Patent Description:
Patent application publication discloses a method for operating a relay station in a wireless communication system, where the relay mode is based on the number of times in which attempts are made to transmit a packet. Document <NPL> ET AL discloses a heterogeneous multirelay transmission scheme where a selected relay do not necessarily use the same type of relaying schemes.

Document <CIT>, relates to operation method of the relay in the wireless telecommunications system using the relay.

The invention is defined by independent claims <NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM>. Further details are defined by claims <NUM>-<NUM>.

The third backhaul links <NUM> may be wired or wireless.

Referring again to <FIG>, in certain aspects, a relay station <NUM> may receive a signal from a UE <NUM> and may relay the signal to a base station <NUM>, <NUM> based on feedback of the base station <NUM>/<NUM>, and/or may receive a signal from the UE <NUM> and may relay the signal to another relay UE (not shown). The base station <NUM>, <NUM> may be configured to determine feedback information indicating whether a data transmission sent directly from the UE <NUM> is successfully received at the base station <NUM>/<NUM> and communicate the first feedback information to the UE <NUM> and the relay station <NUM> (<NUM>). The relay station <NUM> may be configured to receive a first data transmission transmitted from the UE <NUM> and the first feedback information from the base station <NUM>/<NUM> and communicate second feedback information associated with the first data transmission and a second data transmission with the base station <NUM>/<NUM> (<NUM>). The UE <NUM> may be configured to transmit the first data transmission to the base station and the relay station <NUM> (<NUM>). By having the relay station <NUM> forward a separate data transmission that includes at least in part the first data transmission along with feedback to the base station <NUM>/<NUM>, the uplink coverage between the UE <NUM> and the base station <NUM>/<NUM> can be improved. For example, the success rate of the base station <NUM>/<NUM> recovering uplink data transmissions from the UE <NUM> can be increased and the system latency of uplink transmissions between the UE <NUM> and the base station <NUM>/<NUM> can be reduced. Although the following description may be focused on a mmW relay including different types of data forwarding such as decode-forward, amplify-forward, compress-forward and log-likelihood ratio relaying schemes, the concepts described herein may be applicable to other similar areas, such as low-frequency repeaters.

A mobile communication system may include a relay. A relay may also be referred to as a repeater. A relay may assist in forwarding messages between a base station and a UE. The UE may transmit a message for the base station, and the relay may receive the message for the base station and re-transmit the message to the base station. Similarly, the relay may additionally or alternatively receive a message from a UE and re-transmit the message to another UE serving as an additional relay. In some aspects, a relay may receive and re-transmit messages in a high-frequency spectrum (e.g., the relay may be a mmW relay).

According to aspects of the present disclosure, the UE <NUM> may operate as a relay station that supports multiple relay modes. The relay station can listen for an uplink transmission from a source UE (e.g., <NUM>, <NUM>) that is directed to a base station (e.g., <NUM>). The relay station also can listen for a feedback transmission, such as a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) transmission (e.g., ACK/NACK), from the base station that indicates whether the base station successfully received the uplink transmission from the source UE. The relay station can determine whether it also successfully received the uplink transmission from the source UE. The relay station can communicate with at least one of the base station or another UE its feedback relating to the uplink transmission from the source UE. In an example, the relay station can transmit a HARQ transmission indicating whether it successfully received at least in part the uplink transmission from the source UE (e.g., ACK/NACK). In some aspects, the relay station can operate in a first relay mode where it receives control information from the base station that indicates how the relay station should transmit (or forward) data relating to the source uplink transmission to the base station. In other aspects, the relay station can operate in a second relay mode where the relay station determines the type of data relaying independent of the base station. The relay station can communicate with the base station a data transmission that forwards at least in part (or in its entirety) the uplink transmission from the source UE based at least in part on the determined type of data relaying. In this regard, the uplink coverage between the base station and the source UE can be improved.

In some implementations, the relay station may be capable of receiving some control by the base station when it is operating in a first relay mode. For example, the base station may control how the relay station is relaying uplink messages from a UE to the base station using a type of data relaying (e.g., decode-forward relaying scheme, amplify-forward relaying scheme, compress-forward relaying scheme, or LLR relaying scheme). In other implementations, the relay station may operate without control from the base station when it is operating in a second relay mode. In this regard, the relay station may autonomously determine the type of data relaying to the base station.

In some aspects, the relay station may receive a signal, decode the signal successfully, and forward a re-encoded signal or a new signal based on the decoded signal (e.g., may operate in a decode-forward relaying scheme). The relay station may send a HARQ transmission, such as an acknowledgment, to the base station based on the successful decoding of the received signal. The relay station may perform digital baseband processing of the received signal.

In some aspects, the relay station may receive a signal, determine that the signal was not successfully received, amplify the power of a portion of the (or the full) received signal to generate a repeat signal, and forward the repeat signal to the base station (e.g., may operate in an amplify-forward relaying scheme). In some aspects, the relay station may perform analog amplify-forward relaying scheme, where the relay station receives and processes an analog signal. In this regard, the relay station may not perform partial relaying, and the UE may apply a change in amplification (and/or a gain) to received data (from the source UE) and forward the received data with the applied amplification in its entirety as received. The time and/or frequency resources utilized by the source UE and the relay UE may be the same.

In some aspects, the relay station may receive a signal, quantize a portion of the (or the full) signal using a predetermined number of bits, and forward the quantized signal to the base station (e.g., may operate in a compress-forward relaying scheme). The relay station may perform digital baseband processing of the received signal.

