5G • 5G-Advanced (Rel-18)
SCI DCI Signaling Format
Physical Layer Downlink Control Information for Repeater Steering
Dedicated DCI format carrying compressed beam ID indices and gain control bits transmitted on the serving base station's PDCCH.
Technical Explanation
To ensure near-zero latency control, Rel-18 defines specialized DCI payload fields for Side-Control Information. Transmitted on the common PDCCH search space, the SCI DCI carries compact bitfields: a 6-bit Beam Indication index, a 3-bit Gain Step index, and a 2-bit Direction Flag (DL/UL), allowing the NCR to reconfigure within a single OFDM symbol.
Key Functions
- Carries compact beam index, gain step, and TDD direction indicators in a fast DCI payload
- Decoded by the NCR-MT in sub-frame intervals to reconfigure RF phase shifters
- Minimizes physical control channel overhead on the serving macro base station
- Guarantees deterministic sub-millisecond beam switching synchronization
Specifications
3GPP TS 38.212 (Rel-18)
Interfaces
Uu (PDCCH)
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