Patent Publication Number: US-2023142735-A1

Title: Methods for switching between repeater and intelligent reflective surface operations in an assistive device

Description:
FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY 
     The following relates to wireless communications, including methods for switching between repeater and intelligent reflective surface operations in an assistive device. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include fourth generation (4G) systems such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, or LTE-A Pro systems, and fifth generation (5G) systems which may be referred to as New Radio (NR) systems. These systems may employ technologies such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), or discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM). A wireless multiple-access communications system may include one or more base stations or one or more network access nodes, each simultaneously supporting communication for multiple communication devices, which may be otherwise known as user equipment (UE). 
     SUMMARY 
     The described techniques relate to improved methods, systems, devices, and apparatuses that support methods for switching between repeater and intelligent reflective surface (IRS) operations in an assistive device. Generally, the described techniques provide for control signaling between a network entity (e.g., a base station) and an assistive node for configuring the assistive node to either reflect or amplify a packet transmission from the network entity to another wireless device. An assistive node may include circuitry for operating in an amplifying mode (e.g., a repeating mode or a relaying mode) and operating in a reflecting mode (e.g., via an IRS or a reflect-array). Under some conditions an amplifying mode may be associated with better performance, while under other conditions, a reflecting mode may be associated with better performance. The assistive node may transmit a message to a network entity indicating that the assistive node is capable of operating in an amplifying mode or a reflecting mode. The network entity may transmit scheduling information to the assistive node for a packet transmission to be reflected or amplified by the assistive node to a wireless device (e.g., a user equipment (UE)), for example, because a direct path between the network entity and the wireless device is blocked. The network entity may transmit control signaling to the assistive node configuring the assistive node to either reflect or amplify (e.g., relay or repeat) the packet transmission to the wireless device. 
     In some examples, the network entity or assistive node may select whether the assistive node should operate in a reflecting mode or an amplifying mode to reflect or amplify the packet transmission based on a message type of the packet transmission, a latency target associated with the packet transmission, a power consumption target, a size of an analog beamforming codebook associated with the assistive node, beamwidths associated with beams in the analog beamforming codebook, a number of antenna elements of the assistive node, a distance between the network entity and the assistive node, the distance between the assistive node and the wireless device, or a combination thereof. 
     A method for wireless communications at an assistive node is described. The method may include transmitting, to a network entity, a control message indicating that the assistive node is capable of operating in an amplifying mode and in a reflecting mode, receiving, from the network entity, scheduling information for a packet transmission, receiving, from the network entity, control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode is to be applied by the assistive node based on the control message, and amplifying or reflecting the packet transmission to a wireless device based on the control signaling. 
     An apparatus for wireless communications at an assistive node is described. The apparatus may include a processor, memory coupled with the processor, and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions may be executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to transmit, to a network entity, a control message indicating that the assistive node is capable of operating in an amplifying mode and in a reflecting mode, receive, from the network entity, scheduling information for a packet transmission, receive, from the network entity, control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode is to be applied by the assistive node based on the control message, and amplify or reflect the packet transmission to a wireless device based on the control signaling. 
     Another apparatus for wireless communications at an assistive node is described. The apparatus may include means for transmitting, to a network entity, a control message indicating that the assistive node is capable of operating in an amplifying mode and in a reflecting mode, means for receiving, from the network entity, scheduling information for a packet transmission, means for receiving, from the network entity, control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode is to be applied by the assistive node based on the control message, and means for amplifying or reflecting the packet transmission to a wireless device based on the control signaling. 
     A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications at an assistive node is described. The code may include instructions executable by a processor to transmit, to a network entity, a control message indicating that the assistive node is capable of operating in an amplifying mode and in a reflecting mode, receive, from the network entity, scheduling information for a packet transmission, receive, from the network entity, control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode is to be applied by the assistive node based on the control message, and amplify or reflect the packet transmission to a wireless device based on the control signaling. 
     Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting, to the network entity, a second message indicating a number and arrangement of antenna elements of the assistive node, where the control signaling instructs the assistive node to use at least a subset of antenna elements of the assistive node for amplifying or reflecting the packet transmission based on the number and arrangement of antenna elements. 
     Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving the control signaling indicating an antenna element threshold, where the assistive node operates in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based on a number of antenna elements of the assistive node satisfying the antenna element threshold or the assistive node operates in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission based on the number of antenna elements not satisfying the antenna element threshold. 
     Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving the control signaling indicating a first beam of a first codebook that may be associated with the assistive node operating in the amplifying mode, where the packet transmission may be amplified by the assistive node using the first beam. 
     Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting, to the network entity, a second message indicating an estimated distance between the assistive node and the network entity, where the control signaling indicates to operate in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission or operate in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based on the estimated distance between the assistive node and the network entity. 
     Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving the control signaling indicating a distance threshold between the assistive node and the network entity, where the assistive node operates in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based on an estimated distance between the assistive node and the network entity satisfying the distance threshold or the assistive node operates in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission based on the estimated distance between the assistive node and the network entity not satisfying the distance threshold. 
     Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting, to the network entity, a second message indicating an estimated distance between the assistive node and the wireless device, where the control signaling indicates to one of operate in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission or operate in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based on the estimated distance between the assistive node and the wireless device. 
     Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving the control signaling indicating a distance threshold between the assistive node and the wireless device, where the assistive node operates in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based on an estimated distance between the assistive node and the wireless device satisfying the distance threshold or the assistive node operates in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission based on the estimated distance between the assistive node and the wireless device not satisfying the distance threshold. 
     Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving the control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode may be to be applied to the packet transmission based on a message type of the packet transmission, a latency target associated with the packet transmission, a size of an analog beamforming codebook associated with the assistive node, beamwidths associated with beams in the analog beamforming codebook, a number and arrangement of antenna elements of the assistive node, a first threshold distance between the assistive node and the wireless device, a second threshold distance between the assistive node and the network entity, or a combination thereof. 
     In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the packet transmission may be one of reflected via a reflective surface of the assistive node or amplified via one of a relay or a repeater of the assistive node. 
     Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving, from the network entity, a second message including the scheduling information and the control signaling. 
     Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for selecting at least a subset of antenna elements of the assistive node and a size of an analog beamforming codebook for amplifying or reflecting the packet transmission based on the control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode may be to be applied by the assistive node. 
     A method for wireless communications at a network entity is described. The method may include receiving, from an assistive node, a control message indicating that the assistive node is capable of operating in an amplifying mode and in a reflecting mode, transmitting, to the assistive node, scheduling information for a packet transmission, transmitting, to the assistive node, control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode is to be applied by the assistive node to reflect or amplify the packet transmission to a wireless device based on the control message, and transmitting, to the assistive node, the packet transmission based on the scheduling information. 
     An apparatus for wireless communications at a network entity is described. The apparatus may include a processor, memory coupled with the processor, and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions may be executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to receive, from an assistive node, a control message indicating that the assistive node is capable of operating in an amplifying mode and in a reflecting mode, transmit, to the assistive node, scheduling information for a packet transmission, transmit, to the assistive node, control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode is to be applied by the assistive node to reflect or amplify the packet transmission to a wireless device based on the control message, and transmit, to the assistive node, the packet transmission based on the scheduling information. 
     Another apparatus for wireless communications at a network entity is described. The apparatus may include means for receiving, from an assistive node, a control message indicating that the assistive node is capable of operating in an amplifying mode and in a reflecting mode, means for transmitting, to the assistive node, scheduling information for a packet transmission, means for transmitting, to the assistive node, control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode is to be applied by the assistive node to reflect or amplify the packet transmission to a wireless device based on the control message, and means for transmitting, to the assistive node, the packet transmission based on the scheduling information. 
     A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications at a network entity is described. The code may include instructions executable by a processor to receive, from an assistive node, a control message indicating that the assistive node is capable of operating in an amplifying mode and in a reflecting mode, transmit, to the assistive node, scheduling information for a packet transmission, transmit, to the assistive node, control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode is to be applied by the assistive node to reflect or amplify the packet transmission to a wireless device based on the control message, and transmit, to the assistive node, the packet transmission based on the scheduling information. 
     Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving, from the assistive node, a second message indicating a number and arrangement of antenna elements of the assistive node, where the control signaling instructs the assistive node to use at least a subset of antenna elements of the assistive node for amplifying or reflecting the packet transmission based on the number and arrangement of antenna elements. 
     Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting the control signaling indicating an antenna element threshold, where the assistive node operates in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based on a number of antenna elements of the assistive node satisfying the antenna element threshold or the assistive node operates in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission based on the number of antenna elements not satisfying the antenna element threshold. 
     Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting the control signaling indicating a first beam of a first codebook that may be associated with the assistive node operating in the amplifying mode, where the packet transmission may be amplified by the assistive node using the first beam. 
     Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving, from the assistive node, a second message indicating an estimated distance between the assistive node and the network entity, where the control signaling indicates to operate in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission or operate in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based on the estimated distance between the assistive node and the network entity. 
     Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting the control signaling indicating a distance threshold between the assistive node and the network entity, where the assistive node operates in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based on an estimated distance between the assistive node and the network entity satisfying the distance threshold or the assistive node operates in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission based on the estimated distance between the assistive node and the network entity not satisfying the distance threshold. 
     Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving, from the assistive node, a second message indicating an estimated distance between the assistive node and the wireless device, where the control signaling indicates to one of operate in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission or operate in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based on the estimated distance between the assistive node and the wireless device. 
     Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting the control signaling indicating a distance threshold between the assistive node and the wireless device, where the assistive node operates in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based on an estimated distance between the assistive node and the wireless device satisfying the distance threshold or the assistive node operates in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission based on the estimated distance between the assistive node and the wireless device not satisfying the distance threshold. 
     Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting the control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode may be to be applied based on a message type of the packet transmission, a latency target associated with the packet transmission, a size of an analog beamforming codebook associated with the assistive node, beamwidths associated with beams in the analog beamforming codebook, a number and arrangement of antenna elements of the assistive node, a first threshold distance between the assistive node and the wireless device, a second threshold distance between the assistive node and the network entity, or a combination thereof. 
     Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting, to the assistive node, a second message including the scheduling information and the control signaling. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    illustrates an example of a wireless communications system that supports methods for switching between repeater and intelligent reflective surface (IRS) operations in an assistive device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  2    illustrates an example of a wireless communications system that supports methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  3    illustrates an example of a process flow that supports methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. 
         FIGS.  4  and  5    show diagrams of devices that support methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  6    shows a diagram of a communications manager that supports methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  7    shows a diagram of a system including a device that supports methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. 
         FIGS.  8  and  9    show diagrams of devices that support methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  10    shows a diagram of a communications manager that supports methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  11    shows a diagram of a system including a device that supports methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. 
         FIGS.  12  through  22    show flowcharts illustrating methods that support methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Some wireless communications systems (e.g., 5G systems, 6G systems, etc.) may support communications between devices via assistive nodes such as intelligent reflective surfaces (IRSs), repeaters, or relays, which may forward signaling between wireless devices. For example, an assistive node may create viable paths for signaling from a base station to a user equipment (UE) while avoiding obstructions or blockages that affect direct connectivity between the base station and UE. Assistive nodes may be used with millimeter wave deployments, which may be particularly susceptible to direct link blockages. Blockages may correspond to objects in the environment such as vehicles, buildings or pedestrians which can significantly impair the link margin. Assistive nodes may serve as repeaters that may decode a transmitted symbol and amplify and forward the transmitted symbol. Assistive nodes may also serve as relays that may decode a symbol, correct for decoding errors, and amplify and forward the transmitted symbol. Assistive nodes may also serve as reflectors, for example, an assistive node may include an IRS or a reflect-array that may passively forward the transmitted energy from one direction to another. Amplifying signals at an assistive node, for example, via a repeater or relay consumes power and may be associated with a larger latency, while reflecting signals via a reflector may consume less power and be associated with less latency. An assistive node may include both amplifying hardware (e.g., repeater hardware or relay hardware) and reflector hardware, and there may be scenarios where either reflecting or amplifying is preferable at the assistive node. 
     An assistive node may transmit a message to a network entity (e.g., a base station) indicating that the assistive node is capable of operating in an amplifying mode or a reflecting mode. The network entity may transmit scheduling information to the assistive node for a packet transmission to be reflected or amplified by the assistive node to a wireless device (e.g., a UE), for example, because a direct path between the network entity and the wireless device is blocked. The network entity may transmit control signaling to the assistive node configuring the assistive node to either reflect or amplify (e.g., relay or repeat) the packet transmission to the wireless device. In some cases, the network entity may select whether the assistive node should operate in a reflecting mode or an amplifying mode. In some cases, the assistive node may select whether the assistive node should operate in a reflecting mode or an amplifying mode. 
     In some examples, the network entity or assistive node may select whether the assistive node should operate in a reflecting mode or an amplifying mode to reflect or amplify the packet transmission based on a message type of the packet transmission, for example, because some messages types may be more effectively reflected or repeated. In some examples, the network entity or assistive node may select whether the assistive node should operate in a reflecting mode or an amplifying mode to reflect or amplify the packet transmission based on a latency target associated with the packet transmission, for example, because reflecting may be associated with a lower latency than amplifying. In some examples, the network entity or assistive node may select whether the assistive node should operate in a reflecting mode or an amplifying mode to reflect or amplify the packet transmission based on a power consumption target, for example, because amplifying may be associated with a greater power consumption than reflecting. 
     In some examples, the network entity or assistive node may select whether the assistive node should operate in a reflecting mode or an amplifying mode to reflect or amplify the packet transmission based on a size of an analog beamforming codebook associated with the assistive node or beamwidths associated with beams in the analog beamforming codebook. In some examples, the network entity or assistive node may select whether the assistive node should operate in a reflecting mode or an amplifying mode to reflect or amplify the packet transmission based on a number of antenna elements of the assistive node, for example, because a beamforming gain of a reflecting operation may be higher as compared to an amplifying operation when the number of antenna elements is small. In some examples, the network entity or assistive node may select whether the assistive node should operate in a reflecting mode or an amplifying mode to reflect or amplify the packet transmission based on a distance estimate between the network entity and the assistive node or a distance estimate between the assistive node and the wireless device, for example, because a gain of a reflecting operation may be higher than the gain of an amplifying operation at shorter ranges. 
     Aspects of the disclosure are initially described in the context of wireless communications systems. Aspects of the disclosure are further illustrated by and described with reference to wireless communications systems and process flows. Aspects of the disclosure are further illustrated by and described with reference to apparatus diagrams, system diagrams, and flowcharts that relate to methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device. 
       FIG.  1    illustrates an example of a wireless communications system  100  that supports methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The wireless communications system  100  may include one or more base stations  105 , one or more UEs  115 , and a core network  130 . In some examples, the wireless communications system  100  may be a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, an LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network, an LTE-A Pro network, or a New Radio (NR) network. In some examples, the wireless communications system  100  may support enhanced broadband communications, ultra-reliable communications, low latency communications, communications with low-cost and low-complexity devices, or any combination thereof. 