In some aspects, the relay station may receive a signal, obtain log-likelihood ratio values of the received signal, quantize the log-likelihood ratio values using a predetermined number of bits, and forward the quantized LLR signal to the base station (e.g., may operate in a LLR relaying scheme). The relay station may perform digital baseband processing of the received signal.

<FIG> is a communication diagram illustrating communication between a destination device 404a/404b, a relay station <NUM>, and a UE <NUM> that includes feedback information exchange between the destination device 404a/404b and the relay station <NUM> for uplink coverage improvement. The destination device 404a may be a base station in some implementations, and the destination device 404b may be a UE in other implementations. Although the aspects described in connection with <FIG> are described for uplink communication relayed between the UE <NUM> and the destination device 404a, the aspects may similarly be applied to sidelink communication that the relay station <NUM> relays between the destination device 404b and the UE <NUM> through a sidelink channel. In some examples, the UE <NUM> and the relay station <NUM> may communicate over a sidelink channel and the relay station <NUM> and the destination device 404a may communicate over downlink/uplink channels. In other examples, the UE <NUM> and the relay station <NUM> may communicate over a sidelink channel (e.g., PC5 interface) and the relay station <NUM> and the destination device 404b also may communicate over a sidelink channel. In some examples, the relay station <NUM> and/or the UE <NUM> may each represent a UE, an IoT device, or a wearable device.

For data transmission on the uplink, UE <NUM> may transmit data on an access uplink to relay station <NUM>, which may forward the data on a backhaul uplink to destination device 404a. The destination device 404a may transmit feedback information on a backhaul downlink to the relay station <NUM>. The relay station <NUM> may transmit feedback information on the backhaul uplink to the destination device 404a. The relay station <NUM> can transmit data on the backhaul uplink to the destination device 404a. In some aspects, the communication channel between the UE <NUM> and the destination device 404a through the relay station <NUM> includes a dedicated uplink tunnel with multi-hop relaying via UE relays in a dedicated time-frequency resource. The destination device 404a may transmit a broadcast message or a groupcast message to the UE <NUM> and the relay station <NUM> to set up the multi-hop relay tunnel. The relay tunnel may have a wide frequency band with a short transmission latency between the UE <NUM> and the destination device 404a through the relay station <NUM>.

The feedback information sent on one link (e.g., the downlink) may support data transmission on the other link (e.g., the uplink). The feedback information may comprise channel quality indicator (CQI) indicative of the quality of a communication channel, a HARQ transmission such as ACK for packets decoded correctly or NACK for packets decoded in error, and/or other information. The subject technology may support a relaying scheme through HARQ for data transmission on the downlink and/or the uplink in order to improve coverage and reliability of data transmissions. For HARQ, a transmitter may send a transmission of a data packet to a receiver and may send one or more additional transmissions of the packet, if needed, until the packet is decoded correctly by the receiver, or the maximum number of transmissions has been sent for the packet, or some other termination condition is encountered. Each transmission of the packet may include different redundancy information for the packet and may be referred to as a HARQ transmission. The receiver may decode the packet based on all HARQ transmissions received for the packet, which may improve the likelihood of correctly decoding the packet.

As illustrated at <NUM>, the destination device 404a may transmit a downlink control transmission comprising a resource allocation assigned to one or more of the UE <NUM> or the relay station <NUM>. For example, the destination device 404a may be the base station <NUM>/<NUM> described above with respect to <FIG> and may indicate to the relay station <NUM> and/or the UE <NUM> uplink resource allocation. In some examples, the uplink resource allocation may include a first uplink grant assigned to the UE <NUM> and a second uplink grant assigned to the relay station <NUM>. In some aspects, the downlink control transmission includes a bitmap indicating which resource blocks within the resource allocation are assigned to the relay station <NUM>. For example, the bitmap may indicate which resources (or data inside those resources) from the source UE transmission to be forwarded by the relay UE (i.e., data in those resource block resources may be forwarded by the relay UE under any one of the data forwarding relaying schemes including the decode-forward relaying scheme). In other examples, the bitmap may be a certain time-domain bitmap indicating which symbols within the resource allocation to forward. In some examples, if the bitmap is disabled or the bitmap contains all ones, then the bitmap may indicate that full (or entire) data forwarding is used at the relay UE. In some aspects, the downlink control transmission may be transmitted semi-statically through a radio resource control (RRC) signal or a media access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE). In other aspects, the downlink control transmission can be transmitted dynamically through downlink control information (DCI). In some examples, the bitmap can be transmitted statically or semi-statically through the RRC signal or MAC-CE. In other examples, the bitmap can be dynamically changing through the uplink DCI used to configure the relaying process.

At <NUM>, the UE <NUM> may transmit a first data transmission in an uplink channel intended for the destination device 404a. The data transmission from the UE <NUM> may be received at the destination device 404a in its entirety, in part, or not at all (e.g., <NUM>). In cases where the UE <NUM> is located far from the destination device 404a and the signal quality between the UE <NUM> and destination device 404a is below acceptable levels, a relaying scheme with one or more intermediate relay stations to improve the uplink coverage is desirable. In this regard, the data transmission from the UE <NUM> also may be received at destination device 404a the relay station <NUM>. In some aspects, the relay station <NUM> may listen on a frequency for the uplink transmission from the UE <NUM> to receive the data transmission. For example, the relay station <NUM> may receive the data transmission through an uplink communication channel (e.g., PUSCH) with the UE <NUM>. In other aspects, the UE <NUM> and the relay station <NUM> may communicate over a sidelink communication channel. In this regard, the relay station <NUM> may receive the data transmission through the sidelink communication channel with the UE <NUM>. In some aspects, if the relay station <NUM> does not have the capability to receive the uplink transmission from the UE <NUM> (e.g., relay station <NUM> is not equipped with a wireless Uu gNB modem), then the relay <NUM> may transmit the data transmission on an uplink resource based on an uplink grant along with transmitting the data transmission on a sidelink resource based on a sidelink grant, such that the relay station <NUM> receives the data trasmissin on the sidelink resource and relays the data transmission to the destination device 404a on behalf of the UE <NUM> based on the uplink resource.

