Method for SNR, ES, and NOC Settings for NR Performance Requirements

Abstract

Some embodiments of the present disclosure relate to apparatuses and methods for establishing signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), available signal power level (Es), and man-made noise power level (Noc) values for new radio (NR) performance requirements. These apparatuses and methods may include processing a received signal including the Es and Noc; and determining a baseband SNR attenuation based on the signal power level, the man-made noise power level, and the radio frequency noise power level. These apparatuses and methods may then determine a compensated SNR attenuation as a performance requirement based on the baseband SNR attenuation and the radio frequency noise power level.

Description

[0001] Cross - reference to related applications

[0002] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62 / 805,861, filed on Feb. 14, 2019, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] Various embodiments generally relate to the field of wireless communications. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] Some embodiments of the present disclosure include systems, devices, methods, and computer-readable media for a test device to establish operating parameters for user equipment in a simulation environment.

[0005] Some embodiments relate to a test device. The test device includes a processor circuit and a radio front-end circuit. The processor circuit may be configured to receive a signal including a signal power level and an artificial noise power level using the radio front-end circuit. The processor circuit determines a radio frequency (RF) noise power level associated with user equipment (UE), determines a baseband signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) attenuation based on the signal power level, the artificial noise power level, and the RF noise power level. The processor circuit then determines a compensated SNR attenuation based on the baseband SNR attenuation and the RF noise power level. The processor circuit provides the compensated SNR attenuation as a minimum performance requirement for the user equipment to use.

[0006] Some embodiments relate to a method for determining a minimum performance requirement for user equipment to use, the method including receiving a signal power level and an artificial noise power level. The method further includes the test device performing the following operations: determining an RF noise power level associated with the user equipment; determining a baseband SNR attenuation based on the signal power level, the artificial noise power level, and the RF noise power level; determining a compensated SNR attenuation based on the baseband SNR attenuation and the RF noise power level. The method provides the compensated SNR attenuation as a minimum performance requirement for the user equipment to use. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] Figure 1 Depicts the baseband SNR attenuation (in dB) varying according to the difference between the noise power level (Noc) and the UE RF noise level, according to some embodiments.

[0008] Figure 2 Depicts the architecture of a system of a network, according to some embodiments.

[0009] Figure 3 Depicts the architecture of a system including a first core network, according to some embodiments.

[0010] Figure 4 Depicts the architecture of a system including a second core network according to some embodiments.

[0011] Figure 5 Depicts an example of infrastructure equipment according to various embodiments.

[0012] Figure 6 Depicts exemplary components of a computer platform according to various embodiments.

[0013] Figure 7 Depicts exemplary components of baseband circuitry and radio frequency circuitry according to various embodiments.

[0014] Figure 8 Is a diagram of various protocol functions that can be used in various protocol stacks according to various embodiments.

[0015] Figure 9 Shows components of a core network according to various embodiments.

[0016] Figure 10 Is a block diagram showing components of an NFV-enabled system according to some example embodiments.

[0017] Figure 11 Depicts a block diagram showing components capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable medium or a computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and performing any one or more of the methods discussed herein according to some exemplary embodiments.

[0018] Figure 12 Depicts an exemplary flowchart for practicing various embodiments discussed herein, e.g., for configuring a user equipment (UE) for handover on an exit condition and operations after handover on the exit condition.

[0019] When combined with the accompanying drawings, the features and advantages of the embodiments will become more apparent in accordance with the detailed description set forth below, in which like reference numerals throughout the drawings always identify corresponding elements. In the drawings, like reference numerals generally denote identical, functionally similar, and / or structurally similar elements. The drawing in which an element first appears is indicated by the leftmost digit in the corresponding reference numeral. Detailed Description

[0020] The following detailed embodiments relate to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numerals may be used in different drawings to identify the same or similar elements. In the following description, for purposes of illustration and not limitation, specific details are set forth, such as particular structures, architectures, interfaces, technologies, etc., in order to provide a thorough understanding of various aspects of the embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art who have benefited from the present disclosure that various aspects of the embodiments may be practiced in other examples that depart from these specific details. In some cases, descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted so as not to obscure the description of the various embodiments with unnecessary detail. For the purposes of this document, the phrase "A or B" means (A), (B), or (A and B).

[0021] In traditional embodiments, to ensure proper UE performance, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) defines minimum UE demodulation and CSI reporting performance requirements. The corresponding New Radio (NR) UE demodulation and Channel State Information (CSI) reporting performance requirements are defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.101-4.

[0022] For NR technology, two general test methods are considered. The first method is the conducted test, where the Test Equipment (TE) has a wired connection to the antenna connector for conducting to the chipset. The corresponding method is applicable to NR FR1 (Frequency Range 1) device testing. In some embodiments, FR1 is the range between 410 MHz and 7125 MHz. The second method is the radiated test, where the test is performed in an over-the-air (OTA) environment (e.g., in an anechoic chamber). The corresponding method is applicable to NR FR2 (Frequency Range 2) device testing (i.e., for mmWave devices). In some embodiments, FR2 is the range between 24250 MHz and 52600 MHz.

[0023] There are two general modes for the incidental condition simulation for UE performance requirement definition. The first mode, i.e., the target SNR (or SINR) simulation, involves the following steps.

[0024] a. The test system transmits a desired signal with a power level "Es" and an artificial additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) signal with a power level Noc in a way that simulates the target SNR condition:

[0025] i. SNR = Es / Noc (in linear scale units).

[0026] b. This mode is applicable to general UE demodulation and CSI performance requirements.

[0027] c. The noise power level (Noc) is selected to ensure that it is much higher than the UE RF background noise to focus on baseband performance verification.

[0028] d. Generally, the SNR and Noc power levels should be specified for each test. The Es power level can be simply derived based on the SNR and Noc levels (Es = SNR * Noc).

[0029] The second mode, i.e., the noiseless condition simulation, involves the following steps:

[0030] a. The test system transmits a desired signal with a power level of Es without artificial noise.

[0031] b. This mode is applicable to the sustained data rate (SDR) requirements and the selected UE demodulation and CSI requirements.

[0032] c. The Es power should be specified for each test parameter.

[0033] d. The Es power level should be selected in a way that ensures the effective SNR is higher than a certain threshold.

[0034] UE performance requirements can generally be defined relative to the baseband performance, and the minimum SNR to be provided for the baseband RX chain is specified. For mode 1 operation, the test system transmits a desired signal with a power level of Es and an artificial AWGN signal with a power level of Noc in a way that simulates the target SNR condition. The received signal passes through the UE RF chain, and additional UE RF noise is injected into the signal. As a result, the effective SNR observed at the baseband side decreases. For mode 2 operation, the test system only transmits the desired signal. Similarly, additional UE RF noise is injected into the RF chain, and the baseband SNR is limited by the UE RF noise power level.

[0035] The embodiments described herein may involve several systems, devices, technologies, and / or processes to set the Noc, SNR, and Es levels, so as to minimize the impact of UE RF noise on the baseband SNR during UE performance testing.

[0036] For FR1, a single value of Es and a single value of Noc are defined to ensure applicability to all existing frequency bands.

[0037] For FR2, the Noc power level is defined in a band-specific manner, and the Noc power level is allowed to be adjusted for different frequency bands and device types.

[0038] For FR1, the defined values of Es and Noc cannot ensure that the baseband SNR loss is negligible.

[0039] For FR2, the defined value of Noc cannot ensure that the baseband SNR loss is negligible for devices supporting multi-band operation.

[0040] The embodiments described herein may include:

[0041] · A method for setting band-specific SNR or Noc values to simulate the target SNR (effective, observed at the baseband) for FR1 requirements.

[0042] · A method for setting band-specific Es values to simulate the noise-free conditions for FR1 requirements.

[0043] · A method for setting the Noc power level for FR2 devices with multi-band operation support.

[0044] Some embodiments described herein may also provide an adaptive method for setting SNR, Noc, and Es values that will apply to the requirements in all operating bands and minimize the impact of UE RF noise on the effective baseband SNR.

[0045] SNR simulation for FR1 requirements

[0046] UE performance requirements are typically defined relative to baseband performance and specify the minimum SNR to be provided for the baseband RX chain.

[0047] The test system transmits a desired signal with power level Es and an artificial AWGN signal with power level Noc in a way that simulates the target SNR conditions. In some embodiments, the SNR simulated by the test system can be calculated as SNR = Es / Noc, where Es is the available signal power level and Noc is the artificial noise power level. In some embodiments, both parameters are measured in watts per hertz (W / Hz). In some embodiments, the values of these parameter values are measured in linear scale units.

[0048] In some embodiments, for conducted tests, the SNR observed at the RX baseband can be expressed as SNR BB = Es / (Noc + P NoiseRF ) = SNR / (1 + P noiseRF / Noc) = SNR / (1 + A), where P NoiseRF is the UE RF noise power level, and A is P noiseRF / Noc. In some embodiments, both parameters are measured in watts per hertz (W / Hz). In some embodiments, the values of these parameter values are measured in linear scale units.

[0049] In some embodiments, using a linear scale, the baseband SNR attenuation can be expressed as ΔSNR = SNR / SNR BB = (1 + A). In dB, the SNR attenuation can be expressed as ΔSNR(dB) = 10 * log10(1 + A).

[0050] Therefore, it can be observed that the difference between the Noc level and the actual UE RF background noise will have an impact on the effective SNR observed in the baseband.

[0051] For example, in one embodiment, where the artificial noise has a B dB gain over the UE RF noise power level, the relationship can be expressed as Noc (dBm / Hz) = P noiseRF (dBm / Hz) + B (dB) (in dB).

[0052] In Figure 1 , graph 100 shows the baseband SNR attenuation (in decibels dB) varying according to the difference between the Noc level and the UE RF noise level. Point 110 represents an example where Noc is equal to 16.3 and the SNR attenuation is 0.1006, where both values are in dB.

[0053] In some examples, the effective SNR depends on the relative power difference between the Noc level and the UE RF noise. In some embodiments, requirements can be defined in a band-agnostic manner, and for different frequency bands, the effective UE RF background noise can be different. Therefore, these requirements should be considered for defining the values of SNR, Noc, and Es.

[0054] The UE RF noise power level can be derived based on the reference sensitivity power level (REFSENS) requirements defined in 3GPP TS 38.101-1. In one embodiment, REFSENS is the minimum average power applied to the antenna of the user equipment.

[0055] The REFSENS power level can be defined as follows:

[0056] REFSENS (dBm / Hz) = -174 dBm + 10 * log10(BW) + NF – D + SNR REFSENS + IM

[0057] where

[0058] · REFSENS is the reference sensitivity requirement defined in 3GPP Technical Specification 38.101-1(2).

[0059] · NF – UE noise figure (dB)

[0060] · BW - receive BW, Hz

[0061] · D - diversity gain (e.g., 3 dB for two RX antennas), (dB)

[0062] · SNR REFSENS-SNR is used to define the REFSENS requirement (SNR = -1 dB), (dB)

[0063] · IM - Specific implementation margin (dB)

[0064] · Note: All values are in dB

[0065] The RF noise power level component can be derived as follows:

[0066] P NoiseRF (dBm / Hz) = -174 dBm + NF + IM = REFSENS - 10 * log(BW) + D - SNR

[0067] Based on 3GPP TS 38.101-1 for NR, the RF noise is in the range of -165 dBm / Hz to -153 dBm / Hz according to the frequency band.

[0068] Embodiments may include but are not limited to the following options for setting Noc and SNR for FR1 requirements. In some embodiments, one option includes using a fixed value for Noc (e.g., the same or different values for different frequency bands) and compensating for the SNR attenuation during SNR setting (i.e., adjusting the SNR simulated by the test system accordingly). In some embodiments, use SNR New (dB) = SNR(dB) + ΔSNR(dB) represents the SNR attenuation, where ΔSNR is defined as above and can be based on the calculated P NoiseRF Derived for each frequency band.

[0069] In some embodiments, another option includes using a variable Noc level per frequency band to ensure a fixed SNR error Noc(dBm / Hz) = P NoiseRF (dBm / Hz) + X (in dB), where X is an adjustment parameter for adjusting the Noc power level. For example, a value of 15 dB to 16 dB can be used to achieve an SNR attenuation of approximately 0.1 dB, as shown Figure 1 at point 110 in. NoiseRF P is the RF noise power level derived above for each frequency band.

[0070] Noise - free condition simulation for FR1 requirements

[0071] In embodiments involving noiseless condition simulations, the desired signal power level Es is selected in a manner that ensures the effective SNR is high enough. For SDR testing, it is desirable to achieve the highest possible SNR level. The following factors may affect the SNR of SDR testing. The first factor is the long-term evolution (LTE) transmission (TX) error vector magnitude (EVM), which can be assumed to be in the range of 1.75% to 2% based on the LTE 1024 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) WI assumption, which will result in an SNR of approximately 34 dB to 36 dB. Another factor is the UE RF background noise, and the Es power level should be selected to be higher than the RF background noise to avoid affecting the SNR. Specifically, it is recommended to select Es in a way that achieves an SNR of approximately 35 dB.

[0072] Similar to embodiments involving SNR simulations for FR1 requirements, the UE RF noise will have an impact on the effective SNR. To allow for the simulation of noiseless conditions, the embodiments may involve using a per-band variable Es level in a way that ensures the effective SNR can be achieved for all operating bands bound : Es = P NoiseRF (dBm / Hz) + SNR bound dB (e.g., 30 dB or 35 dB).

[0073] Method for setting the Noc power level for FR2 devices with multi - band operation support

[0074] For radiation tests for demodulation and CSI requirements, difficulties may arise in using a high enough signal level to make the noise contribution of the UE negligible. Therefore, the demodulation requirement is specified as a defined amount higher than the UE peak EIS level in 3GPP TS 38.101-2 for the applied noise, such that the impact of the UE background noise is limited to no greater than the value at the specified Noc level Δ BB . Since the UE has an EIS level that depends on the operating band and power class, the Noc level depends on the operating band and power class.

[0075] Noc for operating bands in FR2 for NR

[0076] For Δ BB = 1 dB, the values of Noc according to the operating band and power class for single-carrier requirements are specified in Table 1.

[0077]

[0078] Table 1: Noc power levels for different UE power classes and bands

[0079] The handling of carrier aggregation is FFS, and the handling of multi-band relaxation is FFS.