     The base stations  105  may be dispersed throughout a geographic area to form the wireless communications system  100  and may be devices in different forms or having different capabilities. The base stations  105  and the UEs  115  may wirelessly communicate via one or more communication links  125 . Each base station  105  may provide a coverage area  110  over which the UEs  115  and the base station  105  may establish one or more communication links  125 . The coverage area  110  may be an example of a geographic area over which a base station  105  and a UE  115  may support the communication of signals according to one or more radio access technologies. 
     The UEs  115  may be dispersed throughout a coverage area  110  of the wireless communications system  100 , and each UE  115  may be stationary, or mobile, or both at different times. The UEs  115  may be devices in different forms or having different capabilities. Some example UEs  115  are illustrated in  FIG.  1   . The UEs  115  described herein may be able to communicate with various types of devices, such as other UEs  115 , the base stations  105 , or network equipment (e.g., core network nodes, relay devices, integrated access and backhaul (IAB) nodes, or other network equipment), as shown in  FIG.  1   . 
     The base stations  105  may communicate with the core network  130 , or with one another, or both. For example, the base stations  105  may interface with the core network  130  through one or more backhaul links  120  (e.g., via an S1, N2, N3, or other interface). The base stations  105  may communicate with one another over the backhaul links  120  (e.g., via an X2, Xn, or other interface) either directly (e.g., directly between base stations  105 ), or indirectly (e.g., via core network  130 ), or both. In some examples, the backhaul links  120  may be or include one or more wireless links. 
     One or more of the base stations  105  described herein may include or may be referred to by a person having ordinary skill in the art as a base transceiver station, a radio base station, an access point, a radio transceiver, a NodeB, an eNodeB (eNB), a next-generation NodeB or a giga-NodeB (either of which may be referred to as a gNB), a Home NodeB, a Home eNodeB, or other suitable terminology. 
     A UE  115  may include or may be referred to as a mobile device, a wireless device, a remote device, a handheld device, or a subscriber device, or some other suitable terminology, where the “device” may also be referred to as a unit, a station, a terminal, or a client, among other examples. A UE  115  may also include or may be referred to as a personal electronic device such as a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, or a personal computer. In some examples, a UE  115  may include or be referred to as a wireless local loop (WLL) station, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, an Internet of Everything (IoE) device, or a machine type communications (MTC) device, among other examples, which may be implemented in various objects such as appliances, or vehicles, meters, among other examples. 
     The UEs  115  described herein may be able to communicate with various types of devices, such as other UEs  115  that may sometimes act as relays as well as the base stations  105  and the network equipment including macro eNBs or gNBs, small cell eNBs or gNBs, or relay base stations, among other examples, as shown in  FIG.  1   . 
     The UEs  115  and the base stations  105  may wirelessly communicate with one another via one or more communication links  125  over one or more carriers. The term “carrier” may refer to a set of radio frequency spectrum resources having a defined physical layer structure for supporting the communication links  125 . For example, a carrier used for a communication link  125  may include a portion of a radio frequency spectrum band (e.g., a bandwidth part (BWP)) that is operated according to one or more physical layer channels for a given radio access technology (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR). Each physical layer channel may carry acquisition signaling (e.g., synchronization signals, system information), control signaling that coordinates operation for the carrier, user data, or other signaling. The wireless communications system  100  may support communication with a UE  115  using carrier aggregation or multi-carrier operation. A UE  115  may be configured with multiple downlink component carriers and one or more uplink component carriers according to a carrier aggregation configuration. Carrier aggregation may be used with both frequency division duplexing (FDD) and time division duplexing (TDD) component carriers. 
     In some examples (e.g., in a carrier aggregation configuration), a carrier may also have acquisition signaling or control signaling that coordinates operations for other carriers. A carrier may be associated with a frequency channel (e.g., an evolved universal mobile telecommunication system terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) absolute radio frequency channel number (EARFCN)) and may be positioned according to a channel raster for discovery by the UEs  115 . A carrier may be operated in a standalone mode where initial acquisition and connection may be conducted by the UEs  115  via the carrier, or the carrier may be operated in a non-standalone mode where a connection is anchored using a different carrier (e.g., of the same or a different radio access technology). 
     The communication links  125  shown in the wireless communications system  100  may include uplink transmissions from a UE  115  to a base station  105 , or downlink transmissions from a base station  105  to a UE  115 . Carriers may carry downlink or uplink communications (e.g., in an FDD mode) or may be configured to carry downlink and uplink communications (e.g., in a TDD mode). 
     A carrier may be associated with a particular bandwidth of the radio frequency spectrum, and in some examples the carrier bandwidth may be referred to as a “system bandwidth” of the carrier or the wireless communications system  100 . For example, the carrier bandwidth may be one of a number of determined bandwidths for carriers of a particular radio access technology (e.g., 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 40, or 80 megahertz (MHz)). Devices of the wireless communications system  100  (e.g., the base stations  105 , the UEs  115 , or both) may have hardware configurations that support communications over a particular carrier bandwidth or may be configurable to support communications over one of a set of carrier bandwidths. In some examples, the wireless communications system  100  may include base stations  105  or UEs  115  that support simultaneous communications via carriers associated with multiple carrier bandwidths. In some examples, each served UE  115  may be configured for operating over portions (e.g., a sub-band, a BWP) or all of a carrier bandwidth. 
     Signal waveforms transmitted over a carrier may be made up of multiple subcarriers (e.g., using multi-carrier modulation (MCM) techniques such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) or discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM)). In a system employing MCM techniques, a resource element may consist of one symbol period (e.g., a duration of one modulation symbol) and one subcarrier, where the symbol period and subcarrier spacing are inversely related. The number of bits carried by each resource element may depend on the modulation scheme (e.g., the order of the modulation scheme, the coding rate of the modulation scheme, or both). Thus, the more resource elements that a UE  115  receives and the higher the order of the modulation scheme, the higher the data rate may be for the UE  115 . A wireless communications resource may refer to a combination of a radio frequency spectrum resource, a time resource, and a spatial resource (e.g., spatial layers or beams), and the use of multiple spatial layers may further increase the data rate or data integrity for communications with a UE  115 . 
     One or more numerologies for a carrier may be supported, where a numerology may include a subcarrier spacing (Δf) and a cyclic prefix. A carrier may be divided into one or more BWPs having the same or different numerologies. In some examples, a UE  115  may be configured with multiple BWPs. In some examples, a single BWP for a carrier may be active at a given time and communications for the UE  115  may be restricted to one or more active BWPs. 
     The time intervals for the base stations  105  or the UEs  115  may be expressed in multiples of a basic time unit which may, for example, refer to a sampling period of T s =1/(Δf max ·N f ) seconds, where Δf max  may represent the maximum supported subcarrier spacing, and N f  may represent the maximum supported discrete Fourier transform (DFT) size. Time intervals of a communications resource may be organized according to radio frames each having a specified duration (e.g., 10 milliseconds (ms)). Each radio frame may be identified by a system frame number (SFN) (e.g., ranging from 0 to 1023). 
     Each frame may include multiple consecutively numbered subframes or slots, and each subframe or slot may have the same duration. In some examples, a frame may be divided (e.g., in the time domain) into subframes, and each subframe may be further divided into a number of slots. Alternatively, each frame may include a variable number of slots, and the number of slots may depend on subcarrier spacing. Each slot may include a number of symbol periods (e.g., depending on the length of the cyclic prefix prepended to each symbol period). In some wireless communications systems  100 , a slot may further be divided into multiple mini-slots containing one or more symbols. Excluding the cyclic prefix, each symbol period may contain one or more (e.g., N f ) sampling periods. The duration of a symbol period may depend on the subcarrier spacing or frequency band of operation. 
     A subframe, a slot, a mini-slot, or a symbol may be the smallest scheduling unit (e.g., in the time domain) of the wireless communications system  100  and may be referred to as a transmission time interval (TTI). In some examples, the TTI duration (e.g., the number of symbol periods in a TTI) may be variable. Additionally or alternatively, the smallest scheduling unit of the wireless communications system  100  may be dynamically selected (e.g., in bursts of shortened TTIs (sTTIs)). 
     Physical channels may be multiplexed on a carrier according to various techniques. A physical control channel and a physical data channel may be multiplexed on a downlink carrier, for example, using one or more of time division multiplexing (TDM) techniques, frequency division multiplexing (FDM) techniques, or hybrid TDM-FDM techniques. A control region (e.g., a control resource set (CORESET)) for a physical control channel may be defined by a number of symbol periods and may extend across the system bandwidth or a subset of the system bandwidth of the carrier. One or more control regions (e.g., CORESETs) may be configured for a set of the UEs  115 . For example, one or more of the UEs  115  may monitor or search control regions for control information according to one or more search space sets, and each search space set may include one or multiple control channel candidates in one or more aggregation levels arranged in a cascaded manner. An aggregation level for a control channel candidate may refer to a number of control channel resources (e.g., control channel elements (CCEs)) associated with encoded information for a control information format having a given payload size. Search space sets may include common search space sets configured for sending control information to multiple UEs  115  and UE-specific search space sets for sending control information to a specific UE  115 . 
     Each base station  105  may provide communication coverage via one or more cells, for example, a macro cell, a small cell, a hot spot, or other types of cells, or any combination thereof. The term “cell” may refer to a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station  105  (e.g., over a carrier) and may be associated with an identifier for distinguishing neighboring cells (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCID), a virtual cell identifier (VCID), or others). In some examples, a cell may also refer to a geographic coverage area  110  or a portion of a geographic coverage area  110  (e.g., a sector) over which the logical communication entity operates. Such cells may range from smaller areas (e.g., a structure, a subset of structure) to larger areas depending on various factors such as the capabilities of the base station  105 . For example, a cell may be or include a building, a subset of a building, or exterior spaces between or overlapping with geographic coverage areas  110 , among other examples. 
     A macro cell generally covers a relatively large geographic area (e.g., several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by the UEs  115  with service subscriptions with the network provider supporting the macro cell. A small cell may be associated with a lower-powered base station  105 , as compared with a macro cell, and a small cell may operate in the same or different (e.g., licensed, unlicensed) frequency bands as macro cells. Small cells may provide unrestricted access to the UEs  115  with service subscriptions with the network provider or may provide restricted access to the UEs  115  having an association with the small cell (e.g., the UEs  115  in a closed subscriber group (CSG), the UEs  115  associated with users in a home or office). A base station  105  may support one or multiple cells and may also support communications over the one or more cells using one or multiple component carriers. 
     In some examples, a carrier may support multiple cells, and different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., MTC, narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB)) that may provide access for different types of devices. 
     In some examples, a base station  105  may be movable and therefore provide communication coverage for a moving geographic coverage area  110 . In some examples, different geographic coverage areas  110  associated with different technologies may overlap, but the different geographic coverage areas  110  may be supported by the same base station  105 . In other examples, the overlapping geographic coverage areas  110  associated with different technologies may be supported by different base stations  105 . The wireless communications system  100  may include, for example, a heterogeneous network in which different types of the base stations  105  provide coverage for various geographic coverage areas  110  using the same or different radio access technologies. 
     The wireless communications system  100  may support synchronous or asynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, the base stations  105  may have similar frame timings, and transmissions from different base stations  105  may be approximately aligned in time. For asynchronous operation, the base stations  105  may have different frame timings, and transmissions from different base stations  105  may, in some examples, not be aligned in time. The techniques described herein may be used for either synchronous or asynchronous operations. 
     Some UEs  115 , such as MTC or IoT devices, may be low cost or low complexity devices and may provide for automated communication between machines (e.g., via Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication). M2M communication or MTC may refer to data communication technologies that allow devices to communicate with one another or a base station  105  without human intervention. In some examples, M2M communication or MTC may include communications from devices that integrate sensors or meters to measure or capture information and relay such information to a central server or application program that makes use of the information or presents the information to humans interacting with the application program. Some UEs  115  may be designed to collect information or enable automated behavior of machines or other devices. Examples of applications for MTC devices include smart metering, inventory monitoring, water level monitoring, equipment monitoring, healthcare monitoring, wildlife monitoring, weather and geological event monitoring, fleet management and tracking, remote security sensing, physical access control, and transaction-based business charging. 
     Some UEs  115  may be configured to employ operating modes that reduce power consumption, such as half-duplex communications (e.g., a mode that supports one-way communication via transmission or reception, but not transmission and reception simultaneously). In some examples, half-duplex communications may be performed at a reduced peak rate. Other power conservation techniques for the UEs  115  include entering a power saving deep sleep mode when not engaging in active communications, operating over a limited bandwidth (e.g., according to narrowband communications), or a combination of these techniques. For example, some UEs  115  may be configured for operation using a narrowband protocol type that is associated with a defined portion or range (e.g., set of subcarriers or resource blocks (RBs)) within a carrier, within a guard-band of a carrier, or outside of a carrier. 
     The wireless communications system  100  may be configured to support ultra-reliable communications or low-latency communications, or various combinations thereof. For example, the wireless communications system  100  may be configured to support ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC). The UEs  115  may be designed to support ultra-reliable, low-latency, or critical functions. Ultra-reliable communications may include private communication or group communication and may be supported by one or more services such as push-to-talk, video, or data. Support for ultra-reliable, low-latency functions may include prioritization of services, and such services may be used for public safety or general commercial applications. The terms ultra-reliable, low-latency, and ultra-reliable low-latency may be used interchangeably herein. 
     In some examples, a UE  115  may also be able to communicate directly with other UEs  115  over a device-to-device (D2D) communication link  135  (e.g., using a peer-to-peer (P2P) or D2D protocol). One or more UEs  115  utilizing D2D communications may be within the geographic coverage area  110  of a base station  105 . Other UEs  115  in such a group may be outside the geographic coverage area  110  of a base station  105  or be otherwise unable to receive transmissions from a base station  105 . In some examples, groups of the UEs  115  communicating via D2D communications may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system in which each UE  115  transmits to every other UE  115  in the group. In some examples, a base station  105  facilitates the scheduling of resources for D2D communications. In other cases, D2D communications are carried out between the UEs  115  without the involvement of a base station  105 . 
     In some systems, the D2D communication link  135  may be an example of a communication channel, such as a sidelink communication channel, between vehicles (e.g., UEs  115 ). In some examples, vehicles may communicate using vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, or some combination of these. A vehicle may signal information related to traffic conditions, signal scheduling, weather, safety, emergencies, or any other information relevant to a V2X system. In some examples, vehicles in a V2X system may communicate with roadside infrastructure, such as roadside units, or with the network via one or more network nodes (e.g., base stations  105 ) using vehicle-to-network (V2N) communications, or with both. 
     The core network  130  may provide user authentication, access authorization, tracking, Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity, and other access, routing, or mobility functions. The core network  130  may be an evolved packet core (EPC) or 5G core (5GC), which may include at least one control plane entity that manages access and mobility (e.g., a mobility management entity (MME), an access and mobility management function (AMF)) and at least one user plane entity that routes packets or interconnects to external networks (e.g., a serving gateway (S-GW), a Packet Data Network (PDN) gateway (P-GW), or a user plane function (UPF)). The control plane entity may manage non-access stratum (NAS) functions such as mobility, authentication, and bearer management for the UEs  115  served by the base stations  105  associated with the core network  130 . User IP packets may be transferred through the user plane entity, which may provide IP address allocation as well as other functions. The user plane entity may be connected to IP services  150  for one or more network operators. The IP services  150  may include access to the Internet, Intranet(s), an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), or a Packet-Switched Streaming Service. 