At <NUM>, the relay station <NUM> may generate feedback information, such as ACK/NACK information. For example, the relay station <NUM> receives the data transmission from the UE <NUM> and performs a decoding operation to recover data in the data transmission. If the relay station <NUM> is successful in decoding all data packets in the data transmission, then the relay station <NUM> may generate ACK information. Otherwise, the relay station <NUM> does not successfully decode all of the data packets (or successfully decoded a partial number of data packets) such that the relay station <NUM> may generate NACK information. Similarly, at <NUM>, the destination device 404a may generate feedback information based on a processing of the received data transmission from the UE <NUM>. If the data packets are not decoded successfully, the destination device 404a may generate NACK information. Otherwise, the destination device 404a generates ACK information for successful decoding of data packets in the data transmission. Although <FIG> illustrates blocks <NUM> and <NUM> performed concurrently after the first data transmission <NUM>, the operations illustrated in blocks <NUM> and <NUM> may occur at different times and in a different sequence than as illustrated.

In some aspects, the relay station <NUM> may communicate measurement information <NUM> to the destination device 404a. The measurement information <NUM> may include measurements of the backhaul link between the relay station <NUM> and the destination device 404a (either directly linked or linked through one or more additional relays). The measurement information <NUM> may include measurements of an access link between the relay station <NUM> and the UE <NUM> (either directly linked or linked through one or more additional relays). In some aspects, the relay station <NUM> may operate in a selected data forwarding relaying scheme (e.g., decode-forward, amplify-forward, compress-forward, LLR-forward) and the measurement information may include a measured or estimated end-to-end signal to noise ratio when operating in the data forwarding relaying scheme. The measurement information may include channel measurements such as channel state information (CSI) or measurements of noise and/or interference levels at a receiver (e.g., <NUM>) of the relay station <NUM>. In some aspects, the UE <NUM> may additionally or alternatively communicate such measurement information (not shown) to the destination device 404a. As noted above, the aspects illustrated for UE <NUM> may be performed by another relay node. Therefore, the base station may receive measurement information or other information from a relay node, and may use the information from the other relay node to determine the type of data relaying scheme for the relay station <NUM>. In some implementations, the destination device 404a may obtain similar measurements at a receiver of the destination device 404a for determining the type of data relaying scheme for the relay station <NUM>.

In some aspects, the destination device 404a may determine a type of data relaying for the relay station <NUM>, as illustrated at <NUM>, when the base station determines that it did not successfully receive (or decode) one or more data packets in the data transmission from the UE <NUM>. In this regard, the relay station <NUM> may be configured to operate as a relay in a first relay mode (e.g., configured by downlink configuration) that relays to the destination device 404a with a selected type of data relaying destination device 404a. In some aspects, the destination device 404a may select the type of data relaying among multiple types, at <NUM>, based on the measurement information <NUM> provided to the destination device 404a by the relay station <NUM>. Where the measurement information <NUM> includes CSI and/or noise/interference levels on a channel to the UE <NUM> and/or to the destination device 404a, the destination device 404a may determine the type of data relaying as to how a data communication between the relay station <NUM> and the destination device 404a will be sent. For example, in a use case where the relay station <NUM> successfully receives and decodes the data transmission and generates ACK information, the relay station <NUM> may utilize a decode-forward relaying scheme where the relay station <NUM> may re-encode the data packets and forward the re-encoded data to the destination device 404a. In other implementations, the relay station <NUM> may utilize any other relaying scheme (e.g., amplify-forward, compress-forward, LLR-forward) when the relay station <NUM> successfully receives and decodes the data transmission and generates the ACK information. In other aspects where the relay station <NUM> does not successfully receive (or decode) the data transmission and generates NACK information, the relay station <NUM> may perform a partial data forwarding or full data forwarding in accordance with a selected type of data relaying. For example, the relay station may forward partial (or full) LLR information in a LLR-forward relaying scheme (since data compression can be used), partial (or full) amplified observations (e.g., received signal) in an amplify-forward relaying scheme, quantized observations in a compress-forward relaying scheme, so that the destination device 404a may combine the signals from the UE <NUM> and the relay station <NUM>.

As illustrated at <NUM>, the destination device 404a may transmit a first feedback transmission. In some aspects, the first feedback transmission is, or includes at least a portion of, the feedback information generated at block <NUM>. The first feedback transmission is associated with the first data transmission that indicates whether the first data transmission is successfully received at the destination device 404a. For example, the first feedback transmission may include ACK information indicating that the destination device 404a successfully decoded data packets carried in the data transmission from the UE <NUM>. In other examples, the first feedback transmission may include NACK information indicating that the destination device 404a did not successfully decode the data transmission from the UE <NUM>.

In some implementations, at <NUM>, the destination device 404a may optionally transmit an indication of the selected type of data relaying for configuration of the relay station <NUM>. In some aspects, the indication <NUM> may be transmitted concurrently with the first feedback transmission from the destination device 404a, or may be transmitted at a different time than the first feedback transmission <NUM>. In this regard, the destination device 404a may expect to receive a data transmission that includes partial (or full) forwarding data in a subsequent slot or symbol duration. For example, if the destination device 404a and the relay station <NUM> agreed to use the LLR-forward relaying scheme, then the destination device 404a may expect to receive LLR information. In some aspects, the indication of the selected type of data relaying may be received at the relay station <NUM> dynamically through DCI signaling, or statically or semi-statically through the RRC signal or MAC-CE signaling.

