CD) , a digital video disk (DVD) , an optical disk, a laser disk, and other magnetic storage and/or optical storage. Examples of the volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a random access memory (RAM) 1322 and other volatile memories that will not last in the power-down duration.

A computer program 1330 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 1310. The instructions of the program 1330 may include instructions for performing operations/acts of some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The program 1330 may be stored in the memory, e.g., the ROM 1324. The processor 1310 may perform any suitable actions and processing by loading the program 1330 into the RAM 1322.

The example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by means of the program 1330 so that the device 1300 may perform any process of the disclosure as discussed with reference to FIG. 2 to FIG. 12. The example embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

In some example embodiments, the program 1330 may be tangibly contained in a computer readable medium which may be included in the device 1300 (such as in the memory 1320) or other storage devices that are accessible by the device 1300. The device 1300 may load the program 1330 from the computer readable medium to the RAM 1322 for execution. In some example embodiments, the computer readable medium may include any types of non-transitory storage medium, such as ROM, EPROM, a flash memory, a hard disk, CD, DVD, and the like. The term “non-transitory, ” as used herein, is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency (e.g., RAM vs. ROM) .

FIG. 14 shows an example of the computer readable medium 1400 which may be in form of CD, DVD or other optical storage disk. The computer readable medium 1400 has the program 1330 stored thereon.

Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, and other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. Although various aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other pictorial representations, it is to be understood that the block, apparatus, system, technique or method described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

Some example embodiments of the present disclosure also provide at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a computer readable medium, such as a non-transitory computer readable medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target physical or virtual processor, to carry out any of the methods as described above. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

Program code for carrying out methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. The program code may be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program code, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions/operations specified in the flowcharts and/or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may execute entirely on a machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

In the context of the present disclosure, the computer program code or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable the device, apparatus or processor to perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of the carrier include a signal, computer readable medium, and the like.

The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable medium may include but not limited to an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the computer readable storage medium would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM) , a read-only memory (ROM) , an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory) , an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) , an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

Further, although operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, although several specific implementation details are contained in the above discussions, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Unless explicitly stated, certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, unless explicitly stated, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in a plurality of embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination.

Although the present disclosure has been described in languages specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

A first apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus at least to:

monitor resource information for at least a first transmission to be transmitted by a second apparatus and a second transmission to be transmitted by a third apparatus;

determine that at least one of a transmission starting point or a transmission end point of the second transmission overlaps or is within a time resource of the first transmission, based on the monitored resource information;

determine that the second transmission is to cause at least one of analogue-to-digital converter (ADC) saturation or quantization noise of the first transmission, based on first estimated receiving power associated with the first transmission and second estimated receiving power associated with the second transmission, and based on at least one of a set of automatic gain control (AGC) parameters of the first apparatus or the set of AGC parameters of the second apparatus; and

perform at least one of performing an action for gain control of the first transmission or transmitting an indication that an action is to be performed for gain control of the first transmission based on the determining.
The first apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one memory and the at least one processor further cause the first apparatus to:

in accordance with a determination that a combined receiving power of the first estimated receiving power and the second estimated receiving power is larger than first threshold power or is less than second threshold power, determine the action.
The first apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein the action comprises at least one of:

performing AGC retuning for the first transmission; or

applying an AGC gain offset for the first transmission.
The first apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein the indication comprises at least one of:

an indication that the AGC retuning is to be performed for the first transmission;

an indication that the AGC gain offset is to be applied for the first transmission;

an indication that a configured AGC symbol is to be enabled for the first transmission; or

an indication that the resource information for the first transmission is to be reconfigured.
The first apparatus of claim 3 or 4, wherein the AGC gain offset is determined based on at least one of: variations of at least one of the first estimated receiving power or the second estimated receiving power, or a difference between the first estimated receiving power and the second estimated receiving power.
The first apparatus of claim 4, wherein the set of AGC parameters of the first apparatus comprises first AGC convergence time of the first apparatus, and the set of AGC parameters of the second apparatus comprises second AGC convergence time of the second apparatus, and the at least one memory and the at least one processor further cause the first apparatus to:

in accordance with a determination that at least one of the first or second AGC convergence time is larger than threshold time, configure an AGC symbol for the first transmission, or an AGC symbol for a retransmission of the first transmission at a reserved retransmission occasion for the first transmission,

wherein the indication comprises the indication that the configured AGC symbol is to be enabled.
The first apparatus of any of claims 3 to 6, wherein the at least one memory and the at least one processor further cause the first apparatus to:

determine, based on a limit of an amplifier gain of the first apparatus, that the resource information for the first transmission is to be reconfigured.
The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the at least one memory and the at least one processor further cause the first apparatus to:

determine, for data of the first transmission received in a slot, that at least one of the ADC saturation or the quantization noise is expected during a later part of the slot, buffer a part of the data received in an earlier part of the slot; and

in response to receiving a retransmitted data associated with the data of the first transmission, combine the buffered part of the data with the retransmitted data.
The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 8, wherein the at least one memory and the at least one processor cause the first apparatus at least to:

receive, from the second apparatus, an AGC capability of the second apparatus, the AGC capability comprising the set of AGC parameters of the second apparatus; or

receive, from the second apparatus, a capability to perform the action by the second apparatus in response to the transmitted indication.
A second apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus at least to:

transmit resource information for a first transmission to be transmitted; and

receive, from the first apparatus, an indication that an action is to be performed for gain control of the first transmission.
The second apparatus of claim 10, wherein the indication comprises at least one of:

an indication that AGC retuning is to be performed for the first transmission;

an indication that an AGC gain offset is to be applied for the first transmission;

an indication that a configured AGC symbol is to be enabled for the first transmission; or

an indication that the resource information for the first transmission is to be reconfigured.
A method comprising:

monitoring resource information for at least a first transmission to be transmitted by a second apparatus and a second transmission to be transmitted by a third apparatus;

determining that at least one of a transmission starting point or a transmission end point of the second transmission overlaps or is within a time resource of the first transmission, based on the monitored resource information;

determining that the second transmission is to cause at least one of analogue-to-digital converter (ADC) saturation or quantization noise of the first transmission, based on first estimated receiving power associated with the first transmission and second estimated receiving power associated with the second transmission, and based on at least one of a set of automatic gain control (AGC) parameters of the first apparatus or the set of AGC parameters of the second apparatus; and

performing at least one of performing an action for gain control of the first transmission or transmitting an indication that an action is to be performed for gain control of the first transmission based on the determining.
A method comprising:

transmitting resource information for a first transmission to be transmitted; and

receiving, from the first apparatus, an indication that an action is to be performed for gain control of the first transmission.
A first apparatus comprising:

means for monitoring resource information for at least a first transmission to be transmitted by a second apparatus and a second transmission to be transmitted by a third apparatus;

means for determining that at least one of a transmission starting point or a transmission end point of the second transmission overlaps or is within a time resource of the first transmission, based on the monitored resource information;

means for determining that the second transmission is to cause at least one of analogue-to-digital converter (ADC) saturation or quantization noise of the first transmission, based on first estimated receiving power associated with the first transmission and second estimated receiving power associated with the second transmission, and based on at least one of a set of automatic gain control (AGC) parameters of the first apparatus or the set of AGC parameters of the second apparatus; and

means for performing at least one of performing an action for gain control of the first transmission or transmitting an indication that an action is to be performed for gain control of the first transmission based on the determining.
A second apparatus comprising:

means for transmitting resource information for a first transmission to be transmitted; and

means for receiving, from the first apparatus, an indication that an action is to be performed for gain control of the first transmission.
A computer readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus at least to perform the method of claim 12 or 13.