     Some of the network devices, such as a base station  105 , may include subcomponents such as an access network entity  140 , which may be an example of an access node controller (ANC). Each access network entity  140  may communicate with the UEs  115  through one or more other access network transmission entities  145 , which may be referred to as radio heads, smart radio heads, or transmission/reception points (TRPs). Each access network transmission entity  145  may include one or more antenna panels. In some configurations, various functions of each access network entity  140  or base station  105  may be distributed across various network devices (e.g., radio heads and ANCs) or consolidated into a single network device (e.g., a base station  105 ). 
     The wireless communications system  100  may operate using one or more frequency bands, typically in the range of 300 megahertz (MHz) to 300 gigahertz (GHz). Generally, the region from 300 MHz to 3 GHz is known as the ultra-high frequency (UHF) region or decimeter band because the wavelengths range from approximately one decimeter to one meter in length. The UHF waves may be blocked or redirected by buildings and environmental features, but the waves may penetrate structures sufficiently for a macro cell to provide service to the UEs  115  located indoors. The transmission of UHF waves may be associated with smaller antennas and shorter ranges (e.g., less than 100 kilometers) compared to transmission using the smaller frequencies and longer waves of the high frequency (HF) or very high frequency (VHF) portion of the spectrum below 300 MHz. 
     The wireless communications system  100  may also operate in a super high frequency (SHF) region using frequency bands from 3 GHz to 30 GHz, also known as the centimeter band, or in an extremely high frequency (EHF) region of the spectrum (e.g., from 30 GHz to 300 GHz), also known as the millimeter band. In some examples, the wireless communications system  100  may support millimeter wave (mmW) communications between the UEs  115  and the base stations  105 , and EHF antennas of the respective devices may be smaller and more closely spaced than UHF antennas. In some examples, this may facilitate use of antenna arrays within a device. The propagation of EHF transmissions, however, may be subject to even greater atmospheric attenuation and shorter range than SHF or UHF transmissions. The techniques disclosed herein may be employed across transmissions that use one or more different frequency regions, and designated use of bands across these frequency regions may differ by country or regulating body. 
     The wireless communications system  100  may utilize both licensed and unlicensed radio frequency spectrum bands. For example, the wireless communications system  100  may employ License Assisted Access (LAA), LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-U) radio access technology, or NR technology in an unlicensed band such as the 5 GHz industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) band. When operating in unlicensed radio frequency spectrum bands, devices such as the base stations  105  and the UEs  115  may employ carrier sensing for collision detection and avoidance. In some examples, operations in unlicensed bands may be based on a carrier aggregation configuration in conjunction with component carriers operating in a licensed band (e.g., LAA). Operations in unlicensed spectrum may include downlink transmissions, uplink transmissions, P2P transmissions, or D2D transmissions, among other examples. 
     A base station  105  or a UE  115  may be equipped with multiple antennas, which may be used to employ techniques such as transmit diversity, receive diversity, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communications, or beamforming. The antennas of a base station  105  or a UE  115  may be located within one or more antenna arrays or antenna panels, which may support MIMO operations or transmit or receive beamforming. For example, one or more base station antennas or antenna arrays may be co-located at an antenna assembly, such as an antenna tower. In some examples, antennas or antenna arrays associated with a base station  105  may be located in diverse geographic locations. A base station  105  may have an antenna array with a number of rows and columns of antenna ports that the base station  105  may use to support beamforming of communications with a UE  115 . Likewise, a UE  115  may have one or more antenna arrays that may support various MIMO or beamforming operations. Additionally or alternatively, an antenna panel may support radio frequency beamforming for a signal transmitted via an antenna port. 
     The base stations  105  or the UEs  115  may use MIMO communications to exploit multipath signal propagation and increase the spectral efficiency by transmitting or receiving multiple signals via different spatial layers. Such techniques may be referred to as spatial multiplexing. The multiple signals may, for example, be transmitted by the transmitting device via different antennas or different combinations of antennas. Likewise, the multiple signals may be received by the receiving device via different antennas or different combinations of antennas. Each of the multiple signals may be referred to as a separate spatial stream and may carry bits associated with the same data stream (e.g., the same codeword) or different data streams (e.g., different codewords). Different spatial layers may be associated with different antenna ports used for channel measurement and reporting. MIMO techniques include single-user MIMO (SU-MIMO), where multiple spatial layers are transmitted to the same receiving device, and multiple-user MIMO (MU-MIMO), where multiple spatial layers are transmitted to multiple devices. 
     Beamforming, which may also be referred to as spatial filtering, directional transmission, or directional reception, is a signal processing technique that may be used at a transmitting device or a receiving device (e.g., a base station  105 , a UE  115 ) to shape or steer an antenna beam (e.g., a transmit beam, a receive beam) along a spatial path between the transmitting device and the receiving device. Beamforming may be achieved by combining the signals communicated via antenna elements of an antenna array such that some signals propagating at particular orientations with respect to an antenna array experience constructive interference while others experience destructive interference. The adjustment of signals communicated via the antenna elements may include a transmitting device or a receiving device applying amplitude offsets, phase offsets, or both to signals carried via the antenna elements associated with the device. The adjustments associated with each of the antenna elements may be defined by a beamforming weight set associated with a particular orientation (e.g., with respect to the antenna array of the transmitting device or receiving device, or with respect to some other orientation). 
     A base station  105  or a UE  115  may use beam sweeping techniques as part of beam forming operations. For example, a base station  105  may use multiple antennas or antenna arrays (e.g., antenna panels) to conduct beamforming operations for directional communications with a UE  115 . Some signals (e.g., synchronization signals, reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals) may be transmitted by a base station  105  multiple times in different directions. For example, the base station  105  may transmit a signal according to different beamforming weight sets associated with different directions of transmission. Transmissions in different beam directions may be used to identify (e.g., by a transmitting device, such as a base station  105 , or by a receiving device, such as a UE  115 ) a beam direction for later transmission or reception by the base station  105 . 
     Some signals, such as data signals associated with a particular receiving device, may be transmitted by a base station  105  in a single beam direction (e.g., a direction associated with the receiving device, such as a UE  115 ). In some examples, the beam direction associated with transmissions along a single beam direction may be determined based on a signal that was transmitted in one or more beam directions. For example, a UE  115  may receive one or more of the signals transmitted by the base station  105  in different directions and may report to the base station  105  an indication of the signal that the UE  115  received with a highest signal quality or an otherwise acceptable signal quality. 
     In some examples, transmissions by a device (e.g., by a base station  105  or a UE  115 ) may be performed using multiple beam directions, and the device may use a combination of digital precoding or radio frequency beamforming to generate a combined beam for transmission (e.g., from a base station  105  to a UE  115 ). The UE  115  may report feedback that indicates precoding weights for one or more beam directions, and the feedback may correspond to a configured number of beams across a system bandwidth or one or more sub-bands. The base station  105  may transmit a reference signal (e.g., a cell-specific reference signal (CRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS)), which may be precoded or unprecoded. The UE  115  may provide feedback for beam selection, which may be a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) or codebook-based feedback (e.g., a multi-panel type codebook, a linear combination type codebook, a port selection type codebook). Although these techniques are described with reference to signals transmitted in one or more directions by a base station  105 , a UE  115  may employ similar techniques for transmitting signals multiple times in different directions (e.g., for identifying a beam direction for subsequent transmission or reception by the UE  115 ) or for transmitting a signal in a single direction (e.g., for transmitting data to a receiving device). 
     A receiving device (e.g., a UE  115 ) may try multiple receive configurations (e.g., directional listening) when receiving various signals from the base station  105 , such as synchronization signals, reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals. For example, a receiving device may try multiple receive directions by receiving via different antenna subarrays, by processing received signals according to different antenna subarrays, by receiving according to different receive beamforming weight sets (e.g., different directional listening weight sets) applied to signals received at multiple antenna elements of an antenna array, or by processing received signals according to different receive beamforming weight sets applied to signals received at multiple antenna elements of an antenna array, any of which may be referred to as “listening” according to different receive configurations or receive directions. In some examples, a receiving device may use a single receive configuration to receive along a single beam direction (e.g., when receiving a data signal). The single receive configuration may be aligned in a beam direction determined based on listening according to different receive configuration directions (e.g., a beam direction determined to have a highest signal strength, highest signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), or otherwise acceptable signal quality based on listening according to multiple beam directions). 
     The wireless communications system  100  may be a packet-based network that operates according to a layered protocol stack. In the user plane, communications at the bearer or Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer may be IP-based. A Radio Link Control (RLC) layer may perform packet segmentation and reassembly to communicate over logical channels. A Medium Access Control (MAC) layer may perform priority handling and multiplexing of logical channels into transport channels. The MAC layer may also use error detection techniques, error correction techniques, or both to support retransmissions at the MAC layer to improve link efficiency. In the control plane, the Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol layer may provide establishment, configuration, and maintenance of an RRC connection between a UE  115  and a base station  105  or a core network  130  supporting radio bearers for user plane data. At the physical layer, transport channels may be mapped to physical channels. 
     The UEs  115  and the base stations  105  may support retransmissions of data to increase the likelihood that data is received successfully. Hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback is one technique for increasing the likelihood that data is received correctly over a communication link  125 . HARQ may include a combination of error detection (e.g., using a cyclic redundancy check (CRC)), forward error correction (FEC), and retransmission (e.g., automatic repeat request (ARQ)). HARQ may improve throughput at the MAC layer in poor radio conditions (e.g., low signal-to-noise conditions). In some examples, a device may support same-slot HARQ feedback, where the device may provide HARQ feedback in a specific slot for data received in a previous symbol in the slot. In other cases, the device may provide HARQ feedback in a subsequent slot, or according to some other time interval. 
     In some examples, the wireless communications system  100  may include an assistive node that is capable of operating in an amplifying mode or a reflecting mode. For example, the assistive node may include amplifying hardware (e.g., repeater or relay hardware) and reflective hardware (e.g., an IRS or a reflect-array). The assistive node may forward (e.g., reflect, repeat, or relay) packet transmissions from a base station  105  to a UE  115 . For example, a direct link  125  between a base station  105  and a UE  115  may be blocked by an obstruction such as a building. The assistive node may transmit a message to the base station  105  indicating that the assistive node is capable of operating in an amplifying mode or a reflecting mode. The base station  105  may transmit scheduling information to the assistive node for a packet transmission to be reflected or repeated by the assistive node to the UE  115 . The base station  105  may also transmit control signaling indicating whether the assistive node is to operate in a reflecting mode or an amplifying mode to reflect or amplify the packet transmission to the UE  115 . In some cases, the base station  105  may select whether the assistive node should operate in a reflecting mode or an amplifying mode. In some cases, the assistive node may select whether the assistive node should operate in a reflecting mode or an amplifying mode. 
     In some examples, the base station  105  or the assistive node may select whether the assistive node should operate in a reflecting mode or an amplifying mode to reflect or amplify the packet transmission based on a message type of the packet transmission, for example, because some messages types may be more effectively reflected or repeated. In some examples, the base station  105  or assistive node may select whether the assistive node should operate in a reflecting mode or an amplifying mode to reflect or amplify the packet transmission based on a latency target associated with the packet transmission, for example, because reflecting may be associated with a lower latency than amplifying. In some examples, the base station  105  or assistive node may select whether the assistive node should operate in a reflecting mode or an amplifying mode to reflect or amplify the packet transmission based on a power consumption target, for example, because amplifying may be associated with a greater power consumption than reflecting. 
     In some examples, the base station  105  or assistive node may select whether the assistive node should operate in a reflecting mode or an amplifying mode to reflect or amplify the packet transmission based on a size of an analog beamforming codebook associated with the assistive node or beamwidths associated with beams in the analog beamforming codebook. In some examples, the base station  105  or assistive node may select whether the assistive node should operate in a reflecting mode or an amplifying mode to reflect or amplify the packet transmission based on a number of antenna elements of the assistive node, for example, because a gain of a reflecting operation may be higher as compared to an amplifying operation when the number of antenna elements is small. In some examples, the base station  105  or assistive node may select whether the assistive node should operate in a reflecting mode or an amplifying mode to reflect or amplify the packet transmission based on a distance between the base station  105  and the assistive node or the distance between the assistive node and the UE  115 , for example, because a gain of a reflecting operation may be higher than the gain of an amplifying operation at shorter ranges. 
       FIG.  2    illustrates an example of a wireless communications system  200  that supports methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The wireless communications system may include base station  105 - a  and UE  115 - a , which may be respective examples of a base station  105  and a UE  115  as described herein. 
     The wireless communications system  200  may support use of assistive nodes, such as an assistive node  205 . The assistive node  205  may provide viable paths for signaling from base station  105 - a  to UE  115 - a , such as if there are obstructions in a direct link  125 - a  between base station  105 - a  and UE  115 - a . For example, the direct link  125 - a  may be blocked by a building, a vehicle, a pedestrian or any other obstacle. In some examples, the direct link  125 - a  between the base station  105 - a  and the UE  115 - a  may be a millimeter wave or sub-THz deployment, which may be particularly susceptible to direct link blockages. The assistive node  205  may support bi-directional communications (e.g., downlink control signals, downlink data signals, uplink control signals, and uplink data signals). For example, in downlink communications, the base station  105 - a  may transmit signaling to the assistive node  205  via the communications link  240 , and the assistive node  205  may forward the signals (e.g., via an amplifying operation or a reflecting operation) to the UE  115 - a  via the communications link  245 . For uplink communications, the UE  115 - a  may transmit signaling to the assistive node  205  via the communications link  245 , and the assistive node  205  may forward the signaling (e.g., via an amplifying operation or a reflecting operation) to the base station  105 - a  via the communications link  240 . 
     The assistive node  205  may include multiple sets of radio-frequency (RF) or intermediate-frequency (IF) circuitry that enable reflecting operations and amplifying operations. For example, the assistive node  205  may include IRS hardware, a passive reflect-array, repeater hardware, relay hardware, or any combination thereof. An IRS may reflect or propagate signaling from a first device toward a second device, such as by using passive reflecting elements or active elements, or both. In some cases, an IRS may be configurable via control signaling. In some examples, a reflect-array may be a similar device which can reflect signaling between devices. In some examples, an assistive node  205 , such as an IRS or a reflect-array, may be configured to change a direction of the reflected signaling. A repeater may decode a transmitted signal from a first device at radio frequency with beamforming, and amplify and feed the signal forward to a second device. A relay may decode a transmitted signal from a first device at radio frequency with beamforming, correct for errors in the decoding, and amplify and feed the signal forward to a second device. Repeater and relay operations are power consuming operations, whereas reflecting, (e.g., via an IRS or a reflect-array) are associated with lower power consumption as compared to repeater and relay operations. 