In other implementations, at <NUM>, the UE <NUM>, in sidelink communication with the relay station <NUM>, may optionally transmit an indication of the selected type of data relaying for configuration of the relay station <NUM>. In some aspects, the indication of the selected type of data relaying may be received at the relay station <NUM>, through a sidelink PC5 interface, dynamically through SCI signaling (e.g., SCI-<NUM> or second-stage SCI), or statically or semi-statically through a RRC signal or MAC-CE signaling.

At <NUM>, the relay station <NUM> may transmit a second feedback transmission that indicates whether the relay station <NUM> successfully received (or decoded) data packets of the data transmission from the UE <NUM>. In some aspects, the relay station <NUM> transmits the second feedback transmission in a UCI portion of a PUCCH if the relay station <NUM> is communicating with the destination device 404a operating as a base station, or if the relay station <NUM> is communicating with the destination device 404b operating as a UE having the capability to receive uplink communication from the relay station <NUM> (e.g., by having a gNB modem). In other implementations, the relay station <NUM> and the destination device 404b may be communicating over a sidelink channel such that the relay station <NUM> can transmit the second feedback transmission in sidelink control information (SCI) over a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH).

In some aspects, the second feedback transmission is, or includes at least a portion of, the feedback information generated at block <NUM>. For example, if the destination device 404a receives an ACK, the destination device 404a infers that the relay station <NUM> can utilize a decode-forward relaying scheme. As such, the destination device 404a may expect to receive a re-encoded data signal. In other implementations, the destination device 404a may infer that the relay station <NUM> utilized any other relaying scheme (e.g., amplify-forward, compress-forward, LLR-forward) when the destination device 404a receives the ACK. In another example, if the destination device 404a receives a NACK, and if the destination device 404a and the relay station <NUM> agreed to use the LLR-forward relaying scheme, then the destination device 404a may expect to receive LLR information (or quantized LLR information). In still another example, if the destination device 404a receives a NACK, and if the destination device 404a and the relay station <NUM> agreed to use an observations (e.g., received signals at the relay station <NUM>) relaying scheme, then the destination device 404a may expect to receive a weighted and amplified version of the observations for an amplify-forward relaying scheme, or alternatively, a quantized and forwarded version of the data observed at the receiver of the relay station <NUM> for a compress-forward relaying scheme.

At <NUM>, the relay station <NUM> may transmit a second data transmission associated with the second feedback transmission. In some aspects, the second data transmission may be a partial forwarding where the second data transmission includes at least a portion of the first data transmission. In other aspects, the second data transmission may be a full forwarding where the second data transmission includes the first data transmission in its entirety. In some implementations, the relay station <NUM> may be configured to perform a partial data forwarding in a first forwarding transmission to the destination device 404a. If the destination device 404a does not successfully receive the forwarded data from the relay station <NUM>, the relay station <NUM> may perform a full data forwarding in a second forwarding transmission to the destination device 404a in a subsequent slot (or symbol duration). In some aspects, the relay station <NUM> transmits the second data transmission over a PUSCH if the relay station <NUM> is communicating with the destination device 404a operating as a base station, or if the relay station <NUM> is communicating with the destination device 404b operating as a UE having the capability to receive uplink communication from the relay station <NUM> (e.g., by having a gNB modem). In other implementations, the relay station <NUM> and the destination device 404b may be communicating over a sidelink channel such that the relay station <NUM> can transmit the second data transmission over a PSSCH.

As illustrated at <NUM>, the destination device 404a may recover the data packets carried in the first data transmission from the UE <NUM> to thereby improve the uplink coverage between the UE <NUM> and destination device 404a. The destination device 404a may recover the UE <NUM> data by combining the signals from the UE <NUM> and the relay station <NUM>. For example, the destination device 404a may reconstruct the data signals by summing at least a portion of the data signals carried in the first data transmission with data signals carried in the second data transmission (forwarding at least partial data).

<FIG> is a flowchart <NUM> of a method of wireless communication. The method may be performed by a relay node or a component of a relay node (e.g., relay station <NUM>, <NUM>; the apparatus <NUM>/<NUM>'; or the processing system <NUM>, which may include the memory <NUM> and which may be the entire relay station <NUM> or a component of the relay station <NUM>, such as the TX processor <NUM>, the RX processor <NUM>, and/or the controller/processor <NUM>). Optional aspects are illustrated with a dashed line. As used herein, the term "relay station" may be referred to as a relay node or a relay, and the terms may be used interchangeably.

At <NUM>, the relay node may receive, from a destination device (e.g., a base station <NUM>/<NUM>, or a UE <NUM>), a first control transmission comprising a resource allocation assigned to one or more of the relay node or a source UE (e.g., UE <NUM>). The first control transmission may be received, e.g., by the reception component <NUM> of the apparatus <NUM>. In some aspects of receiving the first control transmission, the relay node may receive the first control transmission semi-statically through one or more of a RRC signal or MAC-CE. In other aspects of receiving the first control transmission, the relay node may receive the first control transmission dynamically through DCI. In some aspects, the first control transmission includes a bitmap indicating which resource blocks within the resource allocation are assigned to the relay node and/or which data in the resource blocks is forwarded by the relay node using one of a plurality of types of data forwarding in an uplink transmission to the destination device.

