Methods and apparatus for spectrum sharing in a wireless communication network

Abstract

For a first radio frequency (RF) carrier, a network node of a wireless communication network configures two or more bandwidth parts (BWPs) in the first RF carrier, with each BWP aligned with a corresponding other RF carrier among two or more other RF carriers located within the RF spectrum spanned by the first RF carrier. The node determines a frequency sharing configuration for each BWP based on the radio resource usage of the corresponding other RF carrier, and configures a wireless communication device to use the corresponding BWP in the BWPs. For example, the node determines a resource usage pattern for control-related signaling transmitted on the other RF carriers and sends rate matching information for the BWPs of the first RF carrier. Each BWP occupies the RF spectrum used by the corresponding other RF carrier among the other RF carriers, and the rate matching information sent for each BWP depends on the resource usage pattern determined for that corresponding other RF carrier.

Description

Field of the Invention

[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to the field of wireless network communications and, more particularly, to a network node that relates to dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) through bandwidth part (BWP) allocation. Background Art

[0002] Key challenges arise in the context of deploying new wireless communication technologies (e.g., a fifth generation (5G)-based radio access network (RAN)). The RAN configured for 5G operation uses an air interface referred to as new radio (NR). Spectrum sharing between existing RANs and new RANs provides certain advantages, but in the case of spectrum sharing between NR and a fourth generation (4G) RAN using a long term evolution (LTE) air interface, there is a lack of implementation of the spectrum sharing arrangement and a great deal more work is required. Summary of the Invention

[0003] One or more embodiments of the present invention relate to a first radio frequency (RF) carrier spanning an RF spectrum that includes two or more other RF carriers. Specifically, in one or more embodiments, the first RF carrier is a 5G NR carrier and the other RF carriers are 4G LTE carriers. The concept of a bandwidth part (BWP) in an NR carrier can be used to implement spectrum sharing across a single NR carrier that spans more than one LTE carrier. This can be achieved by matching the allocation of the NR BWP assigned to an NR user equipment (UE) to align with one of the LTE carriers. Examples using NR and LTE can involve an NR carrier spanning contiguous and non-contiguous LTE carriers for respective parameter sets (e.g., for a 15 kHz NR subcarrier spacing and for both other subcarrier spacings including 30 kHz and 60 kHz). Embodiments can be applied to both time division duplex (TDD) and frequency division duplex (FDD) implementations.

[0004] The embodiments described herein provide a number of advantages. For example, one or more embodiments allow multiple contiguous or non-contiguous LTE carriers to be spectrally shared across a single NR bandwidth using the LTE / NR resource sharing framework defined in 3GPP Release 15. This spectrum sharing allows NR transmissions to employ a wider bandwidth than would be achievable if LTE / NR sharing were supported only across a single LTE carrier. Additionally, the solutions described in the embodiments do not require any dedicated signaling or interfaces between an NR gNB and an NR UE that are not defined in 3GPP Release 15. Furthermore, the ability to share NR transmissions across a wider bandwidth and over multiple LTE carriers supports greater flexibility in load sharing and load balancing between LTE users and NR users.

[0005] According to some embodiments, a method of an operation performed by a network node of a wireless communication network includes: for a first RF carrier (e.g., an NR carrier of a 5G RAN), which spans an RF spectrum including two or more other RF carriers (e.g., LTE carriers of a 4G RAN), determining a resource usage pattern for control-related signaling transmitted in each of the other RF carriers, and transmitting rate matching information for each of two or more BWPs of the first RF carrier. Each BWP occupies the RF spectrum used by a corresponding one of the other RF carriers among the other RF carriers, and the transmitted rate matching information for each BWP is based on the resource usage pattern determined for the corresponding other RF carrier. An advantage of this arrangement is that it allows NR radio network nodes and NR wireless communication devices to perform rate matching in each BWP - that is, rate matching is supported with respect to multiple LTE carriers.

[0006] According to some embodiments, a network node configured to operate in a wireless communication network includes a communication circuit and a processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to: for a first RF carrier, which spans an RF spectrum including two or more other RF carriers, determine a resource usage pattern for control-related signaling transmitted in each of the other RF carriers, and via the communication circuit, transmit rate matching information for each of two or more BWPs of the first RF carrier. Each BWP occupies the RF spectrum used by a corresponding one of the other RF carriers among the other RF carriers, and the transmitted rate matching information for each BWP is based on the resource usage pattern determined for the corresponding other RF carrier. The resource usage pattern for any given one of the other RF carriers among the other RF carriers defines, for example, the resources used by that other RF carrier for transmitting certain control signaling (e.g., any one or more of synchronization signals, cell reference signals, etc.).

[0007] According to some embodiments, a method of an operation performed by a network node of a wireless communication network includes: for a first RF carrier, configuring two or more BWPs. Each BWP is aligned (in terms of frequency) with a corresponding one of two or more other RF carriers located within the RF spectrum spanned by the first RF carrier. The method further includes: determining a frequency sharing configuration for each BWP based on the radio resource usage of the corresponding other RF carrier, and configuring a wireless communication device to use the corresponding BWP among the BWPs. In an example implementation, the frequency sharing configuration determined for each BWP of the first RF carrier takes into account radio resource reservation (e.g., to avoid conflicting transmissions) and / or defines how the shared spectrum is "split" with respect to data transmission.

[0008] According to some embodiments, a network node configured to operate in a wireless communication network includes communication circuitry and processing circuitry operatively associated with the communication circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to, for a first RF carrier, configure two or more BWPs, each BWP being aligned with a respective other RF carrier among two or more other RF carriers located within the RF spectrum spanned by the first RF carrier. The processing circuitry is further configured to determine a frequency sharing configuration for each BWP based on radio resource usage of the respective other RF carrier, and configure a wireless communication device to use the respective BWP among the BWPs.

[0009] According to some embodiments, a method of operation by a wireless communication device operating in a wireless communication network includes: receiving configuration information from a network node of the wireless communication network, the configuration information configuring the wireless communication device to operate in a BWP of a first RF carrier, the BWP being a respective BWP among two or more BWPs defined within the first RF carrier. Each BWP is aligned with a respective other RF carrier among two or more other RF carriers located within the RF spectrum spanned by the first RF carrier and operating in a spectrum sharing arrangement with the first RF carrier. The method further includes operating with respect to the BWP in accordance with the configuration information (block 404).

[0010] According to some embodiments, a wireless communication device configured to operate in a wireless communication network includes communication circuitry and processing circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to receive, via the communication circuitry, configuration information from a network node of the wireless communication network, the configuration information configuring the wireless communication device to operate in a BWP of a first RF carrier, the BWP being a respective BWP among two or more BWPs defined within the first RF carrier, each BWP being aligned with a respective other RF carrier among two or more other RF carriers located within the RF spectrum spanned by the first RF carrier and operating in a spectrum sharing arrangement with the first RF carrier. The processing circuitry is further configured to operate the wireless communication device with respect to the BWP in accordance with the configuration information.

[0011] Other aspects of the present invention relate to apparatuses, network nodes, base stations, wireless devices, UEs, network devices, computer program products, or computer-readable storage media corresponding to the implementation of the methods and the functions of the apparatuses and wireless devices outlined above.

[0012] Of course, the present invention is not limited to the above features and advantages. Additional features and advantages will be recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the following detailed description and viewing the drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] Figure 1A diagram of an example of dynamic sharing of radio spectrum between Long-Term Evolution (LTE) usage and Fifth Generation (5G) New Radio (NR) usage and an example of instantaneous sharing of radio spectrum between LTE usage and 5G NR usage.

[0014] Figure 2 A logical flow diagram of an embodiment of an operating method performed by a network node.

[0015] Figure 3 A logical flow diagram of another embodiment of an operating method performed by a network node.

[0016] Figure 4 A logical flow diagram of an embodiment of an operating method performed by a wireless device (also referred to as a user equipment or UE).

[0017] Figure 5 A block diagram of an embodiment of a wireless device.

[0018] Figure 6 A block diagram of an embodiment of a network node.

[0019] Figure 7 and Figure 8 A diagram of an example NR bandwidth part (BWP) of an entire NR carrier, where the NR carrier overlaps with one or more LTE carriers.

[0020] Figure 9 A block diagram of an embodiment of a telecommunications network, which includes examples of a network node and a wireless device.

[0021] Figure 10 A block diagram of another embodiment of a UE.

[0022] Figure 11 A block diagram of an embodiment of a virtualized environment.

[0023] Figure 12 A block diagram of another embodiment of a telecommunications network.

[0024] Figure 13 A block diagram of further example embodiments of a host computer, a network node of a telecommunications network, and a UE configured to communicate with the host computer via the telecommunications network.

[0025] Figure 14 A logical flow diagram of an embodiment of an operating method performed by a host computer, a network node of a telecommunications network, and a UE.

[0026] Figure 15 A logical flow diagram of an embodiment of an operating method performed by a host computer and a UE.

[0027] Figure 16 It is a logic flow chart of another embodiment of an operation method performed by a host computer and a UE.

[0028] Figure 17 It is a logic flow chart of an embodiment of an operation method performed by a host computer and a network node of a telecommunication network. Detailed implementation

[0029] Spectrum sharing allows an operator to reuse existing Long-Term Evolution (LTE) legacy spectrum for Fifth Generation (5G) New Radio (NR) services without the need to acquire new 5G NR spectrum or the initial cost of 5G radios and baseband hardware. In addition to shared LTE and NR operations in a single band, operators have also expressed interest in shared operations for NR bands that span more than one LTE band.

[0030] By flexibly allocating NR and LTE control channels and signals, and rate matching around common reference signals (CRS) and synchronization signals (e.g., primary synchronization signal (PSS), secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and physical broadcast channel (PBCH) signal that are always transmitted in the LTE carrier), it is possible to share the in-band spectrum between LTE and NR transmissions.

[0031] Rate matching is described in Sections 5.1.4.1 and 5.1.4.2 of 3GPP TS 38.214 V15.3.0. However, in short, an example of rate matching involves resource blocks (RBs) to be transmitted on a first RF carrier, where the RBs reside in a spectrum shared by another RF carrier and one or more resource elements (REs) within the block are reserved for use by the other RF carrier. The entity transmitting on the first RF carrier using the RB uses the non-reserved REs within the RB for transmission and adjusts its information coding rate to "fit" the transmission into the non-reserved REs. Here, the REs include, for example, time / frequency resources within a time / frequency resource grid defined, for example, by an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) carrier.

[0032] In an example of spectrum sharing between an NR carrier and an LTE carrier, rate matching on the NR side allows the NR transmitter to use the available portion within an RB that is partially allocated for LTE use. A less efficient alternative is for the NR transmitter to forgo any use of such available REs within the RB. In advantageous embodiments herein, the NR carrier is “configured” (logically constructed) to include multiple BWPs, where each BWP is aligned with a respective LTE carrier among multiple LTE carriers residing within the RF spectrum spanned by the NR carrier. Entities in NR determine a resource usage pattern for each LTE carrier among the LTE carriers, such as the subframes / RBs for each LTE carrier used for repeating transmission of critical control signaling (e.g., downlink synchronization signals, cell reference signals, etc.). Such information is then used on the NR side to achieve DL and / or UL rate matching via NR radio network nodes and NR wireless communication devices operating within each of the BWPs of the NR carrier.