[0080] Deriving Noc values for operating bands in FR2 for NR

[0081] The Noc values in Table 1 are based on Refsens of the operating band and the UE power class, and use the baseline of UE power class 3 in band n260. In some embodiments, the spectral density of Noc can be calculated based on the following algorithm: Refsens PC3,n260,50MHz -10Log 10 (SCS Refsens ×PRB Refsens ×12) – SNR Refsens + Δ thermal . Refsens PC3,n260,50MHz is the Refsens value (in dBm) specified for power class 3 in band n260 for a 50 MHz channel bandwidth in TS 38.101-2. SCS Refsens is the subcarrier spacing associated with N RB in 50MHZ in TS 38.101-2 (7, Table 5.3.2-1), and is selected to be 120 kHz. PRBs Refsens is the N RB associated with the subcarrier spacing of 120 kHz for 50 MHz in TS 38.101-2 (7, Table 5.3.2-1), and is 32. 12 is the number of subcarriers in a PRB. SNR Refsens is the SNR used to simulate Refsens, and is -1 dB. Δ thermal is the amount in dB by which the required noise is set to be higher than the UE thermal noise, resulting in a total noise rise of Δ BB . Δ thermal is selected to be 6 dB, resulting in a total noise rise of 1 dB.

[0082] The calculated Noc value for the baseline of UE power class 3 in band n260 in group Y is rounded to -155 dBm / Hz. For the single-carrier case, the following method can be used to define the Noc level for operating band X (Band_X) and power class Y (PC_Y): Noc(Band_X, PC_Y) = -155 dBm / Hz + Refsens PC_Y,Band_X,50MHz - Refsens PC3,n260,50MHz . The existing values are valid for the case of single-carrier operation and single-band devices. However, the handling of carrier aggregation is FFS, and the handling of multi-band relaxation is FFS.

[0083] In some embodiments, FR2 UEs may optionally support operation in multiple FR2 bands (i.e., the same antenna array is designed to support multi-band operation). To account for differences in antenna design, the EIS (Effective Isotropic Sensitivity) requirements for such devices are relaxed.

[0084] For a UE with FR2 power class 3, the reference sensitivity relaxation parameter ΔMB P,n Agrees to relax the minimum requirements for the reference sensitivity (EIS) requirements for each frequency band separately, as shown in Table 2 below and in Section 6.2.1.3 of 3GPP TS 38.101-2.

[0085]

[0086]

[0087] Table 2: Multi - band relaxation factors for UE power class 3

[0088] Reference sensitivity power level for power class 3

[0089] The throughput shall be ≥95% of the maximum throughput of the reference measurement channel with the peak reference sensitivity specified in Table 3. This requirement is verified using the test metric of EIS (Link = beam peak search grid, Meas = link angle).

[0090]

[0091] Table 3: Reference sensitivity

[0092] For a UE that supports operation in multiple FR2 frequency bands, the reference sensitivity relaxation parameter ΔMB as specified in Section 6.2.1.3 of 3GPP TS 38.101-2 P,n shall increase the minimum requirements for the reference sensitivity in Table 3 separately for each frequency band.

[0093] The FR2 Noc power level shall be adjusted according to the degree of relaxation. It is recommended to use a relaxation factor similar to the relaxation factor used for the RF EIS requirement to adjust the Noc power level.

[0094] For a UE that supports operation in multiple FR2 frequency bands, the following adjustments are made to Noc:

[0095] ·Noc MultiBand = Noc SingleBand + MB

[0096] ·Noc SingleBand is the Noc defined for a device with single-band support

[0097] ·Noc MultiBand is the Noc defined for a device with multi-band support

[0098] ·MB is the multi-band relaxation parameter

[0099] In one embodiment, A = ∑MB P, where ∑MB P is defined in Section 6.2.1.3 of 3GPP TS 38.101-2 (i.e., total peak EIRP relaxation).

[0100] In another embodiment, A = max(ΣMB P , ΣMB s ), where ∑MB s In 3GPP TS 38.101-2, it is defined in Section 6.2.1.3 (i.e., total EIRP spherical coverage relaxation). Different values may be applied to different frequency bands and UE power levels. In one embodiment, the proposal can be defined as Noc(Band_X, PC_Y) = -155 dBm / Hz + Refsens PC_Y,Band_X,50MHz – Refsens PC3,n260,50MHz + ΣMB P .

[0101] In another embodiment, the multi-band Noc can be defined as Noc(Band_X, PC_Y) = Refsens Band_X,PC_Y,50MHz -10Log 10 (SCS Refsens × PRB Refsens × 12) – SNR Refsens + Δ thermal + ΣMB P .

[0102] In another embodiment, the multi-band Noc can be defined as Noc(Band_X, PC_Y) = -155 dBm / Hz + Refsens PC_Y,Band_X,50MHz – Refsens PC3,n260,50MHz + max(ΣMB P, ΣMB s ).

[0103] In another embodiment, the multi-band Noc can be defined as Noc(Band_X, PC_Y) = Refsens Band_X,PC_Y,50MHz -10Log 10 (SCS Refsens × PRB Refsens × 12) – SNR Refsens + Δ thermal + max(ΣMB P , ΣMB s ).

[0104] The embodiments described herein can be applied to additional frequency ranges. In addition, the embodiments described herein can be applied to other radio access technology (RAT) tests (e.g., LTE).

[0105] System and specific implementation

[0106] Figure 2 FIG. 200 illustrates an exemplary architecture of a system 200 of a network according to various embodiments. The following description is provided for an example system 200 that operates in conjunction with the LTE system standard and the 5G or NR system standard provided in the 3GPP technical specifications. However, the exemplary embodiments are not limited in this regard, and the embodiments may be applied to other networks that benefit from the principles described herein, such as future 3GPP systems (e.g., sixth generation (6G) systems), IEEE 802.16 protocols (e.g., WMAN, WiMAX, etc.), and so on.

[0107] As Figure 2 shown, system 200 includes UEs 201a and 201b (collectively referred to as "UEs 201"). In this example, UEs 201 are shown as smart phones (e.g., handheld touchscreen mobile computing devices that can connect to one or more cellular networks), but may also include any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as consumer electronic devices, mobile phones, smart phones, feature phones, tablets, wearable computing devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), pagers, wireless handheld devices, desktop computers, laptop computers, in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), in-vehicle entertainment (ICE) devices, instrument clusters (IC), head-up display (HUD) devices, on-board diagnostic (OBD) devices, dashtop mobile equipment (DME), mobile data terminals (MDT), electronic engine management systems (EEMS), electronic / engine electronic control units (ECU), electronic / engine electronic control modules (ECM), embedded systems, microcontrollers, control modules, engine management systems (EMS), networked or "smart" appliances, MTC devices, M2M, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, etc.

[0108] In some embodiments, any of UEs 201 may be an IoT UE, which may include a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applications that utilize short-term UE connections. The IoT UE may utilize technologies such as M2M or MTC to exchange data with an MTC server or device via a PLMN, ProSe, or D2D communication, a sensor network, or an IoT network. The M2M or MTC data exchange may be machine-initiated data exchange. The IoT network describes interconnected IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure) with short-lived connections. The IoT UE may execute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate the connection to the IoT network.

[0109] The UE 201 can be configured to connect to the RAN 210, for example, communicatively coupled. In an embodiment, the RAN 210 can be an NG RAN or 5G RAN, E-UTRAN, or a legacy RAN such as UTRAN or GERAN. As used herein, terms such as "NG RAN" can refer to the RAN 210 operating in an NR or 5G system 200, while terms such as "E-UTRAN" can refer to the RAN 210 operating in an LTE or 4G system 200. The UE 201 utilizes connections (or channels) 203 and 204 respectively, each connection including a physical communication interface or layer (discussed further below in detail).

[0110] In this example, the connections 203 and 204 are shown as air interfaces to achieve communicative coupling and can be consistent with a cellular communication protocol such as the GSM protocol, CDMA network protocol, PTT protocol, POC protocol, UMTS protocol, 3GPP LTE protocol, 5G protocol, NR protocol, and / or any other communication protocol discussed herein. In an embodiment, the UE 201 can directly exchange communication data via the ProSe interface 205. The ProSe interface 205 can alternatively be referred to as the SL interface 205 and can include one or more logical channels including but not limited to PSCCH, PSSCH, PSDCH, and PSBCH.

[0111] The UE 201b is shown configured to access the AP 206 (also referred to as "WLAN node 206", "WLAN 206", "WLAN terminal 206", "WT 206", etc.) via the connection 207. The connection 207 can include a local wireless connection such as a connection consistent with any IEEE802.11 protocol, where the AP 206 will include a Wi-Fi router. In this example, the AP 206 is shown connected to the Internet without being connected to the core network of the wireless system (described further below in detail). In various embodiments, the UE 201b, RAN 210, and AP 206 can be configured to utilize LWA operation and / or LWIP operation. The LWA operation can involve the RAN nodes 211a-b configuring the UE 201b in the RRC_CONNECTED state to utilize the radio resources of LTE and WLAN. The LWIP operation can involve the UE 201b using the WLAN radio resources (e.g., connection 207) via an IPsec protocol tunnel to authenticate and encrypt the packets (e.g., IP packets) sent through the connection 207. The IPsec tunnel transport can include encapsulating the entire original IP packet and adding a new packet header, thus protecting the original header of the IP packet.

[0112] The RAN 210 includes one or more AN nodes or RAN nodes 211a and 211b (collectively referred to as "RAN nodes 211") that enable connections 203 and 204. As used herein, terms such as "access node", "access point", etc. may describe equipment that provides radio baseband functionality for data and / or voice connections between a network and one or more users. These access nodes may be referred to as BS, gNB, RAN node, eNB, NodeB, RSU, TRxP, or TRP, etc., and may include a terrestrial station (e.g., a land access point) or a satellite station that provides coverage within a geographical area (e.g., a cell). As used herein, terms such as "NG RAN node" etc. may refer to a RAN node 211 (e.g., gNB) operating in an NR or 5G system 200, while terms such as "E-UTRAN node" etc. may refer to a RAN node 211 (e.g., eNB) operating in an LTE or 4G system 200. According to various embodiments, the RAN nodes 211 may be implemented as one or more of dedicated physical devices such as macro cell base stations and / or low-power (LP) base stations for providing femto cells, pico cells, or other similar cells with a smaller coverage area, a smaller user capacity, or a higher bandwidth compared to macro cells.

[0113] In some embodiments, all or part of the RAN nodes 211 may be implemented as one or more software entities running on a server computer, as part of a virtual network that may be referred to as a Cloud RAN (CRAN) and / or a virtual baseband unit pool (vBBUP). In these embodiments, the CRAN or vBBUP may implement RAN function partitioning, such as PDCP partitioning, where the RRC and PDCP layers are operated by the CRAN / vBBUP, while other L2 protocol entities are operated by the respective RAN nodes 211; MAC / PHY partitioning, where the RRC, PDCP, RLC, and MAC layers are operated by the CRAN / vBBUP, and the PHY layer is operated by the respective RAN nodes 211; or "lower PHY" partitioning, where the RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC layers, and the upper part of the PHY layer are operated by the CRAN / vBBUP, and the lower part of the PHY layer is operated by the respective RAN nodes 211. This virtualization framework allows the idle processor cores of the RAN nodes 211 to execute other virtualized applications. In some specific implementations, a separate RAN node 211 may represent a separate gNB-DU connected to a gNB-CU via a separate F1 interface ( Figure 2 not shown). In these specific implementations, the gNB-DU may include one or more remote radio heads or RFEMs (see, for example, Figure 5), and the gNB-CU can be operated by a server (not shown) located in the RAN 210 or by a server pool in a manner similar to CRAN / vBBUP. In addition or alternatively, one or more of the RAN nodes in the RAN node 211 can be a next-generation eNB (ng-eNB), which is a RAN node that provides E-UTRA user plane and control plane protocol terminations to the UE 201 and is connected to the 5GC via the NG interface (discussed below) (e.g., Figure 4 CN 420).

[0114] In a V2X scenario, one or more of the RAN nodes in the RAN node 211 can be or act as an RSU. The term "roadside unit" or "RSU" can refer to any transportation infrastructure entity for V2X communication. The RSU can be implemented in or by a suitable RAN node or a stationary (or relatively stationary) UE, where the RSU implemented in or by the UE can be referred to as a "UE-type RSU", the RSU implemented in or by the eNB can be referred to as an "eNB-type RSU", the RSU implemented in or by the gNB can be referred to as a "gNB-type RSU", and so on. In one example, the RSU is a computing device coupled to a radio frequency circuit located on the roadside, which provides connectivity support to passing vehicle UEs 201 (vUE 201). The RSU can also include an internal data storage circuit for storing intersection map geometries, traffic statistics, media, and applications / software for sensing and controlling ongoing vehicle and pedestrian traffic. The RSU can operate on the 5.9 GHz direct short-range communication (DSRC) band to provide extremely low-latency communication required for high-speed events, such as collision avoidance, traffic warnings, etc. In addition or alternatively, the RSU can operate on the cellular V2X band to provide the aforementioned low-latency communication and other cellular communication services. In addition or alternatively, the RSU can operate as a Wi-Fi hotspot (2.4 GHz band) and / or provide connectivity to one or more cellular networks to provide uplink and downlink communication. Some or all of the computing device and the radio frequency circuit of the RSU can be encapsulated in a weather-resistant package suitable for outdoor installation and can include a network interface controller to provide a wired connection (e.g., Ethernet) to a traffic signal controller and / or a backhaul network.

[0115] Any one of the RAN nodes in the RAN node 211 can terminate the air interface protocol and can be the first point of contact for the UE 201. In some embodiments, any one of the RAN nodes in the RAN node 211 can perform various logical functions of the RAN 210, including but not limited to the functions of a radio network controller (RNC), such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management.

[0116] In an embodiment, the UE 201 may be configured to communicate with each other or with any one of the RAN nodes 211 over a multi-carrier communication channel using OFDM communication signals according to various communication technologies, such as but not limited to OFDMA communication technology (e.g., for downlink communication) or SC-FDMA communication technology (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communication), although the scope of the embodiment is not limited in this regard. The OFDM signal may include a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers.