In some aspects, at <NUM>, the relay node may determine whether the relay node is set to a first relay mode or a second relay mode based on a downlink configuration of the relay node. The relay mode may be determined, e.g., by the determination component <NUM> of the apparatus <NUM>. In some aspects, the first control transmission indicates a type of data relaying in an uplink transmission between the relay node and the destination device when the relay node is set to the first relay mode.

In some aspects, at <NUM>, the relay node may receive, from the source UE, a first data transmission. The first data transmission may be received, e.g., by the determination component <NUM> and measurement component <NUM> through the reception component <NUM> of the apparatus <NUM>.

At <NUM>, the relay node may receive, from the destination device, a first feedback transmission associated with the first data transmission. The first feedback transmission may be received, e.g., by the determination component <NUM> through the reception component <NUM> of the apparatus <NUM>.

In some aspects, at <NUM>, the relay node may determine whether the destination device successfully receives the first data transmission based on the first feedback transmission. The determination may be performed, e.g., by the determination component <NUM> and/or the feedback component <NUM> of the apparatus <NUM>.

At <NUM>, the relay node may communicate, with the destination device, a second feedback transmission associated with the first data transmission when the destination device does not successfully receive the first data transmission. The second feedback transmission may be communicated, e.g., by the feedback component <NUM> through the transmission component <NUM> of the apparatus <NUM>. In some implementations, the relay node may determine whether the first data transmission is successfully received at the relay node. In some aspects of communicating the second feedback transmission, the relay node may transmit the second feedback transmission that includes an ACK signal associated with the first data transmission when the first data transmission is successfully received. In other aspects, the second feedback transmission may include a NACK signal associated with the first data transmission when the first data transmission is not successfully received.

At <NUM>, the relay node may obtain measurements of the first data transmission. The measurements may be obtained, e.g., by the measurement component <NUM> of the apparatus <NUM>.

At <NUM>, the relay node may determine a type of data relaying in an uplink transmission between the relay node and the destination device based on the measurements when the relay node is set to the second relay mode. The determination may be performed, e.g., by the determination component <NUM> of the apparatus <NUM>. In some aspects of determining the type of data relaying, the relay node may select one of a plurality of types of data forwarding in the uplink transmission between the relay node and the destination device based on the measurements of the first data transmission. In various aspects, the plurality of types of data forwarding includes, among others, a decode-forward relaying scheme, an amplify-forward relaying scheme, a compress-forward relaying scheme, or a LLR-forward relaying scheme.

In some implementations, the relay node may determine whether the second feedback transmission includes the ACK signal or the NACK signal. If the second feedback transmission includes the ACK signal, then the relay node may encode data of the first data transmission into encoded data based on a type of data relaying signaled between the relay node and the destination device. In this regard, the pre-configured type of data relaying is a decode-forward relaying scheme. In some aspects, the communication of the second data transmission as forwarded data to the destination device may include the encoded data.

If the second feedback transmission includes the NACK signal, then the relay node may follow the agreed type of data relaying. For example, the relay node may determine LLR information associated with the first data transmission using a predetermined number of bits. In this respect, the LLR information may quantized according to the predetermined number of bits. The predetermined number of bits used for quantizing may be signaled through semi-static control information or dynamic control information (e.g., the first control information at block <NUM>). In some aspects, the communication of the second data transmission as forwarded data to the destination device may include at least in part the LLR information as partial (or full data forwarding).

In another example, the relay node may amplify data of the first data transmission into amplified data by weighting data packets in the first data transmission with one or more of weights and gain values. In some aspects, the communication of the second data transmission as forwarded data to the destination device may include at least in part the amplified data as partial (or full data forwarding).

In still another example, the relay node may compress data of the first data transmission into compressed data by quantizing data packets in the first data transmission using a predetermined number of bits. The predetermined number of bits used for quantizing may be signaled through semi-static control information or dynamic control information (e.g., the first control information at block <NUM>). In some aspects, the communication of the second data transmission as forwarded data to the destination device may include at least in part the compressed data as partial (or full data forwarding).

At <NUM>, the relay node may transmit, to the destination device, an indication of the type of data relaying in an uplink control information concurrently with the second feedback transmission. The indication of the type of data relaying may be transmitted, e.g., by the determination component <NUM> through the transmission component <NUM> of the apparatus <NUM>.

At <NUM>, the relay node may communicating, with the destination device, on a second set of resources corresponding to at least a portion of the first set of resources, a second data transmission associated with the second feedback transmission according to a type of data relaying. In some examples, the second data transmission may be relayed to the destination device as a partial data relay. In this regard, the second data transmission includes at least a portion of the first data transmission. In other examples, the second data transmission may be relayed to the destination device as a full data relay. In some aspects, the second data transmission is communicated using different types of data relaying based at least in part on the second feedback transmission. For example, the relay node may transmit the second data transmission using any one of the types of data relaying (e.g., decode-forward, amplify-forward, compress-forward, LLR-forward) when the second feedback transmission indicates an ACK is observed. When the second feedback transmission indicates a NACK is observed, the relay node may transmit the second data transmission using a different type of data relaying compared to when the ACK is used. For example, the relay node may forward using partial LLR forwarding, partial or full amplify-forward, or quantization (along with compress-forward). The second data transmission may be communicated, e.g., by the data generation component <NUM> through the transmission component <NUM> of the apparatus <NUM>. In some aspects of communicating the second data transmission, the relay node may transmit the second data transmission in a format that corresponds to the type of data relaying. In some aspects, the relay node may transmit, to the destination device, the second data transmission in the resource blocks indicated in the bitmap (included in the first control transmission). In some aspects, the second data transmission includes a partial (or full) data payload of the first data transmission.