[0033] Thus, such embodiments provide rate matching with respect to multiple LTE carriers that overlap with the NR carrier in frequency. Further, rate matching is provided regardless of whether the LTE carriers are contiguous in frequency or non - contiguous in frequency.

[0034] More specifically, a pattern that repeats at a specific period in the time domain / frequency domain can be defined - for example, a pattern of resource usage of an LTE carrier for critical control signaling transmitted periodically on the LTE carrier. The general pattern is block - based and is defined by two bitmaps; namely, a frequency - domain bitmap with a resource block (RB) granularity and a time - domain bitmap with an orthogonal frequency - division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol granularity. With this mechanism, entities operating in the NR ran sharing spectrum with the LTE carrier can perform rate matching with respect to control signals (e.g., LTE PSS / SSS).

[0035] The spectrum sharing configuration employed between NR and LTE transmissions can be implemented on a static frequency - division multiplexing (FDM) or time - division multiplexing (TDM) basis, as well as dynamically or instantaneously shared on a TDM basis. This sharing is shown in Figure 1 and

[0036] Existing 3GPP NR standards do not provide support for spectrum sharing with multiple LTE carriers. Specifically, when multiple LTE carriers overlap with an NR carrier, existing NR standards do not consider or otherwise provide signaling to an NR UE for LTE CRS rate matching.

[0037] Figure 2A method 200 of operations performed by a network node of a wireless communication network according to a particular embodiment is depicted. The method 200 includes, for a first RF carrier that spans an RF spectrum that includes two or more other RF carriers, determining a resource usage pattern for control-related signaling transmitted in each of the other RF carriers (block 202). The method 200 further includes transmitting rate matching information for each of two or more BWPs for the first RF carrier (block 204). Each BWP occupies an RF spectrum used by a corresponding one of the other RF carriers among the other RF carriers, and the transmitted rate matching information for each BWP is based on the resource usage pattern determined for the corresponding other RF carrier.

[0038] The network node can be a radio network node configured as a 5G radio access network (RAN) node, where the first RF carrier is an NR carrier of the 5G RAN, and the 5G RAN operates in a spectrum sharing arrangement with two or more LTE carriers (such as two or more other RF carriers). The radio network node can determine the resource usage pattern for control-related signaling transmitted in each LTE carrier based on communication with another radio network entity having knowledge of the LTE carriers.

[0039] In an example embodiment, a radio base station includes an NR part and an LTE part with a local communication interface therebetween that provides an exchange of spectrum sharing information between the two parts - for example, an exchange of scheduling information between a resource scheduler managing resources on the NR carrier and a resource scheduler managing resources on an LTE carrier overlapping the NR carrier. Such an interface can be high-speed and thus facilitate highly dynamic spectrum sharing, where the usage of resources in the shared (overlapping) part of the NR spectrum is quickly adjusted between NR usage and LTE usage, for example, taking into account the traffic load in the respective RAN.

[0040] More generally, an NR radio network node and an LTE radio network node may be co-located and may have a local interface therebetween for exchanging spectrum sharing information. Of course, the various spectrum sharing techniques and operations disclosed herein may also be applicable to non-co-located radio network nodes - for example, in a case where an NR radio network node scheduling resources on an NR carrier is not co-located with an LTE radio network node scheduling resources on an LTE carrier that overlaps with the NR carrier. One mechanism for accommodating a slower or higher overhead interface between the NR side and the LTE side of a spectrum sharing arrangement is to extend the unit interval for which a spectrum sharing configuration is used. For example, the spectrum sharing configuration may be determined for an interval of 100 milliseconds (ms) instead of an interval of 1 ms. Of course, these numbers are merely non-limiting examples. The spectrum sharing may be determined for longer or shorter intervals (e.g., an interval of 1 second, or even longer intervals) depending on the mechanism available for exchanging resource usage information between the LTE side and the NR side of the spectrum sharing arrangement.

[0041] In some embodiments, a radio network node associated with a first RF carrier (which overlaps with two or more other RF carriers) configures the BWPs of the first RF carrier such that each BWP is aligned with a corresponding one of the other RF carriers among the other RF carriers. Accordingly, the radio network node configures a wireless communication device to use the corresponding BWP among the BWPs and sends rate matching information for each BWP to the wireless communication device configured to use that BWP.

[0042] Figure 3 Another method 300 of operations performed by a network node of a wireless communication network according to other specific embodiments is depicted. Method 300 includes: for a first RF carrier, configuring two or more BWPs (block 302). Each BWP is aligned with a corresponding one of two or more other RF carriers located within the RF spectrum spanned by the first RF carrier. The method further includes: determining a frequency sharing configuration for each BWP based on the radio resource usage of the corresponding other RF carrier (block 304); and configuring a wireless communication device to use the corresponding BWP among the BWPs (block 306).

[0043] Determining a frequency sharing configuration for each BWP may include: obtaining at least one of a resource usage pattern and resource scheduling information from a network entity associated with a respective other RF carrier. For each BWP, a network node may obtain a resource usage pattern associated with a respective other RF carrier, and the method may further include reserving radio resources identified in the resource usage pattern to avoid conflicts in the use of radio resources for downlink or uplink transmissions on a first RF carrier. Configuring a wireless communication device to use a respective BWP among BWPs includes: for one or more wireless devices configured to use a particular BWP, may include sending an indication of the resource usage pattern, enabling the wireless device to use or take into account rate matching around radio resource elements reserved according to the resource usage pattern.

[0044] In some embodiments, for each BWP, a network node may obtain or collaboratively determine how to share the bandwidth shared by the BWP and a respective other RF carrier, at least for data transmission. Determining a frequency sharing configuration for each BWP may include: collaboratively determining the frequency sharing configuration based on communication with a network entity associated with a respective other RF carrier. The determination may be made on a repeating basis, e.g., with respect to a defined interval such as 1 millisecond or 100 milliseconds. It may be advantageous to make the sharing arrangement more dynamic (with a shorter interval on which a given sharing arrangement is maintained) if the network node is ready to access one or more network entities responsible for scheduling radio resources in other RF carriers.

[0045] Configuring a wireless communication device to use a respective BWP among BWPs may include: allocating one or more particular wireless communication devices in the wireless communication device to a particular BWP according to the traffic load of a respective other RF carrier, the traffic load of a particular BWP, the difference in traffic load across other RF carriers, and / or the difference in traffic load across BWPs.

[0046] In some embodiments, a wireless communication device may be operating on a first RF carrier or will operate on a first RF carrier. The first RF carrier is a 5G NR carrier, and the other RF carriers are 4G LTE carriers, where the network node is a 5G radio network node providing the first RF carrier, and where one or more 4G radio network nodes integrated with or implemented separately from the 5G radio network node provide the LTE carriers. The other RF carriers may be contiguous in frequency, and correspondingly, the BWPs may be contiguous in frequency. In additional embodiments, at least two of the other RF carriers are non - contiguous in frequency, and similarly, the corresponding BWPs are non - contiguous in frequency.

[0047] In some embodiments, the numerology for a first RF carrier within at least one of the BWPs can be different from the numerology used for the respective other RF carriers.

[0048] Figure 4 Method 400 depicts operations performed by a wireless communication device operating in a wireless communication network. Method 400 includes receiving configuration information from a network node of the wireless communication network, the configuration information configuring the wireless communication device for operation in a BWP of a first RF carrier, the BWP being a respective BWP among two or more BWPs defined within the first RF carrier (block 402). Each BWP is aligned with a respective other RF carrier among two or more other RF carriers located within the RF spectrum spanned by the first RF carrier and operating in a spectrum sharing arrangement with the first RF carrier. The method further includes operating with respect to the BWP in accordance with the configuration information (block 404).

[0049] The configuration information can include rate matching information, and operating with respect to the BWP portion in accordance with the configuration information can include: performing rate matching for uplink data transmission or taking rate matching into account in downlink data transmission, in accordance with the rate matching information. The configuration information can indicate reserved resources within the BWP that are not used by the first RF carrier, and operating with respect to the BWP in accordance with the configuration information can include: ignoring or otherwise not using the reserved resources with respect to transmit or receive operations at the wireless communication device.

[0050] Note that the above apparatus can perform the methods and any other processing herein by implementing any functional means, module, unit, or circuit. In one embodiment, for example, the apparatus includes a respective circuit or circuitry configured to perform the steps shown in the method drawings. In this regard, the circuit or circuitry can include circuitry dedicated to performing certain functional processing and / or one or more microprocessors in combination with a memory. For example, the circuit can include one or more microprocessors or microcontrollers and other digital hardware (which can include a digital signal processor (DSP), dedicated digital logic, etc.). The processing circuit can be configured to execute program code stored in the memory, which can include one or several types of memory, such as read-only memory (ROM), random access memory, cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc. In several embodiments, the program code stored in the memory can include program instructions for performing one or more telecommunication and / or data communication protocols, as well as instructions for performing one or more of the techniques described herein. In embodiments employing a memory, the memory stores program code that, when executed by one or more processors, performs the techniques described herein.

[0051] For example, Figure 5Illustrates a wireless device 10 implemented according to one or more embodiments. As shown, the wireless device 10 includes a processing circuit 12 and a communication circuit 14. The communication circuit 14 (e.g., a radio circuit) is configured to send information to and / or receive information from one or more other nodes via any communication technology, for example. Such communication can occur via one or more antennas, which can be internal or external to the wireless device 10. The processing circuit 10 is configured to perform, for example, by executing instructions stored in a memory 16, the above-mentioned processing for the wireless device Figure 4 as described in

[0052] In this regard, the processing circuit 12 can implement certain functional means, units or modules. For example, the functional implementation can include a receiving module for receiving configuration information from a network node of a wireless communication network, the configuration information configuring the wireless communication device to operate in a BWP of a first RF carrier, the BWP being a corresponding BWP among two or more BWPs defined within the first RF carrier, each BWP being aligned with a corresponding other RF carrier among two or more other RF carriers operating in a spectrum sharing arrangement with the RF spectrum spanned by the first RF carrier. The implementation can also include an operating module for operating with respect to the BWP according to the configuration information.

[0053] Figure 6 Illustrates a network node 20 implemented according to one or more embodiments. As shown, the network node 20 includes a processing circuit 22 and a communication circuit 24. The communication circuit 24 is configured to send information to and / or receive information from one or more other nodes via any communication technology, for example. The processing circuit 22 is configured to perform the above-mentioned processing for the network node (e.g., Figure 2 and Figure 3 ) by executing instructions stored in a memory 26, for example.

[0054] In this regard, the processing circuit 22 can implement certain functional means, units or modules. For example, the functional implementation can include a determining module for determining, for a first RF carrier that spans an RF spectrum containing two or more other RF carriers, a resource usage pattern of control-related signaling to be transmitted on each of the other RF carriers. The implementation can include a sending module for sending rate matching information for each of two or more BWPs of the first RF carrier, each BWP occupying the RF spectrum used by a corresponding other RF carrier among the other RF carriers, and the sent rate matching information for each BWP being based on the determined resource usage pattern for the corresponding other RF carrier.