     Base station  105 - a  may transmit signaling to the assistive node  205  using a first transmit power (e.g., ρ 1 ), and the assistive node  205  may forward the signaling to UE  115 - a  using a second transmit power (e.g., ρ 2 ). N t  and N r  are the numbers of antenna elements at the base station  105 - a  and the assistive node  205 , respectively. N t,1  and N r,1  are the numbers of antenna elements at the transmit and the receive part of the assistive node  205 , respectively. 
     For a repeating mode, a model for the system may be represented by Equations (1)-(3) below, where H Rep-gNB  denotes the N r,1 ×N t  channel matrix for the wireless channel between base station  105 - a  and the assistive node  205 , H UE-Rep  denotes the N r ×N t,1  channel matrix for the wireless channel between the assistive node  205  and UE  115 - a , f 1  denotes the N t ×1 beamforming vector at base station  105 - a , f 2  denotes the N r ×1 beamforming vector at the assistive node  205 , and s is a complex scalar symbol transmitted by base station  105 - a . In a repeating mode, the assistive node  205  decodes a first transmitted symbol (e.g., Equation (1)), amplifies the signal, and feeds it forward to the UE  115 - a  (e.g., Equations (2) and (3)). The first part of Equation (3) is the signal, and the second part is noise. Accordingly, Equation (4) shows the SNR of the signal received at the UE  115 - a  when the assistive node  205  is operating in a repeating mode. 
     
       
         
           
             
               
                 
                                    
                   
                     
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     A model for the system operating in a reflecting mode via an IRS may be represented by Equation (5) below, where H IRS,gNB  denotes the N r,1 ×N t  channel matrix for the wireless channel between base station  105 - a  and the assistive node  205 , H UE,IRS  denotes the N r ×N t,1  channel matrix for the wireless channel between the assistive node  205  and UE  115 - a , f 1  denotes the N t ×1 beamforming vector at base station  105 - a , g 1  denotes the N r ×1 beamforming vector at UE  115 - a , R denotes an N t,1 ×N r,1  reflection matrix at the assistive node  205 , and s is a complex scalar symbol transmitted by base station  105 - a . An IRS receives energy from one direction and steers the energy in a different direction with a constraint on the gain and/or phase based on the reflected direction. Equation (6) shows the SNR of the signal received at the UE  115 - a  when the assistive node  205  is operating in a reflecting mode using an IRS. 
         ŝ=g   2   H (√{square root over (ρ 1 ρ 2 )} H   UE,IRS   RH   IRS,gNB   f   1   s+n )  (5)
 
       SNR IRS =ρ 1 ρ 2   ·|g   1   H   H   UE,IRS   RH   IRS,gNB   f   1 | 2   (6)
 
     There may be performance tradeoffs between repeater and IRS operations that may depend on many factors. Exemplary factors include the location or link margin of the assistive node  205  with respect to the base station  105 - a  or the UE  115 - a , the antenna array  210  size at the assistive node  205 , or the size of an analog beamforming codebook associated with the assistive node  205 . 
     Once the RF circuitry associated with one of amplifying circuitry or reflecting operations (e.g., antenna array  210  and either reflecting circuitry  220  or repeater/relay circuitry  225  or  230 ) has been deployed at the assistive node  205 , the marginal costs to add the other operation (e.g., to add reflecting circuitry  220  or repeater/relay circuitry  225  or  230 ) may be small. Amplifying operations (e.g., repeater or relay operations) may be half-duplex. For example, amplifying operations may receive a symbol during a first symbol period and amplify and feed the received symbol forward during the second symbol period. Reflecting operations may forward a received symbol in the same symbol period in which the symbol is received. Accordingly, reflecting operation may be full-duplex. Amplifying operations may also be associated with higher costs, as beamforming processes in the receive path may consume more power, be associated with more area on chip, and be associated with additional circuitry, while reflecting operations may be associated with passive reflecting. The difference in power consumption between reflecting (e.g., IRS) operations and amplifying (e.g., repeating or relaying) operations may increase as the number of antenna elements  215  at the assistive node  205  increases. 
     Generally reflecting operations may be chosen to reduce latencies (e.g., amplifying operations may be half duplex while reflecting operations may be full duplex), and to reduce power consumption (e.g., a smaller number of antenna elements may be deployed). Reflecting operations may be associated with better performance with smaller numbers of antenna elements  215  at the assistive node  205 . Repeating operations may be associated with better performance as N t,1 , the number of transmit antenna elements at the assistive node  205 , increases. A reduced number of antennas may be used to save power. A repeater operation may be used to boost a link budget. A reflecting operation (e.g., using an IRS) may be used if the number of antenna elements  215  at the assistive node  205  to be used is small. Reflecting operations (e.g., using an IRS) may be associated with better performance when the assistive node  205  is within a close proximity to the UE  115 - a  (e.g., when D 1  is smaller), while repeating operations may be associated with better performance when the assistive node  205  is farther from the UE  115 - a  (e.g., when D 1  is larger). 
     In some examples, an assistive node  205  may switch between amplifying and reflecting operations. The switching may be triggered by a base station  105 - a  or a network entity via signaling. For example, the assistive node  205  may switch between repeater and reflecting operations based on power consumption and/or or latency targets in forwarding signals from the base station  105 - a  to the UE  115 - a . For example, a repeater operation may increase latency and power consumption and be associated with increased cost and complexity of design and chip area. In some examples, the assistive node  205  may switch between amplifying and reflecting operations based on feedback metrics from the UE  115 - a  and/or the base station  105 - a . Metrics that may be fed back may include the location of the UE  115 - a  relative to the assistive node  205  (e.g., the distance D 1 ), the location of the base station  105 - a  relative to the assistive node  205  (e.g., the distance D) the link budget of communications link  240 , or the link budget of communications link  245 . Other metrics that may be used to determine whether to select amplifying and reflecting operations for a specific UE  115 - a  may include the antenna array sizes and configurations at the base station  105 - a , the assistive node  205 , or the UE  115 - a . Other metrics that may be used to determine whether to select amplifying and reflecting operations for a specific UE  115 - a  may include the codebook sizes associated with the base station  105 - a , the assistive node  205 , or the UE  115 - a.    
     For example, the assistive node  205  may transmit a message  250 , to the base station  105 - a , indicating that the assistive node  205  is capable of operating in an amplifying mode (e.g., using repeater circuitry  225  or relay circuitry  230 ) and in a reflecting mode (e.g., using reflecting circuitry  220 ). The assistive node  205  may also indicate feedback metrics to the base station  105 - a  as described herein, for example, a number and arrangement of antenna elements  215  of the assistive node  205 , an estimated distance D 1  between the assistive node  205  and a UE  115 - a , and/or a distance D between the assistive node  205  and the base station  105 - a . In some examples, the UE  115 - a  may report its location to the assistive node  205 , for example, which the UE  115 - a  may determine based on global positioning system signals, via a mobility procedure, or via received positioning reference signals. The assistive node  205  may estimate a distance D 1  between the UE  115 - a  and the assistive node  205  and report the estimated distance D 1  to the base station  105 - a . In some examples, the assistive node  205  and the base station  105 - a  may be at fixed locations, and the assistive node  205  may estimate a distance D between the assistive node  205  and the base station  105 - a  and report the estimated distance to the base station  105 - a.    
     The base station  105 - a  may transmit a message  255  including scheduling information for a packet transmission  265  to be forwarded by the assistive node  205  to the UE  115 - a  via communication links  240  and  245 . For example, the base station  105 - a  may be aware that a direct link  125 - a  between the base station  105 - a  and the UE  115 - a  is blocked, and the base station  105 - a  may use the assistive node  205  to create a viable communications path with the UE  115 - a  via the communications links  240  and  245 . The base station  105 - a  may transmit control signaling  260  indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode is to be applied by the assistive node  205  to forward the packet transmission  265  to the UE  115 - a . In some examples, the scheduling information in message  255  and the control signaling  260  may be transmitted in a single message. Control circuitry  235  of the assistive node  205  may configure the assistive node  205  to operate in the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode as indicated by the control signaling  260 . 
     The base station  105 - a  may transmit the packet transmission  265  to the assistive node  205  via the communications link  240 , and the assistive node  205  may amplify or reflect the packet transmission  265  to the UE  115 - a  based on the control signaling  260 . 
     In some examples, where the assistive node  205  reports an indication of a number and arrangement of antenna elements  215  of the antenna array  210  of the assistive node  205 , the control signaling  260  instructs the assistive node  205  to use at least a subset of antenna elements  215  of the antenna array  210  of the assistive node  205  for amplifying or reflecting the packet transmission  265  based on the number and arrangement of antenna elements  215  reported to the base station  105 - a . The control circuitry  235  of the assistive node  205  may configure the subset of antenna elements  215  indicated by the control signaling  260 . 
     In some examples, where the assistive node  205  reports an indication of an estimated distance D between the assistive node  205  and the base station  105 - a , the control signaling  260  indicates to operate in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission  265  or in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission  265  based on the reported estimated distance D between the assistive node  205  and the base station  105 - a  (e.g., the base station  105 - a  may determine that the assistive node  205  should operate in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission  265  or in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission  265  based on the reported estimated distance D between the assistive node  205  and the base station  105 - a ). For example, as discussed herein, reflecting operations may be associated with better performance when the distance between the assistive node  205  and the base station  105 - a  is small (e.g., less than a distance threshold). In some examples, the base station  105 - a  may estimate the distance D between the assistive node  205  and the base station  105 - a.    
     In some examples, where the assistive node  205  reports an indication of an estimated distance D 1  between the assistive node  205  and the UE  115 - a , the control signaling  260  indicates to operate in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission  265  or in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission  265  based on the reported estimated distance D 1  between the assistive node  205  and the UE  115 - a  (e.g., the base station  105 - a  may determine that the assistive node  205  should operate in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission  265  or in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission  265  based on the reported estimated distance D 1  between the assistive node  205  and the UE  115 - a ). For example, as discussed herein, reflecting operations may be associated with better performance when the distance between the assistive node  205  and the UE  115 - a  is small. 
     In some examples, the base station  105 - a  determines whether the assistive node  205  should operate in a reflecting mode or an amplifying mode based on a message type of the packet transmission, a latency target associated with the packet transmission, a size of an analog beamforming codebook associated with the assistive node  205 , beamwidths associated with beams in the analog beamforming codebook, a number and arrangement of antenna elements  215  of the assistive node  205 , a first threshold distance between the assistive node  205  and the UE  115 - a  (e.g., where the estimated distance D 1  between the assistive node  205  and the UE  115 - a  may be reported to the base station  105 - a , or where the base station  105 - a  may estimate the distance D 1 ), a threshold distance between the assistive node  205  and the base station  105 - a  (e.g., where the estimated distance D between the assistive node  205  and the base station  105 - a  may be reported at to the base station  105 - a , or where the base station  105 - a  may estimate the distance), or a combination thereof. 
     In some examples, the control signaling  260  may indicate an antenna element threshold, and the assistive node  205  operates in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission  265  based on a number of antenna elements  215  of the antenna array  210  of the assistive node  205  satisfying the antenna element threshold (e.g., the number of antenna elements is above a threshold) or the assistive node  205  operates in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission based on the number of antenna elements  215  of the antenna array  210  not satisfying the antenna element threshold (e.g., the number of antenna elements is at or below a threshold). For example, the control circuitry  235  of the assistive node  205  may determine whether the number of antenna elements  215  of the antenna array  210  of the assistive node  205  satisfies the threshold indicated in the control signaling  260 . For example, as discussed herein, reflecting operations may be associated with better performance when a number of antenna elements  215  at the assistive node  205  is small. 
     In some examples, the control signaling  260  may indicate a first beam of an analog beamforming codebook that is associated with the assistive node  205  operating in the amplifying mode, and the assistive node  205  operates in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission  265 . 
     In some examples, the control signaling  260  indicates a distance threshold for the distance between the assistive node  205  and the base station  105 - a , and the assistive node  205  operates in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission  265  based on an estimated distance D between the assistive node  205  and the base station  105 - a  satisfying the distance threshold (e.g., the estimated distance D exceeds the threshold) or the assistive node  205  operates in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission  265  based on the estimated distance D between the assistive node  205  and the base station  105 - a  not satisfying the distance threshold e.g., the estimated distance D is at or below the threshold). For example, the control circuitry  235  of the assistive node  205  may estimate the distance D between the assistive node  205  and the base station  105 - a  and determine whether the estimated distance D satisfies the threshold indicated in the control signaling  260 . 
     In some examples, the control signaling  260  indicates a distance threshold for the distance D 1  between the assistive node  205  and the UE  115 - a , and the assistive node  205  operates in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission  265  based on an estimated distance D 1  between the assistive node  205  and the UE  115 - a  satisfying the distance threshold or the assistive node  205  operates in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission  265  based on the estimated distance D 1  between the assistive node  205  and the UE  115 - a  not satisfying the distance threshold. For example, the control circuitry  235  of the assistive node  205  may estimate the distance D 1  between the assistive node  205  and the UE  115 - a  and determine whether the estimated distance D 1  satisfies the threshold indicated in the control signaling  260 . 
     In some examples, the control circuitry  235  of the assistive node  205  may select at least a subset of antenna elements  215  of the antenna array  210  of the assistive node  205  and a size of an analog beamforming codebook for amplifying or reflecting the packet transmission  265  based on whether the control signaling  260  indicates to operate in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission  265  or in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission  265 . 
       FIG.  3    illustrates an example of a process flow  300  that supports methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Process flow  300  may implement aspects of or may be implemented by aspects of wireless communications systems  100  or  200 . For example, base station  105 - b  may be an example of a base station  105  as described herein, UE  115 - b  may be an example of a UE  115  as described herein, and assistive node  205 - a  may be an example of an assistive node  205  as described herein. 
     At  305 , the assistive node  205 - a  may transmit a message to the base station  105 - b  indicating that the assistive node  205 - a  is capable of operating in an amplifying mode and in a reflecting mode. 
     In some examples, at  310 , the assistive node  205 - a  may transmit a message to the base station  105 - b  indicating a number and arrangement of antenna elements of the assistive node  205 - a , an estimated distance between the assistive node  205 - a  and a UE  115 - b , and/or an estimated distance between the assistive node  205 - a  and the base station  105 - b . In some examples, the UE  115 - b  may report its location to the assistive node  205 - a , for example, which location the UE  115 - b  may determine based on global positioning system signals, or other positioning signals such as those of 3GPP, other standardization organizations, or other national positioning signals, via a mobility procedure, or via received positioning reference signals. The assistive node  205 - a  may estimate a distance between the UE  115 - b  and the assistive node  205 - a  and report the estimated distance to the base station  105 - b . In some examples, the assistive node  205 - a  and the base station  105 - b  may be at fixed locations, and the assistive node  205 - a  may estimate a distance between the assistive node  205 - a  and the base station  105 - b  and report the estimated distance to the base station  105 - b.    