In some implementations, following block <NUM>, the relay node may receive, from the destination device, a third feedback transmission associated with the second data transmission. The relay node may determine whether the destination device successfully receives the second data transmission based on the third feedback transmission. In the event that the destination device did not successfully receive (or decode) the forwarded data from the relay node, the destination device may transmit new control information. In this regard, the relay node may receive, from the destination device, a second control transmission when the destination device does not successfully receive the second data transmission. In some aspects, the second control transmission is, or includes at least a portion of, downlink control information. In this regard, the relaying procedure may restart between the relay node and the destination device or the source UE may send a new data transmission directed to the destination device.

<FIG> is a conceptual data flow diagram <NUM> illustrating the data flow between different means/components in an example apparatus <NUM>. The apparatus may be a relay node or a component of a relay node. The apparatus includes reception component <NUM> that receives communication from a base station <NUM> or from a source UE (e.g., UE <NUM>, UE <NUM>). The reception component <NUM> may receive information from the base station <NUM> and may be configured to communicate with the base station <NUM> and/or wireless device served by the relay (such as a UE) based on a feedback transmission, such as a HARQ transmission, from the base station <NUM>, e.g., as described above in connection with <NUM> in <FIG>. The apparatus includes a transmission component <NUM> configured to transmit communication to the base station <NUM>. The transmission component <NUM> may transmit feedback information associated with an uplink data transmission of the source UE or a data forwarding transmission to the base station <NUM>, and may be configured to communicate with the base station <NUM> based on a type of data relaying configuration for the relay node, e.g., as described above in connection with <NUM> in <FIG>. The apparatus includes a measurement component <NUM> configured to receive uplink data from the source UE and obtain signal measurements of the received uplink data, e.g., as described above in connection with <NUM> in <FIG>. The apparatus includes a feedback component <NUM> configured to determine feedback information relating to the uplink data transmission of the source UE and provide the feedback information in a HARQ transmission to the base station <NUM>, as described above in connection with <NUM> in <FIG>. The apparatus includes a data generation component <NUM> configured to generate forwarding data using one of a plurality of types of data forwarding relaying schemes (e.g., decode-forward, amplify-forward, compress-forward, LLR-forward) using partial (or the full) received signal of the uplink data transmission and transmit the forwarding data to the base station <NUM>, e.g., as described above in connection with <NUM> in <FIG>.

<FIG> is a diagram <NUM> illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for an apparatus <NUM>' employing a processing system <NUM>. The processing system <NUM> may be implemented with a bus architecture, represented generally by the bus <NUM>. The bus <NUM> may include any number of interconnecting buses and bridges depending on the specific application of the processing system <NUM> and the overall design constraints. The bus <NUM> links together various circuits including one or more processors and/or hardware components, represented by the processor <NUM>, the components <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM>, and the computer-readable medium / memory <NUM>. The bus <NUM> may also link various other circuits such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further.

The processing system <NUM> may be coupled to a transceiver <NUM>. The transceiver <NUM> is coupled to one or more antennas <NUM>. The transceiver <NUM> provides a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium. The transceiver <NUM> receives a signal from the one or more antennas <NUM>, extracts information from the received signal, and provides the extracted information to the processing system <NUM>, specifically the reception component <NUM>. In addition, the transceiver <NUM> receives information from the processing system <NUM>, specifically the transmission component <NUM>, and based on the received information, generates a signal to be applied to the one or more antennas <NUM>. The processing system <NUM> includes a processor <NUM> coupled to a computer-readable medium / memory <NUM>. The processor <NUM> is responsible for general processing, including the execution of software stored on the computer-readable medium / memory <NUM>. The software, when executed by the processor <NUM>, causes the processing system <NUM> to perform the various functions described supra for any particular apparatus. The computer-readable medium / memory <NUM> may also be used for storing data that is manipulated by the processor <NUM> when executing software. The processing system <NUM> further includes at least one of the components <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM>. The components may be software components running in the processor <NUM>, resident/stored in the computer readable medium / memory <NUM>, one or more hardware components coupled to the processor <NUM>, or some combination thereof.

In one configuration, the apparatus <NUM>/<NUM>' for wireless communication includes means for receiving, from a second UE, a first data transmission. The apparatus may include means for receiving, from a BS, a first feedback transmission associated with the first data transmission. The apparatus may include means for determining whether the BS successfully receives the first data transmission based on the first feedback transmission. The apparatus may include means for communicating, with the BS, a second feedback transmission associated with the first data transmission when the BS does not successfully receive the first data transmission. The apparatus may include means for communicating, with the BS, a second data transmission associated with the second feedback transmission, in which the second data transmission comprises at least a portion of the first data transmission. The processing system <NUM> may include the TX Processor <NUM>, the RX Processor <NUM>, and the controller/processor <NUM>.

<FIG> is a flowchart <NUM> of a method of wireless communication. In some implementations, the method may be performed by a base station or a component of a base station as a destination device (e.g., the base station <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, 404a; the apparatus <NUM>/<NUM>'; the processing system <NUM>, which may include the memory <NUM> and which may be the entire base station <NUM> or a component of the base station <NUM>, such as the TX processor <NUM>, the RX processor <NUM>, and/or the controller/processor <NUM>). In other implementations, the method may be performed by a UE node or a component of a UE node as the destination device (e.g., UE <NUM>, 404b; the apparatus <NUM>/<NUM>'; or the processing system <NUM>, which may include the memory <NUM> and which may be the entire UE node or a component of the UE node, such as the TX processor <NUM>, the RX processor <NUM>, and/or the controller/processor <NUM>). Optional aspects are illustrated with a dashed line.