[0117] In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid may be used for downlink transmission from any one of the RAN nodes 211 to the UE 201, and uplink transmission may utilize similar techniques. The grid may be a time-frequency grid, referred to as a resource grid or a time-frequency resource grid, which is the physical resource in the downlink in each time slot. For an OFDM system, such a time-frequency plane representation is a common practice, which makes radio resource allocation intuitive. Each column and each row of the resource grid correspond to an OFDM symbol and an OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of the resource grid in the time domain corresponds to one time slot in a radio frame. The smallest time-frequency unit in the resource grid is represented as a resource element. Each resource grid includes a plurality of resource blocks, which describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block includes a set of resource elements; in the frequency domain, this may represent the smallest amount of resources that can be currently allocated. Such resource blocks are used to transmit several different physical downlink channels.

[0118] According to various embodiments, the UE 201 and the RAN node 211 transmit data (e.g., transmit data and receive data) via a licensed medium (also referred to as "licensed spectrum" and / or "licensed band") and an unlicensed shared medium (also referred to as "unlicensed spectrum" and / or "unlicensed band"). The licensed spectrum may include channels operating in a frequency range of approximately 400 MHz to approximately 3.8 GHz, while the unlicensed spectrum may include the 5 GHz band.

[0119] To operate in the unlicensed spectrum, the UE 201 and the RAN node 211 may use LAA, eLAA, and / or feLAA mechanisms to operate. In these specific implementations, the UE 201 and the RAN node 211 may perform one or more known medium sensing operations and / or carrier sensing operations to determine whether one or more channels in the unlicensed spectrum are unavailable or otherwise occupied before transmitting in the unlicensed spectrum. The medium / carrier sensing operations may be performed according to the listen-before-talk (LBT) protocol.

[0120] LBT is a mechanism by which devices (e.g., UE 201, RAN node 211, etc.) sense the medium (e.g., a channel or carrier frequency) and perform transmission when the medium is sensed as idle (or when a specific channel in the medium is sensed as unoccupied). The medium sensing operation may include CCA, which uses at least ED to determine whether there are other signals on the channel to determine whether the channel is occupied or idle. This LBT mechanism allows the cellular / LAA network to coexist with existing systems in the unlicensed spectrum and with other LAA networks. ED may include sensing RF energy on the expected transmission band for a period of time and comparing the sensed RF energy with a predefined or configured threshold.

[0121] Typically, existing systems in the 5 GHz band are WLANs based on IEEE 802.11 technology. WLANs adopt a contention-based channel access mechanism called CSMA / CA. Here, when a WLAN node (e.g., a mobile station (MS) such as UE 201, AP 206, etc.) intends to transmit, the WLAN node may first perform CCA before transmission. Additionally, in the case where more than one WLAN node senses the channel as idle and transmits simultaneously, a backoff mechanism is used to avoid collisions. This backoff mechanism can be a counter randomly introduced within the CWS, which increases exponentially in case of collisions and is reset to the minimum value upon successful transmission. The LBT mechanism designed for LAA is somewhat similar to the CSMA / CA of WLAN. In some specific implementations, the LBT process for DL or UL transmission bursts (including PDSCH or PUSCH transmissions) may have an LAA contention window of variable length between X and Y ECCA time slots, where X and Y are the minimum and maximum values of the CWS of LAA. In one example, the minimum CWS for LAA transmission may be 9 microseconds (μs); however, the size of the CWS and the MCOT (e.g., transmission burst) may be based on government regulatory requirements.

[0122] The LAA mechanism is built on the CA technology of the LTE-Advanced system. In CA, each aggregated carrier is called a CC. A CC may have a bandwidth of 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, or 20 MHz, and up to five CCs can be aggregated, so the maximum aggregated bandwidth is 100 MHz. In an FDD system, for DL and UL, the number of aggregated carriers can be different, where the number of UL CCs is equal to or lower than the number of DL component carriers. In some cases, individual CCs may have different bandwidths from other CCs. In a TDD system, the number of CCs and the bandwidth of each CC are typically the same for DL and UL.

[0123] CA also includes respective serving cells to provide respective CCs. The coverage of the serving cells may vary, e.g., because the CCs on different frequency bands will experience different path losses. The primary serving cell or PCell may provide PCC for both UL and DL, and may handle activities related to RRC and NAS. Other serving cells are called SCell, and each SCell may provide respective SCC for both UL and DL. SCCs can be added and removed as needed, while changing the PCC may require the UE 201 to undergo a handover. In LAA, eLAA, and feLAA, some or all of the SCell may operate in the unlicensed spectrum (referred to as "LAA SCell"), and the LAA SCell is assisted by the PCell operating in the licensed spectrum. When the UE is configured with more than one LAA SCell, the UE may receive UL grants on the configured LAA SCell, indicating different PUSCH starting positions within the same subframe.

[0124] The PDSCH carries user data and higher layer signaling to the UE 201. Among other information, the PDCCH carries information about the transport format and resource allocation related to the PDSCH channel. It can also notify the UE 201 about the transport format, resource allocation, and HARQ information related to the uplink shared channel. Generally, downlink scheduling (allocating control and shared channel resource blocks to the UEs 201b within the cell) can be performed at any of the RAN nodes 211 based on the channel quality information fed back from any of the UEs 201. Downlink resource allocation information can be sent on the PDCCH for each UE (e.g., allocated to) within the UE 201.

[0125] The PDCCH uses CCEs to convey control information. Before being mapped to resource elements, the PDCCH complex-valued symbols can first be organized into quadruples, and then they can be arranged using a sub-block interleaver for rate matching. One or more of these CCEs can be used to transmit each PDCCH, where each CCE can correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements, called REGs. Four quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) symbols can be mapped to each REG. Depending on the size of the DCI and the channel conditions, one or more CCEs can be used to transmit the PDCCH. There can be four or more different PDCCH formats defined in LTE with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation levels, L = 1, 2, 4, or 8).

[0126] Some embodiments may use the concept of resource allocation for controlling channel information, which is an extension of the above concept. For example, some embodiments may utilize the EPDCCH that uses PDSCH resources for control information transmission. One or more ECCEs may be used to transmit the EPDCCH. Similar to the above, each ECCE may correspond to nine sets each including four physical resource elements, referred to as EREG. In some cases, an ECCE may have other numbers of EREG.

[0127] RAN nodes 211 may be configured to communicate with each other via interface 212. In an embodiment where system 200 is an LTE system (e.g., when CN 220 is an EPC 320 as in Figure 3 ), interface 212 may be an X2 interface 212. The X2 interface may be defined between two or more RAN nodes 211 (e.g., two or more eNBs, etc.) connected to EPC 220, and / or between two eNBs connected to EPC 220. In some specific implementations, the X2 interface may include an X2 user plane interface (X2-U) and an X2 control plane interface (X2-C). The X2-U may provide a flow control mechanism for user packets transmitted through the X2 interface, and may be used to convey information about the delivery of user data between eNBs. For example, the X2-U may provide specific sequence number information about user data transmitted from the MeNB to the SeNB; information about the successful in-sequence delivery of PDCP PDUs from the SeNB to the UE 201 for user data; information about PDCP PDUs not delivered to the UE 201; information about the current minimum expected buffer size at the SeNB for transmitting user data to the UE; and so on. The X2-C may provide intra-LTE access mobility functions, including context transfer from the source eNB to the target eNB, user plane transmission control, etc.; load management functions; and inter-cell interference coordination functions.

[0128] In an embodiment where system 200 is a 5G or NR system (e.g., when CN 220 is as in Figure 4In an implementation of the 5GC 420), the interface 212 may be the Xn interface 212. The Xn interface is defined between two or more RAN nodes 211 (e.g., two or more gNBs, etc.) connected to the 5GC 220, between a RAN node 211 (e.g., gNB) connected to the 5GC 220 and an eNB, and / or between two eNBs connected to the 5GC 220. In some specific implementations, the Xn interface may include an Xn user plane (Xn-U) interface and an Xn control plane (Xn-C) interface. The Xn-U may provide non-guaranteed delivery of user plane PDUs and support / provide data forwarding and traffic control functions. The Xn-C may provide management and error handling functions for managing the functions of the Xn-C interface; mobility support for the UE 201 in the connected mode (e.g., CM-CONNECTED) includes functions for managing the mobility of the UE in the connected mode between one or more RAN nodes 211. This mobility support may include context transfer from an old (source) serving RAN node 211 to a new (target) serving RAN node 211; and control of the user plane tunnel between the old (source) serving RAN node 211 and the new (target) serving RAN node 211. The protocol stack of the Xn-U may include a transport network layer built on the Internet Protocol (IP) transport layer, and a GTP-U layer for carrying user plane PDUs on top of the UDP and / or IP layer. The Xn-C protocol stack may include an application layer signaling protocol (referred to as the Xn application protocol (Xn-AP)) and a transport network layer built on SCTP. SCTP may be on top of the IP layer and may provide guaranteed delivery of application layer messages. In the transport IP layer, point-to-point transmission is used to deliver signaling PDUs. In other specific implementations, the Xn-U protocol stack and / or the Xn-C protocol stack may be the same as or similar to the user plane and / or control plane protocol stacks shown and described herein.

[0129] RAN 210 is shown as communicatively coupled to a core network - in this embodiment, communicatively coupled to core network (CN) 220. CN 220 may include a plurality of network elements 222, which are configured to provide various data and telecommunications services to customers / subscribers (e.g., users of UE 201) connected to CN 220 via RAN 210. The components of CN 220 may be implemented in one physical node or separate physical nodes, including components for reading and executing instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium). In some embodiments, NFV may be used to virtualize any or all of the above network node functions via executable instructions stored in one or more computer-readable storage media (described in further detail below). A logical instance of CN 220 may be referred to as a network slice, and a logical instance of a part of CN 220 may be referred to as a network sub-slice. The NFV architecture and infrastructure may be used to virtualize one or more network functions onto physical resources that include a combination of industry-standard server hardware, storage hardware, or switches (alternatively implemented by proprietary hardware). In other words, the NFV system may be used to perform a virtual or reconfigurable implementation of one or more EPC components / functions.

[0130] Generally speaking, application server 230 may be an element that provides an application that uses IP bearer resources with the core network (e.g., UMTS PS domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). Application server 230 may also be configured to support one or more communication services for UE 201 via EPC 220 (e.g., VoIP sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social network services, etc.).

[0131] In an embodiment, CN 220 may be a 5GC (referred to as "5GC 220", etc.), and RAN 210 may be connected to CN 220 via NG interface 213. In an embodiment, NG interface 213 may be divided into two parts: the NG user plane (NG-U) interface 214, which carries traffic data between RAN node 211 and UPF; and the S1 control plane (NG-C) interface 215, which is a signaling interface between RAN node 211 and AMF. Reference Figure 4 Embodiments where CN 220 is 5GC 220 are discussed in more detail.

[0132] In an embodiment, CN 220 can be a 5G CN (referred to as "5GC 220" etc.), while in other embodiments, CN 220 can be an EPC. In the case where CN 220 is an EPC (referred to as "EPC 220" etc.), RAN 210 can be connected to CN 220 via the S1 interface 213. In an embodiment, the S1 interface 213 can be divided into two parts: the S1 user plane (S1-U) interface 214, which carries traffic data between the RAN node 211 and the S-GW; and the S1-MME interface 215, which is a signaling interface between the RAN node 211 and the MME. Figure 3 An exemplary architecture is shown in which CN 220 is EPC 220.

[0133] Figure 3 An exemplary architecture of a system 300 including a first CN 320 is shown according to various embodiments. In this example, the system 300 can implement the LTE standard, where CN 320 is an EPC 320 corresponding to Figure 2 CN 220. Additionally, UE 301 can be the same as or similar to Figure 2 UE 201, and E-UTRAN 310 can be a RAN that is the same as or similar to Figure 2 RAN 210, and it can include the RAN node 211 discussed previously. CN 320 can include an MME 321, an S-GW 322, a P-GW 323, an HSS 324, and an SGSN 325.

[0134] Functionally, MME 321 can be similar to the control plane of a traditional SGSN and can implement MM functions to keep track of the current location of UE 301. MME 321 can perform various MM procedures to manage aspects of mobility in access, such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. MM (also referred to as "EPS MM" or "EMM" in the E-UTRAN system) can refer to all applicable procedures, methods, data storage, etc. for maintaining knowledge of the current location of UE 301, providing user identity confidentiality to the user / subscriber, and / or performing other similar services. Each UE 301 and MME 321 can include an MM or EMM sublayer, and when the attachment process is successfully completed, an MM context can be established in UE 301 and MME 321. The MM context can be a data structure or database object that stores MM-related information of UE 301. MME 321 can be coupled to HSS 324 via the S6a reference point, to SGSN 325 via the S3 reference point, and to S-GW 322 via the S11 reference point.

[0135] The SGSN 325 can be a node that serves the UE 301 by tracking the location of the individual UE 301 and performing security functions. Additionally, the SGSN 325 can perform inter-EPC node signaling for mobility between 2G / 3G and E-UTRAN 3GPP access networks; PDN and S-GW selection as specified by the MME 321; handling of the UE 301 time zone function as specified by the MME 321; and MME selection for handover to the E-UTRAN 3GPP access network. The S3 reference point between the MME 321 and the SGSN 325 can be enabled for user and bearer information exchange for 3GPP indirect access network mobility in the idle state and / or the active state.

[0136] The HSS 324 can include a database for network users, which includes subscription-related information for supporting network entity handling of communication sessions. The EPC 320 can include one or several HSS 324s, depending on the number of mobile subscribers, the capacity of the equipment, the organization of the network, etc. For example, the HSS 324 can provide support for routing / roaming, authentication, authorization, naming / addressing solutions, location dependence, etc. The S6a reference point between the HSS 324 and the MME 321 can enable the transfer of subscription and authentication data for authenticating / authorizing user access to the EPC 320 between the HSS 324 and the MME 321.

[0137] The S-GW 322 can terminate the S1 interface 213 towards the RAN 310 (referred to as "S1-U" in Figure 3 ), and route data packets between the RAN 310 and the EPC 320. Additionally, the S-GW 322 can be a local mobility anchor for inter-RAN node handover, and can also provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities can include lawful interception, charging, and enforcement of certain policies. The S11 reference point between the S-GW322 and the MME 321 can provide a control plane between the MME 321 and the S-GW 322. The S-GW 322 can be coupled to the P-GW 323 via the S5 reference point.