     At  315 , the base station  105 - b  transmits, to the assistive node  205 - a , scheduling information for a packet transmission to be forwarded to the UE  115 - a  via the assistive node  205 - a . For example, the base station  105 - b  may be aware that a direct link between the base station  105 - b  and the UE  115 - b  is blocked, and the base station  105 - b  may use the assistive node  205 - a  to create a viable communications path with the UE  115 - b.    
     At  320 , the base station  105 - b  transmits, to the assistive node  205 - a , control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode is to be applied by the assistive node  205 - a  to forward the packet transmission to the UE  115 - b . In some examples, the scheduling information transmitted at  315  and the control signaling transmitted at  320  may be transmitted in a single message. 
     In some examples, where the assistive node  205 - a  reports an indication at  310  of a number and arrangement of antenna elements of the assistive node  205 - a , the control signaling received at  320  instructs the assistive node  205 - a  to use at least a subset of antenna elements of the assistive node  205 - a  for amplifying or reflecting the packet transmission based on the number and arrangement of antenna elements reported at  310 . 
     In some examples, where the assistive node  205 - a  reports an indication at  310  of an estimated distance between the assistive node  205 - a  and the base station  105 - b , the control signaling received at  320  indicates to operate in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission or in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission based on the reported estimated distance between the assistive node  205 - a  and the base station  105 - b  (e.g., the base station  105 - b  may determine that the assistive node  205 - a  should operate in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission or in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission based on the reported estimated distance between the assistive node  205 - a  and the base station  105 - b ). For example, as discussed herein, reflecting operations may be associated with better performance when the distance between the assistive node  205 - a  and the base station  105 - b  is small. In some examples, the base station  105 - b  may estimate the distance between the assistive node  205 - a  and the base station  105 - b.    
     In some examples, where the assistive node  205 - a  reports an indication at  310  of an estimated distance between the assistive node  205 - a  and the UE  115 - b , the control signaling received at  320  indicates to operate in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission or in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission based on the reported estimated distance between the assistive node  205 - a  and the UE  115 - b  (e.g., the base station  105 - b  may determine that the assistive node  205 - a  should operate in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission or in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission based on the reported estimated distance between the assistive node  205 - a  and the UE  115 - b ). For example, as discussed herein, reflecting operations may be associated with better performance when the distance between the assistive node  205 - a  and the UE  115 - b  is small. 
     In some examples, the base station  105 - b  determines whether the assistive node  205 - a  should operate in a reflecting mode or an amplifying mode based on a message type of the packet transmission, a latency target associated with the packet transmission, a size of an analog beamforming codebook associated with the assistive node  205 - a , beamwidths associated with beams in the analog beamforming codebook, a number and arrangement of antenna elements of the assistive node  205 - a  (e.g., reported at  310 ), a first threshold distance between the assistive node  205 - a  and the UE  115 - b  (e.g., where the estimated distance between the assistive node  205 - a  and the UE  115 - b  may be reported at  310 , or where the base station  105 - b  may estimate the distance), a threshold distance between the assistive node  205 - a  and the base station  105 - b  (e.g., where the estimated distance between the assistive node  205 - a  and the base station  105 - b  may be reported at  310 , or where the base station  105 - b  may estimate the distance), or a combination thereof. 
     At  325 , the base station  105 - b  transmits the packet transmission to the assistive node  205 - a . At  330 , the assistive node  205 - a  amplifies or reflects the packet transmission to the UE  115 - b  based on the control signaling received at  320 . The assistive node  205 - a  may reflect the packet transmission via a reflective surface of the assistive node  205 - a  or amplify the packet transmission via one of a relay or a repeater of the assistive node  205 - a.    
     In some examples, the control signaling received at  320  indicates an antenna element threshold, and at  330  the assistive node  205 - a  operates in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based on a number of antenna elements of the assistive node  205 - a  satisfying the antenna element threshold or the assistive node  205 - a  operates in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission based on the number of antenna elements not satisfying the antenna element threshold. For example, the assistive node  205 - a  may determine whether the number of antenna elements of the assistive node  205 - a  satisfies the threshold indicated in the control signaling. For example, as discussed herein, reflecting operations may be associated with better performance when a number of antenna elements at the assistive node  205 - a  is small. 
     In some examples, the control signaling received at  320  may indicate a first beam of an analog beamforming codebook that is associated with the assistive node  205 - a  operating in the amplifying mode, and at  330  the assistive node  205 - a  operates in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission. 
     In some examples, the control signaling received at  320  indicates a distance threshold for the distance between the assistive node  205 - a  and the base station  105 - b , and at  330  the assistive node  205 - a  operates in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based on an estimated distance between the assistive node  205 - a  and the base station  105 - b  satisfying the distance threshold or the assistive node  205 - a  operates in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission based on the estimated distance between the assistive node  205 - a  and the base station  105 - b  not satisfying the distance threshold. For example, the assistive node  205 - a  may estimate the distance between the assistive node  205 - a  and the base station  105 - b  and determine whether the estimated distance satisfies the threshold indicated in the control signaling. 
     In some examples, the control signaling received at  320  indicates a distance threshold for the distance between the assistive node  205 - a  and the UE  115 - b , and at  330  the assistive node  205 - a  operates in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based on an estimated distance between the assistive node  205 - a  and the UE  115 - b  satisfying the distance threshold or the assistive node  205 - a  operates in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission based on the estimated distance between the assistive node  205 - a  and the UE  115 - b  not satisfying the distance threshold. For example, the assistive node  205 - a  may estimate the distance between the assistive node  205 - a  and the UE  115 - b  and determine whether the estimated distance satisfies the threshold indicated in the control signaling. 
     In some examples, the assistive node  205 - a  may select at least a subset of antenna elements of the assistive node  205 - a  and a size of an analog beamforming codebook for amplifying or reflecting the packet transmission (e.g., beamforming transmission) based on whether the control signaling indicates to operate in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission or in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission. 
       FIG.  4    shows a diagram  400  of a device  405  that supports methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The device  405  may be an example of aspects of an assistive node  205  as described herein. The device  405  may include a receiver  410 , a transmitter  415 , and a communications manager  420 . The device  405  may also include a processor. Each of these components may be in communication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses). 
     The receiver  410  may provide a means for receiving information such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device). Information may be passed on to other components of the device  405 . The receiver  410  may utilize a single antenna or a set of multiple antennas. 
     The transmitter  415  may provide a means for transmitting signals generated by other components of the device  405 . For example, the transmitter  415  may transmit information such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device). In some examples, the transmitter  415  may be co-located with a receiver  410  in a transceiver module. The transmitter  415  may utilize a single antenna or a set of multiple antennas. 
     The communications manager  420 , the receiver  410 , the transmitter  415 , or various combinations thereof or various components thereof may be examples of means for performing various aspects of methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device as described herein. For example, the communications manager  420 , the receiver  410 , the transmitter  415 , or various combinations or components thereof may support a method for performing one or more of the functions described herein. 
     In some examples, the communications manager  420 , the receiver  410 , the transmitter  415 , or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in hardware (e.g., in communications management circuitry). The hardware may include a processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof configured as or otherwise supporting a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure. In some examples, a processor and memory coupled with the processor may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., by executing, by the processor, instructions stored in the memory). 
     Additionally or alternatively, in some examples, the communications manager  420 , the receiver  410 , the transmitter  415 , or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in code (e.g., as communications management software or firmware) executed by a processor. If implemented in code executed by a processor, the functions of the communications manager  420 , the receiver  410 , the transmitter  415 , or various combinations or components thereof may be performed by a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a central processing unit (CPU), an ASIC, an FPGA, or any combination of these or other programmable logic devices (e.g., configured as or otherwise supporting a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure). 
     In some examples, the communications manager  420  may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, monitoring, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the receiver  410 , the transmitter  415 , or both. For example, the communications manager  420  may receive information from the receiver  410 , send information to the transmitter  415 , or be integrated in combination with the receiver  410 , the transmitter  415 , or both to receive information, transmit information, or perform various other operations as described herein. 
     The communications manager  420  may support wireless communications at an assistive node in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. For example, the communications manager  420  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting, to a network entity, a control message indicating that the assistive node is capable of operating in an amplifying mode and in a reflecting mode. The communications manager  420  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for receiving, from the network entity, scheduling information for a packet transmission. The communications manager  420  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for receiving, from the network entity, control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode is to be applied by the assistive node based on the control message. The communications manager  420  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for amplifying or reflecting the packet transmission to a wireless device based on the control signaling. 
     By including or configuring the communications manager  420  in accordance with examples as described herein, the device  405  (e.g., a processor controlling or otherwise coupled to the receiver  410 , the transmitter  415 , the communications manager  420 , or a combination thereof) may support techniques for reduced power consumption and more efficient utilization of communication resources by operating in an amplifying mode or a reflecting mode based on conditions associated with a given packet transmission to be forwarded by the assistive node. 
       FIG.  5    shows a diagram  500  of a device  505  that supports methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The device  505  may be an example of aspects of a device  405  or an assistive node  205  as described herein. The device  505  may include a receiver  510 , a transmitter  515 , and a communications manager  520 . The device  505  may also include a processor. Each of these components may be in communication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses). 
     The receiver  510  may provide a means for receiving information such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device). Information may be passed on to other components of the device  505 . The receiver  510  may utilize a single antenna or a set of multiple antennas. 
     The transmitter  515  may provide a means for transmitting signals generated by other components of the device  505 . For example, the transmitter  515  may transmit information such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device). In some examples, the transmitter  515  may be co-located with a receiver  510  in a transceiver module. The transmitter  515  may utilize a single antenna or a set of multiple antennas. 
     The device  505 , or various components thereof, may be an example of means for performing various aspects of methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device as described herein. For example, the communications manager  520  may include an Assistive Node Mode Manager  525 , a Scheduling Information Manager  530 , a Packet Forwarding Manager  535 , or any combination thereof. The communications manager  520  may be an example of aspects of a communications manager  420  as described herein. In some examples, the communications manager  520 , or various components thereof, may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, monitoring, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the receiver  510 , the transmitter  515 , or both. For example, the communications manager  520  may receive information from the receiver  510 , send information to the transmitter  515 , or be integrated in combination with the receiver  510 , the transmitter  515 , or both to receive information, transmit information, or perform various other operations as described herein. 
     The communications manager  520  may support wireless communications at an assistive node in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The Assistive Node Mode Manager  525  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting, to a network entity, a control message indicating that the assistive node is capable of operating in an amplifying mode and in a reflecting mode. The Scheduling Information Manager  530  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for receiving, from the network entity, scheduling information for a packet transmission. The Assistive Node Mode Manager  525  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for receiving, from the network entity, control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode is to be applied by the assistive node based on the control message. The Packet Forwarding Manager  535  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for amplifying or reflecting the packet transmission to a wireless device based on the control signaling. 
       FIG.  6    shows a diagram  600  of a communications manager  620  that supports methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The communications manager  620  may be an example of aspects of a communications manager  420 , a communications manager  520 , or both, as described herein. The communications manager  620 , or various components thereof, may be an example of means for performing various aspects of methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device as described herein. For example, the communications manager  620  may include an Assistive Node Mode Manager  625 , a Scheduling Information Manager  630 , a Packet Forwarding Manager  635 , an Antenna Configuration Manager  640 , a Codebook Manager  645 , a Location Manager  650 , or any combination thereof. Each of these components may communicate, directly or indirectly, with one another (e.g., via one or more buses). 
     The communications manager  620  may support wireless communications at an assistive node in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The Assistive Node Mode Manager  625  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting, to a network entity, a control message indicating that the assistive node is capable of operating in an amplifying mode and in a reflecting mode. The Scheduling Information Manager  630  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for receiving, from the network entity, scheduling information for a packet transmission. In some examples, the Assistive Node Mode Manager  625  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for receiving, from the network entity, control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode is to be applied by the assistive node based on the control message. The Packet Forwarding Manager  635  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for amplifying or reflecting the packet transmission to a wireless device based on the control signaling. 
     In some examples, the Antenna Configuration Manager  640  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting, to the network entity, a second message indicating a number and arrangement of antenna elements of the assistive node, where the control signaling instructs the assistive node to use at least a subset of antenna elements of the assistive node for amplifying or reflecting the packet transmission based on the number and arrangement of antenna elements. 
     In some examples, the Assistive Node Mode Manager  625  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for receiving the control signaling indicating an antenna element threshold, where the assistive node operates in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based on a number of antenna elements of the assistive node satisfying the antenna element threshold or the assistive node operates in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission based on the number of antenna elements not satisfying the antenna element threshold. 
     In some examples, the Codebook Manager  645  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for receiving the control signaling indicating a first beam of a first codebook that is associated with the assistive node operating in the amplifying mode, where the packet transmission is amplified by the assistive node using the first beam. 
     In some examples, the Location Manager  650  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting, to the network entity, a second message indicating an estimated distance between the assistive node and the network entity, where the control signaling indicates to operate in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission or operate in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based on the estimated distance between the assistive node and the network entity. 
     In some examples, the Location Manager  650  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for receiving the control signaling indicating a distance threshold between the assistive node and the network entity, where the assistive node operates in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based on an estimated distance between the assistive node and the network entity satisfying the distance threshold or the assistive node operates in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission based on the estimated distance between the assistive node and the network entity not satisfying the distance threshold. 
     In some examples, the Location Manager  650  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting, to the network entity, a second message indicating an estimated distance between the assistive node and the wireless device, where the control signaling indicates to one of operate in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission or operate in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based on the estimated distance between the assistive node and the wireless device. 
     In some examples, the Location Manager  650  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for receiving the control signaling indicating a distance threshold between the assistive node and the wireless device, where the assistive node operates in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based on an estimated distance between the assistive node and the wireless device satisfying the distance threshold or the assistive node operates in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission based on the estimated distance between the assistive node and the wireless device not satisfying the distance threshold. 
     In some examples, the Assistive Node Mode Manager  625  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for receiving the control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode is to be applied to the packet transmission based on a message type of the packet transmission, a latency target associated with the packet transmission, a size of an analog beamforming codebook associated with the assistive node, beamwidths associated with beams in the analog beamforming codebook, a number and arrangement of antenna elements of the assistive node, a first threshold distance between the assistive node and the wireless device, a second threshold distance between the assistive node and the network entity, or a combination thereof. 
     In some examples, the packet transmission is one of reflected via a reflective surface of the assistive node or amplified via one of a relay or a repeater of the assistive node. 
     In some examples, the Scheduling Information Manager  630  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for receiving, from the network entity, a second message including the scheduling information and the control signaling. 
     In some examples, the Assistive Node Mode Manager  625  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for selecting at least a subset of antenna elements of the assistive node and a size of an analog beamforming codebook for amplifying or reflecting the packet transmission based on the control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode is to be applied by the assistive node. 
       FIG.  7    shows a diagram of a system  700  including a device  705  that supports methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The device  705  may be an example of or include the components of a device  405 , a device  505 , or an assistive node  205  as described herein. The device  705  may include components for bi-directional voice and data communications including components for transmitting and receiving communications, such as a communications manager  720 , a network communications manager  710 , a transceiver  715 , an antenna  725 , a memory  730 , code  735 , a processor  740 , and an inter-station communications manager  745 . These components may be in electronic communication or otherwise coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more buses (e.g., a bus  750 ). 