[0055] Another example functional implementation may include a configuration module for configuring, for a first RF carrier, two or more BWPs, each BWP being aligned with a respective other RF carrier among two or more other RF carriers located within the RF spectrum spanned by the first RF carrier. The implementation may include a determination module for determining a frequency sharing configuration for each BWP based on the radio resource usage of the respective other RF carrier. The configuration module is further for configuring the wireless communication device to use the respective BWP among the BWPs.

[0056] Those skilled in the art will also understand that the embodiments herein also include corresponding computer programs. The computer program includes instructions which, when executed on at least one processor of the device, cause the device to perform any of the above corresponding processes. In this regard, the computer program may include one or more code modules corresponding to the above device or unit.

[0057] The embodiments also include a carrier containing such a computer program. The carrier may include one of an electrical signal, an optical signal, a radio signal, or a computer-readable storage medium. In this regard, the embodiments herein also include a computer program product stored on a non-transitory computer-readable (storage or recording) medium, and the computer program product includes instructions which, when executed by a processor of the device, cause the device to perform as described above.

[0058] The embodiments also include a computer program product which includes a program code portion that, when the computer program product is executed by a computing device, performs the steps of any of the embodiments herein. The computer program product may be stored on a computer-readable recording medium.

[0059] Additional embodiments will now be described. For illustrative purposes, at least some of these embodiments may be described as applicable to certain contexts and / or wireless network types, but these embodiments are equally applicable to other contexts and / or wireless network types not explicitly described.

[0060] Embodiment #1

[0061] According to the first embodiment, the radio frequency (RF) spectrum is shared between a single NR carrier of the total bandwidth (BWNR) and two or more LTE carriers continuously spanning the bandwidth BWNR. For example, consider two LTE carriers with bandwidths BWLTE1 and BWLTE2 such that BWLTE1 + BWLTE2 spans part or all of BWNR - that is, the combined continuous bandwidth BWLTE1 and BWLTE2 can be a subset of the NR bandwidth BWNR, equal to the NR bandwidth BWNR, or a superset of the NR bandwidth BWNR. It should be noted that the combined bandwidth of the LTE carriers can be less than BWNR because the NR band will have additional resource blocks (RBs) at the band edges that are not available to the LTE carriers. For this example, the UE in the serving NR cell will be allocated to one of two BWPs corresponding to the frequency allocation for LTE carrier 1 or LTE carrier 2. This is shown in Figure 7 which shows Figure 7 the mapping of the NR bandwidth part to the continuous LTE carriers. For each BWP, the NR UE allocated to that BWP will share the spectrum with the legacy LTE UE in the carrier corresponding to the given BWP (BWP#1 with carrier #1 and BWP#2 with carrier #2). For this embodiment, it is assumed that the NR transmission uses a 15 kHz subcarrier spacing, which is aligned with the 15 kHz subcarrier spacing used in LTE transmission.

[0062] For each BWP and its associated LTE carrier, the NR / LTE spectrum sharing configuration can be defined based on the idea of reserved resources defined in 3GPP TS38.211 v15.3.0 and 3GPP TS38.214. By this method, the NR carrier can be superimposed in the same spectrum as the LTE carrier. This can be done by flexibly allocating the LTE and NR positions of the control channels and signals and by rate matching around the common reference signal (CRS) and synchronization signals (PSS, SSS, PBCH) that are always transmitted in the LTE carrier. Rate matching information is provided per BWP.

[0063] Regarding NR / LTE spectrum sharing between two or more LTE carriers and a single NR band, it should be noted that in TS38.214, it is stipulated that only a single LTE CRS rate matching pattern is defined per 10 or 20 MHz LTE carrier. Therefore, a separate LTE CRS rate matching message needs to be sent for each LTE carrier / BWP pairing - that is, for different BWPs, the LTE CRS rate matching may be different, which is currently not supported in Release 15 of the 3GPP standard (see Example #4 below). Thus, the LTE CRS rate matching pattern can be applied to one of the NR UE BWPs (e.g., the first BWP with a CRS rate matching the first LTE carrier), while the second BWP will have to use reserved resources to avoid conflicts with the CRS of the second LTE carrier. Note that this method will result in completely preventing the symbols containing CRS within the RB of this BWP.

[0064] One such NR configuration that can be superimposed on an LTE carrier includes a type 1 single-symbol DMRS configuration, where the first DMRS symbol is on symbol 2 or 3 (assuming symbol counting starts from 0) and the second DMRS symbol is on symbol 11. The NR synchronization signal block (SSB) transmission can be allocated in a time slot overlapping with an LTE multicast broadcast single frequency network (MBSFN) subframe to avoid overlapping with the LTE CRS. The NR tracking reference signal (TRS) can be allocated in symbols 5 and 9 of a time slot avoiding the LTE subframes with PSS / SSS, or alternatively, the TRS can be adopted in a time slot overlapping with an LTE MBSFN subframe to avoid affecting LTE transmissions. Note that the TRS can span the UE BWP or 52 resource blocks, whichever is smaller. The allocated CSI-RS can be allocated in symbols 5 (not in a time slot overlapping with a PSS / SSS subframe or an SSB time slot), 6 (not in a time slot overlapping with a PSS / SSS subframe or a TRS time slot), 10 (not in a TRS time slot), 12, and 13. In addition, the CSI-RS can be placed in a time slot overlapping with an LTE MBSFN subframe. The rate matching pattern can be configured to avoid the LTE PSS / SSS and PBCH and potentially the LTE CSI-RS.

[0065] A second possible NR configuration that can be superimposed on an LTE carrier includes Type 2 Demodulation Reference Signals (DMRS). To coexist with LTE CRS, DMRS (and thus the Physical Downlink Shared Channel PDSCH) can be scheduled only above or below LTE DC subcarriers (for one user). Additionally, a Type 2 DMRS Code Division Multiplexing (CDM) group that coexists with LTE CRS on one side of the LTE DC subcarriers will conflict in the other half, i.e., only a single CDM group (out of 3) does not conflict with CRS in half of the spectrum. NR SSB transmissions can be allocated in time slots that overlap with LTE MBSFN subframes to avoid overlapping with LTE CRS. To enable PDSCH transmissions to coexist with LTE, PDSCH can be scheduled only below or above LTE DC subcarriers (for one user), where PDSCH is allocated from symbol 3 to symbol 13 (assuming symbol counting starts from 0). TRS can be in symbols 5 and 9, or in time slots that avoid LTE subframes with PSS / SSS and NR time slots with SSB. Note that the TRS will span the UE BWP or 52 resource blocks, whichever is smaller. CSI-RS can be in symbols 5 (not in time slots overlapping with PSS / SSS subframes or TRS time slots), 6 (not in time slots overlapping with PSS / SSS subframes), 9 (not in TRS time slots), 12, and 13. Additionally, CSI-RS can be placed in time slots that overlap with LTE MBSFN subframes. The rate matching pattern can be configured to avoid LTE PSS / SSS and the Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) as well as potential LTE CSI-RS.

[0066] Without loss of generality, other NR configurations can be defined for spectrum sharing with LTE in accordance with the reserved resource framework defined in 3GPP TS38.211 v15.3.0 and 3GPP TS38.214. Additionally, spectrum sharing configurations allocated to different BWPs within an NR carrier that are aligned with the LTE carrier allocation can be the same or different.

[0067] For the embodiments described herein, an NR UE may support up to 4 BWP configurations and will have a default BWP configuration. If a carrier that only partially overlaps with an LTE carrier supports NR and there is a BWP defined for the non-overlapping part of the NR carrier, it can be assumed that the default BWP corresponds to the BWP in the non-overlapping part of the NR carrier. If there is no such BWP or if the NR carrier completely overlaps with the LTE carrier, it can be assumed that the default BWP for the NR UE corresponds to a BWP that completely or partially overlaps with one of the LTE carrier bandwidth allocations. It can be assumed that the default BWP will have an SSB allocation; however, other BWP configurations without an SSB allocation are also possible for a given NR UE. For scenarios where a BWP does not have an SSB allocation, measurements can be supported by using CSI-RS and TRS.

[0068] The pairing of a given BWP by the gNB scheduler with a specific NR UE can be based on multiple factors, including the traffic load on the LTE carrier, the traffic load in the specific NR BWP, and the load balancing between LTE carriers. The rate matching pattern required for each NR BWP can be signaled by the network to the NR UE that supports BWPs aligned with the LTE carrier in a separate (LTE) rate matching message.

[0069] The spectrum sharing configuration adopted between an NR UE in a given BWP and a legacy LTE UE served by the corresponding LTE carrier can be implemented for both FDD and TDD carriers based on static frequency division multiplexing (FDM) or time division multiplexing (TDM) and dynamic or instantaneous TDM sharing by using reserved resources defined in 3GPP TS 38.211 and 3GPP TS 38.214. It can be assumed that the spectrum sharing configuration can be implemented at the subframe resolution (i.e., 1 ms in LTE or NR).

[0070] Without loss of generality, the embodiments can also be applied to network solutions that support NR Standalone (SA) and NR Non-Standalone (NSA) architectures. In addition, the embodiments can be applicable to a single NR carrier spanning multiple LTE carriers, or an NR carrier configured as a Primary Cell (PCell) or a Secondary Cell (SCell) in an architecture that supports NR-NR Carrier Aggregation (CA).

[0071] Embodiment #2

[0072] The second embodiment can be considered an extension of the first embodiment to multiple LTE carriers within the total NR bandwidth such that one or more of the LTE carriers can be discontinuous with each other. This is shown in Figure 8 and Figure 8Shows the mapping of an NR BWP to discontinuous LTE carriers for the case of two LTE carriers. For such a configuration, the BWP used for NR transmission can be configured with overlapping and non-overlapping components with respect to the LTE band. The non-overlapping component of the BWP can be utilized to minimize the overhead between the reserved NR resources and LTE PDSCH transmission. For example, the NR physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and PDSCH can be allocated in the non-overlapping regions without reserving resources for LTE control or RS transmission.

[0073] As in the first embodiment, the rate matching pattern may need to be configured to avoid LTE PSS / SSS, PBCH, and potentially LTE CSI-RS in the overlapping region of the NR BWP with the LTE carrier. Using a bitmap pattern of physical resource blocks (PRBs) in the specified frequency domain, the PRBs in the overlapping region can be reserved to avoid conflicts between LTE PSS / SS / PBCH transmission and any NR transmission.

[0074] Embodiment #3

[0075] The third embodiment can be considered as an extension of the first and second embodiments to multiple LTE carriers within the total NR bandwidth, such that one or more BWPs that at least partially overlap with an LTE carrier adopt a different parameter set (i.e., subcarrier spacing is not 15 kHz) from the LTE carrier with which it is aligned.

[0076] Embodiment #4

[0077] According to the fourth embodiment, in NR Release 15, all rate matching patterns are defined per BWP, in addition to the LTE CRS rate matching defined for the NR carrier. The LTE CRS rate matching per BWP can also be defined. Note that this embodiment will require a standard update that the first and third embodiments do not require.