[0138] The P-GW 323 can terminate the SGi interface towards the PDN 330. The P-GW 323 can route data packets between the EPC 320 and an external network such as a network including an application server 230 (alternatively referred to as "AF") via an IP interface 225 (see, for example, Figure 2 ). In an embodiment, the P-GW 323 can be communicatively coupled to the application server ( Figure 2 ) via an IP communication interface 225 (see, for example, Figure 2 's application server 230 or Figure 3in the PDN 330). The S5 reference point between the P-GW 323 and the S-GW 322 can provide user plane tunneling and tunnel management between the P-GW 323 and the S-GW 322. Due to the mobility of the UE 301 and whether the S-GW 322 needs to be connected to a non-collocated P-GW 323 for the required PDN connectivity, the S5 reference point can also be used for S-GW 322 relocation. The P-GW 323 may also include a node for policy enforcement and charging data collection (such as the PCEF (not shown)). Additionally, the SGi reference point between the P-GW 323 and the packet data network (PDN) 330 can be an external public, private PDN of the operator or an internal operator packet data network, for example, for providing IMS services. The P-GW 323 can be coupled to the PCRF 326 via the Gx reference point.

[0139] The PCRF 326 is the policy and charging control element of the EPC 320. In a non-roaming scenario, there may be a single PCRF 326 in the home public land mobile network (HPLMN) associated with the Internet protocol connectivity access network (IP-CAN) session of the UE 301. In a roaming scenario with local traffic breakout, there may be two PCRFs associated with the IP-CAN session of the UE 301: the home PCRF (H-PCRF) in the HPLMN and the visited PCRF (V-PCRF) in the visited public land mobile network (VPLMN). The PCRF 326 can be communicatively coupled to the application server 330 via the P-GW 323. The application server 330 can send signals to notify the PCRF 326 to indicate a new service flow and select appropriate QoS and charging parameters. The PCRF 326 can configure the rule as a PCEF (not shown) with appropriate TFT and QCI, and start QoS and charging as specified by the application server 330. The Gx reference point between the PCRF 326 and the P-GW 323 can allow the transmission of QoS policies and charging rules from the PCRF 326 to the PCEF in the P-GW 323. The Rx reference point can reside between the PDN 330 (or "AF 330") and the PCRF 326.

[0140] Figure 4Illustrates the architecture of system 400 including a second CN 420 according to various embodiments. System 400 is shown to include a UE 401, which may be the same as or similar to the previously discussed UE 201 and UE 301; a (R)AN 410, which may be the same as or similar to the previously discussed RAN 210 and RAN 310, and which may include the previously discussed RAN node 211; and a DN 403, which may be, for example, carrier services, Internet access, or third-party services; and a 5GC 420. 5GC 420 may include an AUSF 422; an AMF 421; an SMF 424; a NEF 423; a PCF 426; an NRF 425; a UDM 427; an AF 428; a UPF 402; and an NSSF 429.

[0141] UPF 402 may act as an anchor point for mobility within and between RATs, an external PDU session point for interconnecting with DN 403, and a branching point for supporting multi-homed PDU sessions. UPF 402 may also perform packet routing and forwarding, perform packet inspection, perform the user plane part of policy rules, legally intercept packets (UP collection), perform traffic usage reporting, perform QoS handling for the user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL / DL rate enforcement), perform uplink traffic verification (e.g., SDF to QoS flow mapping), perform transport-level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, and perform downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering. UPF 402 may include an uplink classifier to support routing traffic flows to data networks. DN403 may represent various network operator services, Internet access, or third-party services. DN 403 may include or be similar to the previously discussed application server 230. UPF 402 may interact with SMF 424 via the N4 reference point between SMF 424 and UPF 402.

[0142] AUSF 422 may store authentication data for UE 401 and handle authentication-related functions. AUSF 422 may facilitate a common authentication framework for various access types. AUSF 422 may communicate with AMF 421 via the N12 reference point between AMF 421 and AUSF 422; and may communicate with UDM 427 via the N13 reference point between UDM 427 and AUSF 422. Additionally, AUSF 422 may expose an interface based on the Nausf service.

[0143] The AMF 421 may be responsible for registration management (e.g., responsible for registering the UE 401, etc.), connection management, reachability management, mobility management, and lawful interception of AMF-related events, and access authentication and authorization. The AMF 421 may be the termination point of the N11 reference point between the AMF 421 and the SMF 424. The AMF 421 may provide transmission for the SM messages between the UE 401 and the SMF 424, and act as a transparent proxy for routing the SM messages. The AMF 421 may also provide transmission for the SMS messages between the UE 401 and the SMSF ( Figure 4 not shown in the figure). The AMF 421 may act as the SEAF, which may include interactions with the AUSF 422 and the UE 401, and receive the intermediate key established due to the UE 401 authentication process. In the case of using USIM-based authentication, the AMF 421 may retrieve the security material from the AUSF 422. The AMF 421 may also include the SCM function, which receives the key for deriving the access network-specific key from the SEA. In addition, the AMF 421 may be the termination point of the RAN CP interface, which may include or be the N2 reference point between the (R)AN 410 and the AMF 421; and the AMF 421 may be the termination point of the NAS (N1) signaling, and perform NAS encryption and integrity protection.

[0144] The AMF 421 may also support NAS signaling with the UE 401 through the N3 IWF interface. The N3 IWF may be used to provide access to untrusted entities. The N3 IWF may be the termination point of the N2 interface between the (R)AN 410 in the control plane and the AMF 421, and may be the termination point of the N3 reference point between the (R)AN 410 in the user plane and the UPF 402. Therefore, the AMF 421 may process the N2 signaling for the PDU session and QoS from the SMF 424 and the AMF 421, encapsulate / de-encapsulate packets for IPSec and N3 tunnels, mark the N3 user plane packets in the uplink, and perform the QoS corresponding to the N3 packet marking, taking into account the QoS requirements associated with such markings received through the N2. The N3 IWF may also relay the uplink and downlink control plane NAS signaling between the UE 401 and the AMF 421 via the N1 reference point between the UE 401 and the AMF 421, and relay the uplink and downlink user plane packets between the UE 401 and the UPF 402. The N3 IWF also provides a mechanism for establishing an IPsec tunnel with the UE 401. The AMF 421 may present an interface based on the Namf service, and may be the termination point of the N14 reference point between two AMF 421s and the N17 reference point between the AMF 421 and the 5G-EIR ( Figure 4 not shown).

[0145] UE 401 may need to register with the AMF 421 to receive network services. The RM is used to register or deregister the UE 401 with the network (e.g., the AMF 421) and establish a UE context in the network (e.g., the AMF 421). The UE 401 can operate in the RM-REGISTERED state or the RM-DEREGISTERED state. In the RM-DEREGISTERED state, the UE 401 is not registered with the network, and the UE context in the AMF 421 does not hold the valid location or routing information of the UE 401, so the AMF 421 cannot reach the UE 401. In the RM-REGISTERED state, the UE 401 is registered with the network, and the UE context in the AMF 421 can hold the valid location or routing information of the UE 401, so the AMF 421 can reach the UE 401. In the RM-REGISTERED state, the UE 401 can perform a mobility registration update procedure, perform a periodic registration update procedure triggered by the expiration of a periodic update timer (e.g., to notify the network that the UE 401 is still active), and perform a registration update procedure to update UE capability information or renegotiate protocol parameters with the network, etc.

[0146] The AMF 421 can store one or more RM contexts for the UE 401, where each RM context is associated with a specific access to the network. The RM context can be a data structure, a database object, etc., which indicates or stores, in particular, the registration status and the periodic update timer for each access type. The AMF 421 can also store a 5GC MM context that can be the same as or similar to the previously discussed (E)MM context. In various embodiments, the AMF 421 can store the CE mode B restriction parameters of the UE 401 in the associated MM context or RM context. The AMF 421 can also derive values from the usage setting parameters of the UE that have been stored in the UE context (and / or MM / RM context) when needed.

[0147] CM can be used to establish and release a signaling connection between the UE 401 and the AMF 421 via the N1 interface. The signaling connection is used to enable NAS signaling exchange between the UE 401 and the CN 420, and includes a signaling connection between the UE and the AN (e.g., an RRC connection for non-3GPP access or a UE-N3IWF connection) and an N2 connection of the UE 401 between the AN (e.g., the RAN 410) and the AMF 421. The UE 401 can operate in one of two CM states (CM-IDLE mode or CM-CONNECTED mode). When the UE 401 operates in the CM-IDLE state / mode, the UE 401 may not have a NAS signaling connection established with the AMF 421 via the N1 interface, and there may be an (R)AN 410 signaling connection (e.g., N2 and / or N3 connection) for the UE 401. When the UE 401 operates in the CM-CONNECTED state / mode, the UE 401 may have a NAS signaling connection established with the AMF 421 via the N1 interface, and there may be an (R)AN 410 signaling connection (e.g., N2 and / or N3 connection) for the UE 401. Establishing an N2 connection between the (R)AN 410 and the AMF 421 may cause the UE 401 to transition from the CM-IDLE mode to the CM-CONNECTED mode, and when the N2 signaling between the (R)AN 410 and the AMF 421 is released, the UE 401 may transition from the CM-CONNECTED mode to the CM-IDLE mode.

[0148] The SMF 424 may be responsible for session management (e.g., session establishment, modification, and release, including tunnel maintenance between the UPF and the AN node); UE IP address allocation and management (including optional authorization); selection and control of the UPF function; configuring the traffic steering of the UPF to route traffic to the correct destination; terminating the interface towards the policy control function; the policy enforcement and the control part of QoS; lawful interception (for SM events and the interface with the LI system); terminating the SM part of the NAS message; downlink data notification; initiating AN-specific SM information sent to the AN via the AMF over N2; and determining the SSC mode of the session. Session management may refer to the management of the PDU session, and the PDU session or "session" may refer to the PDU connectivity service that provides or enables the PDU exchange between the UE 401 identified by the data network name (DNN) and the data network (DN) 403. The PDU session may be established upon request by the UE 401 using NAS SM signaling exchanged between the UE 401 and the SMF 424 over the N1 reference point, modified upon request by the UE 401 and the 5GC 420, and released upon request by the UE 401 and the 5GC 420. Upon request from the application server, the 5GC 420 may trigger a specific application in the UE 401. In response to receiving the trigger message, the UE 401 may pass the trigger message (or the relevant part / information of the trigger message) to one or more identified applications in the UE 401. The identified applications in the UE 401 may establish a PDU session to a specific DNN. The SMF 424 may check whether the UE 401 request complies with the user subscription information associated with the UE 401. In this regard, the SMF 424 may retrieve and / or request to receive an update notification on the subscription data at the SMF 424 level from the UDM 427.

[0149] The SMF 424 may include the following roaming functions: handling local enforcement to apply the QoS SLA (VPLMN); charging data collection and charging interface (VPLMN); lawful interception (for SM events and the interface with the LI system, in the VPLMN); and supporting interaction with the external DN to transmit signaling for PDU session authorization / authentication over the external DN. In the roaming scenario, the N16 reference point between two SMF 424s may be included in the system 400, which may be between the SMF 424 in the visited network and another SMF 424 in the home network. Additionally, the SMF 424 may present an interface based on the Nsmf service.

[0150] The NEF 423 can provide components for securely exposing the services and capabilities provided by 3GPP network functions to third parties, internal exposure / re-exposure, application functions (e.g., AF 428), edge computing or fog computing systems, etc. In such an implementation, the NEF 423 can authenticate, authorize, and / or restrict the AF. The NEF 423 can also transform the information exchanged with the AF 428 and the information exchanged with internal network functions. For example, the NEF 423 can transform between the AF service identifier and the internal 5GC information. The NEF 423 can also receive information from other network functions (NFs) based on the exposure capabilities of the other NFs. This information can be stored at the NEF 423 as structured data, or stored at the data storage NF using a standardized interface. Then, the stored information can be re-exposed by the NEF 423 to other NFs and AFs, and / or used for other purposes such as analysis. Additionally, the NEF 423 can present an interface based on the Nnef service.

[0151] The NRF 425 can support the service discovery function, receive NF discovery requests from NF instances, and provide information about the discovered NF instances to the NF instances. The NRF 425 also maintains information about the available NF instances and the services supported by these instances. As used herein, terms such as "instantiation" can refer to the creation of an instance, and an "instance" can refer to a specific occurrence of an object, which can occur, for example, during the execution of program code. Additionally, the NRF 425 can present an interface based on the Nnrf service.

[0152] The PCF 426 can provide control plane functions for executing their policy rules, and can also support a unified policy framework for managing network behavior. The PCF 426 can also implement the FE to access the subscription information related to the policy decisions in the UDR of the UDM 427. The PCF 426 can communicate with the AMF 421 via the N15 reference point between the PCF 426 and the AMF 421, which can include the PCF 426 in the visited network and the AMF 421 in the case of a roaming scenario. The PCF 426 can communicate with the AF 428 via the N5 reference point between the PCF 426 and the AF 428; and communicate with the SMF 424 via the N7 reference point between the PCF 426 and the SMF 424. The system 400 and / or the CN 420 can also include the N24 reference point between the PCF 426 (in the home network) and the PCF 426 (in the visited network). Additionally, the PCF 426 can present an interface based on the Npcf service.

[0153] The UDM 427 can process subscription-related information to support the handling of communication sessions by network entities and can store the subscription data of the UE 401. For example, subscription data can be transmitted between the UDM 427 and the AMF 421 via the N8 reference point between the UDM 427 and the AMF. The UDM 427 can include two parts: the Application FE and the UDR( Figure 4 (the FE and the UDR are not shown). The UDR can store the subscription data and policy data of the UDM 427 and the PCF 426, and / or the structured data for exposure and application data of the NEF 423 (including the PFD for application detection, the application request information of multiple UEs 401). The Nudr service-based interface can be presented by the UDR 221 to allow the UDM 427, the PCF 426, and the NEF 423 to access a specific set of the stored data, and to read, update (e.g., add, modify), delete, and subscribe to notifications of relevant data changes in the UDR. The UDM can include the UDM-FE, which is responsible for handling credentials, location management, subscription management, etc. In different transactions, several different front-ends can serve the same user. The UDM-FE accesses the subscription information stored in the UDR and performs authentication credential processing, user identification processing, access authorization, registration / mobility management, and subscription management. The UDR can interact with the SMF 424 via the N10 reference point between the UDM 427 and the SMF 424. The UDM 427 can also support SMS management, where the SMS-FE implements similar application logic as previously discussed. Additionally, the UDM427 can present a Nudm service-based interface.

