Repeater device for 5G new radio communication
A repeater device for New Radio (NR) communication, includes a baseband processor that establishes a communication link with a base station and decodes control information that is received from the base station through a control channel. The baseband processor further aligns a timing reference of the repeater device with that of an NR cell frame for an uplink or a downlink time division duplex (TDD) switching, based on the decoded control information. The baseband processor further selects and forms one or more donor beams of RF signals at a donor side of the repeater device and one or more service beams of RF signals at a service side of the repeater device, based on the decoded control information and the aligned timing reference with that of the NR cell frame for the uplink or the downlink TDD switching for communication in an NR frequency band.
1. A repeater device for New Radio (NR) communication, comprising:
a baseband processor configured to:
establish a communication link with a base station, wherein the communication link established with the base station is a side link;
receive, from the base station, control information as a modulated pulse through a control channel, wherein the control information is side control information and the control channel is a side control channel;
decode the received control information which includes primary synchronization signals (PSS) that indicate a timing boundary of a 5G NR radio frame;
align, based on the decoded control information, a timing reference of the repeater device with that of an NR cell frame for one of an uplink or a downlink time division duplex (TDD) switching;
select a first operating mode from a plurality of operating modes of the repeater device based on at least one of a number of a plurality of user equipment (UEs), a distance of the plurality of UEs from the base station, or a spatial distribution of the plurality of UEs, wherein
the plurality of operating modes includes a beam widening mode, a switching multi-beam mode, a concurrent multi-beam mode, and a static beam mode, and an operating mode that includes one or more specified combination of the static beam mode, the beam widening mode, the switching multi-beam mode, and the concurrent multi-beam mode;
receive feedback from the plurality of UEs, wherein the feedback indicates one of:
which type of beam is suitable for the plurality of UEs, or
one of whether to cover one of the plurality of UEs by an individual beam, a group of UEs from the plurality of UEs by a single beam, or the group of UEs by multiple concurrent beams;
select and form a plurality of donor beams of Radio Frequency (RF) signals at a donor side of the repeater device and a plurality of service beams of RF signals at a service side of the repeater device, based on the decoded control information, the aligned timing reference with that of the NR cell frame for one of the uplink or the downlink TDD switching for communication in an NR frequency band, and the first operating mode, wherein
the selection and formation of the plurality of service beams of RF signals is further based on the received feedback;
form the plurality of donor beams of RF signals, concurrently towards one of a plurality of target base stations or a plurality of repeater devices different from the repeater device, based on the first operation mode, a plurality of requested donor beam identifiers, and a plurality of pre-stored donor beam identifiers, wherein the plurality of requested donor beam identifiers is shared by at least one of the plurality of target base stations through the control channel to reach the repeater device;
track a trajectory of motion of each of the plurality of UEs to be within a coverage area of the one or more service beams of RF signals without constantly tracking locations of each of the plurality of UEs; and
dynamically adjust the coverage area of the plurality of service beams of RF signals based on the trajectory of motion of the plurality of UEs.
2. The repeater device according to claim 1 , wherein the baseband processor is further configured to decode NR synchronization signals and Physical Broadcast Channels (PBCHs) as a part of the decoded control information for the alignment of the timing reference for one of the uplink or the downlink TDD switching.
3. The repeater device according to claim 2 , wherein the decoded control information in addition to the NR synchronization signals and the Physical Broadcast Channels (PBCHs) further comprises one or more of: a periodicity and a downlink/uplink cycle ratio, a TDD pattern, a NR TDD slot format, or a plurality of NR TDD slot formats in a periodic sequence.
4. The repeater device according to claim 1 , wherein the baseband processor is further configured to:
obtain a physical cell identifier (PCID), an absolute radio-frequency channel number (ARFCN), and properties of the base station through a network; and
automatically align one donor beam of the one or more donor beams of the RF signals towards the base station based on the PCID, the ARFCN, and the properties of the base station.
5. The repeater device according to claim 1 , wherein
the baseband processor is further configured to form the plurality of service beams of RF signals concurrently towards one of the plurality of UEs or the plurality of repeater devices, based on a plurality of requested service beam identifiers, and
the plurality of requested service beam identifiers is shared to the repeater device via one or more control messages by at least one of a plurality of base stations, or the plurality of UEs.
6. The repeater device according to claim 1 , wherein the baseband processor is further configured to:
receive a request through the control channel; and
adjust, based on the request, a forward end-to-end gain of the repeater device for one of a downlink or an uplink communication.
7. The repeater device according to claim 1 , further comprising a filter, wherein the baseband processor is further configured to:
receive, from the base station, information that corresponds to one or more bandwidth parts (BWPs) of one or more NR frequency bands that the repeater device is expected to amplify and forward in a downlink direction or an uplink direction, wherein the information that corresponds to the one or more BWPs is received through the control channel; and
tune, based on the received information that corresponds to the one or more BWPs, a user plane's frequency response via the filter in the downlink direction.
8. The repeater device according to claim 1 , further comprising a filter, wherein the baseband processor is further configured to:
receive, from the base station, information that corresponds to one or more bandwidth parts (BWPs) of one or more NR frequency bands that the repeater device is expected to amplify and forward in a downlink direction or an uplink direction, wherein the information that corresponds to the one or more BWPs is received through the control channel; and
tune, based on the received information that corresponds to the one or more BWPs, a user plane's frequency response via the filter in the uplink direction.
9. The repeater device according to claim 1 , wherein the baseband processor is further configured to apply a change in a frequency in a relayed signal at the service side in a downlink direction relative to a received signal at the donor side.