     The network communications manager  710  may manage communications with a core network  130  (e.g., via one or more wired backhaul links). For example, the network communications manager  710  may manage the transfer of data communications for client devices, such as one or more UEs  115 . 
     In some cases, the device  705  may include a single antenna  725 . However, in some other cases the device  705  may have more than one antenna  725 , which may be capable of concurrently transmitting or receiving multiple wireless transmissions. The transceiver  715  may communicate bi-directionally, via the one or more antennas  725 , wired, or wireless links as described herein. For example, the transceiver  715  may represent a wireless transceiver and may communicate bi-directionally with another wireless transceiver. The transceiver  715  may also include a modem to modulate the packets, to provide the modulated packets to one or more antennas  725  for transmission, and to demodulate packets received from the one or more antennas  725 . The transceiver  715 , or the transceiver  715  and one or more antennas  725 , may be an example of a transmitter  415 , a transmitter  515 , a receiver  410 , a receiver  510 , or any combination thereof or component thereof, as described herein. 
     The memory  730  may include random access memory (RAM) and read-only memory (ROM). The memory  730  may store computer-readable, computer-executable code  735  including instructions that, when executed by the processor  740 , cause the device  705  to perform various functions described herein. The code  735  may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as system memory or another type of memory. In some cases, the code  735  may not be directly executable by the processor  740  but may cause a computer (e.g., when compiled and executed) to perform functions described herein. In some cases, the memory  730  may contain, among other things, a basic I/O system (BIOS) which may control basic hardware or software operation such as the interaction with peripheral components or devices. 
     The processor  740  may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, a microcontroller, an ASIC, an FPGA, a programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic component, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof). In some cases, the processor  740  may be configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller. In some other cases, a memory controller may be integrated into the processor  740 . The processor  740  may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., the memory  730 ) to cause the device  705  to perform various functions (e.g., functions or tasks supporting methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device). For example, the device  705  or a component of the device  705  may include a processor  740  and memory  730  coupled to the processor  740 , the processor  740  and memory  730  configured to perform various functions described herein. 
     The inter-station communications manager  745  may manage communications with other base stations  105 , and may include a controller or scheduler for controlling communications with UEs  115  in cooperation with other base stations  105 . For example, the inter-station communications manager  745  may coordinate scheduling for transmissions to UEs  115  for various interference mitigation techniques such as beamforming or joint transmission. In some examples, the inter-station communications manager  745  may provide an X2 interface within an LTE/LTE-A wireless communications network technology to provide communication between base stations  105 . 
     The communications manager  720  may support wireless communications at an assistive node in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. For example, the communications manager  720  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting, to a network entity, a control message indicating that the assistive node is capable of operating in an amplifying mode and in a reflecting mode. The communications manager  720  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for receiving, from the network entity, scheduling information for a packet transmission. The communications manager  720  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for receiving, from the network entity, control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode is to be applied by the assistive node based on the control message. The communications manager  720  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for amplifying or reflecting the packet transmission to a wireless device based on the control signaling. 
     By including or configuring the communications manager  720  in accordance with examples as described herein, the device  705  may support techniques for reduced latency, reduced power consumption, more efficient utilization of communication resources, and improved coordination between devices by operating in an amplifying mode or a reflecting mode based on conditions associated with a given packet transmission to be forwarded by the assistive node. 
     In some examples, the communications manager  720  may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, monitoring, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the transceiver  715 , the one or more antennas  725 , or any combination thereof. Although the communications manager  720  is illustrated as a separate component, in some examples, one or more functions described with reference to the communications manager  720  may be supported by or performed by the processor  740 , the memory  730 , the code  735 , or any combination thereof. For example, the code  735  may include instructions executable by the processor  740  to cause the device  705  to perform various aspects of methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device as described herein, or the processor  740  and the memory  730  may be otherwise configured to perform or support such operations. 
       FIG.  8    shows a diagram  800  of a device  805  that supports methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The device  805  may be an example of aspects of a network entity or a base station  105  as described herein. The device  805  may include a receiver  810 , a transmitter  815 , and a communications manager  820 . The device  805  may also include a processor. Each of these components may be in communication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses). 
     The receiver  810  may provide a means for receiving information such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device). Information may be passed on to other components of the device  805 . The receiver  810  may utilize a single antenna or a set of multiple antennas. 
     The transmitter  815  may provide a means for transmitting signals generated by other components of the device  805 . For example, the transmitter  815  may transmit information such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device). In some examples, the transmitter  815  may be co-located with a receiver  810  in a transceiver module. The transmitter  815  may utilize a single antenna or a set of multiple antennas. 
     The communications manager  820 , the receiver  810 , the transmitter  815 , or various combinations thereof or various components thereof may be examples of means for performing various aspects of methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device as described herein. For example, the communications manager  820 , the receiver  810 , the transmitter  815 , or various combinations or components thereof may support a method for performing one or more of the functions described herein. 
     In some examples, the communications manager  820 , the receiver  810 , the transmitter  815 , or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in hardware (e.g., in communications management circuitry). The hardware may include a processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof configured as or otherwise supporting a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure. In some examples, a processor and memory coupled with the processor may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., by executing, by the processor, instructions stored in the memory). 
     Additionally or alternatively, in some examples, the communications manager  820 , the receiver  810 , the transmitter  815 , or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in code (e.g., as communications management software or firmware) executed by a processor. If implemented in code executed by a processor, the functions of the communications manager  820 , the receiver  810 , the transmitter  815 , or various combinations or components thereof may be performed by a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA, or any combination of these or other programmable logic devices (e.g., configured as or otherwise supporting a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure). 
     In some examples, the communications manager  820  may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, monitoring, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the receiver  810 , the transmitter  815 , or both. For example, the communications manager  820  may receive information from the receiver  810 , send information to the transmitter  815 , or be integrated in combination with the receiver  810 , the transmitter  815 , or both to receive information, transmit information, or perform various other operations as described herein. 
     The communications manager  820  may support wireless communications at a network entity in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. For example, the communications manager  820  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for receiving, from an assistive node, a control message indicating that the assistive node is capable of operating in an amplifying mode and in a reflecting mode. The communications manager  820  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting, to the assistive node, scheduling information for a packet transmission. The communications manager  820  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting, to the assistive node, control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode is to be applied by the assistive node to reflect or amplify the packet transmission to a wireless device based on the control message. The communications manager  820  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting, to the assistive node, the packet transmission based on the scheduling information. 
     By including or configuring the communications manager  820  in accordance with examples as described herein, the device  805  (e.g., a processor controlling or otherwise coupled to the receiver  810 , the transmitter  815 , the communications manager  820 , or a combination thereof) may support techniques for reduced power consumption and more efficient utilization of communication resources by signaling to an assistive node to operate in an amplifying mode or a reflecting mode based on conditions associated with a given packet transmission to be forwarded by the assistive node. 
       FIG.  9    shows a diagram  900  of a device  905  that supports methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The device  905  may be an example of aspects of a device  805  or a network entity or a base station  105  as described herein. The device  905  may include a receiver  910 , a transmitter  915 , and a communications manager  920 . The device  905  may also include a processor. Each of these components may be in communication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses). 
     The receiver  910  may provide a means for receiving information such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device). Information may be passed on to other components of the device  905 . The receiver  910  may utilize a single antenna or a set of multiple antennas. 
     The transmitter  915  may provide a means for transmitting signals generated by other components of the device  905 . For example, the transmitter  915  may transmit information such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device). In some examples, the transmitter  915  may be co-located with a receiver  910  in a transceiver module. The transmitter  915  may utilize a single antenna or a set of multiple antennas. 
     The device  905 , or various components thereof, may be an example of means for performing various aspects of methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device as described herein. For example, the communications manager  920  may include an Assistive Node Mode Manager  925 , a Scheduling Information Manager  930 , a Packet Manager  935 , or any combination thereof. The communications manager  920  may be an example of aspects of a communications manager  820  as described herein. In some examples, the communications manager  920 , or various components thereof, may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, monitoring, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the receiver  910 , the transmitter  915 , or both. For example, the communications manager  920  may receive information from the receiver  910 , send information to the transmitter  915 , or be integrated in combination with the receiver  910 , the transmitter  915 , or both to receive information, transmit information, or perform various other operations as described herein. 
     The communications manager  920  may support wireless communications at a network entity in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The Assistive Node Mode Manager  925  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for receiving, from an assistive node, a control message indicating that the assistive node is capable of operating in an amplifying mode and in a reflecting mode. The Scheduling Information Manager  930  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting, to the assistive node, scheduling information for a packet transmission. The Assistive Node Mode Manager  925  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting, to the assistive node, control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode is to be applied by the assistive node to reflect or amplify the packet transmission to a wireless device based on the control message. The Packet Manager  935  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting, to the assistive node, the packet transmission based on the scheduling information. 
       FIG.  10    shows a diagram  1000  of a communications manager  1020  that supports methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The communications manager  1020  may be an example of aspects of a communications manager  820 , a communications manager  920 , or both, as described herein. The communications manager  1020 , or various components thereof, may be an example of means for performing various aspects of methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device as described herein. For example, the communications manager  1020  may include an Assistive Node Mode Manager  1025 , a Scheduling Information Manager  1030 , a Packet Manager  1035 , an Antenna Configuration Manager  1040 , a Codebook Manager  1045 , a Location Manager  1050 , or any combination thereof. Each of these components may communicate, directly or indirectly, with one another (e.g., via one or more buses). 
     The communications manager  1020  may support wireless communications at a network entity in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The Assistive Node Mode Manager  1025  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for receiving, from an assistive node, a control message indicating that the assistive node is capable of operating in an amplifying mode and in a reflecting mode. The Scheduling Information Manager  1030  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting, to the assistive node, scheduling information for a packet transmission. In some examples, the Assistive Node Mode Manager  1025  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting, to the assistive node, control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode is to be applied by the assistive node to reflect or amplify the packet transmission to a wireless device based on the control message. The Packet Manager  1035  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting, to the assistive node, the packet transmission based on the scheduling information. 
     In some examples, the Antenna Configuration Manager  1040  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for receiving, from the assistive node, a second message indicating a number and arrangement of antenna elements of the assistive node, where the control signaling instructs the assistive node to use at least a subset of antenna elements of the assistive node for amplifying or reflecting the packet transmission based on the number and arrangement of antenna elements. 
     In some examples, the Antenna Configuration Manager  1040  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting the control signaling indicating an antenna element threshold, where the assistive node operates in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based on a number of antenna elements of the assistive node satisfying the antenna element threshold or the assistive node operates in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission based on the number of antenna elements not satisfying the antenna element threshold. 
     In some examples, the Codebook Manager  1045  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting the control signaling indicating a first beam of a first codebook that is associated with the assistive node operating in the amplifying mode, where the packet transmission is amplified by the assistive node using the first beam. 
     In some examples, the Location Manager  1050  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for receiving, from the assistive node, a second message indicating an estimated distance between the assistive node and the network entity, where the control signaling indicates to operate in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission or operate in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based on the estimated distance between the assistive node and the network entity. 
     In some examples, the Location Manager  1050  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting the control signaling indicating a distance threshold between the assistive node and the network entity, where the assistive node operates in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based on an estimated distance between the assistive node and the network entity satisfying the distance threshold or the assistive node operates in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission based on the estimated distance between the assistive node and the network entity not satisfying the distance threshold. 
     In some examples, the Location Manager  1050  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for receiving, from the assistive node, a second message indicating an estimated distance between the assistive node and the wireless device, where the control signaling indicates to one of operate in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission or operate in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based on the estimated distance between the assistive node and the wireless device. 
     In some examples, the Location Manager  1050  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting the control signaling indicating a distance threshold between the assistive node and the wireless device, where the assistive node operates in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based on an estimated distance between the assistive node and the wireless device satisfying the distance threshold or the assistive node operates in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission based on the estimated distance between the assistive node and the wireless device not satisfying the distance threshold. 
     In some examples, the Assistive Node Mode Manager  1025  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting the control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode is to be applied based on a message type of the packet transmission, a latency target associated with the packet transmission, a size of an analog beamforming codebook associated with the assistive node, beamwidths associated with beams in the analog beamforming codebook, a number and arrangement of antenna elements of the assistive node, a first threshold distance between the assistive node and the wireless device, a second threshold distance between the assistive node and the network entity, or a combination thereof. 
     In some examples, the Scheduling Information Manager  1030  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting, to the assistive node, a second message including the scheduling information and the control signaling. 
       FIG.  11    shows a diagram of a system  1100  including a device  1105  that supports methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The device  1105  may be an example of or include the components of a device  805 , a device  905 , a network entity, or a base station  105  as described herein. The device  1105  may communicate wirelessly with one or more base stations  105 , UEs  115 , or any combination thereof. The device  1105  may include components for bi-directional voice and data communications including components for transmitting and receiving communications, such as a communications manager  1120 , a network communications manager  1110 , a transceiver  1115 , an antenna  1125 , a memory  1130 , code  1135 , a processor  1140 , and an inter-station communications manager  1145 . These components may be in electronic communication or otherwise coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more buses (e.g., a bus  1150 ). 
     The network communications manager  1110  may manage communications with a core network  130  (e.g., via one or more wired backhaul links). For example, the network communications manager  1110  may manage the transfer of data communications for client devices, such as one or more UEs  115 . 
     In some cases, the device  1105  may include a single antenna  1125 . However, in some other cases the device  1105  may have more than one antenna  1125 , which may be capable of concurrently transmitting or receiving multiple wireless transmissions. The transceiver  1115  may communicate bi-directionally, via the one or more antennas  1125 , wired, or wireless links as described herein. For example, the transceiver  1115  may represent a wireless transceiver and may communicate bi-directionally with another wireless transceiver. The transceiver  1115  may also include a modem to modulate the packets, to provide the modulated packets to one or more antennas  1125  for transmission, and to demodulate packets received from the one or more antennas  1125 . The transceiver  1115 , or the transceiver  1115  and one or more antennas  1125 , may be an example of a transmitter  815 , a transmitter  915 , a receiver  810 , a receiver  910 , or any combination thereof or component thereof, as described herein. 
     The memory  1130  may include RAM and ROM. The memory  1130  may store computer-readable, computer-executable code  1135  including instructions that, when executed by the processor  1140 , cause the device  1105  to perform various functions described herein. The code  1135  may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as system memory or another type of memory. In some cases, the code  1135  may not be directly executable by the processor  1140  but may cause a computer (e.g., when compiled and executed) to perform functions described herein. In some cases, the memory  1130  may contain, among other things, a BIOS which may control basic hardware or software operation such as the interaction with peripheral components or devices. 