[0154] The AF 428 can provide the impact of the application on traffic routing, provide access to the NCE, and interact with the policy framework for policy control. The NCE can be a mechanism that allows the 5GC 420 and the AF 428 to provide information to each other via the NEF 423, which can be used for edge computing implementations. In such implementations, network operators and third-party services can be hosted near the access point of the attached UE 401 to achieve efficient service delivery with reduced end-to-end latency and load on the transport network. For edge computing implementations, the 5GC can select the UPF 402 near the UE 401 and perform traffic steering from the UPF 402 to the DN 403 via the N6 interface. This can be based on the UE subscription data, the UE location, and the information provided by the AF 428. In this way, the AF 428 can affect the UPF (re)selection and traffic routing. Based on the operator deployment, when the AF 428 is considered a trusted entity, the network operator can allow the AF 428 to directly interact with the relevant NF. Additionally, the AF 428 can present a Naf service-based interface.

[0155] The NSSF 429 selects a set of network slice instances that can serve the UE 401. If needed, the NSSF 429 can also determine the allowed NSSAI and the mapping to the subscribed S-NSSAI. The NSSF 429 can also determine, based on appropriate configuration and possibly by querying the NRF 425, a set of AMFs or a list of candidate AMFs 421 for serving the UE 401. The selection of a set of network slice instances for the UE 401 can be triggered by the AMF 421, where the UE 401 registers by interacting with the NSSF 429, which can cause the AMF 421 to change. The NSSF 429 can interact with the AMF 421 via the N22 reference point between the AMF 421 and the NSSF 429; and can communicate with another NSSF 429 in the visited network via the N31 reference point ( Figure 4 not shown). Additionally, the NSSF 429 can expose an Nnssf service-based interface.

[0156] As previously discussed, the CN 420 can include an SMSF, which can be responsible for SMS subscription checking and verification and relaying SM messages to / from the UE 401 to / from other entities such as SMS-GMSC / IWMSC / SMS routers. The SMS can also interact with the AMF 421 and the UDM 427 for a notification procedure for which the UE 401 can be used for SMS transmission (e.g., setting the UE unreachable flag and notifying the UDM 427 when the UE 401 is available for SMS).

[0157] The CN 120 can also include Figure 4 other elements not shown, such as data storage systems / architectures, 5G-EIR, SEPP, etc. The data storage system can include SDSF, UDSF, etc. Any NF can store unstructured data into the UDSF (e.g., UE context) or retrieve it from the UDSF via the N18 reference point between any NF and the UDSF ( Figure 4 not shown). A single NF can share the UDSF for storing its corresponding unstructured data, or each NF can have its own UDSF located at or near the single NF. Additionally, the UDSF can expose an Nudsf service-based interface ( Figure 4 not shown). The 5G-EIR can be an NF that checks the status of the PEI to determine whether to blacklist a specific piece of equipment / entity from the network; and the SEPP can be a non-transparent proxy that performs topology hiding, message filtering, and policing on the PLMN-interworking control plane interface.

[0158] Additionally, there can be more reference points and / or service-based interfaces between the NF services in the NF; however, for clarity, Figure 4These interfaces and reference points are omitted. In one example, CN 420 may include an Nx interface, which is an inter-CN interface between an MME (e.g., MME 321) and an AMF 421 to enable interoperability between CN 420 and CN 320. Other example interfaces / reference points may include an interface based on N5g-EIR services presented by a 5G-EIR, an N27 reference point between an NRF in a visited network and an NRF in a home network; and an N31 reference point between an NSSF in a visited network and an NSSF in a home network.

[0159] Figure 5 An example of infrastructure equipment 500 according to various embodiments is shown. Infrastructure equipment 500 (or "system 500") may be implemented as a base station, a radio headend, a RAN node (such as the RAN nodes 211 and / or AP 206 shown and described previously), an application server 230, and / or any other element / device discussed herein. In other examples, system 500 may be implemented in or by a UE.

[0160] System 500 includes: an application circuit 505, a baseband circuit 510, one or more radio front-end modules (RFEMs) 515, a memory circuit 520, a power management integrated circuit (PMIC) 525, a power triple circuit 530, a network controller circuit 535, a network interface connector 540, a satellite positioning circuit 545, and a user interface 550. In some embodiments, device 500 may include additional elements, such as, for example, a memory / storage device, a display, a camera, a sensor, or an input / output (I / O) interface. In other embodiments, the following components may be included in more than one device. For example, the circuits may be separately included in more than one device for CRAN, vBBU, or other similar implementations.

[0161] The application circuit 505 includes circuits such as, but not limited to: one or more processors (processor cores), a cache memory, and one or more of the following: a low dropout regulator (LDO), an interrupt controller, a serial interface such as SPI, I 2C or a general-purpose programmable serial interface module, a real-time clock (RTC), timer-counters including interval timers and watchdog timers, general-purpose input / output (I / O or IO), a memory card controller such as a Secure Digital (SD) Multimedia Card (MMC) or the like, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface, a Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) interface, and a Joint Test Action Group (JTAG) test access port. The processor (or core) of the application circuit 505 may be coupled to or may include a memory / storage element and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory / storage device to enable various applications or operating systems to run on the system 500. In some embodiments, the memory / storage element may be an on-chip memory circuit that may include any suitable volatile and / or non-volatile memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, solid-state memory, and / or any other type of memory device technology, such as those discussed herein.

[0162] The processor of the application circuit 505 may include, for example, one or more processor cores (CPUs), one or more application processors, one or more graphics processing units (GPUs), one or more Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) processors, one or more Acorn RISC Machine (ARM) processors, one or more Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC) processors, one or more Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), one or more FPGAs, one or more PLDs, one or more ASICs, one or more microprocessors or controllers, or any suitable combination thereof. In some embodiments, the application circuit 505 may include or may be a dedicated processor / controller for operating according to the various embodiments herein. As an example, the processor of the application circuit 505 may include one or more Intel or processors; Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) processors, Accelerated Processing Units (APUs), or processors; ARM-based processors licensed by ARM Holdings, Ltd., such as the ARM Cortex-A series processors provided by Cavium (TM), Inc., and MIPS-based designs from MIPS Technologies, Inc., such as the MIPS Warrior P-class processors; and so on. In some embodiments, the system 500 may not utilize the application circuit 505 and, instead, may include a dedicated processor / controller to process, for example, IP data received from an EPC or 5GC.

[0163] In some specific implementations, the application circuit 505 may include one or more hardware accelerators, which may be microprocessors, programmable processing devices, etc. The one or more hardware accelerators may include, for example, computer vision (CV) and / or deep learning (DL) accelerators. For example, the programmable processing device may be one or more field programmable devices (FPDs), such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), etc.; programmable logic devices (PLDs), such as complex PLDs (CPLDs), high-capacity PLDs (HCPLDs), etc.; ASICs, such as structured ASICs, etc.; programmable system-on-chips (PSoCs); and so on. In such embodiments, the circuitry of the application circuit 505 may include logic blocks or logic architectures, as well as other interconnected resources that can be programmed to perform various functions such as the processes, methods, functions, etc. discussed in various embodiments herein. In such embodiments, the circuitry of the application circuit 505 may include memory units (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, static memory (e.g., static random access memory (SRAM), antifuse, etc.)) for storing logic blocks, logic architectures, data, etc. in look-up tables (LUTs), etc.

[0164] The baseband circuit 510 may be implemented as, for example, a soldered-in substrate that includes one or more integrated circuits, a single packaged integrated circuit soldered to the main circuit board, or a multi-chip module that includes two or more integrated circuits. Various hardware electronic components of the baseband circuit 510 are discussed below with reference to Figure 7 discussion of the various hardware electronic components of the baseband circuit 510.

[0165] The user interface circuit 550 may include one or more user interfaces designed to enable a user to interact with the system 500 or a peripheral component interface, which is designed to enable a peripheral component to interact with the system 500. The user interface may include, but is not limited to, one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., reset buttons), one or more indicators (e.g., light-emitting diodes (LEDs)), a physical keyboard or keypad, a mouse, a touchpad, a touchscreen, a speaker or other audio emitting device, a microphone, a printer, a scanner, headphones, a display screen or display device, etc. The peripheral component interface may include, but is not limited to, a non-volatile memory port, a universal serial bus (USB) port, an audio jack, a power interface, etc.

[0166] The radio frequency front-end module (RFEM) 515 may include a millimeter wave (mmWave) RFEM and one or more sub-millimeter wave radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). In some specific implementations, the one or more sub-millimeter wave RFICs may be physically separated from the mmWave RFEM. The RFIC may include connections to one or more antennas or antenna arrays (see, for example, below Figure 7Antenna array 711), and RFEM can be connected to multiple antennas. In an alternative implementation, both millimeter wave and sub-millimeter wave radio functions can be implemented in the same physical RFEM515 that combines both millimeter wave antennas and sub-millimeter waves.

[0167] The memory circuit 520 may include one or more of the following: a volatile memory including a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and / or a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), and a non-volatile memory (NVM) including a high-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as a "flash memory"), a phase change random access memory (PRAM), a magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), etc., and may be combined with and The memory circuit 520 may be implemented as one or more of: a solder-in package integrated circuit, a socket memory module, and a plug-in memory card.

[0168] The PMIC 525 may include a voltage regulator, a surge protector, a power alarm detection circuit, and one or more backup power sources, such as a battery or capacitor. The power alarm detection circuit may detect one or more of a brownout (undervoltage) and a surge (overvoltage) condition. The power tee circuit 530 may provide power extracted from a network cable to provide both power and data connections for the infrastructure equipment 500 using a single cable.

[0169] The network controller circuit 535 may provide a connection to the network using a standard network interface protocol such as Ethernet, Ethernet based on a GRE tunnel, Ethernet based on a multi-protocol label switching (MPLS), or some other suitable protocol. A physical connection may be used to provide a network connection to / from the infrastructure equipment 500 via a network interface connector 540, which may be an electrical connection (commonly referred to as a "copper interconnect"), an optical connection, or a wireless connection. The network controller circuit 535 may include one or more dedicated processors and / or FPGAs for communicating using one or more of the aforementioned protocols. In some specific implementations, the network controller circuit 535 may include multiple controllers for providing connections to other networks using the same or different protocols.

[0170] The positioning circuit 545 includes circuitry for receiving and decoding signals transmitted / broadcast by the positioning network of a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). Examples of navigation satellite constellations (or GNSS) include the Global Positioning System (GPS) of the United States, the Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) of Russia, the Galileo system of the European Union, the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System of China, regional navigation systems, or GNSS augmentation systems (e.g., for navigation using the Indian Constellation (NAVIC), the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) of Japan, the Doppler Orbitography and Radio-positioning Integrated by Satellite (DORIS) of France, etc.). The positioning circuit 545 includes various hardware components (e.g., including hardware devices for facilitating OTA communication such as switches, filters, amplifiers, antenna elements, etc.) to communicate with components of the positioning network such as navigation satellite constellation nodes. In some embodiments, the positioning circuit 545 may include a Microtechnology for Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (Micro-PNT) IC that uses a primary timing clock to perform position tracking / estimation in the absence of GNSS assistance. The positioning circuit 545 may also be part of or interact with the baseband circuit 510 and / or the RFEM 515 to communicate with the nodes and components of the positioning network. The positioning circuit 545 may also provide position data and / or time data to the application circuit 505, which may use this data to synchronize operations with various infrastructure (e.g., RAN node 211, etc.).

[0171] Figure 5 The components shown may communicate with each other using an interface circuit, which may include any number of bus and / or interconnect (IX) technologies such as Industry Standard Architecture (ISA), Extended ISA (EISA), Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), Peripheral Component Interconnect Extended (PCIx), PCI Express (PCIe), or any number of other technologies. The bus / IX may be a proprietary bus, e.g., used in an SoC-based system. Other bus / IX systems may be included, such as 2 I

[0172] Figure 6 An example of a platform 600 (or “device 600”) is shown in accordance with various embodiments. In an embodiment, the computer platform 600 may be adapted to be used as a UE 201, 301, 401, an application server 230, and / or any other element / device discussed herein. The platform 600 may include any combination of the components shown in the example. The components of the platform 600 may be implemented as an integrated circuit (IC), a portion of an IC, discrete electronic devices, or other modules, logic, hardware, software, firmware, or combinations thereof adapted within the computer platform 600, or as components otherwise incorporated within the chassis of a larger system. Figure 6The block diagram is intended to show a high-level view of the components of computer platform 600. However, some of the components shown may be omitted, additional components may exist, and different arrangements of the components shown may occur in other specific implementations.

[0173] Application circuitry 605 includes circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more processors (or processor cores), cache memory, and an LDO, an interrupt controller, a serial interface (such as SPI), I 2 C or a general-purpose programmable serial interface module, an RTC, timers (including interval timers and watchdog timers), general-purpose I / O, a memory card controller (such as an SD MMC or similar controller), a USB interface, a MIPI interface, and a JTAG test access port, among one or more of them. The processor (or core) of application circuitry 605 may be coupled to the memory / storage element or may include the memory / storage element and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory / storage device to enable various applications or operating systems to run on system 600. In some embodiments, the memory / storage element may be an on-chip memory circuit that may include any suitable volatile and / or non-volatile memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, solid-state memory, and / or any other type of memory device technology, such as those discussed herein.

[0174] The processor of application circuitry 505 may include, for example, one or more processor cores, one or more application processors, one or more GPUs, one or more RISC processors, one or more ARM processors, one or more CISC processors, one or more DSPs, one or more FPGAs, one or more PLDs, one or more ASICs, one or more microprocessors or controllers, a multi-threaded processor, an ultra-low voltage processor, an embedded processor, some other known processing elements, or any suitable combination thereof. In some embodiments, application circuitry 505 may include or may be a dedicated processor / controller for operating in accordance with the various embodiments herein.

[0175] As an example, the processor of application circuitry 605 may include a processor based on Architecture TM such as Quark TM , Atom TM , i3, i5, i7, or an MCU-class processor, or another such processor available from Corporation in Santa Clara, California. The processor of application circuitry 605 may also be one or more of the following: Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) A processor or an accelerated processing unit (APU); from the A5 - A9 processors from Inc., the Snapdragon from TM Technologies, Inc., the Texas Instruments Open Multimedia Applications Platform (OMAP) TM processor; MIPS - based designs from MIPS Technologies, Inc., such as MIPS Warrior M - class, Warrior I - class, and Warrior P - class processors; ARM - based designs licensed from ARM Holdings, Ltd., such as ARM Cortex - A, Cortex - R, and Cortex - M series processors; etc. In some specific implementations, the application circuitry 605 can be part of a system - on - a - chip (SoC), where the application circuitry 605 and other components are formed as a single integrated circuit or a single package, such as the Edison from Corporation TM or Galileo TM SoC board.