[0078] The advantages of the embodiments described herein are that they support a wider NR bandwidth in an NR / LTE spectrum sharing configuration than can be achieved when implementing NR / LTE spectrum sharing with a single LTE legacy carrier. Additionally, the solution can be implemented within the existing 3GPP Release 15 NR / LTE resource sharing framework and by using the existing signaling between the gNB and NR UE as defined in 3GPP Release 15.

[0079] Although the subject matter described herein can be implemented using any suitable components in any suitable type of system, the embodiments disclosed herein are described with respect to a telecommunications network (also known as a wireless communication network). Figure 9Depicts a wireless communication network 30, which includes network nodes 32-1 and 32-2 and provides communication services to any number of wireless devices (e.g., WD 34-1, 34-2, and 34-3). In fact, network 30 may also include any additional elements suitable for supporting communication between wireless devices or between a wireless device and another communication device (e.g., a landline phone, a service provider, or any other network node or terminal device). Among the components shown, network node 32-1 and WD 34-1 are depicted in additional detail. The wireless network may provide communication and other types of services to one or more wireless devices to facilitate access to and / or use of services provided by or via the wireless network.

[0080] The wireless network may include any type of communication, telecommunications, data, cellular, and / or radio network or other similar type of system, and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunications, data, cellular, and / or radio network or another similar type of system. In some embodiments, the wireless network may be configured to operate according to a specific standard or other type of predefined rules or procedures. Thus, a particular embodiment of the wireless communication network may implement communication standards such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G standards; wireless local area network (WLAN) standards such as the IEEE 802.11 standard; and / or any other suitable wireless communication standards such as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, and / or ZigBee standards.

[0081] Network 30 may include one or more backhaul networks, core networks, IP networks, Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), packet data networks, optical networks, wide area networks (WAN), local area networks (LAN), wireless local area networks (WLAN), wired networks, wireless networks, metropolitan area networks, and other networks to enable communication between devices.

[0082] Network nodes 32-1 and WD 34-1 include various components described in more detail below. These components work together to provide network node and / or wireless device functionality, such as providing a wireless connection in a wireless network. In different embodiments, the wireless network may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, base stations, controllers, wireless devices, relay stations, and / or any other components or systems that can facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals, whether via a wired connection or a wireless connection.

[0083] As used herein, a network node refers to a device that is capable of, configured to, arranged to, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a wireless device and / or with other network nodes or devices in a wireless network to enable and / or provide wireless access to the wireless device and / or to perform other functions in the wireless network (e.g., management). Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs), and NR Node Bs (gNBs)). Base stations can be classified based on the amount of coverage they provide (or in other words, based on their transmit power levels), and thus they can also be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station can be a relay node or a relay host node controlling a relay. A network node can also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station, such as a centralized digital unit and / or a remote radio unit (RRU) (sometimes referred to as a remote radio head (RRH)). Such a remote radio unit may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station can also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS). Some further examples of network nodes include multi-standard radio (MSR) devices (such as MSR BSs), network controllers (such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs)), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell / multicast coordination entities (MCEs), core network nodes (e.g., MSC, MME), O&M nodes, OSS nodes, SON nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., E-SMLC), and / or MDTs. As another example, a network node can be a virtual network node, as described in more detail below. However, more generally, a network node can represent any suitable device (or group of devices) that is capable of, configured to, arranged to, and / or operable to enable and / or provide access to a wireless network to a wireless device, or to provide some service to a wireless device that has accessed the wireless network.

[0084] In Figure 9 it, network node 32-1 includes a processing circuit 40, a device-readable medium 42, an interface 44, an auxiliary device 46, a power source 48, a power circuit 50, and an antenna 64. Although Figure 9The network node 32-1 shown in the example wireless network can represent a device including a combination of the shown hardware components, but other embodiments may include network nodes with different combinations of components. It should be understood that a network node includes any suitable combination of hardware and / or software required to perform the tasks, features, functions, and methods disclosed herein. Additionally, although the components of network node 32-1 are depicted as a single box located within a larger box or nested within multiple boxes, in reality, a network node may include multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component (e.g., the device-readable medium 42 may include multiple individual hard disk drives as well as multiple RAM modules).

[0085] Similarly, network node 32-1 may be composed of multiple physically separated components (e.g., NodeB components and RNC components, or BTS components and BSC components, etc.), and each of these components may have its respective corresponding components. In certain scenarios where network node 32-1 includes multiple separated components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of these separated components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair may be considered a single separate network node in some instances. In some embodiments, network node 32-1 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be replicated (e.g., separate device-readable media 42 for different RATs), and some components may be reused (e.g., the same antenna 64 may be shared by the RATs). Network node 32-1 may also include multiple sets of various illustrated components for different wireless technologies (e.g., GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth wireless technologies) to be integrated into network node 32-1. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or chip sets and other components within network node 32-1.

[0086] The processing circuit 40 is configured to perform any determination, calculation, or similar operation (e.g., certain obtaining operations) described herein as being provided by the network node. These operations performed by the processing circuit 40 may include processing the information obtained by the processing circuit 40 by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or the converted information with the information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or the converted information and making a determination based on the result of the processing.

[0087] The processing circuitry 40 may include a combination of one or more of the following: a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a central processing unit, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software, and / or coded logic, operable to provide network node 32-1 functionality either alone or in conjunction with other network node 32-1 components (e.g., the device-readable medium 42). For example, the processing circuitry 40 may execute instructions stored in the device-readable medium 42 or in a memory within the processing circuitry 40. Such functionality may include providing any one of the various wireless features, functions, or benefits discussed herein. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 40 may include a system-on-chip (SOC).

[0088] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 40 may include one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 54 and baseband processing circuitry 56. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 54 and the baseband processing circuitry 56 may be located on separate chips (or chip sets), boards, or units (e.g., a radio unit and a digital unit). In alternative embodiments, some or all of the RF transceiver circuitry 54 and the baseband processing circuitry 56 may be on the same chip or chip set, board, or unit.

[0089] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functions described herein as being provided by a network node, base station, eNB, or other such network device may be performed by the processing circuitry 40 executing instructions stored on the device-readable medium 42 or in a memory within the processing circuitry 40. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functions may be provided, for example, in a hard-wired manner by the processing circuitry 40 without the execution of instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable medium. In any of these embodiments, whether or not instructions stored on a device-readable storage medium are executed, the processing circuitry 40 may be configured to perform the described functions. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry 40 or to other components of network node 32-1, but are enjoyed by network node 32-1 as a whole and / or generally by the end user and the wireless network.

[0090] The device-readable medium 42 can include any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory, including but not limited to permanent storage devices, solid-state memory, remotely installed memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (e.g., hard disks), removable storage media (e.g., flash drives, compact discs (CDs) or digital video discs (DVDs)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable memory device that stores information, data, and / or instructions that can be used by the processing circuitry 40. The device-readable medium 42 can store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including computer programs, software, applications including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, etc., and / or other instructions that can be executed by the processing circuitry 40 and used by the network node 32-1. The device-readable medium 42 can be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 40 and / or any data received via the interface 44. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 40 and the device-readable medium 42 can be considered integrated.

[0091] The interface 44 is for wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between the network node 32-1, the network 30, and / or the WD 34-1. As shown, the interface 44 includes ports / terminals 58 for sending data to and receiving data from the network 30, for example, via a wired connection. The interface 44 also includes a radio front-end circuit 60, which can be coupled to an antenna 64 or, in some embodiments, is part of the antenna 64. The radio front-end circuit 60 includes a filter 62 and an amplifier 65. The radio front-end circuit 60 can be connected to the antenna 64 and the processing circuitry 40. The radio front-end circuit can be configured to condition the signals communicating between the antenna 64 and the processing circuitry 40. The radio front-end circuit 60 can receive digital data that is to be sent outwards via a wireless connection to other network nodes or WDs. The radio front-end circuit 60 can use a combination of the filter 62 and / or the amplifier 65 to convert the digital data into a radio signal having suitable channel and bandwidth parameters. The radio signal can then be transmitted via the antenna 64. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 64 can collect the radio signal, which is then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuit 60. The digital data can be passed to the processing circuitry 40. In other embodiments, the interface can include different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0092] In some alternative embodiments, network node 32-1 may not include a separate radio front-end circuit 60. Instead, processing circuit 40 may include radio front-end circuit 60 and may be connected to antenna 64 without a separate radio front-end circuit 60. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of RF transceiver circuit 54 may be considered part of interface 44. In other embodiments, interface 44 may include one or more ports or terminals 58, radio front-end circuit 60, and RF transceiver circuit 54 (as part of a radio unit (not shown)), and interface 44 may communicate with baseband processing circuit 56 (which is part of a digital unit (not shown)).

[0093] Antenna 64 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals. Antenna 64 may be coupled to radio front-end circuit 60 and may be any type of antenna capable of wirelessly transmitting and receiving data and / or signals. In some embodiments, antenna 64 may include one or more omnidirectional, sector, or panel antennas operable to transmit / receive radio signals in, for example, the range between 2 GHz and 66 GHz. Omnidirectional antennas may be used to transmit / receive radio signals in any direction, sector antennas may be used to transmit / receive radio signals to / from devices within a specific area, and panel antennas may be line-of-sight antennas for transmitting / receiving radio signals in a relatively straight line. In some cases, using more than one antenna may be referred to as MIMO. In certain embodiments, antenna 64 may be separate from network node 32-1 and may be connected to network node 32-1 via an interface or port.

[0094] Antenna 64, interface 44, and / or processing circuit 40 may be configured to perform any of the receiving operations and / or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data, and / or signals may be received from a wireless device, another network node, and / or any other network device. Similarly, antenna 64, interface 44, and / or processing circuit 40 may be configured to perform any of the sending operations described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data, and / or signals may be sent to a wireless device, another network node, and / or any other network device.

[0095] Power circuit 50 may include or be coupled to a power management circuit and is configured to supply power to components of network node 32-1 to perform the functions described herein. Power circuit 50 may receive power from power source 48. Power source 48 and / or power circuit 50 may be configured to supply power to various components of network node 32-1 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at the voltage and current levels required by each respective component). Power source 48 may be included within power circuit 50 and / or network node 32-1 or external to power circuit 50 and / or network node 32-1. For example, network node 32-1 may be connected to an external power source (e.g., a power outlet) via an input circuit or an interface such as a cable, and the external power source may supply power to power circuit 50. As another example, power source 48 may include a power source in the form of a battery or battery pack that is connected to or integrated within power circuit 50. The battery may provide backup power in the event of a failure of the external power source. Other types of power sources may also be used, such as photovoltaic devices.

[0096] Alternative embodiments of network node 32-1 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 9 that may be responsible for providing certain aspects of the functionality of the network node (including any of the functions described herein and / or any functions required to support the subject matter described herein). For example, network node 32-1 may include a user interface device to allow information to be input into network node 32-1 and to allow information to be output from network node 32-1. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other management functions with respect to network node 32-1.