At <NUM>, the destination device may transmit, to a plurality of UEs (e.g., the relay station <NUM>, the UE <NUM>), a first control transmission comprising a resource allocation assigned to one or more of the relay station <NUM> or the UE <NUM>. The first control transmission may be transmitted, e.g., by the configuration component <NUM> through the transmission component <NUM> of the apparatus <NUM>.

In some aspects, at <NUM>, the destination device may receive, from a source UE (e.g., UE <NUM>) of a plurality of UEs, a first data transmission. The first data transmission may be received, e.g., by the reception component <NUM> of the apparatus <NUM>.

At <NUM>, the destination device may obtain measurements of the first data transmission. The signal measurements may be obtained, e.g., by the measurement component <NUM> of the apparatus <NUM>. In some aspects, the measurements may include at least one of a first measurement report for a backhaul link between the relay station <NUM> and the destination device, or a second measurement report indicating a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) estimation for the first data transmission.

At <NUM>, the destination device may determine a type of data relaying in an uplink transmission between the source UE and the destination device based on the obtained signal measurements. The determination may be performed, e.g., by the determination component <NUM> of the apparatus <NUM>. In other implementations, the destination device may receive, from the relay station <NUM> concurrently with the second feedback transmission, an indication of a type of data relaying for an uplink transmission between the relay station <NUM> and the destination device through uplink control information.

At <NUM>, the destination device may transmit, to the relay station <NUM>, a downlink configuration comprising an indication of the type of data relaying. The downlink configuration may be transmitted, e.g., by the configuration component <NUM> through the transmission component <NUM> of the apparatus <NUM>.

At <NUM>, the destination device may communicate, with the plurality of UEs, a first feedback transmission associated with the first data transmission that indicates whether the first data transmission is successfully received at the destination device. Therefore, the communication may be performed, e.g., by the feedback component <NUM> through the transmission component <NUM> of the apparatus <NUM>.

At <NUM>, the destination device may receiving, from the relay station <NUM>, a second feedback transmission associated with the first data transmission when the first feedback transmission indicates that the BS did not successfully receive the first data transmission. The second feedback transmission may be received, e.g., by the reception component <NUM> of the apparatus <NUM>.

At <NUM>, the destination device may receive, from the relay station <NUM>, on a second set of resources corresponding to at least a portion of the first set of resources, a second data transmission associated with the second feedback transmission according to a type of data relaying. In some examples, the second data transmission may be relayed to the destination device as a partial data relay. In this regard, the second data transmission includes at least a portion of the first data transmission. In other examples, the second data transmission may be relayed to the destination device as a full data relay. In some aspects, the second data transmission is communicated using different types of data relaying based at least in part on the second feedback transmission. For example, the relay station <NUM> may transmit the second data transmission using any one of the types of data relaying (e.g., decode-forward, amplify-forward, compress-forward, LLR-forward) when the second feedback transmission indicates an ACK is observed at the relay station <NUM>. When the second feedback transmission indicates a NACK is observed at the relay station <NUM>, the relay node may transmit the second data transmission using a different type of data relaying compared to when the ACK is used. For example, the relay station <NUM> may forward using partial LLR forwarding, partial or full amplify-forward, or quantization (along with compress-forward). The second data transmission may be received, e.g., by the reception component <NUM> of the apparatus <NUM>.

At <NUM>, the destination device may combine at least a portion of data in the first data transmission with data in the second data transmission to recover the first data transmission. The combination may be performed, e.g., by the determination component <NUM> of the apparatus <NUM>.

<FIG> is a conceptual data flow diagram <NUM> illustrating the data flow between different means/components in an example apparatus <NUM>. The apparatus may be a destination device or a component of a destination device. The apparatus includes a reception component <NUM> that receives communication from a relay station <NUM> and/or from a UE <NUM>.

The reception component <NUM> may receive an uplink data transmission from the UE <NUM>, e.g., as described above in connection with <NUM> in <FIG>, and may communicate uplink resource allocation and control information with the UE <NUM>, e.g., as described above in connection with <NUM> in <FIG>. The reception component <NUM> may receive feedback information from the relay station <NUM>, e.g., as described above in connection with <NUM> in <FIG>, and may receive forwarding data from the relay station <NUM>, e.g., as described above in connection with <NUM> in <FIG>.

The apparatus includes a transmission component <NUM> configured to transmit communication to the relay station <NUM> and/or to the UE <NUM>. The transmission component <NUM> may transmit control information to the relay station <NUM> and/or the UE <NUM>, e.g., as described above in connection with <NUM> in <FIG>, and may communicate feedback information with the relay station <NUM>, e.g., as described above in connection with <NUM> in <FIG>.

The apparatus <NUM> includes a feedback component <NUM> configured to generate feedback information that indicates whether the uplink data transmission is successfully received at the destination device and communicate the feedback information to the relay station <NUM>, e.g., as described in connection with <NUM> in <FIG>.

The apparatus includes a configuration component <NUM> configured to generate uplink resource allocation and provide the uplink resource allocation in a downlink configuration to the relay station <NUM>, e.g., as described in connection with <NUM> in <FIG>. The configuration component <NUM> also can generate downlink configuration and provide the downlink configuration to the relay station <NUM>, e.g., as described in connection with <NUM> of <FIG>.

The apparatus includes a measurement component <NUM> configured to obtain measurements of the uplink transmission from the UE <NUM>, e.g., as described above in connection with <NUM> in <FIG>.