[0176] In addition or alternatively, the application circuitry 605 can include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more field - programmable devices (FPD) such as FPGAs, etc.; programmable logic devices (PLD), such as complex PLD (CPLD), high - capacity PLD (HCPLD), etc.; ASICs, such as structured ASICs, etc.; programmable SoCs (PSoC); etc. In such embodiments, the circuitry of the application program circuitry 605 can include logic blocks or logic architectures, and other interconnected resources that can be programmed to perform various functions such as the processes, methods, functions, etc. discussed in various embodiments herein. In such embodiments, the circuitry of the application circuitry 605 can include memory units (e.g., erasable programmable read - only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read - only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, static memory (e.g., static random - access memory (SRAM), antifuse, etc.)) for storing logic blocks, logic architectures, data, etc. in look - up tables (LUTs), etc.

[0177] The baseband circuitry 610 can be implemented as, for example, a soldered - in substrate that includes one or more integrated circuits, a single - package integrated circuit soldered to the main circuit board, or a multi - chip module that contains two or more integrated circuits. The various hardware electronic components of the baseband circuitry 610 are discussed below with reference to Figure 7 discussion.

[0178] RFEM 615 may include a millimeter-wave (mmWave) RFEM and one or more sub-millimeter-wave radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). In some embodiments, the one or more sub-millimeter-wave RFICs may be physically separated from the millimeter-wave RFEM. The RFIC may include connections to one or more antennas or antenna arrays (see, for example, antenna array 711 below Figure 7 ), and the RFEM may be connected to multiple antennas. In an alternative embodiment, the radio functions of both millimeter-wave and sub-millimeter-wave may be implemented in the same physical RFEM 615 that combines millimeter-wave antennas and sub-millimeter-waves.

[0179] The memory circuit 620 may include any number and type of memory devices for providing a given amount of system memory. For example, the memory circuit 620 may include one or more of the following: volatile memory, which includes random access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), and / or synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM); and non-volatile memory (NVM), which includes high-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as flash memory), phase change random access memory (PRAM), magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), etc. The memory circuit 620 may be developed according to Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (JEDEC) low-power double data rate (LPDDR)-based designs such as LPDDR2, LPDDR3, LPDDR4, etc. The memory circuit 620 may be implemented as one or more of the following: a soldered-in package integrated circuit, a single die package (SDP), a dual die package (DDP), or a quad die package (Q17P), a socketed memory module, a dual in-line memory module (DIMM) including a micro DIMM or a mini DIMM, and / or soldered to a motherboard via a ball grid array (BGA). In low-power embodiments, the memory circuit 620 may be on-chip memory or registers associated with the application circuit 605. To provide persistent storage of information such as data, applications, operating systems, etc., the memory circuit 620 may include one or more mass storage devices, which may particularly include solid state disk drives (SSDDs), hard disk drives (HDDs), micro HDDs, resistive change memories, phase change memories, holographic memories, or chemical memories, etc. For example, the computer platform 600 may incorporate 3D cross-point (XPOINT) memory obtained from and .

[0180] The removable memory circuit 623 may include devices, circuits, enclosures / casings, ports, or sockets, etc. for coupling a portable data storage device to the platform 600. These portable data storage devices can be used for mass storage and may include, for example, flash memory cards (e.g., Secure Digital (SD) cards, micro SD cards, xD Picture cards, etc.), as well as USB flash drives, optical discs, external HDDs, etc.

[0181] The platform 600 may also include interface circuitry (not shown) for connecting external devices to the platform 600. External devices connected to the platform 600 via this interface circuitry include a sensor circuit 621 and an electromechanical component (EMC) 622, as well as a removable memory device coupled to the removable memory circuit 623.

[0182] The sensor circuit 621 includes devices, modules, or subsystems aimed at detecting events or changes in its environment and sending information (sensor data) about the detected events to some other device, module, subsystem, etc. Examples of such sensors include, in particular: an inertial measurement unit (IMU) including an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and / or a magnetometer; a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) or nanoelectromechanical system (NEMS) including a three-axis accelerometer, a three-axis gyroscope, and / or a magnetometer; a level sensor; a flow sensor; a temperature sensor (e.g., a thermistor); a pressure sensor; a barometric pressure sensor; a gravimeter; an altimeter; an image capture device (e.g., a camera or a lensless aperture); a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensor; a proximity sensor (e.g., an infrared radiation detector, etc.), a depth sensor, an ambient light sensor, an ultrasonic transceiver; a microphone or other similar audio capture device; etc.

[0183] The EMC 622 includes devices, modules, or subsystems aimed at enabling the platform 600 to change its state, position, and / or orientation or move or control a mechanism or (sub)system. Additionally, the EMC 622 may be configured to generate messages / signaling and send messages / signaling to other components of the platform 600 to indicate the current state of the EMC 622. Examples of the EMC 622 include one or more power switches, relays (including electromechanical relays (EMR) and / or solid-state relays (SSR)), actuators (e.g., valve actuators, etc.), audible sound generators, visual warning devices, motors (e.g., DC motors, stepper motors, etc.), wheels, thrusters, propellers, claws, clamps, hooks, and / or other similar electromechanical components. In an embodiment, the platform 600 is configured to operate one or more EMC 622s based on one or more captured events and / or instructions or control signals received from a service provider and / or various clients.

[0184] In some specific implementations, the interface circuit can connect the platform 600 to the positioning circuit 645. The positioning circuit 645 includes circuitry for receiving and decoding signals transmitted / broadcast by the positioning network of GNSS. Examples of navigation satellite constellations (or GNSS) can include GPS in the United States, GLONASS in Russia, the Galileo system in the European Union, the Beidou Navigation Satellite System in China, regional navigation systems, or GNSS augmentation systems (e.g., NAVIC, QZSS in Japan, DORIS in France, etc.). The positioning circuit 645 includes various hardware components (e.g., including hardware devices for facilitating OTA communication such as switches, filters, amplifiers, antenna elements, etc.) to communicate with components of the positioning network such as navigation satellite constellation nodes. In some embodiments, the positioning circuit 645 can include a micro PNT IC that uses a primary timing clock to perform position tracking / estimation without GNSS assistance. The positioning circuit 645 can also be part of or interact with the baseband circuit 510 and / or the RFEM 615 to communicate with nodes and components of the positioning network. The positioning circuit 645 can also provide position data and / or time data to the application circuit 605, which can use this data to synchronize operations with various infrastructure (e.g., radio base stations) for turn-by-turn navigation applications, etc.

[0185] In some specific implementations, the interface circuit can connect the platform 600 to the near-field communication (NFC) circuit 640. The NFC circuit 640 is configured to provide contactless short-range communication based on radio frequency identification (RFID) standards, where magnetic field sensing is used to enable communication between the NFC circuit 640 and NFC-enabled devices external to the platform 600 (e.g., "NFC contact points"). The NFC circuit 640 includes an NFC controller coupled to an antenna element and a processor coupled to the NFC controller. The NFC controller can be a chip / IC that provides NFC functionality to the NFC circuit 640 by executing NFC controller firmware and an NFC stack. The NFC stack can be executed by the processor to control the NFC controller, and the NFC controller firmware can be executed by the NFC controller to control the antenna element to transmit short-range RF signals. The RF signals can power a passive NFC tag (e.g., a microchip embedded in a sticker or wristband) to transfer stored data to the NFC circuit 640, or initiate data transfer between the NFC circuit 640 and another active NFC device (e.g., a smart phone or an NFC-enabled POS terminal) near the platform 600.

[0186] The drive circuit 646 may include software elements and hardware elements for controlling specific devices embedded in, attached to, or otherwise communicatively coupled with the platform 600. The drive circuit 646 may include respective drivers to allow other components of the platform 600 to interact with or control various input / output (I / O) devices that may be present within or connected to the platform 600. For example, the drive circuit 646 may include: a display driver for controlling and allowing access to a display device, a touchscreen driver for controlling and allowing access to the touchscreen interface of the platform 600, a sensor driver for obtaining sensor readings of the sensor circuit 621 and controlling and allowing access to the sensor circuit 621, an EMC driver for obtaining the actuator position of the EMC 622 and / or controlling and allowing access to the EMC 622, a camera driver for controlling and allowing access to an embedded image capture device, and an audio driver for controlling and allowing access to one or more audio devices.

[0187] A power management integrated circuit (PMIC) 625 (also referred to as “power management circuit 625”) may manage the power supplied to various components of the platform 600. Specifically, relative to the baseband circuit 610, the PMIC 625 may control power selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-DC conversion. When the platform 600 is capable of being powered by a battery 630, e.g., when the device is included in the UEs 201, 301, 401, the PMIC 625 is typically included.

[0188] In some embodiments, the PMIC 625 may control or otherwise be part of various power saving mechanisms of the platform 600. For example, if the platform 600 is in the RRC_Connected state, in which the platform remains connected to a RAN node because it expects to receive traffic soon, after a period of inactivity, the platform may enter a state known as discontinuous reception mode (DRX). During this state, the platform 600 may power down for short intervals, thus saving power. If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period, the platform 600 may transition to the RRC_Idle state, in which the device is disconnected from the network and does not perform operations such as channel quality feedback, handovers, etc. The platform 600 enters a very low power state and performs paging, in which the device wakes up periodically again to listen for the network and then powers down again. The platform 600 may not receive data while in this state; to receive data, the platform must transition back to the RRC_Connected state. Additional power saving modes may render the device unable to use the network for a time period exceeding the paging interval (ranging from a few seconds to several hours). During this time, the device is completely unable to connect to the network and may be completely powered down. Any data sent during this time incurs a significant delay, and it is assumed that the delay is acceptable.

[0189] The battery 630 can power the platform 600, but in some examples, the platform 600 can be installed in a fixed location and can have a power source coupled to the power grid. The battery 630 can be a lithium-ion battery, a metal-air battery such as a zinc-air battery, an aluminum-air battery, a lithium-air battery, etc. In some specific implementations, such as in V2X applications, the battery 630 can be a typical lead-acid automotive battery.

[0190] In some specific implementations, the battery 630 can be a "smart battery" that includes or is coupled to a battery management system (BMS) or a battery monitoring integrated circuit. The BMS can be included in the platform 600 to track the state of charge (SoCh) of the battery 630. The BMS can be used to monitor other parameters of the battery 630, such as the state of health (SoH) and the state of function (SoF) of the battery 630 to provide fault prediction. The BMS can transmit information about the battery 630 to the application circuit 605 or other components of the platform 600. The BMS can also include an analog-to-digital (ADC) converter that allows the application circuit 605 to directly monitor the voltage of the battery 630 or the current from the battery 630. The battery parameters can be used to determine actions that the platform 600 can perform, such as transmission frequency, network operation, sensing frequency, etc.

[0191] A power block or other power source coupled to the power grid can be coupled to the BMS to charge the battery 630. In some examples, the power block can be replaced with a wireless power receiver to wirelessly obtain power, for example, through a loop antenna in the computer platform 600. In these examples, a wireless battery charging circuit can be included in the BMS. The specific charging circuit selected can depend on the size of the battery 630 and thus on the current required. Charging can be performed using the aviation fuel standard published by the Aviation Fuel Alliance, the Qi wireless charging standard published by the Wireless Power Consortium, or the Rezence charging standard published by the Wireless Power Consortium.

[0192] The user interface circuit 650 includes various input / output (I / O) devices present in or connected to the platform 600, and includes one or more user interfaces designed to implement user interaction with the platform 600 and / or a peripheral component interface designed to implement interaction with peripheral components of the platform 600. The user interface circuit 650 includes an input device circuit and an output device circuit. The input device circuit includes any physical or virtual device for accepting input, particularly including one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), a physical keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, a touchpad, a touchscreen, a microphone, a scanner, a headset, etc. The output device circuit includes any physical or virtual device for displaying information or otherwise communicating information (such as sensor readings, actuator positions, or other similar information). The output device circuit may include any number and / or combination of audio or visual displays, particularly including one or more simple visual outputs / indicators (e.g., binary state indicators (e.g., light-emitting diodes (LEDs)) and multi-character visual outputs, or more complex outputs such as a display device or a touchscreen (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD), an LED display, a quantum dot display, a projector, etc.), where the output of characters, graphics, multimedia objects, etc. is generated or produced by the operation of the platform 600. The output device circuit may also include a speaker or other audio emission device, a printer, etc. In some embodiments, the sensor circuit 621 may be used as an input device circuit (e.g., an image capture device, a motion capture device, etc.) and one or more EMCs may be used as an output device circuit (e.g., an actuator for providing haptic feedback, etc.). In another example, an NFC circuit may be included to read an electronic tag and / or connect to another NFC-enabled device, and the NFC circuit includes an NFC controller and a processing device coupled to an antenna element. The peripheral component interface may include, but is not limited to, a non-volatile memory port, a USB port, an audio jack, a power interface, etc.

[0193] Although not shown, the components of the platform 600 may communicate with each other using a suitable bus or interconnect (IX) technology, which may include any number of technologies, including ISA, EISA, PCI, PCIx, PCIe, Time-Triggered Protocol (TTP) systems, FlexRay systems, or any number of other technologies. The bus / IX may be a proprietary bus / IX, e.g., used in an SoC-based system. Other bus / IX systems may be included, such as 2 I

[0194] Figure 7 Exemplary components of a baseband circuit 710 and a radio front-end module (RFEM) 715 are shown according to various embodiments. The baseband circuit 710 corresponds respectively to Figure 5 the baseband circuit 510 andFigure 6 the baseband circuit 610. The RFEM 715 corresponds respectively to Figure 5 the RFEM 515 of Figure 6 the RFEM 615 of

[0195] The baseband circuit 710 includes circuitry and / or control logic components that are configured to perform various radio / network protocols and radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuit 706. The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation / demodulation, encoding / decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, the modulation / demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuit 710 may include fast Fourier transform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping / demapping functions. In some embodiments, the encoding / decoding circuitry of the baseband circuit 710 may include convolutional, tail-biting convolutional, turbo, Viterbi, or low density parity check (LDPC) encoder / decoder functions. Embodiments of the modulation / demodulation and encoder / decoder functions are not limited to these examples and may include other suitable functions in other embodiments. The baseband circuit 710 is configured to process baseband signals received from the receive signal path of the RF circuit 706 and to generate baseband signals for the transmit signal path of the RF circuit 706. The baseband circuit 710 is configured to connect to the application circuitry 505 / 605 (see Figure 5 and Figure 6 ) to generate and process baseband signals and to control the operation of the RF circuit 706. The baseband circuit 710 may process various radio control functions.