     The processor  1140  may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, a microcontroller, an ASIC, an FPGA, a programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic component, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof). In some cases, the processor  1140  may be configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller. In some other cases, a memory controller may be integrated into the processor  1140 . The processor  1140  may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., the memory  1130 ) to cause the device  1105  to perform various functions (e.g., functions or tasks supporting methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device). For example, the device  1105  or a component of the device  1105  may include a processor  1140  and memory  1130  coupled to the processor  1140 , the processor  1140  and memory  1130  configured to perform various functions described herein. 
     The inter-station communications manager  1145  may manage communications with other base stations  105 , and may include a controller or scheduler for controlling communications with UEs  115  in cooperation with other base stations  105 . For example, the inter-station communications manager  1145  may coordinate scheduling for transmissions to UEs  115  for various interference mitigation techniques such as beamforming or joint transmission. In some examples, the inter-station communications manager  1145  may provide an X2 interface within an LTE/LTE-A wireless communications network technology to provide communication between base stations  105 . 
     The communications manager  1120  may support wireless communications at a network entity in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. For example, the communications manager  1120  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for receiving, from an assistive node, a control message indicating that the assistive node is capable of operating in an amplifying mode and in a reflecting mode. The communications manager  1120  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting, to the assistive node, scheduling information for a packet transmission. The communications manager  1120  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting, to the assistive node, control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode is to be applied by the assistive node to reflect or amplify the packet transmission to a wireless device based on the control message. The communications manager  1120  may be configured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting, to the assistive node, the packet transmission based on the scheduling information. 
     By including or configuring the communications manager  1120  in accordance with examples as described herein, the device  1105  may support techniques for reduced latency, reduced power consumption, more efficient utilization of communication resources, and improved coordination between devices resources by signaling to an assistive node to operate in an amplifying mode or a reflecting mode based on conditions associated with a given packet transmission to be forwarded by the assistive node. 
     In some examples, the communications manager  1120  may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, monitoring, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the transceiver  1115 , the one or more antennas  1125 , or any combination thereof. Although the communications manager  1120  is illustrated as a separate component, in some examples, one or more functions described with reference to the communications manager  1120  may be supported by or performed by the processor  1140 , the memory  1130 , the code  1135 , or any combination thereof. For example, the code  1135  may include instructions executable by the processor  1140  to cause the device  1105  to perform various aspects of methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device as described herein, or the processor  1140  and the memory  1130  may be otherwise configured to perform or support such operations. 
       FIG.  12    shows a flowchart illustrating a method  1200  that supports methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method  1200  may be implemented by an assistive node or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method  1200  may be performed by an assistive node as described with reference to  FIGS.  1  through  7   . In some examples, an assistive node may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the assistive node to perform the described functions. Additionally or alternatively, the assistive node may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware. 
     At  1205 , the method may include transmitting, to a network entity, a control message indicating that the assistive node is capable of operating in an amplifying mode and in a reflecting mode. The operations of  1205  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1205  may be performed by an Assistive Node Mode Manager  625  as described with reference to  FIG.  6   . 
     At  1210 , the method may include receiving, from the network entity, scheduling information for a packet transmission. The operations of  1210  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1210  may be performed by a Scheduling Information Manager  630  as described with reference to  FIG.  6   . 
     At  1215 , the method may include receiving, from the network entity, control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode is to be applied by the assistive node based on the control message. The operations of  1215  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1215  may be performed by an Assistive Node Mode Manager  625  as described with reference to  FIG.  6   . 
     At  1220 , the method may include amplifying or reflecting the packet transmission to a wireless device based on the control signaling. The operations of  1220  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1220  may be performed by a Packet Forwarding Manager  635  as described with reference to  FIG.  6   . 
       FIG.  13    shows a flowchart illustrating a method  1300  that supports methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method  1300  may be implemented by an assistive node or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method  1300  may be performed by an assistive node as described with reference to  FIGS.  1  through  7   . In some examples, an assistive node may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the Assistive node to perform the described functions. Additionally or alternatively, the Assistive node may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware. 
     At  1305 , the method may include transmitting, to a network entity, a control message indicating that the assistive node is capable of operating in an amplifying mode and in a reflecting mode. The operations of  1305  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1305  may be performed by an Assistive Node Mode Manager  625  as described with reference to  FIG.  6   . 
     At  1310 , the method may include receiving, from the network entity, scheduling information for a packet transmission. The operations of  1310  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1310  may be performed by a Scheduling Information Manager  630  as described with reference to  FIG.  6   . 
     At  1315 , the method may include receiving, from the network entity, control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode is to be applied by the assistive node based on the control message. The operations of  1315  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1315  may be performed by an Assistive Node Mode Manager  625  as described with reference to  FIG.  6   . 
     At  1320 , the method may include receiving the control signaling indicating an antenna element threshold, where the assistive node operates in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based on a number of antenna elements of the assistive node satisfying the antenna element threshold or the assistive node operates in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission based on the number of antenna elements not satisfying the antenna element threshold. The operations of  1320  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1320  may be performed by an Assistive Node Mode Manager  625  as described with reference to  FIG.  6   . 
     At  1325 , the method may include amplifying or reflecting the packet transmission to a wireless device based on the control signaling. The operations of  1325  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1325  may be performed by a Packet Forwarding Manager  635  as described with reference to  FIG.  6   . 
       FIG.  14    shows a flowchart illustrating a method  1400  that supports methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method  1400  may be implemented by an assistive node or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method  1400  may be performed by an assistive node as described with reference to  FIGS.  1  through  7   . In some examples, an assistive node may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the Assistive node to perform the described functions. Additionally or alternatively, the Assistive node may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware. 
     At  1405 , the method may include transmitting, to a network entity, a control message indicating that the assistive node is capable of operating in an amplifying mode and in a reflecting mode. The operations of  1405  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1405  may be performed by an Assistive Node Mode Manager  625  as described with reference to  FIG.  6   . 
     At  1410 , the method may include transmitting, to the network entity, a second message indicating an estimated distance between the assistive node and the network entity. The operations of  1410  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1410  may be performed by a Location Manager  650  as described with reference to  FIG.  6   . 
     At  1415 , the method may include receiving, from the network entity, scheduling information for a packet transmission. The operations of  1415  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1415  may be performed by a Scheduling Information Manager  630  as described with reference to  FIG.  6   . 
     At  1420 , the method may include receiving, from the network entity, control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode is to be applied by the assistive node based on the control message, where the control signaling indicates to operate in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission or operate in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based on the estimated distance between the assistive node and the network entity. The operations of  1420  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1420  may be performed by an Assistive Node Mode Manager  625  as described with reference to  FIG.  6   . 
     At  1425 , the method may include amplifying or reflecting the packet transmission to a wireless device based on the control signaling. The operations of  1425  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1425  may be performed by a Packet Forwarding Manager  635  as described with reference to  FIG.  6   . 
       FIG.  15    shows a flowchart illustrating a method  1500  that supports methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method  1500  may be implemented by an assistive node or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method  1500  may be performed by an assistive node as described with reference to  FIGS.  1  through  7   . In some examples, an assistive node may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the assistive node to perform the described functions. Additionally or alternatively, the assistive node may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware. 
     At  1505 , the method may include transmitting, to a network entity, a control message indicating that the assistive node is capable of operating in an amplifying mode and in a reflecting mode. The operations of  1505  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1505  may be performed by an Assistive Node Mode Manager  625  as described with reference to  FIG.  6   . 
     At  1510 , the method may include receiving, from the network entity, scheduling information for a packet transmission. The operations of  1510  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1510  may be performed by a Scheduling Information Manager  630  as described with reference to  FIG.  6   . 
     At  1515 , the method may include receiving, from the network entity, control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode is to be applied by the assistive node based on the control message. The operations of  1515  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1515  may be performed by an Assistive Node Mode Manager  625  as described with reference to  FIG.  6   . 
     At  1520 , the method may include receiving the control signaling indicating a distance threshold between the assistive node and the network entity, where the assistive node operates in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based on an estimated distance between the assistive node and the network entity satisfying the distance threshold or the assistive node operates in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission based on the estimated distance between the assistive node and the network entity not satisfying the distance threshold. The operations of  1520  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1520  may be performed by a Location Manager  650  as described with reference to  FIG.  6   . 
     At  1525 , the method may include amplifying or reflecting the packet transmission to a wireless device based on the control signaling. The operations of  1525  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1525  may be performed by a Packet Forwarding Manager  635  as described with reference to  FIG.  6   . 
       FIG.  16    shows a flowchart illustrating a method  1600  that supports methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method  1600  may be implemented by an assistive node or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method  1600  may be performed by an assistive node as described with reference to  FIGS.  1  through  7   . In some examples, an assistive node may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the Assistive node to perform the described functions. Additionally or alternatively, the Assistive node may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware. 
     At  1605 , the method may include transmitting, to a network entity, a control message indicating that the assistive node is capable of operating in an amplifying mode and in a reflecting mode. The operations of  1605  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1605  may be performed by an Assistive Node Mode Manager  625  as described with reference to  FIG.  6   . 
     At  1610 , the method may include transmitting, to the network entity, a second message indicating an estimated distance between the assistive node and the wireless device. The operations of  1610  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1610  may be performed by a Location Manager  650  as described with reference to  FIG.  6   . 
     At  1615 , the method may include receiving, from the network entity, scheduling information for a packet transmission. The operations of  1615  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1615  may be performed by a Scheduling Information Manager  630  as described with reference to  FIG.  6   . 
     At  1620 , the method may include receiving, from the network entity, control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode is to be applied by the assistive node based on the control message, where the control signaling indicates to one of operate in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission or operate in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based on the estimated distance between the assistive node and the wireless device. The operations of  1620  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1620  may be performed by an Assistive Node Mode Manager  625  as described with reference to  FIG.  6   . 
     At  1625 , the method may include amplifying or reflecting the packet transmission to a wireless device based on the control signaling. The operations of  1625  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1625  may be performed by a Packet Forwarding Manager  635  as described with reference to  FIG.  6   . 
       FIG.  17    shows a flowchart illustrating a method  1700  that supports methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method  1700  may be implemented by an assistive node or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method  1700  may be performed by an assistive node as described with reference to  FIGS.  1  through  7   . In some examples, an assistive node may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the Assistive node to perform the described functions. Additionally or alternatively, the Assistive node may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware. 
     At  1705 , the method may include transmitting, to a network entity, a control message indicating that the assistive node is capable of operating in an amplifying mode and in a reflecting mode. The operations of  1705  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1705  may be performed by an Assistive Node Mode Manager  625  as described with reference to  FIG.  6   . 
     At  1710 , the method may include receiving, from the network entity, scheduling information for a packet transmission. The operations of  1710  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1710  may be performed by a Scheduling Information Manager  630  as described with reference to  FIG.  6   . 
     At  1715 , the method may include receiving, from the network entity, control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode is to be applied by the assistive node based on the control message. The operations of  1715  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1715  may be performed by an Assistive Node Mode Manager  625  as described with reference to  FIG.  6   . 
     At  1720 , the method may include receiving the control signaling indicating a distance threshold between the assistive node and the wireless device, where the assistive node operates in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based on an estimated distance between the assistive node and the wireless device satisfying the distance threshold or the assistive node operates in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission based on the estimated distance between the assistive node and the wireless device not satisfying the distance threshold. The operations of  1720  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1720  may be performed by a Location Manager  650  as described with reference to  FIG.  6   . 
     At  1725 , the method may include amplifying or reflecting the packet transmission to a wireless device based on the control signaling. The operations of  1725  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1725  may be performed by a Packet Forwarding Manager  635  as described with reference to  FIG.  6   . 
       FIG.  18    shows a flowchart illustrating a method  1800  that supports methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method  1800  may be implemented by a base station or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method  1800  may be performed by a base station  105  as described with reference to  FIGS.  1  through  3  and  8  through  11   . In some examples, a base station may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the base station to perform the described functions. Additionally or alternatively, the base station may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware. 
     At  1805 , the method may include receiving, from an assistive node, a control message indicating that the assistive node is capable of operating in an amplifying mode and in a reflecting mode. The operations of  1805  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1805  may be performed by an Assistive Node Mode Manager  1025  as described with reference to  FIG.  10   . 
     At  1810 , the method may include transmitting, to the assistive node, scheduling information for a packet transmission. The operations of  1810  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1810  may be performed by a Scheduling Information Manager  1030  as described with reference to  FIG.  10   . 
     At  1815 , the method may include transmitting, to the assistive node, control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode is to be applied by the assistive node to reflect or amplify the packet transmission to a wireless device based on the control message. The operations of  1815  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1815  may be performed by an Assistive Node Mode Manager  1025  as described with reference to  FIG.  10   . 
     At  1820 , the method may include transmitting, to the assistive node, the packet transmission based on the scheduling information. The operations of  1820  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1820  may be performed by a Packet Manager  1035  as described with reference to  FIG.  10   . 
       FIG.  19    shows a flowchart illustrating a method  1900  that supports methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method  1900  may be implemented by a base station or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method  1900  may be performed by a base station  105  as described with reference to  FIGS.  1  through  3  and  8  through  11   . In some examples, a base station may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the base station to perform the described functions. Additionally or alternatively, the base station may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware. 
     At  1905 , the method may include receiving, from an assistive node, a control message indicating that the assistive node is capable of operating in an amplifying mode and in a reflecting mode. The operations of  1905  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1905  may be performed by an Assistive Node Mode Manager  1025  as described with reference to  FIG.  10   . 
     At  1910 , the method may include receiving, from the assistive node, a second message indicating a number and arrangement of antenna elements of the assistive node. The operations of  1910  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1910  may be performed by an Antenna Configuration Manager  1040  as described with reference to  FIG.  10   . 
     At  1915 , the method may include transmitting, to the assistive node, scheduling information for a packet transmission. The operations of  1915  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1915  may be performed by a Scheduling Information Manager  1030  as described with reference to  FIG.  10   . 
     At  1920 , the method may include transmitting, to the assistive node, control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode is to be applied by the assistive node to reflect or amplify the packet transmission to a wireless device based on the control message, where the control signaling instructs the assistive node to use at least a subset of antenna elements of the assistive node for amplifying or reflecting the packet transmission based on the number and arrangement of antenna elements. The operations of  1920  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1920  may be performed by an Assistive Node Mode Manager  1025  as described with reference to  FIG.  10   . 
     At  1925 , the method may include transmitting, to the assistive node, the packet transmission based on the scheduling information. The operations of  1925  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  1925  may be performed by a Packet Manager  1035  as described with reference to  FIG.  10   . 
       FIG.  20    shows a flowchart illustrating a method  2000  that supports methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method  2000  may be implemented by a base station or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method  2000  may be performed by a base station  105  as described with reference to  FIGS.  1  through  3  and  8  through  11   . In some examples, a base station may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the base station to perform the described functions. Additionally or alternatively, the base station may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware. 
     At  2005 , the method may include receiving, from an assistive node, a control message indicating that the assistive node is capable of operating in an amplifying mode and in a reflecting mode. The operations of  2005  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  2005  may be performed by an Assistive Node Mode Manager  1025  as described with reference to  FIG.  10   . 