10. The repeater device according to claim 1 , wherein the baseband processor is further configured to apply a change in a frequency in a relayed signal at the donor side in an uplink direction relative to a received signal at the service side.
11. The repeater device according to claim 1 , wherein the baseband processor is further configured to apply a defined power back-off from a set of amplifiers in a downlink radio frequency chain at the service side.
12. The repeater device according to claim 1 , wherein the baseband processor is further configured to apply a defined power back-off from a set of amplifiers in an uplink radio frequency chain at the donor side.
13. The repeater device according to claim 1 , wherein the baseband processor is further configured to communicate, via the established communication link, a channel quality indicator and a plurality of channel estimates to one of the base station or a network.
14. The repeater device according to claim 1 , wherein the baseband processor is further configured to communicate with a specified remote server via a management control plane to acquire data and instructions to allow remote execution of one or more operations at the repeater device including a software upgrade.
15. The repeater device according to claim 1 , wherein the baseband processor is further configured to:
receive a plurality of physical cell identifier (PCIDs) from one of a network or the base station;
measure quality information of a plurality of communication links for the received plurality of physical cell identifier (PCIDs); and
communicate the measured quality information of the received plurality of PCIDs to one of the network or the base station.
16. The repeater device according to claim 1 , wherein the baseband processor is further configured to:
receive a control instruction from one of a network or the base station;
measure, based on the received control instruction, uplink signal quality information of specified uplink slots and beam settings; and
communicate the measured uplink signal quality information to one of the network or the base station.
17. The repeater device according to claim 1 , wherein
the baseband processor is further configured to:
receive, via the established communication link, a control instruction from one of a network or the base station; and
execute a beam configuration of the repeater device for each one of symbol or slot of the NR cell frame through the established communication link, and
the beam configuration is based on the control instruction.
18. A method implemented in a repeater device for New Radio (NR) communication, the method comprising:
establishing a communication link with a base station, wherein the communication link established with the base station is a side link;
receiving, from the base station, control information as a modulated pulse through a control channel, wherein the control information is side control information and the control channel is a side control channel;
decoding the received control information which includes primary synchronization signals (PSS) that indicate a timing boundary of a 5G NR radio frame;
aligning, based on the decoded control information, a timing reference of the repeater device with that of an NR cell frame for one of an uplink or a downlink time division duplex (TDD) switching;
selecting a first operating mode from a plurality of operating modes of the repeater device based on at least one of a number, a distance, or a spatial distribution of a plurality of user equipment (UEs), wherein
the plurality of operating modes includes a beam widening mode, a switching multi-beam mode, a concurrent multi-beam mode, and a static beam mode, and an operating mode that includes one or more specified combination of the static beam mode, the beam widening mode, the switching multi-beam mode, and the concurrent multi-beam mode;
receiving feedback from the plurality of UEs, wherein the feedback indicates one of
which type of beam is suitable for the plurality of UEs, or
one of whether to cover one of the plurality of UEs by an individual beam, a group of UEs from the plurality of UEs by a single beam, or the group of UEs by multiple concurrent beams;
selecting and forming a plurality of donor beams of Radio Frequency (RF) signals at a donor side of the repeater device and a plurality of service beams of RF signals at a service side of the repeater device, based on the decoded control information, the aligned timing reference with that of the NR cell frame for one of the uplink or the downlink TDD switching for communication in an NR frequency band, and the first operating mode, wherein
the selection and formation of the plurality of service beams of RF signals is further based on the received feedback;
forming the plurality of donor beams of RF signals, concurrently towards one of a plurality of target base stations or a plurality of repeater devices different from the repeater device, based on the first operation mode, a plurality of requested donor beam identifiers, and a plurality of pre-stored donor beam identifiers, wherein the plurality of requested donor beam identifiers is shared by at least one of the plurality of target base stations through the control channel to reach the repeater device;
tracking trajectory of motion of each of the plurality of UEs to be within a coverage area of the one or more service beams of RF signals without constantly tracking locations of each of the plurality of UEs; and
dynamically adjust the coverage area of the plurality of service beams of RF signals based on the trajectory of motion of the plurality of UEs.
19. The repeater device according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one of the plurality of target base stations is further configured to transmit beam switching time event in terms of one of System Frame Number (SFN), Hyper Frame Number (HFN), subframe, or other coordinated timers of NR/LTE along with the plurality of requested donor beam identifiers.
20. The repeater device according to claim 1 , wherein
the repeater device further comprises a donor beam book, and
the donor beam book includes the plurality of pre-stored donor beam identifiers.
21. The repeater device according to claim 1 , wherein the first operating mode is a combination of the beam widening mode and the switching multi-beam mode.
22. The repeater device according to claim 1 , further comprising an antenna array including a set of antenna elements, wherein
the baseband processor is further configured to:
set an ultra-low-power mode based on network traffic information; and
partition the set of antenna elements into a plurality of spatially separated antenna sub-arrays based on the set ultra-low-power mode,
only one antenna sub-array of the plurality of spatially separated antenna sub-arrays is active in the set ultra-low-power mode, and
the plurality of spatially separated antenna sub-arrays other than the one antenna sub-array is in one of a sleep mode or an idle mode in the set ultra-low-power mode.
23. The repeater device according to claim 1 , wherein
the control information further includes a TDD pattern in a symbol-by-symbol format, and
the baseband processor is further configured to decode the TDD pattern included in the control information, and
the alignment of the timing reference of the repeater device with that of the NR cell frame is further based on the decoded TDD pattern.
24. The repeater device according to claim 13 , wherein the channel quality indicator and the plurality of channel estimates indicate a specific modulation scheme and a code rate.