[0196] The foregoing circuitry and / or control logic of baseband circuitry 710 may include one or more single-core or multi-core processors. For example, the one or more processors may include a 3G baseband processor 704A, a 4G / LTE baseband processor 704B, a 5G / NR baseband processor 704C, or some other baseband processor 704D for other existing generations, generations under development, or generations to be developed in the future (e.g., sixth generation (6G), etc.). In other embodiments, some or all of the functionality of baseband processors 704A-704D may be included in modules stored in a memory 704G and executed via a central processing unit (CPU) 704E. In other embodiments, some or all of the functionality of baseband processors 704A-D may be provided as a hardware accelerator (e.g., FPGA, ASIC, etc.) loaded with an appropriate bitstream or logic block stored in a corresponding memory cell. In various embodiments, memory 704G may store program code of a real-time OS (RTOS) which, when executed by CPU 704E (or other baseband processor), will cause CPU 704E (or other baseband processor) to manage the resources of baseband circuitry 710, schedule tasks, etc. Examples of RTOSs may include Operating System Embedded (OSE) provided by TM , Nucleus RTOS provided by Mentor TM , Versatile Real-Time Executive (VRTX) provided by Mentor, ThreadX provided by Express TM , FreeRTOS, REX OS provided by OpenKernel (OK), OKL4 provided by, or any other suitable RTOS, such as those discussed herein. Additionally, baseband circuitry 710 includes one or more audio digital signal processors (DSPs) 704F. The audio DSP 704F includes elements for compression / decompression and echo cancellation and may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments.

[0197] In some embodiments, each of processors 704A-704E includes a corresponding memory interface to send data to / receive data from memory 704G. Baseband circuitry 710 may also include one or more interfaces for communicatively coupling to other circuits / devices, such as an interface for sending data to / receiving data from a memory external to baseband circuitry 710; for sending Figures 5 to 7An application circuit interface for the application circuit 505 / 605 to send data to / receive data from the application circuit; for sending data to Figure 7 The RF circuit interface of the RF circuit 706 to send data to / receive data from the RF circuit; for sending data to / receiving data from one or more wireless hardware components (e.g., near field communication (NFC) components, Low-power components, Components, etc.); and a power management interface for sending power or control signals to the PMIC 625 / receiving power or control signals from the PMIC.

[0198] In an alternative embodiment (which may be combined with the above embodiments), the baseband circuit 710 includes one or more digital baseband systems, which are coupled to each other via an interconnect subsystem and coupled to the CPU subsystem, the audio subsystem, and the interface subsystem. The digital baseband subsystem may also be coupled to the digital baseband interface and the mixed-signal baseband subsystem via another interconnect subsystem. Each of the interconnect subsystems may include a bus system, point-to-point connectors, a network-on-chip (NOC) structure, and / or some other suitable bus or interconnect technology, such as those discussed herein. The audio subsystem may include DSP circuits, buffer memories, program memories, voice processing accelerator circuits, data converter circuits such as analog-to-digital converter circuits and digital-to-analog converter circuits, analog circuits including one or more of amplifiers and filters, and / or other similar components. In one aspect of the present disclosure, the baseband circuit 710 may include protocol processing circuitry having one or more instances of control circuitry (not shown) to provide control functions for the digital baseband circuit and / or the radio frequency circuit (e.g., radio front-end module 715).

[0199] Although Figure 7Not shown, but in some embodiments, baseband circuit 710 includes various processing devices for operating one or more wireless communication protocols (e.g., a "multi-protocol baseband processor" or "protocol processing circuitry") and various processing devices for implementing PHY layer functions. In these embodiments, the PHY layer functions include the aforementioned radio control functions. In these embodiments, the protocol processing circuitry operates or implements various protocol layers / entities of one or more wireless communication protocols. In a first example, when baseband circuit 710 and / or RF circuit 706 is part of a millimeter wave communication circuit or some other suitable cellular communication circuit, the protocol processing circuitry may operate LTE protocol entities and / or 5G / NR protocol entities. In the first example, the protocol processing circuitry will operate MAC, RLC, PDCP, SDAP, RRC, and NAS functions. In a second example, when baseband circuit 710 and / or RF circuit 706 is part of a Wi-Fi communication system, the protocol processing circuitry may operate one or more IEEE-based protocols. In the second example, the protocol processing circuitry will operate Wi-Fi MAC and logical link control (LLC) functions. The protocol processing circuitry may include one or more memory structures (e.g., 704G) for storing program code and data for operating the protocol functions, and one or more processing cores for executing the program code and performing various operations using the data. Baseband circuit 710 may also support radio communication for more than one wireless protocol.

[0200] The various hardware elements of baseband circuit 710 discussed herein may be implemented as, for example, a soldered-in substrate that includes one or more integrated circuits (ICs), a single-packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board, or a multi-chip module that includes two or more ICs. In one example, the components of baseband circuit 710 may be appropriately combined in a single chip or single chipset, or disposed on the same circuit board. In another example, some or all of the constituent components of baseband circuit 710 and RF circuit 706 may be implemented together, such as, for example, a system-on-chip (SoC) or a system-in-package (SiP). In another example, some or all of the constituent components of baseband circuit 710 may be implemented as a separate SoC communicatively coupled to RF circuit 706 (or multiple instances of RF circuit 706). In yet another example, some or all of the constituent components of baseband circuit 710 and application circuit 505 / 605 may be implemented together as separate SoCs mounted to the same circuit board (e.g., a "multi-chip package").

[0201] In some embodiments, baseband circuitry 710 may provide communication compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, baseband circuitry 710 may support communication with E-UTRAN or other WMAN, WLAN, WPAN. Embodiments in which baseband circuitry 710 is configured to support radio communication for more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry.

[0202] RF circuitry 706 may enable communication with a wireless network using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, RF circuitry 706 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate communication with the wireless network. RF circuitry 706 may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry for down-converting an RF signal received from FEM circuitry 708 and providing a baseband signal to baseband circuitry 710. RF circuitry 706 may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry for up-converting a baseband signal provided by baseband circuitry 710 and providing an RF output signal for transmission to FEM circuitry 708.

[0203] In some embodiments, the receive signal path of RF circuitry 706 may include mixer circuitry 706a, amplifier circuitry 706b, and filter circuitry 706c. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of RF circuitry 706 may include filter circuitry 706c and mixer circuitry 706a. RF circuitry 706 may also include synthesizer circuitry 706d that is used to synthesize frequencies used by mixer circuitry 706a of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 706a of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert an RF signal received from FEM circuitry 708 based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 706d. Amplifier circuitry 706b may be configured to amplify the down-converted signal, and filter circuitry 706c may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or a band-pass filter (BPF) that is configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signal to generate an output baseband signal. The output baseband signal may be provided to baseband circuitry 710 for further processing. In some embodiments, although not required, the output baseband signal may be a zero-frequency baseband signal. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 706a of the receive signal path may include a passive mixer, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this regard.

[0204] In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 706a of the transmit signal path may be configured to up-convert an input baseband signal based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 706d to generate an RF output signal for FEM circuitry 708. The baseband signal may be provided by baseband circuitry 710 and may be filtered by filter circuitry 706c.

[0205] In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 706a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 706a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature downconversion and upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 706a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 706a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 706a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 706a of the transmit signal path may be arranged for direct downconversion and direct upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 706a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 706a of the transmit signal path may be configured for superheterodyne operation.

[0206] In some embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this regard. In some alternative embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be digital baseband signals. In these alternative embodiments, the RF circuit 706 may include an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuit, and the baseband circuit 710 may include a digital baseband interface for communicating with the RF circuit 706.

[0207] In some dual-mode embodiments, a separate radio IC circuit may be provided to process signals of each spectrum, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this regard.

[0208] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuit 706d may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional-N / N+1 synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this regard since other types of frequency synthesizers may also be suitable. For example, the synthesizer circuit 706d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer including a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider.

[0209] The synthesizer circuit 706d may be configured to synthesize an output frequency based on a frequency input and a frequency divider control input for use by the mixer circuit 706a of the RF circuit 706. In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuit 706d may be a fractional-N / N+1 synthesizer.

[0210] In some embodiments, the frequency input may be provided by a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), although this is not required. The frequency divider control input may be provided by the baseband circuit 710 or the application circuit 505 / 605 according to the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, the frequency divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a look-up table based on the channel indicated by the application circuit 505 / 605.

[0211] The synthesizer circuit 706d of the RF circuit 706 may include a frequency divider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer, and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the frequency divider may be a dual-mode frequency divider (DMD), and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide an input signal by N or N+1 (e.g., based on a carry) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include a cascaded, tunable, delay element, a phase detector, a charge pump, and a set of D-type flip-flops. In these embodiments, the delay element may be configured to divide the VCO period into Nd equal phase bins, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO period.

[0212] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuit 706d may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and may be used with an in-phase / quadrature (IQ) generator and a frequency divider circuit to generate multiple signals having multiple different phases relative to each other at that carrier frequency. In some embodiments, the output frequency may be the local oscillator (LO) frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, the RF circuit 706 may include an IQ / polarity converter.

[0213] The front-end module (FEM) circuit 708 may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry configured to operate on an RF signal received from the antenna array 711, amplify the received signal, and provide an amplified version of the received signal to the RF circuit 706 for further processing. The FEM circuit 708 may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry configured to amplify a signal provided by the RF circuit 706 for transmission for transmission by one or more antenna elements in the antenna array 711. In various embodiments, amplification through the transmit or receive signal path may be accomplished only in the RF circuit 706, only in the FEM circuit 708, or in both the RF circuit 706 and the FEM circuit 708.

[0214] In some embodiments, the FEM circuit 708 may include a TX / RX switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operations. The FEM circuit 708 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuit 708 may include an LNA to amplify the received RF signal and provide the amplified received RF signal as an output (e.g., to the RF circuit 706). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuit 708 may include a power amplifier (PA) for amplifying an input RF signal (e.g., provided by the RF circuit 706), and one or more filters for generating an RF signal for subsequent transmission by one or more antenna elements of the antenna array 711.

[0215] The antenna array 711 includes one or more antenna elements, each configured to convert an electrical signal into a radio wave to travel through air and to convert a received radio wave into an electrical signal. For example, a digital baseband signal provided by the baseband circuit 710 is converted into an analog RF signal (e.g., a modulated waveform), which will be amplified and transmitted via an antenna element of the antenna array 711 that includes one or more antenna elements (not shown). The antenna elements can be omnidirectional, directional, or a combination thereof. The antenna elements can form various arrangements as known and / or discussed herein. The antenna array 711 may include a microstrip antenna or a printed antenna fabricated on the surface of one or more printed circuit boards. The antenna array 711 may be formed as a patch of metal foil in various shapes (e.g., a patch antenna), and may be coupled to the RF circuit 706 and / or the FEM circuit 708 using metal transmission lines, etc.

[0216] The processors of the application circuit 505 / 605 and the baseband circuit 710 may be used to execute elements of one or more instances of a protocol stack. For example, the processor of the baseband circuit 710 may be used, either alone or in combination, to execute layer 3, layer 2, or layer 1 functions, while the processor of the application circuit 505 / 605 may utilize the data received from these layers (e.g., packet data) and further execute layer 4 functions (e.g., TCP and UDP layers). As mentioned herein, layer 3 may include the RRC layer, which will be described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 2 may include the MAC layer, the RLC layer, and the PDCP layer, which will be described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 1 may include the PHY layer of the UE / RAN node, which will be described in further detail below.

[0217] Figure 8 Illustrated are various protocol functions that may be implemented in a wireless communication device according to various embodiments. Specifically, Figure 8 Arrangement 800 is included that shows the interconnection between various protocol layers / entities. Provided are Figure 8The following description of, but Figure 8 Some or all aspects of may also be applicable to other wireless communication network systems.

[0218] In addition to other higher layer functions not shown, the protocol layers of arrangement 800 may also include one or more of PHY 810, MAC 820, RLC 830, PDCP 840, SDAP 847, RRC 855, and NAS layer 857. These protocol layers may include one or more service access points (e.g., Figure 8 items 859, 856, 850, 849, 845, 835, 825, and 815 in ), and the one or more service access points may provide communication between two or more protocol layers.

[0219] PHY 810 may transmit and receive physical layer signals 805, which may be received from or transmitted to one or more other communication devices. The physical layer signals 805 may include one or more physical channels, such as those discussed herein. PHY 810 may also perform link adaptation or adaptive modulation and coding (AMC), power control, cell search (e.g., for initial synchronization and handover purposes), and other measurement items used by higher layers (e.g., RRC 855). PHY 810 may further perform error detection on the transport channel, forward error correction (FEC) coding / decoding of the transport channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. In an embodiment, an instance of PHY 810 may process requests from an instance of MAC 820 and provide indications thereto via one or more PHY-SAP 815. According to some embodiments, the requests and indications transmitted via PHY-SAP 815 may include one or more transport channels.

[0220] An instance of MAC 820 may process requests from an instance of RLC 830 and provide indications thereto via one or more MAC-SAP 825. These requests and indications transmitted via MAC-SAP 825 may include one or more logical channels. MAC 820 may perform mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplex MAC SDUs from one or more logical channels onto a TB to be delivered to PHY 810 via the transport channel, demultiplex MAC SDUs from the TB delivered from PHY 810 via the transport channel onto one or more logical channels, multiplex MAC SDUs onto the TB, schedule information reporting, error correction via HARQ, and logical channel prioritization.

[0221] An instance of RLC 830 can process requests from an instance of PDCP 840 and provide indications thereto via one or more radio link control service access points (RLC-SAPs) 835. These requests and indications transmitted via RLC-SAP 835 can include one or more logical channels. RLC 830 can operate in multiple operation modes, including: transparent mode (TM), unacknowledged mode (UM), and acknowledged mode (AM). RLC 830 can perform the transmission of upper layer protocol data units (PDUs), error correction by automatic repeat request (ARQ) for AM data transmission, and concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs for UM and AM data transmission. RLC 830 can also perform re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs for AM data transmission, reordering of RLC data PDUs for UM and AM data transmission, detection of duplicate data for UM and AM data transmission, discarding of RLC SDUs for UM and AM data transmission, detection of protocol errors for AM data transmission, and perform RLC re-establishment.