The apparatus includes a determination component <NUM> configured to determine a type of data relaying configuration for the relay station <NUM> based on obtained signal measurements associated with the source uplink transmission, e.g., as described above in connection with <NUM> in <FIG>.

<FIG> is a diagram <NUM> illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for an apparatus <NUM>' employing a processing system <NUM>. The processing system <NUM> may be implemented with a bus architecture, represented generally by the bus <NUM>. The bus <NUM> may include any number of interconnecting buses and bridges depending on the specific application of the processing system <NUM> and the overall design constraints. The bus <NUM> links together various circuits including one or more processors and/or hardware components, represented by the processor <NUM>, the components <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>, and the computer-readable medium / memory <NUM>. The bus <NUM> may also link various other circuits such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further.

The processing system <NUM> may be coupled to a transceiver <NUM>. The transceiver <NUM> is coupled to one or more antennas <NUM>. The transceiver <NUM> provides a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium. The transceiver <NUM> receives a signal from the one or more antennas <NUM>, extracts information from the received signal, and provides the extracted information to the processing system <NUM>, specifically the reception component <NUM>. In addition, the transceiver <NUM> receives information from the processing system <NUM>, specifically the transmission component <NUM>, and based on the received information, generates a signal to be applied to the one or more antennas <NUM>. The processing system <NUM> includes a processor <NUM> coupled to a computer-readable medium / memory <NUM>. The processor <NUM> is responsible for general processing, including the execution of software stored on the computer-readable medium / memory <NUM>. The software, when executed by the processor <NUM>, causes the processing system <NUM> to perform the various functions described supra for any particular apparatus. The computer-readable medium / memory <NUM> may also be used for storing data that is manipulated by the processor <NUM> when executing software. The processing system <NUM> further includes at least one of the components <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>. The components may be software components running in the processor <NUM>, resident/stored in the computer readable medium / memory <NUM>, one or more hardware components coupled to the processor <NUM>, or some combination thereof. In some implementations, the processing system <NUM> may be a component of the base station <NUM> and may include the memory <NUM> and/or at least one of the TX processor <NUM>, the RX processor <NUM>, and the controller/processor <NUM>. Alternatively, the processing system <NUM> may be the entire base station (e.g., see <NUM> of <FIG>). In other implementations, the processing system <NUM> may be a component of the UE <NUM> and may include the memory <NUM> and/or at least one of the TX processor <NUM>, the RX processor <NUM>, and the controller/processor <NUM>. Alternatively, the processing system <NUM> may be the entire UE (e.g., see <NUM> of <FIG>).

In one configuration, the apparatus <NUM>/<NUM>' for wireless communication includes means for receiving, from a first UE of a plurality of UEs, a first data transmission. The apparatus includes means for communicating, with the plurality of UEs, a first feedback transmission associated with the first data transmission that indicates whether the first data transmission is successfully received at the BS. The apparatus includes means for receiving, from a second UE of the plurality of UEs, a second feedback transmission associated with the first data transmission when the first feedback transmission indicates that the BS does not successfully receive the first data transmission. The apparatus includes means for receiving, from the second UE, a second data transmission associated with the second feedback transmission, in which the second data transmission comprises at least a portion of the first data transmission. As described supra, the processing system <NUM> may include the TX Processor <NUM> or <NUM>, the RX Processor <NUM> or <NUM>, and the controller/processor <NUM> or <NUM>. As such, in one configuration, the aforementioned means may be the TX Processor <NUM> or <NUM>, the RX Processor <NUM> or <NUM>, and the controller/processor <NUM> or <NUM> configured to perform the functions recited by the aforementioned means.

Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but is to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language claims, wherein reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean "one and only one" unless specifically so stated, but rather "one or more. " The word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term "some" refers to one or more. Combinations such as "at least one of A, B, or C," "one or more of A, B, or C," "at least one of A, B, and C," "one or more of A, B, and C," and "A, B, C, or any combination thereof" include any combination of A, B, and/or C, and may include multiples of A, multiples of B, or multiples of C. Specifically, combinations such as "at least one of A, B, or C," "one or more of A, B, or C," "at least one of A, B, and C," "one or more of A, B, and C," and "A, B, C, or any combination thereof" may be A only, B only, C only, A and B, A and C, B and C, or A and B and C, where any such combinations may contain one or more member or members of A, B, or C.

Claim 1:
A method of wireless communication performed by a first user equipment, UE (<NUM>), the method comprising:
receiving (<NUM>), from a second UE (<NUM>), a first data transmission on a first set of resources;
receiving (<NUM>), from a destination device (404a, 404b), a first feedback transmission associated with the first data transmission;
determining whether the destination device (404a, 404b) successfully receives the first data transmission based on the first feedback transmission;
transmitting (<NUM>) to the destination device (404a, 404b) when the destination device does not successfully receive the first data transmission, a second feedback transmission associated with the first data transmission and indicating whether the first UE (<NUM>) successfully received data packets of the first data transmission from the second UE (<NUM>), to allow the destination device (404a, 404b) to infer a type of data relaying utilized by the first UE (<NUM>); and
transmitting (<NUM>) to the destination device (404a, 404b), on a second set of resources corresponding to at least a portion of the first set of resources, a second data transmission associated with the second feedback transmission, the second data transmission comprising at least a portion of the first data transmission, wherein the second data transmission is transmitted using a first type of data relaying when the second feedback transmission indicates a positive acknowledgment, ACK, associated with the first data transmission, and a second type of data relaying different from the first type of data relaying when the second feedback transmission indicates a negative acknowledgment, NACK, associated with the first data transmission.