     At  2010 , the method may include transmitting, to the assistive node, scheduling information for a packet transmission. The operations of  2010  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  2010  may be performed by a Scheduling Information Manager  1030  as described with reference to  FIG.  10   . 
     At  2015 , the method may include transmitting, to the assistive node, control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode is to be applied by the assistive node to reflect or amplify the packet transmission to a wireless device based on the control message. The operations of  2015  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  2015  may be performed by an Assistive Node Mode Manager  1025  as described with reference to  FIG.  10   . 
     At  2020 , the method may include transmitting, to the assistive node, the packet transmission based on the scheduling information. The operations of  2020  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  2020  may be performed by a Packet Manager  1035  as described with reference to  FIG.  10   . 
       FIG.  21    shows a flowchart illustrating a method  2100  that supports methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method  2100  may be implemented by a base station or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method  2100  may be performed by a base station  105  as described with reference to  FIGS.  1  through  3  and  8  through  11   . In some examples, a base station may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the base station to perform the described functions. Additionally or alternatively, the base station may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware. 
     At  2105 , the method may include receiving, from an assistive node, a control message indicating that the assistive node is capable of operating in an amplifying mode and in a reflecting mode. The operations of  2105  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  2105  may be performed by an Assistive Node Mode Manager  1025  as described with reference to  FIG.  10   . 
     At  2110 , the method may include receiving, from the assistive node, a second message indicating an estimated distance between the assistive node and the network entity. The operations of  2110  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  2110  may be performed by a Location Manager  1050  as described with reference to  FIG.  10   . 
     At  2115 , the method may include transmitting, to the assistive node, scheduling information for a packet transmission. The operations of  2115  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  2115  may be performed by a Scheduling Information Manager  1030  as described with reference to  FIG.  10   . 
     At  2120 , the method may include transmitting, to the assistive node, control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode is to be applied by the assistive node to reflect or amplify the packet transmission to a wireless device based on the control message, where the control signaling indicates to operate in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission or operate in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based on the estimated distance between the assistive node and the network entity. The operations of  2120  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  2120  may be performed by an Assistive Node Mode Manager  1025  as described with reference to  FIG.  10   . 
     At  2125 , the method may include transmitting, to the assistive node, the packet transmission based on the scheduling information. The operations of  2125  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  2125  may be performed by a Packet Manager  1035  as described with reference to  FIG.  10   . 
       FIG.  22    shows a flowchart illustrating a method  2200  that supports methods for switching between repeater and IRS operations in an assistive device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method  2200  may be implemented by a base station or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method  2200  may be performed by a base station  105  as described with reference to  FIGS.  1  through  3  and  8  through  11   . In some examples, a base station may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the base station to perform the described functions. Additionally or alternatively, the base station may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware. 
     At  2205 , the method may include receiving, from an assistive node, a control message indicating that the assistive node is capable of operating in an amplifying mode and in a reflecting mode. The operations of  2205  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  2205  may be performed by an Assistive Node Mode Manager  1025  as described with reference to  FIG.  10   . 
     At  2210 , the method may include receiving, from the assistive node, a second message indicating an estimated distance between the assistive node and the wireless device. The operations of  2210  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  2210  may be performed by a Location Manager  1050  as described with reference to  FIG.  10   . 
     At  2215 , the method may include transmitting, to the assistive node, scheduling information for a packet transmission. The operations of  2215  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  2215  may be performed by a Scheduling Information Manager  1030  as described with reference to  FIG.  10   . 
     At  2220 , the method may include transmitting, to the assistive node, control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode is to be applied by the assistive node to reflect or amplify the packet transmission to a wireless device based on the control message, where the control signaling indicates to one of operate in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission or operate in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based on the estimated distance between the assistive node and the wireless device. The operations of  2220  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  2220  may be performed by an Assistive Node Mode Manager  1025  as described with reference to  FIG.  10   . 
     At  2225 , the method may include transmitting, to the assistive node, the packet transmission based on the scheduling information. The operations of  2225  may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of  2225  may be performed by a Packet Manager  1035  as described with reference to  FIG.  10   . 
     The following provides an overview of aspects of the present disclosure: 
     Aspect 1: A method for wireless communications at an assistive node, comprising: transmitting, to a network entity, a control message indicating that the assistive node is capable of operating in an amplifying mode and in a reflecting mode; receiving, from the network entity, scheduling information for a packet transmission; receiving, from the network entity, control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode is to be applied by the assistive node based at least in part on the control message; and amplifying or reflecting the packet transmission to a wireless device based at least in part on the control signaling. 
     Aspect 2: The method of aspect 1, further comprising: transmitting, to the network entity, a second message indicating a number and arrangement of antenna elements of the assistive node, wherein the control signaling instructs the assistive node to use at least a subset of antenna elements of the assistive node for amplifying or reflecting the packet transmission based at least in part on the number and arrangement of antenna elements. 
     Aspect 3: The method of any of aspects 1 through 2, further comprising: receiving the control signaling indicating an antenna element threshold, wherein the assistive node operates in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based at least in part on a number of antenna elements of the assistive node satisfying the antenna element threshold or the assistive node operates in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission based at least in part on the number of antenna elements not satisfying the antenna element threshold. 
     Aspect 4: The method of any of aspects 1 through 3, further comprising: receiving the control signaling indicating a first beam of a first codebook that is associated with the assistive node operating in the amplifying mode, wherein the packet transmission is amplified by the assistive node using the first beam. 
     Aspect 5: The method of any of aspects 1 through 4, further comprising: transmitting, to the network entity, a second message indicating an estimated distance between the assistive node and the network entity, wherein the control signaling indicates to operate in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission or operate in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based at least in part on the estimated distance between the assistive node and the network entity. 
     Aspect 6: The method of any of aspects 1 through 5, further comprising: receiving the control signaling indicating a distance threshold between the assistive node and the network entity, wherein the assistive node operates in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based at least in part on an estimated distance between the assistive node and the network entity satisfying the distance threshold or the assistive node operates in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission based at least in part on the estimated distance between the assistive node and the network entity not satisfying the distance threshold. 
     Aspect 7: The method of any of aspects 1 through 6, further comprising: transmitting, to the network entity, a second message indicating an estimated distance between the assistive node and the wireless device, wherein the control signaling indicates to one of operate in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission or operate in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based at least in part on the estimated distance between the assistive node and the wireless device. 
     Aspect 8: The method of any of aspects 1 through 7, further comprising: receiving the control signaling indicating a distance threshold between the assistive node and the wireless device, wherein the assistive node operates in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based at least in part on an estimated distance between the assistive node and the wireless device satisfying the distance threshold or the assistive node operates in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission based at least in part on the estimated distance between the assistive node and the wireless device not satisfying the distance threshold. 
     Aspect 9: The method of any of aspects 1 through 8, further comprising: receiving the control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode is to be applied to the packet transmission based at least in part on a message type of the packet transmission, a latency target associated with the packet transmission, a size of an analog beamforming codebook associated with the assistive node, beamwidths associated with beams in the analog beamforming codebook, a number and arrangement of antenna elements of the assistive node, a first threshold distance between the assistive node and the wireless device, a second threshold distance between the assistive node and the network entity, or a combination thereof. 
     Aspect 10: The method of any of aspects 1 through 9, wherein the packet transmission is one of reflected via a reflective surface of the assistive node or amplified via one of a relay or a repeater of the assistive node. 
     Aspect 11: The method of any of aspects 1 through 10, further comprising: receiving, from the network entity, a second message comprising the scheduling information and the control signaling. 
     Aspect 12: The method of any of aspects 1 through 11, further comprising: selecting at least a subset of antenna elements of the assistive node and a size of an analog beamforming codebook for amplifying or reflecting the packet transmission based at least in part on the control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode is to be applied by the assistive node. 
     Aspect 13: A method for wireless communications at a network entity, comprising: receiving, from an assistive node, a control message indicating that the assistive node is capable of operating in an amplifying mode and in a reflecting mode; transmitting, to the assistive node, scheduling information for a packet transmission; transmitting, to the assistive node, control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode is to be applied by the assistive node to reflect or amplify the packet transmission to a wireless device based at least in part on the control message; and transmitting, to the assistive node, the packet transmission based at least in part on the scheduling information. 
     Aspect 14: The method of aspect 13, further comprising: receiving, from the assistive node, a second message indicating a number and arrangement of antenna elements of the assistive node, wherein the control signaling instructs the assistive node to use at least a subset of antenna elements of the assistive node for amplifying or reflecting the packet transmission based at least in part on the number and arrangement of antenna elements. 
     Aspect 15: The method of any of aspects 13 through 14, further comprising: transmitting the control signaling indicating an antenna element threshold, wherein the assistive node operates in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based at least in part on a number of antenna elements of the assistive node satisfying the antenna element threshold or the assistive node operates in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission based at least in part on the number of antenna elements not satisfying the antenna element threshold. 
     Aspect 16: The method of any of aspects 13 through 15, further comprising: transmitting the control signaling indicating a first beam of a first codebook that is associated with the assistive node operating in the amplifying mode, wherein the packet transmission is amplified by the assistive node using the first beam. 
     Aspect 17: The method of any of aspects 13 through 16, further comprising: receiving, from the assistive node, a second message indicating an estimated distance between the assistive node and the network entity, wherein the control signaling indicates to operate in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission or operate in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based at least in part on the estimated distance between the assistive node and the network entity. 
     Aspect 18: The method of any of aspects 13 through 17, further comprising: transmitting the control signaling indicating a distance threshold between the assistive node and the network entity, wherein the assistive node operates in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based at least in part on an estimated distance between the assistive node and the network entity satisfying the distance threshold or the assistive node operates in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission based at least in part on the estimated distance between the assistive node and the network entity not satisfying the distance threshold. 
     Aspect 19: The method of any of aspects 13 through 18, further comprising: receiving, from the assistive node, a second message indicating an estimated distance between the assistive node and the wireless device, wherein the control signaling indicates to one of operate in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission or operate in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based at least in part on the estimated distance between the assistive node and the wireless device. 
     Aspect 20: The method of any of aspects 13 through 19, further comprising: transmitting the control signaling indicating a distance threshold between the assistive node and the wireless device, wherein the assistive node operates in the amplifying mode to amplify the packet transmission based at least in part on an estimated distance between the assistive node and the wireless device satisfying the distance threshold or the assistive node operates in the reflecting mode to reflect the packet transmission based at least in part on the estimated distance between the assistive node and the wireless device not satisfying the distance threshold. 
     Aspect 21: The method of any of aspects 13 through 20, further comprising: transmitting the control signaling indicating which one of the reflecting mode or the amplifying mode is to be applied based at least in part on a message type of the packet transmission, a latency target associated with the packet transmission, a size of an analog beamforming codebook associated with the assistive node, beamwidths associated with beams in the analog beamforming codebook, a number and arrangement of antenna elements of the assistive node, a first threshold distance between the assistive node and the wireless device, a second threshold distance between the assistive node and the network entity, or a combination thereof. 
     Aspect 22: The method of any of aspects 13 through 21, further comprising: transmitting, to the assistive node, a second message comprising the scheduling information and the control signaling. 
     Aspect 23: An apparatus for wireless communications at an assistive node, comprising a processor; memory coupled with the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to perform a method of any of aspects 1 through 12. 
     Aspect 24: An apparatus for wireless communications at an assistive node, comprising at least one means for performing a method of any of aspects 1 through 12. 
     Aspect 25: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications at an assistive node, the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to perform a method of any of aspects 1 through 12. 
     Aspect 26: An apparatus for wireless communications at a network entity, comprising a processor; memory coupled with the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to perform a method of any of aspects 13 through 22. 
     Aspect 27: An apparatus for wireless communications at a network entity, comprising at least one means for performing a method of any of aspects 13 through 22. 
     Aspect 28: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications at a network entity, the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to perform a method of any of aspects 13 through 22. 
     It should be noted that the methods described herein describe possible implementations, and that the operations and the steps may be rearranged or otherwise modified and that other implementations are possible. Further, aspects from two or more of the methods may be combined. 
     Although aspects of an LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR system may be described for purposes of example, and LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR terminology may be used in much of the description, the techniques described herein are applicable beyond LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR networks. For example, the described techniques may be applicable to various other wireless communications systems such as Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM, as well as other systems and radio technologies not explicitly mentioned herein. 
     Information and signals described herein may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof. 
     The various illustrative blocks and components described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with a general-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, a CPU, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration). 
     The functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, software executed by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software executed by a processor, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Other examples and implementations are within the scope and spirit of the disclosure and appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software, functions described above can be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, or combinations of any of these. Features implementing functions may also be physically located at various positions, including being distributed such that portions of functions are implemented at different physical locations. As used herein, including in the claims, the term “and/or,” when used in a list of two or more items, means that any one of the listed items can be employed by itself, or any combination of two or more of the listed items can be employed. For example, if a composition is described as containing components A, B, and/or C, the composition can contain A alone; B alone; C alone; A and B in combination; A and C in combination; B and C in combination; or A, B, and C in combination. Also, as used herein, including in the claims, “or” as used in a list of items (for example, a list of items prefaced by a phrase such as “at least one of” or “one or more of”) indicates a disjunctive list such that, for example, a list of “at least one of A, B, or C” means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C). 
     Computer-readable media includes both non-transitory computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A non-transitory storage medium may be any available medium that may be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer. By way of example, and not limitation, non-transitory computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, compact disk (CD) ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other non-transitory medium that may be used to carry or store desired program code means in the form of instructions or data structures and that may be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer, or a general-purpose or special-purpose processor. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of computer-readable medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, include CD, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of computer-readable media. 
     As used herein, including in the claims, “or” as used in a list of items (e.g., a list of items prefaced by a phrase such as “at least one of” or “one or more of”) indicates an inclusive list such that, for example, a list of at least one of A, B, or C means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C). Also, as used herein, the phrase “based on” shall not be construed as a reference to a closed set of conditions. For example, an example step that is described as “based on condition A” may be based on both a condition A and a condition B without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In other words, as used herein, the phrase “based on” shall be construed in the same manner as the phrase “based at least in part on.” 
     The term “determine” or “determining” encompasses a wide variety of actions and, therefore, “determining” can include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (such as via looking up in a table, a database or another data structure), ascertaining and the like. Also, “determining” can include receiving (such as receiving information), accessing (such as accessing data in a memory) and the like. Also, “determining” can include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing and other such similar actions. 
     In the appended figures, similar components or features may have the same reference label. Further, various components of the same type may be distinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a second label that distinguishes among the similar components. If just the first reference label is used in the specification, the description is applicable to any one of the similar components having the same first reference label irrespective of the second reference label, or other subsequent reference label. 
     The description set forth herein, in connection with the appended drawings, describes example configurations and does not represent all the examples that may be implemented or that are within the scope of the claims. The term “example” used herein means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration,” and not “preferred” or “advantageous over other examples.” The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing an understanding of the described techniques. These techniques, however, may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, known structures and devices are shown in diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of the described examples. 
     The description herein is provided to enable a person having ordinary skill in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be apparent to a person having ordinary skill in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not limited to the examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded the broadest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.