[0097] As used herein, a wireless device (WD) refers to a device that is capable of, configured to, arranged to, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with a network node and / or another wireless device. Unless otherwise specified, the term WD may be used interchangeably with user equipment (UE) herein. Wireless transmission may include sending and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for transmitting information through the air. In some embodiments, a WD may be configured to send and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For example, a WD may be designed to send information to a network at a predetermined schedule when triggered by an internal or external event or in response to a request from the network. Examples of WDs include, but are not limited to, smart phones, mobile phones, cellular phones, IP voice (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, desktop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless cameras, gaming consoles or devices, music storage devices, playback devices, wearable terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, tablet computers, portable computers, portable embedded devices (LEEs), portable mounted devices (LMEs), smart devices, wireless customer premise equipment (CPEs), in-vehicle wireless terminal devices, etc. A WD may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, for example, by implementing 3GPP standards for sidelink communication, and in this case may be referred to as a D2D communication device. As yet another specific example, in an Internet of Things (IoT) scenario, a WD may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurement and sends the results of such monitoring and / or measurement to another WD and / or network node. In this case, the WD may be a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, which may be referred to as an MTC device in the 3GPP context. As a specific example, a WD may be a UE that implements the 3GPP narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) standard. Specific examples of such machines or devices are sensors, metering devices (e.g., electricity meters), industrial machines, or home or personal devices (e.g., refrigerators, TVs, etc.), personal wearable devices (e.g., watches, fitness trackers, etc.). In other scenarios, a WD may represent a vehicle or other device that is capable of monitoring and / or reporting its operating state or other functions associated with its operation. A WD as described above may represent a wirelessly connected endpoint, in which case the device may be referred to as a wireless terminal. Additionally, a WD as described above may be mobile, in which case it may also be referred to as a mobile device or mobile terminal.

[0098] As shown in the figure, the wireless device 34-1 includes an antenna 70, an interface 72, a processing circuit 74, a device-readable medium 76, a user interface device 78, an auxiliary device 80, a power source 82, and a power circuit 84. The WD 34-1 may include multiple sets of one or more of the illustrated components for different wireless technologies supported by the WD 34-1 (e.g., GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, NB-IoT, or Bluetooth wireless technologies, to name a few). These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or chip sets as other components within the WD 34-1.

[0099] The antenna 70 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals and is connected to the interface 72. In some alternative embodiments, the antenna 70 may be separate from the WD 34-1 and may be connected to the WD 34-1 through an interface or port. The antenna 70, the interface 72, and / or the processing circuit 74 may be configured to perform any of the receiving or transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the WD. Any information, data, and / or signals may be received from a network node and / or another WD. In some embodiments, the radio front-end circuit and / or the antenna 70 may be considered an interface.

[0100] As shown in the figure, the interface 72 includes a radio front-end circuit 86 and the antenna 70. The radio front-end circuit 86 includes one or more filters 88 and amplifiers 90. The radio front-end circuit 86 is connected to the antenna 70 and the processing circuit 74 and is configured to condition the signals transmitted between the antenna 70 and the processing circuit 74. The radio front-end circuit 86 may be coupled to the antenna 70 or be part of the antenna 70. In some embodiments, the WD 34-1 may not include a separate radio front-end circuit 86; rather, the processing circuit 74 may include the radio front-end circuit 86 and may be connected to the antenna 70. Similarly, in some embodiments, some or all of the RF transceiver circuit 92 may be considered part of the interface 72. The radio front-end circuit 86 may receive digital data that will be transmitted outward over a wireless connection to other network nodes or WDs. The radio front-end circuit 86 may use a combination of the filters 88 and / or the amplifiers 90 to convert the digital data into a radio signal having suitable channel and bandwidth parameters. The radio signal may then be transmitted through the antenna 70. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 70 may collect the radio signal, which may then be converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuit 86. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuit 74. In other embodiments, the interface may include different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0101] Processing circuitry 74 may include a combination of one or more of the following: a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a central processing unit, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software, and / or encoded logic, operable to provide WD 34-1 functionality either alone or in combination with other WD 34-1 components, such as device readable medium 76. Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features or benefits discussed herein. For example, processing circuitry 74 may execute instructions stored in device readable medium 76 or in a memory within processing circuitry 74 to provide the functionality disclosed herein.

[0102] As shown, processing circuitry 74 includes one or more of RF transceiver circuitry 92, baseband processing circuitry 94, and application processing circuitry 96. In other embodiments, the processing circuitry may include different components and / or different combinations of components. In certain embodiments, processing circuitry 74 of WD 34-1 may include a SOC. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry 92, baseband processing circuitry 94, and application processing circuitry 96 may be on separate chips or chip sets. In alternative embodiments, some or all of baseband processing circuitry 94 and application processing circuitry 96 may be combined into one chip or chip set, and RF transceiver circuitry 92 may be on a separate chip or chip set. In additional alternative embodiments, some or all of RF transceiver circuitry 92 and baseband processing circuitry 94 may be on the same chip or chip set, and application processing circuitry 96 may be on a separate chip or chip set. In other alternative embodiments, some or all of RF transceiver circuitry 92, baseband processing circuitry 94, and application processing circuitry 96 may be combined in the same chip or chip set. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry 92 may be part of interface 72. RF transceiver circuitry 92 may condition RF signals for processing circuitry 74.

[0103] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functions described herein as being performed by the WD may be provided by processing circuitry 74 that executes instructions stored on device readable medium 76, which in certain embodiments may be a computer readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functions may be provided, for example, in a hardwired manner by processing circuitry 74 without the execution of instructions stored on a separate or discrete device readable storage medium. In any of these particular embodiments, whether or not instructions stored on a device readable storage medium are executed, processing circuitry 74 may be configured to perform the described functions. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry 74 or to other components of WD 34-1, but are enjoyed by WD 34-1 as a whole and / or generally by the end user and the wireless network.

[0104] The processing circuit 74 may be configured to perform any determination, calculation, or similar operation described herein as being performed by the WD (e.g., certain acquisition operations). These operations performed by the processing circuit 74 may include processing the information obtained by the processing circuit 74 by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or the converted information with the information stored by the WD 34-1, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or the converted information and making a determination based on the result of the processing.

[0105] The device-readable medium 76 is operable to store computer programs, software, applications including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, etc., and / or other instructions that can be executed by the processing circuit 74. The device-readable medium 76 may include computer memory (e.g., random access memory (RAM) or read-only memory (ROM)), mass storage media (e.g., hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., compact disc (CD) or digital video disc (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable memory device that stores information, data, and / or instructions that can be used by the processing circuit 74. In some embodiments, the processing circuit 74 and the device-readable medium 76 may be considered integrated.

[0106] The user interface device 78 may provide components that allow a human user to interact with the WD 34-1. Such interaction may take various forms, such as visual, auditory, tactile, etc. The user interface device 78 is operable to generate output to the user and to allow the user to provide input to the WD 34-1. The type of interaction may vary depending on the type of user interface device 78 installed in the WD 34-1. For example, if the WD 34-1 is a smart phone, the interaction may be via a touch screen; if the WD 34-1 is a smart meter, the interaction may be via a screen that provides usage (e.g., gallons used) or a speaker that provides an audible alarm (e.g., if smoke is detected). The user interface device 78 may include an input interface, devices, and circuits, as well as an output interface, devices, and circuits. The user interface device 78 is configured to allow information to be input into the WD 34-1 and is connected to the processing circuit 74 to allow the processing circuit 74 to process the input information. The user interface device 78 may include, for example, a microphone, proximity or other sensors, keys / buttons, a touch display, one or more cameras, a USB port, or other input circuits. The user interface device 78 is also configured to allow information to be output from the WD 34-1 and to allow the processing circuit 74 to output information from the WD 34-1. The user interface device 78 may include, for example, a speaker, a display, a vibration circuit, a USB port, a headphone jack, or other output circuits. By using one or more of the input and output interfaces, devices, and circuits of the user interface device 78, the WD 34-1 can communicate with an end user and / or a wireless network and allow them to benefit from the functions described herein.

[0107] The auxiliary device 80 is operable to provide more specific functions that may not typically be performed by the WD. This may include specialized sensors for making measurements for various purposes, interfaces for other types of communication such as wired communication, etc. The inclusion and type of components of the auxiliary device 80 may vary depending on the embodiment and / or scenario.

[0108] In some embodiments, power source 82 may be in the form of a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources may also be used, such as an external power source (e.g., a power outlet), a photovoltaic device, or a fuel cell. WD 34-1 may also include a power circuit 84 for delivering power from power source 82 to various parts of WD 34-1, and various parts of WD 34-1 require power from power source 82 to perform any of the functions described or indicated herein. In certain embodiments, power circuit 84 may include a power management circuit. Power circuit 84 may additionally or alternatively be operable to receive power from an external power source; in such a case, WD 34-1 may be connected to an external power source (e.g., a power outlet) via an input circuit or an interface such as a power cable. In certain embodiments, power circuit 84 is also operable to deliver power from an external power source to power source 82. For example, this may be used for charging power source 82. Power circuit 84 may perform any formatting, conversion, or other modification of the power from power source 82 to make the power suitable for the various components of WD 34-1 being powered.

[0109] Figure 10 An embodiment of a UE in accordance with various aspects described herein is shown. As used herein, a "user equipment" or "UE" may not necessarily have a "user" in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the associated equipment. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended to be sold to or operated by a human user but may not or initially may not be associated with a particular human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended to be sold to or operated by an end user but may be associated with or operate in the interest of a user (e.g., a smart meter).

[0110] The illustrated UE 100 may be understood as Figure 5 a refinement of the WD 10 shown in, or be understood as an alternative embodiment. Additionally, UE 100 may be any UE identified by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including an NB-IoT UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE. As Figure 10 shown, UE 100 is an example of a WD configured for communication in accordance with one or more communication standards (e.g., GSM, UMTS, LTE, and / or 5G standards of 3GPP) released by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). As previously mentioned, the terms WD and UE may be used interchangeably. Thus, although Figure 10 it is a UE, the components discussed herein are equally applicable to a WD and vice versa.

[0111] In Figure 10In [description], UE 100 includes processing circuitry 102, which is operatively coupled to an input / output interface 104, a radio frequency (RF) interface 106, a network connection interface 108, a memory 110 including a random access memory (RAM) 112, a read-only memory (ROM) 114, and a storage medium 116, etc., a communication subsystem 118, a power supply 120, and / or any other components, or any combination thereof. The storage medium 116 includes an operating system 122, application programs 124, and data 126. In other embodiments, the storage medium 116 may include other similar types of information. Certain UEs may use Figure 10 all of the components shown in [description], or only a subset of these components. The level of integration between components may vary from one UE to another. Additionally, certain UEs may include multiple instances of components, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0112] In Figure 10 [description], the processing circuitry 102 may be configured to process computer instructions and data. The processing circuitry 102 may be configured to implement any sequential state machine that is operable to execute machine instructions of a machine-readable computer program stored in the memory, such as: one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., implemented in discrete logic, FPGA, ASIC, etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored programs, a general-purpose processor (e.g., a microprocessor or a digital signal processor (DSP)) together with suitable software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry 102 may include two central processing units (CPUs). Data may be information in a form suitable for use by a computer.

[0113] In the depicted embodiment, the input / output interface 104 can be configured to provide a communication interface to an input device, an output device, or both an input and output device. The UE 100 can be configured to use the output device via the input / output interface 104. The output device can use the same type of interface port as the input device. For example, a USB port can be used to provide both input to and output from the UE 100. The output device can be a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, a transmitter, a smart card, another output device, or any combination thereof. The UE 100 can be configured to use the input device via the input / output interface 104 to allow a user to capture information into the UE 100. The input device can include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a webcam, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a touchpad, a scroll wheel, a smart card, etc. The presence-sensitive display can include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. The sensor can be, for example, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, an inclinometer, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, another similar sensor, or any combination thereof. For example, the input device can be an accelerometer, a magnetometer, a digital camera, a microphone, and an optical sensor.

[0114] In Figure 10 it, the RF interface 106 can be configured to provide a communication interface to RF components such as a transmitter, a receiver, and an antenna. The network connection interface 108 can be configured to provide a communication interface to the network 130-1. The network 130-1 can include a wired and / or wireless network, such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another similar network, or any combination thereof. For example, the network 130-1 can include a Wi-Fi network. The network connection interface 108 can be configured to include a receiver and a transmitter interface for communicating with one or more other devices via a communication network according to one or more communication protocols (e.g., Ethernet, TCP / IP, SONET, ATM, etc.). The network connection interface 108 can implement receiver and transmitter functions suitable for a communication network link (e.g., optical, electrical, etc.). The receiver and transmitter functions can share circuit components, software, or firmware, or alternatively can be implemented separately.

[0115] The RAM 112 can be configured to interface with the processing circuitry 102 via the bus 132 to provide storage or caching of data or computer instructions during the execution of software programs such as an operating system, application programs, and device drivers. The ROM 114 can be configured to provide computer instructions or data to the processing circuitry 102. For example, the ROM 114 can be configured to store invariant low-level system code or data for basic system functions stored in non-volatile memory, such as basic input and output (I / O), startup, or reception of keystrokes from a keyboard. The storage medium 116 can be configured to include memory, such as RAM, ROM, programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, floppy disks, hard disks, removable cartridge tapes, or flash drives. In one example, the storage medium 116 can be configured to include an operating system 122, application programs 124 such as a web browser application, a widget or gadget engine, or another application, and data files 126. The storage medium 116 can store any one or combination of various operating systems for use by the UE 100.

[0116] The storage medium 116 can be configured to include multiple physical drive units, such as redundant arrays of independent disks (RAID), floppy disk drives, flash memory, USB flash drives, external hard disk drives, thumb drives, pen drives, key drives, high-definition digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drives, internal hard disk drives, Blu-ray disc drives, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drives, external mini dual in-line memory modules (DIMMs), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro DIMM SDRAM, smart card memories such as user identity modules or removable user identities (SIM / RUIM) modules, other memories, or any combination thereof. The storage medium 116 can allow the UE 100 to access computer-executable instructions, application programs, etc. stored on a transient or non-transient memory medium to offload or upload data. An article of manufacture, such as an article of manufacture utilizing a communication system, can be tangibly embodied in the storage medium 116, and the storage medium 116 can include a device-readable medium.

[0117] In Figure 10In this case, the processing circuit 102 may be configured to communicate with the network 130-2 using the communication subsystem 118. The network 130-1 and the network 130-2 may be one or more identical networks or one or more different networks. The communication subsystem 118 may be configured to include one or more transceivers for communicating with the network 130-2. For example, the communication subsystem 118 may be configured to include one or more transceivers for communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another WD, UE) or a base station of a radio access network (RAN) according to one or more communication protocols (such as IEEE 802.QQ2, CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, LTE, UTRAN, WiMax, etc.). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 134 and / or a receiver 136 to respectively implement the transmitter or receiver functions suitable for the RAN link (e.g., frequency allocation, etc.). In addition, the transmitter 134 and the receiver 136 of each transceiver may share circuit components, software, or firmware, or alternatively may be implemented separately.

[0118] In the illustrated embodiment, the communication functions of the communication subsystem 118 may include data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communication such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication (such as the use of the Global Positioning System (GPS) for determining location), another similar communication function, or any combination thereof. For example, the communication subsystem 118 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, Bluetooth communication, and GPS communication. The network 130-2 may include wired and / or wireless networks, such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another similar network, or any combination thereof. For example, the network 130-2 may be a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, and / or a near-field network. The power supply 120 may be configured to provide alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) power to the components of the UE 100.

[0119] The features, benefits, and / or functions described herein may be implemented in one of the components of the UE 100 or divided among multiple components of the UE 100. Additionally, the features, benefits, and / or functions described herein may be implemented in any combination of hardware, software, or firmware. In one example, the communication subsystem 118 may be configured to include any of the components described herein. Additionally, the processing circuitry 102 may be configured to communicate with any such component via the bus 132. In another example, any such component may be represented by program instructions stored in the memory, which, when executed by the processing circuitry 102, perform the corresponding functions described herein. In another example, the functionality of any such component may be divided between the processing circuitry 102 and the communication subsystem 118. In another example, the non-computation-intensive functionality of any such component may be implemented in software or firmware, and the computation-intensive functionality may be implemented in hardware.

[0120] Figure 11 is a schematic block diagram showing a virtualization environment 140 in which the functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In this context, virtualization means creating a virtual version of a device or equipment, which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices, and network resources. As used herein, virtualization may be applied to a node (e.g., a virtualized base station or a virtualized radio access node) or a device (e.g., a UE, a wireless device, or any other type of communication device) or its components, and involves an implementation in which at least a portion of the functions are implemented as one or more virtual components (e.g., by one or more applications, components, functions, virtual machines, or containers executed on one or more physical processing nodes in one or more networks).

[0121] In some embodiments, some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines implemented in one or more virtual environments 140 hosted by one or more hardware nodes 142 (e.g., 142-1 and 142-2). Additionally, in embodiments where the virtual node is not a radio access node or does not require a radio connection (e.g., a core network node), the network node may be fully virtualized at this time.

[0122] These functions can be implemented by one or more applications 144 (such as 144-1, 144-2, 144-3, 144-m). The one or more applications 144 can be referred to as applications, software instances, virtual devices, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc. and the one or more applications 114 are operable to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein. The application 144 runs in a virtualized environment 140 that provides hardware 142 including processing circuitry 146 and memory 148. The memory 148 contains instructions 150 executable by the processing circuitry 146, whereby the application 144 is operable to provide one or more of the features, benefits, and / or functions disclosed herein.

[0123] The virtualized environment 140 includes general-purpose or specialized network hardware devices 142, which include a set of one or more processors or processing circuitry 146, which can be commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) processors, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or any other type of processing circuitry including digital or analog hardware components or specialized processors. Each hardware device can include a memory 148, which can be a non-permanent memory for temporarily storing instructions (Inst.) 150 or software executed by the processing circuitry 146. Each hardware device can include one or more network interface controllers (NICs) 152, also referred to as network interface cards, which include a physical network interface 154. Each hardware device can also include a non-transitory, permanent machine-readable storage medium 156 in which instructions (such as software 158) executable by the processing circuitry 146 are stored.

[0124] The software 158 can include any type of software, including software for instantiating one or more virtualization layers 162 (also referred to as a hypervisor), software for executing virtual machines 160, and software that allows it to perform the functions, features, and / or benefits described in connection with some of the embodiments described herein. The software 158 in one node 142 can be the same as or different from the software 158 in another node 142. More generally, although the figure depicts the nodes 142 as including various elements or entities identified by like reference numerals, such elements or entities can be different between the nodes 142.

[0125] The virtual machine 160 includes virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interfaces, and virtual storage, and can be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 162 or hypervisor. Different embodiments of instances of the virtual device 144 can be implemented on one or more of the virtual machines 160, and such implementations can be made in different ways. Example virtual machines or VMs include VM160-1, 160-2, 160-n, and 160-(n + 1).

[0126] During operation, processing circuitry 146 executes software 158 to instantiate one or more hypervisors or virtualization layers 162 (e.g., 162-1 and 162-2). The virtualization layer 162 may be referred to as a virtual machine monitor (VMM). The virtualization layer 162 may present a virtual operating platform that appears to the virtual machines 160 as networked hardware.

[0127] As Figure 11 shown, the hardware 142 may be a stand-alone network node with general or specific components. The hardware 142 may include an antenna 164 and may implement some functions through virtualization. Alternatively, the hardware 142 may be part of a larger hardware cluster (e.g., in a data center or customer premise equipment (CPE)), where many hardware nodes work together and are managed by management and orchestration (MANO) 145, and MANO 145 oversees the lifecycle management of applications 144, etc.

[0128] In some contexts, the virtualization of hardware is referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV can be used to unify many network device types onto industrial standard high-volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage that can be located in data centers and customer premise equipment.

[0129] In the context of NFV, the virtual machine 160 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical non-virtualized machine. Each virtual machine 160 and the part of the hardware 142 that executes that virtual machine (which may be hardware dedicated to that virtual machine and / or hardware shared by that virtual machine with other virtual machines in the virtual machine 160) form a separate virtual network element (VNE).

[0130] Still in the context of NFV, the virtual network function (VNF) is responsible for handling specific network functions running in one or more virtual machines 160 over the hardware network infrastructure 142 and corresponds to Figure 11 the application 144 in

[0131] In some embodiments, one or more radio units 170 each including one or more transmitters 172 and one or more receivers 174 may be coupled to one or more antennas 164. The radio units 170 may communicate directly with the hardware node 142 via one or more suitable network interfaces and may be used in combination with virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station.

[0132] In some embodiments, a control system 176 may be used to implement some signaling and may alternatively be used for communication between the hardware node 142 and the radio unit 170.

[0133] Figure 12 shows a telecommunications network connected to a host computer via an intermediate network. Specifically, referring to Figure 12 , according to an embodiment, the communication system includes a telecommunications network 180 (e.g., a 3GPP-type cellular network), and the telecommunications network 180 includes an access network 182 (e.g., a radio access network) and a core network 184. The access network 182 includes a plurality of base stations 186, such as 186-1, 186-2, and 186-3. The base stations 186 are, for example, NB, eNB, gNB, or other types of wireless access points. The base stations 186 define corresponding coverage areas 188, such as 188-1, 188-2, and 188-3. Each of the base stations 186-1, 186-2, and 186-3 can be connected to the core network 184 through a wired or wireless connection 190. A first UE 192-1 located in the coverage area 188-3 is configured to be wirelessly connected to the corresponding base station 186-3 or paged by the corresponding base station 186-3. A second UE 192-2 in the coverage area 188-1 can be wirelessly connected to the corresponding base station 186-1. Although multiple UEs 192 (e.g., UE 192-1 and 192-2) are shown in this example, the disclosed embodiments equally apply to the case where a single UE is in the coverage area or a single UE is connected to the corresponding base station.

[0134] The telecommunications network 180 itself is connected to a host computer 194, and the host computer 194 can be implemented in the hardware and / or software of an independent server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, or be implemented as processing resources in a server cluster. The host computer 194 can be owned or controlled by a service provider, or can be operated by or on behalf of a service provider. The connections 196 and 198 between the telecommunications network 180 and the host computer 194 can extend directly from the core network 184 to the host computer 194, or can be via an optional intermediate network 210. The intermediate network 210 can be one or a combination of more than one of a public, private, or bearer network; the intermediate network 210 (if present) can be a backbone network or the Internet; specifically, the intermediate network 210 can include two or more sub-networks (not shown).

[0135] Figure 12The communication system as a whole enables a connection between the connected UEs 192-1, 192-2 and the host computer 194. This connection can be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection 212. The host computer 194 and the connected UEs 192-1, 192-2 are configured to transmit data and / or signaling via the OTT connection 212, using the access network 182, the core network 184, any intermediate network 210, and possibly other infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. The OTT connection 212 can be transparent in the sense that the participating communication devices through which the OTT connection 212 passes are not aware of the significance of the routing of the uplink and downlink communications. For example, the base station 186 may not be notified or may not need to be notified of the past routing of an incoming downlink communication with data originating from the host computer 194 to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to the connected UE 192. Similarly, the base station 186 does not need to be aware of the future routing of an outgoing uplink communication from the UE 192 to the host computer 194.

[0136] Reference will now be made to Figure 13 describe an example implementation of the UE, base station, and host computer discussed in the preceding paragraphs according to an embodiment. Figure 13 A host computer communicating with a user equipment via a base station over a partial wireless connection according to some embodiments is shown. In the communication system 220, the host computer 222 includes hardware 224, and the hardware 224 includes a communication interface 226 configured to establish and maintain a wired or wireless connection with interfaces of different communication devices of the communication system 220. The host computer 222 further includes a processing circuit 228, which may have storage and / or processing capabilities. Specifically, the processing circuit 228 may include one or more programmable processors suitable for executing instructions, application specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays, or combinations thereof (not shown). The host computer 222 also includes software 230, which is stored in or accessible by the host computer 222 and executable by the processing circuit 228. The software 230 includes a host application 232. The host application 232 is operable to provide services to a remote user (e.g., UE 240), and the UE 240 is connected via an OTT connection 242 terminated at the UE 240 and the host computer 222. When providing services to the remote user, the host application 232 may provide user data to be sent using the OTT connection 242.

[0137] The hardware 244 of the UE 240 may include a radio interface 246 configured to establish and maintain a wireless connection 268 with a base station serving the coverage area where the UE 240 is currently located. The hardware 244 of the UE 240 also includes processing circuitry 248, which may include one or more programmable processors suitable for executing instructions, application-specific integrated circuits, field-programmable gate arrays, or combinations thereof (not shown). The UE 240 further includes software 250, which is stored in or accessible by the UE 240 and executable by the processing circuitry 248. The software 250 includes a client application 252. The client application 252 is operable to provide services to a human or non-human user via the UE 240 with the support of the host computer 222. In the host computer 222, the executed host application 232 may communicate with the executed client application 252 via the OTT connection 242 terminated at the UE 240 and the host computer 222. When providing services to the user, the client application 252 may request data from the host application 232 and provide user data in response to the requested data. The OTT connection 242 may convey both the requested data and the user data. The client application 252 may interact with the user to generate the user data it provides.

[0138] The communication system 220 further includes a base station 260 provided in the telecommunication system. The base station 260 includes hardware 262 enabling it to communicate with the host computer 222 and with the UE 240. The hardware 262 may include: a communication interface 264 for establishing and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with interfaces of different communication devices of the communication system 220; and a radio interface 266 for at least establishing and maintaining a wireless connection 268 with the UE 240 located in the coverage area ( Figure 13 not shown) served by the base station 260. The communication interface 264 may be configured to facilitate the connection 270 to the host computer 222. The connection 270 may be direct, or it may pass through the core network of the telecommunication system ( Figure 13 not shown) and / or through one or more intermediate networks external to the telecommunication system. In the illustrated embodiment, the hardware 262 of the base station 260 further includes processing circuitry 272, which may include one or more programmable processors suitable for executing instructions, application-specific integrated circuits, field-programmable gate arrays, or combinations thereof (not shown). The base station 260 also has software 274 stored internally or accessible via an external connection.

[0139] Note that the host computer 222 may be similar or identical to Figure 12 the host computer 194, the base station 260 may be similar or identical to Figure 12 the base station 186, and the UE 240 may be similar or identical to Figure 12similar or identical to the UE 192 therein. That is, the internal workings of these entities can be as Figure 13 shown, and independently, the surrounding network topology can be Figure 12 the network topology of.

[0140] In Figure 13 , the OTT connection 242 has been abstractly drawn to show the communication between the host computer 222 and the UE 240 via the base station 260, without explicitly mentioning any intermediate devices and the exact routing of messages via these devices. The network infrastructure can determine this routing, which can be configured to be hidden from the UE 240 or from the service provider operating the host computer 222 or from both. When the OTT connection 242 is active, the network infrastructure can also (e.g., based on load balancing considerations or reconfiguration of the network) make a decision to dynamically change the routing.

[0141] The wireless connection 268 between the UE 240 and the base station 260 is in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of the OTT services provided to the UE 240 using the OTT connection 242, where the wireless connection 268 forms the last segment in the OTT connection 242. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments allow sharing of multiple contiguous or non - contiguous LTE carriers across a single NR bandwidth using the framework of LTE / NR resource sharing defined in 3GPP Release 15. This spectrum sharing solution allows NR transmissions to employ a wider bandwidth than would be achievable if LTE / NR sharing were supported only across a single LTE carrier. Thereby, this provides benefits such as increased capacity and better services.

[0142] For the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency, and other factors for the improvement of one or more embodiments, a measurement process may be provided. There may also be an optional network function for reconfiguring the OTT connection 242 between the host computer 222 and the UE 240 in response to a change in the measurement result. The measurement process and / or the network function for reconfiguring the OTT connection 242 may be implemented in the software 230 and hardware 224 of the host computer 222 or in the software 250 and hardware 244 of the UE 240 or in both. In an embodiment, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in the communication devices through which the OTT connection 242 passes or may be deployed in association with the communication devices through which the OTT connection 242 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement process by providing values of the monitored quantities exemplified above or by providing values of other physical quantities that the software 230, 250 may use to calculate or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguration of the OTT connection 242 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing, etc.; the reconfiguration need not affect the base station 260 and may be unknown or imperceptible to the base station 260. Such processes and functions may be known and practiced in the art. In a particular embodiment, the measurement may involve proprietary UE signaling that facilitates the measurement by the host computer 222 of throughput, propagation time, latency, etc. The measurement may be implemented as follows: the software 230 and 250 enable the use of the OTT connection 242 to send messages (specifically, empty messages or "dummy" messages) while they monitor propagation time, errors, etc.

[0143] Figure 14 is a flowchart showing a method 1400 implemented in a communication system according to one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE, which may be the host computer, the base station, and the UE described with reference to Figure 12 and Figure 13 For the sake of brevity of the present disclosure, only the figure references to Figure 14 will be included in this section. In step 1402, the host computer provides user data. In sub-step 1404 of step 1402 (which may be optional), the host computer provides user data by executing a host application. In step 1406, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. In step 1408 (which may be optional), according to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout the present disclosure, the base station sends the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the host computer to the UE. In step 1410 (which may also be optional), the UE executes a client application associated with the host application executed by the host computer.

[0144] Figure 15 is a flowchart showing a method 1500 implemented in a communication system according to one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE, which may be the host computer, the base station, and the UE described with reference to Figure 12and Figure 13 the host computer, base station, and UE described. For the sake of brevity of the present disclosure, only figure references to Figure 15 will be included in this section. In step 1502 of the method, the host computer provides user data. In an optional sub-step (not shown), the host computer provides user data by executing a host application. In step 1504, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. According to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout the present disclosure, this transmission may be via the base station. In step 1506 (which may be optional), the UE receives the user data carried in the transmission.

[0145] Figure 16 is a flowchart showing a method 1600 implemented in a communication system according to an embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE, which may be the host computer, base station, and UE described with reference to Figure 12 and Figure 13 For the sake of brevity of the present disclosure, only figure references to Figure 16 will be included in this section. In step 1602 (which may be optional), the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. Additionally or alternatively, in step 1604, the UE provides user data. In sub-step 1606 (which may be optional), the UE provides user data by executing a client application. In sub-step 1608 of step 1602 (which may be optional), the UE executes a client application that provides user data in response to the received input data provided by the host computer. When providing user data, the executed client application may also consider user input received from the user. Regardless of the specific manner of providing user data, the UE initiates a transmission of the user data to the host computer in sub-step 1610 (which may be optional). In step 1612 of the method, according to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout the present disclosure, the host computer receives the user data sent from the UE.

[0146] Figure 17 is a flowchart showing a method 1700 implemented in a communication system according to an embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE, which may be the host computer, base station, and UE described with reference to Figure 12 and Figure 13 For the sake of brevity of the present disclosure, only figure references to Figure 17 will be included in this section. In step 1702 (which may be optional), according to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout the present disclosure, the base station receives user data from the UE. In step 1704 (which may be optional), the base station initiates a transmission of the received user data to the host computer. In step 1706 (which may be optional), the host computer receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the base station.

[0147] Any suitable steps, methods, features, functions, or benefits disclosed herein may be performed by one or more functional units or modules of one or more virtual devices. Each virtual device may include a plurality of such functional units. These functional units may be implemented by a processing circuit, which may include one or more microprocessors or microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware (which may include a digital signal processor (DSP), dedicated digital logic, etc.). The processing circuit may be configured to execute program code stored in a memory, which may include one or several types of memories, such as read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc. The program code stored in the memory includes program instructions for executing one or more telecommunication and / or data communication protocols, as well as instructions for executing one or more of the techniques described herein. In some implementations, the processing circuit may be used to cause the corresponding functional unit to perform the corresponding function according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0148] In general, unless explicitly given and / or implied from the context in which the terms are used to have a different meaning, all terms used herein will be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field. Unless otherwise explicitly stated, all references to an / one / the element, device, component, apparatus, step, etc. shall be construed openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, device, component, apparatus, step, etc. The steps of any method disclosed herein need not be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless a step must be explicitly described as after or before another step and / or implicitly a step must be after or before another step. In appropriate cases, any feature of any embodiment disclosed herein may be applied to any other embodiment. Similarly, any advantage of any embodiment may be applied to any other embodiment, and vice versa. Other objects, features, and advantages of the appended embodiments will be apparent from the description.

[0149] The term unit may have its conventional meaning in the field of electronic products, electrical equipment, and / or electronic devices, and may include, for example, electrical and / or electronic circuits, devices, modules, processors, memories, logic solid-state and / or discrete devices, computer programs, or instructions for performing various tasks, processes, calculations, output, and / or display functions, etc. (such as those functions described herein).

[0150] It should be noted that those skilled in the art who benefit from the teachings presented in the foregoing description and the associated drawings will conceive of modifications and other embodiments of the disclosed invention. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed, and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the present disclosure. Although specific terms may be employed herein, they are used in a general and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

Claims

1. A method (200) performed by a network node (20) of a wireless communication network (30), wherein, The network node (20) is a radio network node configured as a fifth-generation 5G radio access network RAN node, and the method (200) includes: For a first radio frequency RF carrier that spans an RF spectrum including two or more other RF carriers, determining (202) a resource usage pattern for control-related signaling to be transmitted on each of the other RF carriers, wherein the first RF carrier is a new radio NR carrier of the 5G RAN, and the 5G RAN operates in a spectrum sharing arrangement with two or more long-term evolution LTE carriers that are the two or more other RF carriers; and Sending (204) rate matching information for each of two or more bandwidth parts BWPs of the first RF carrier to a wireless communication device, each BWP occupying the RF spectrum used by a corresponding one of the other RF carriers, and the rate matching information sent for each BWP being based on the resource usage pattern determined for the corresponding other RF carrier.

2. The method (200) according to claim 1, wherein The radio network node determines a resource usage pattern for control-related signaling to be transmitted on each of the LTE carriers based on communication with another radio network entity having knowledge of the LTE carriers.

3. The method (200) according to any one of claims 1 to 2, wherein The radio network node configures the BWPs such that each BWP is aligned with a corresponding one of the other RF carriers, configures the wireless communication device to use the corresponding BWP among the BWPs, and sends the rate matching information for each BWP to the wireless communication device configured to use the BWP.

4. A network node (20), configured to operate in a wireless communication network (30), wherein, The network node (20) is a radio network node configured as a fifth-generation 5G radio access network RAN node, and the network node (20) includes: A radio network node; A communication circuit (24) including a first communication circuit and a second communication interface circuit, the first communication circuit being configured to wirelessly communicate with a wireless communication device on a first RF carrier that spans an RF spectrum including two or more other radio frequency RF carriers, and the second communication interface circuit being configured to communicate with one or more co-located or separate radio network entities associated with the other RF carriers; and A processing circuit (22) configured to: For the first RF carrier, determine a resource usage pattern for control-related signaling to be transmitted on each of the other RF carriers, wherein the first RF carrier is a new radio NR carrier of the 5G RAN, and the 5G RAN operates in a spectrum sharing arrangement with two or more long-term evolution LTE carriers that are the two or more other RF carriers; and Send rate matching information for each of two or more bandwidth parts (BWPs) of the first RF carrier via the communication circuit to a wireless communication device, each BWP occupying the RF spectrum used by a corresponding other RF carrier among the other RF carriers, and the rate matching information sent for each BWP being based on the resource usage pattern determined for the corresponding other RF carrier.

5. A method (300) performed by a network node (20) of a wireless communication network (30), the method (300) comprising: For a first radio frequency (RF) carrier, configure (302) two or more bandwidth parts (BWPs), each BWP being aligned with a corresponding other RF carrier among two or more other RF carriers located within the RF spectrum spanned by the first RF carrier, wherein the first RF carrier is a fifth generation (5G) new radio (NR) carrier and the other RF carriers are fourth generation (4G) long term evolution (LTE) carriers, wherein the network node (20) is a 5G radio network node providing the first RF carrier, and wherein one or more 4G radio network nodes integrated with or implemented separately from the 5G radio network node provide the LTE carriers; Determine (304) a frequency sharing configuration for each BWP based on the radio resource usage of the corresponding other RF carrier; and Configure (306) a wireless communication device (10) to use the corresponding BWP among the BWPs.

6. The method (300) according to claim 5, wherein, Determining (304) the frequency sharing configuration for each BWP includes obtaining at least one of a resource usage pattern and resource scheduling information from a network entity associated with the corresponding other RF carrier.

7. The method (300) according to claim 6, wherein, For each BWP, the network node (20) obtains the resource usage pattern associated with the corresponding other RF carrier, and wherein the method (300) further includes reserving radio resources identified in the resource usage pattern to avoid conflicts in the use of the radio resources for downlink transmission or uplink transmission on the first RF carrier.

8. The method (300) according to claim 7, wherein Configuring the wireless communication device (10) to use the corresponding BWP among the BWPs includes: for one or more wireless communication devices (10) configured to use a specific BWP, sending an indication of the resource usage pattern, such that the wireless communication device (10) can use or consider rate matching around radio resource elements reserved according to the resource usage pattern.

9. The method (300) according to claim 6, wherein For each BWP, the network node (20) obtains or collaboratively determines how the bandwidth shared by the BWP and the corresponding other RF carrier will be shared for at least data transmission.

10. The method (300) according to claim 5, wherein, Determining the frequency sharing configuration for each BWP includes: collaboratively determining the frequency sharing configuration based on communication with a network entity associated with the corresponding other RF carrier.

11. The method (300) according to claim 5, wherein, Configure the wireless communication device (10) to use the corresponding BWP in the BWP, including assigning a specific one or more wireless communication devices in the wireless communication device (10) to a specific BWP according to any one or more of the following factors: the traffic load of the corresponding other RF carrier, the traffic load of the specific BWP, the difference in traffic load across the other RF carriers, or the difference in traffic load across the BWP.

12. The method (300) according to claim 5, wherein, The wireless communication device (10) is operating or will operate on the first RF carrier.

13. The method (300) according to claim 5, wherein, The other RF carriers are contiguous in frequency, and correspondingly, the BWPs are contiguous in frequency.

14. The method (300) according to claim 5, wherein, At least two of the other RF carriers are not contiguous in frequency, and similarly, the corresponding BWPs are not contiguous in frequency.

15. The method (300) according to claim 5, wherein, The parameter set for the first RF carrier within at least one of the BWPs is different from the parameter set used by the corresponding other RF carrier.

16. A network node (20), configured to operate in a wireless communication network (30), the network node (20) comprising: A communication circuit (24); And A processing circuit (22), operably associated with the communication circuit (24) and configured to: For a first radio frequency (RF) carrier, configure two or more bandwidth parts (BWPs), each BWP being aligned with a corresponding other RF carrier among two or more other RF carriers located within the RF spectrum spanned by the first RF carrier, wherein the first RF carrier is a fifth-generation (5G) new radio (NR) carrier and the other RF carriers are fourth-generation (4G) long-term evolution (LTE) carriers, wherein the network node (20) is a 5G radio network node providing the first RF carrier, and wherein one or more 4G radio network nodes integrated with or implemented separately from the 5G radio network node provide the LTE carriers; Determine a frequency sharing configuration for each BWP according to the radio resource usage of the corresponding other RF carrier; and Configure one or more wireless communication devices (10) to use the corresponding BWP in the BWP.

17. The network node (20) according to claim 16, wherein, The processing circuit (22) is configured to: determine the frequency sharing configuration for each BWP by obtaining at least one of a resource usage pattern and resource scheduling information associated with the corresponding other RF carrier.

18. The network node (20) according to claim 17, wherein, For each BWP, the network node obtains the resource usage pattern associated with the corresponding other RF carrier, and wherein the processing circuit is configured to reserve the radio resources identified in the resource usage pattern to avoid conflicts in the use of the radio resources for downlink transmission or uplink transmission on the first RF carrier.

19. The network node (20) according to claim 18, wherein, For the one or more wireless communication devices (10) configured to use a specific BWP, the processing circuitry (22) is configured to: send an indication of the resource usage pattern, such that the wireless communication device (10) can use or take into account rate matching around radio resource elements reserved according to the resource usage pattern.

20. The network node (20) according to claim 17, wherein, For each BWP, the processing circuitry (22) obtains or collaboratively determines how the bandwidth shared by the BWP and the corresponding other RF carrier will be shared for at least data transmission.

21. The network node (20) according to claim 16, wherein, The processing circuitry (22) is configured to determine the frequency sharing configuration for each BWP by collaboratively determining the frequency sharing configuration based on communication with a network entity associated with the corresponding other RF carrier.

22. The network node (20) according to claim 16, wherein, The processing circuitry (22) is configured to configure the one or more wireless communication devices (10) to use the corresponding BWP in the BWP by assigning a specific one or more wireless communication devices in the wireless communication device (10) to a specific BWP according to any one or more of the following factors: the traffic load of the corresponding other RF carrier, the traffic load of the specific BWP, the difference in traffic load across the other RF carriers, or the difference in traffic load across the BWP.

23. The network node (20) according to claim 16, wherein, The one or more wireless communication devices (10) are operating or will operate on the first RF carrier.

24. The network node (20) according to claim 16, wherein, The other RF carriers are contiguous in frequency, and correspondingly, the BWPs are contiguous in frequency.

25. The network node (20) according to claim 16, wherein, At least two of the other RF carriers are not contiguous in frequency, and similarly, the corresponding BWPs are not contiguous in frequency.

26. The network node (20) according to claim 16, wherein, A parameter set for the first RF carrier within at least one of the BWPs is different from the parameter set used by the corresponding other RF carrier.

27. A method (400) performed by a wireless communication device (10) operating in a wireless communication network (30), the method (400) comprising: Receiving (402) configuration information from a network node (20) of the wireless communication network (30), the configuration information configuring the wireless communication device (10) for operation in a bandwidth part BWP of a first radio frequency RF carrier, the BWP being the corresponding BWP of two or more BWPs defined within the first RF carrier, each BWP being aligned with a corresponding other RF carrier of two or more other RF carriers located within the RF spectrum spanned by the first RF carrier and operating in a spectrum sharing arrangement with the first RF carrier, wherein the first RF carrier is a fifth generation 5G new radio NR carrier and the other RF carriers are fourth generation 4G long term evolution LTE carriers; and Operating (404) in accordance with the configuration information with respect to the BWP.

28. The method (400) according to claim 27, wherein, The configuration information includes rate matching information, and wherein operating (404) on the BWP portion according to the configuration information includes: performing rate matching for uplink data transmission according to the rate matching information or considering rate matching in downlink data transmission.

29. The method (400) according to claim 27 or 28, wherein, The configuration information indicates reserved resources within the BWP that are not used by the first RF carrier, and wherein operating on the BWP according to the configuration information includes: ignoring or otherwise not using the reserved resources with respect to a transmit operation or a receive operation at the wireless communication device.

30. A wireless communication device (10) configured to operate in a wireless communication network (30), the wireless communication device (10) comprising: a communication circuit (14); and a processing circuit (12) configured to: receive, via the communication circuit (14), configuration information from a network node (20) of the wireless communication network (30), the configuration information configuring the wireless communication device (10) to operate in a bandwidth part BWP of a first radio frequency RF carrier, the BWP being a respective BWP of two or more BWPs defined within the first RF carrier, each BWP being aligned with a respective other RF carrier of two or more other RF carriers located within the RF spectrum spanned by the first RF carrier and operating in a spectrum sharing arrangement with the spectrum of the first RF carrier, wherein the first RF carrier is a fifth generation 5G new radio NR carrier and the other RF carriers are fourth generation 4G long term evolution LTE carriers; and operate the wireless communication device (10) on the BWP according to the configuration information.

31. The wireless communication device (10) according to claim 30, wherein, The configuration information includes rate matching information, and wherein the processing circuit (12) is configured to operate the wireless communication device (10) on the BWP portion according to the configuration information by performing rate matching for uplink data transmission according to the rate matching information or considering rate matching in downlink data transmission.

32. The wireless communication device (10) according to claim 30 or 31, wherein, The configuration information indicates reserved resources within the BWP that are not used by the first RF carrier, and wherein the processing circuit (12) is configured to operate the wireless communication device (10) on the BWP according to the configuration information by ignoring or otherwise not using the reserved resources with respect to a transmit operation or a receive operation at the wireless communication device.

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