[0222] An instance of PDCP 840 can process requests from an instance of RRC 855 and / or an instance of SDAP 847 and provide indications thereto via one or more packet data convergence protocol service access points (PDCP-SAPs) 845. These requests and indications transmitted via PDCP-SAP 845 can include one or more radio bearers. PDCP 840 can perform header compression and decompression of IP data, maintain a PDCP sequence number (SN), perform in-sequence delivery of upper layer PDUs upon re-establishment of the lower layer, eliminate duplicates at the lower layer when re-establishing a lower layer SDU for an RLC AM mapped radio bearer, encrypt and decrypt control plane data, perform integrity protection and integrity verification on control plane data, control timer-based data discard, and perform security operations (e.g., encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification, etc.).

[0223] Instances of SDAP 847 can process requests from one or more higher layer protocol entities via one or more SDAP-SAPs 849 and provide indications thereto. These requests and indications transmitted via SDAP-SAP 849 can include one or more QoS flows. SDAP 847 can map QoS flows to DRBs and vice versa, and can also mark the QFI in DL packets and UL packets. A single SDAP entity 847 can be configured for a separate PDU session. In the UL direction, NG-RAN 210 can control the mapping of QoS flows to DRBs in two different ways (reflection mapping or explicit mapping). For reflection mapping, the SDAP 847 of UE 201 can monitor the QFI of DL packets of each DRB, and can apply the same mapping for packets flowing in the UL direction. For a DRB, the SDAP 847 of UE 201 can map UL packets belonging to a QoS flow that corresponds to the QoS flow ID and PDU session observed in the DL packets of that DRB. To implement reflection mapping, NG-RAN 410 can mark DL packets with the QoS flow ID via the Uu interface. Explicit mapping can involve RRC 855 configuring SDAP 847 with explicit mapping rules for QoS flows to DRBs, which can be stored and followed by SDAP 847. In an implementation, SDAP 847 can be used only in NR implementations and not in LTE implementations.

[0224] RRC 855 can configure aspects of one or more protocol layers via one or more management service access points (M-SAPs), and the one or more protocol layers can include one or more instances of PHY 810, MAC 820, RLC 830, PDCP 840, and SDAP 847. In an implementation, an instance of RRC 855 can process requests from one or more NAS entities 857 via one or more RRC-SAPs 856 and provide indications thereto. The main services and functions of RRC 855 can include broadcasting of system information (e.g., included in MIB or SIB related to NAS), broadcasting of system information related to the access stratum (AS), paging, establishment, maintenance, and release of the RRC connection between UE 201 and RAN 210 (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), establishment, configuration, maintenance, and release of point-to-point radio bearers, security functions including key management, mobility between RATs, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting. These MIBs and SIBs can include one or more IEs, each of which can include separate data fields or data structures.

[0225] NAS 857 can form the top layer of the control plane between the UE 201 and the AMF 421. NAS 857 can support the mobility and session management procedures of the UE 201 to establish and maintain an IP connection between the UE 201 and the P-GW in the LTE system.

[0226] According to various embodiments, one or more protocol entities of the arrangement 800 can be implemented in the UE 201, the RAN node 211, the AMF 421 in the NR implementation or the MME 321 in the LTE implementation, the UPF 402 in the NR implementation or the S-GW 322 and the P-GW 323 in the LTE implementation, etc., for the control plane or user plane communication protocol stacks between the aforementioned devices. In such embodiments, one or more protocol entities that can be implemented in one or more of the UE 201, the gNB 211, the AMF 421, etc., can communicate with the corresponding peer protocol entities that can be implemented in another device or on another device (performing such communication using the services of the corresponding lower layer protocol entities). In some embodiments, the gNB-CU of the gNB 211 can host the RRC 855, the SDAP 847, and the PDCP 840 that control one or more gNB-DU operations of the gNB, and each gNB-DU of the gNB 211 can host the RLC 830, the MAC 820, and the PHY 810 of the gNB 211.

[0227] In a first example, the control plane protocol stack can include, in order from the top layer to the bottom layer, the NAS 857, the RRC 855, the PDCP 840, the RLC 830, the MAC 820, and the PHY 810. In this example, the upper layer 860 can be built on top of the NAS 857, which includes the IP layer 861, the SCTP 862, and the application layer signaling protocol (AP) 863.

[0228] In the NR implementation, the AP 863 can be the NG application protocol layer (NGAP or NG-AP) 863 for the NG interface 213 defined between the NG-RAN node 211 and the AMF 421, or the AP 863 can be the Xn application protocol layer (XnAP or Xn-AP) 863 for the Xn interface 212 defined between two or more RAN nodes 211.

[0229] The NG-AP 863 can support the functions of the NG interface 213 and may include an elementary procedure (EP). The NG-AP EP can be an interaction unit between the NG-RAN node 211 and the AMF 421. The NG-AP 863 services can include two groups: UE-associated services (e.g., services related to the UE 201) and non-UE-associated services (e.g., services related to the entire NG interface instance between the NG-RAN node 211 and the AMF 421). These services can include functions, including but not limited to: a paging function for sending a paging request to the NG-RAN node 211 involved in a specific paging area; a UE context management function for allowing the AMF 421 to establish, modify, and / or release the UE context in the AMF 421 and the NG-RAN node 211; a mobility function for the UE 201 in the ECM-CONNECTED mode, for in-system HO to support mobility within the NG-RAN, and for inter-system HO to support mobility from / to the EPS system; a NAS signaling transmission function for transmitting or rerouting NAS messages between the UE 201 and the AMF 421; a NAS node selection function for determining the association between the AMF 421 and the UE 201; an NG interface management function for setting the NG interface and monitoring errors through the NG interface; a warning message transmission function for providing a means to transmit a warning message via the NG interface or cancel the broadcast of an ongoing warning message; a configuration transmission function for requesting and transmitting RAN configuration information (e.g., SON information, performance measurement (PM) data, etc.) between two RAN nodes 211 via the CN 220; and / or other similar functions.

[0230] The XnAP 863 can support the functions of the Xn interface 212 and may include XnAP basic mobility procedures and XnAP global procedures. The XnAP basic mobility procedures can include procedures for handling UE mobility within the NG RAN 211 (or E-UTRAN 310), such as handover preparation and cancellation procedures, SN status transmission procedures, UE context retrieval and UE context release procedures, RAN paging procedures, procedures related to dual connectivity, etc. The XnAP global procedures can include procedures that are not related to a specific UE 201, such as Xn interface setup and reset procedures, NG-RAN update procedures, cell activation procedures, etc.

[0231] In the LTE embodiment, the AP 863 can be the S1 application protocol layer (S1-AP) 863 for the S1 interface 213 defined between the E-UTRAN node 211 and the MME, or the AP 863 can be the X2 application protocol layer (X2AP or X2-AP) 863 for the X2 interface 212 defined between two or more E-UTRAN nodes 211.

[0232] The S1 Application Protocol Layer (S1-AP) 863 can support the functions of the S1 interface, and similar to the previously discussed NG-AP, the S1-AP can include S1-AP EPs. The S1-AP EP can be an interaction unit between the E-UTRAN node 211 and the MME 321 within the LTE CN 220. The S1-AP 863 services can include two groups: UE-associated services and non-UE-associated services. The functions performed by these services include, but are not limited to: E-UTRAN Radio Access Bearer (E-RAB) management, UE capability indication, mobility, NAS signaling transmission, RAN Information Management (RIM), and configuration transfer.

[0233] The X2AP 863 can support the functions of the X2 interface 212, and can include X2AP basic mobility procedures and X2AP global procedures. The X2AP basic mobility procedures can include procedures for handling UE mobility within the E-UTRAN 220, such as handover preparation and cancellation procedures, SN status transfer procedures, UE context retrieval and UE context release procedures, RAN paging procedures, procedures related to dual connectivity, etc. The X2AP global procedures can include procedures that are not related to a specific UE 201, such as X2 interface setup and reset procedures, load indication procedures, error indication procedures, cell activation procedures, etc.

[0234] The SCTP layer (alternatively referred to as the SCTP / IP layer) 862 can provide guaranteed delivery of application layer messages (e.g., NGAP or XnAP messages in an NR implementation, or S1-AP or X2AP messages in an LTE implementation). The SCTP 862 can ensure reliable delivery of signaling messages between the RAN node 211 and the AMF 421 / MME 321, partially based on the IP protocol supported by the IP 861. The Internet Protocol layer (IP) 861 can be used to perform packet addressing and routing functions. In some implementations, the IP layer 861 can use point-to-point transmission to deliver and transfer PDUs. In this regard, the RAN node 211 can include communication links (e.g., wired or wireless) with the L2 and L1 layers of the MME / AMF to exchange information.

[0235] In a second example, the user plane protocol stack may include, in order from the highest layer to the lowest layer, SDAP 847, PDCP 840, RLC 830, MAC 820, and PHY 810. The user plane protocol stack may be used for communication between the UE 201, the RAN node 211, and the UPF 402 in an NR implementation, or between the S-GW 322 and the P-GW 323 in an LTE implementation. In this example, the upper layer 851 may be built on top of the SDAP 847 and may include the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) and Internet Protocol Security layer (UDP / IP) 852, the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Tunneling Protocol layer for the user plane (GTP-U) 853, and the user plane PDU layer (UP PDU) 863.

[0236] The transport network layer 854 (also referred to as the "transport layer") may be built on top of the IP transport, and the GTP-U 853 may be used on top of the UDP / IP layer 852 (including the UDP layer and the IP layer) to carry the user plane PDU (UP-PDU). The IP layer (also referred to as the "Internet layer") may be used to perform packet addressing and routing functions. The IP layer may assign IP addresses to user data packets in any one of, for example, IPv4, IPv6, or PPP formats.

[0237] The GTP-U 853 may be used to carry user data within the GPRS core network and between the radio access network and the core network. For example, the transmitted user data may be packets in any one of the IPv4, IPv6, or PPP formats. The UDP / IP 852 may provide a checksum for data integrity, port numbers for addressing different functions at the source and destination, and encryption and authentication for selected data flows. The RAN node 211 and the S-GW 322 may exchange user plane data via a protocol stack including the L1 layer (e.g., PHY 810), the L2 layer (e.g., MAC 820, RLC 830, PDCP 840, and / or SDAP 847), the UDP / IP layer 852, and the GTP-U 853 using the S1-U interface. The S-GW 322 and the P-GW 323 may exchange user plane data via a protocol stack including the L1 layer, the L2 layer, the UDP / IP layer 852, and the GTP-U 853 using the S5 / S8a interface. As previously discussed, the NAS protocol may support the mobility and session management processes of the UE 201 to establish and maintain an IP connection between the UE 201 and the P-GW 323.

[0238] In addition, although Figure 8Not shown, but the application layer may exist above the AP 863 and / or the transport network layer 854. The application layer may be a layer in which users of the UE 201, RAN node 211, or other network elements interact with software applications, such as those executed by the application circuit 505 or the application circuit 605, respectively. The application layer may also provide one or more interfaces for the software application to interact with the communication system (such as the baseband circuit 710) of the UE 201 or the RAN node 211. In some specific implementations, the IP layer and / or the application layer may provide the same or similar functions as layers 5 to 7 or parts thereof of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model (e.g., OSI layer 7 - application layer, OSI layer 6 - presentation layer, and OSI layer 5 - session layer).

[0239] Figure 9 Components of a core network according to various embodiments are shown. The components of the CN 320 may be implemented in one physical node or separate physical nodes, including components for reading and executing instructions from a machine-readable medium or a computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium). In an embodiment, the components of the CN 420 can be implemented in the same or similar manner as discussed herein with respect to the components of the CN 320. In some embodiments, NFV is used to virtualize any one or all of the above network node functions via executable instructions stored in one or more computer-readable storage media (described in further detail below). A logical instance of the CN 320 may be referred to as a network slice 901, and each logical instance of the CN 320 may provide specific network functions and network characteristics. A logical instance of a part of the CN 320 may be referred to as a network sub-slice 902 (e.g., the network sub-slice 902 is shown as including the P-GW 323 and the PCRF 326).

[0240] As used herein, terms such as "instantiation" may refer to the creation of an instance, and an "instance" may refer to a specific occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during the execution of program code. A network instance may refer to information identifying a domain, which may be used for traffic detection and routing in the case of different IP domains or overlapping IP addresses. A network slice instance may refer to a set of network function (NF) instances and the resources (e.g., computing, storage, and networking resources) required to deploy a network slice.

[0241] Regarding 5G systems (see, for example, Figure 4) A network slice always includes a RAN part and a CN part. Support for network slices relies on the principle that traffic for different slices is handled by different PDU sessions. The network can implement different network slices by scheduling and also by providing different L1 / L2 configurations. If the NAS has provided an RRC message, the UE 401 provides assistance information for network slice selection in an appropriate RRC message. Although the network can support a large number of slices, the UE does not need to support more than eight slices simultaneously.

[0242] A network slice can include the CN 420 control plane and user plane NFs, the NG-RAN 410 in the serving PLMN, and the N3IWF function in the serving PLMN. Each network slice can have a different S-NSSAI and / or can have a different SST. The NSSAI includes one or more S-NSSAIs, and each network slice is uniquely identified by an S-NSSAI. Network slices can be different for supported feature and network function optimizations, and / or multiple network slice instances can deliver the same service / function but be different for different groups of UEs 401 (e.g., enterprise users). For example, each network slice can deliver different promised services and / or can be dedicated to a specific customer or enterprise. In this example, each network slice can have a different S-NSSAI with the same SST but with different slice differentiators. Additionally, a single UE can be served simultaneously by one or more network slice instances via a 5G AN and be associated with eight different S-NSSAIs. Furthermore, the AMF 421 instance serving a single UE 401 can belong to each network slice instance serving that UE.

[0243] Network slicing in the NG-RAN 410 involves RAN slice awareness. RAN slice awareness includes differentiated handling of traffic for different network slices that have been pre-configured. Slice awareness in the NG-RAN 410 is introduced at the PDU session level by indicating the S-NSSAI corresponding to the PDU session in all signaling including PDU session resource information. How the NG-RAN 410 supports slice enabling based on NG-RAN functions (e.g., including the set of network functions for each slice) depends on the specific implementation. The NG-RAN 410 selects the RAN part of a network slice using assistance information provided by the UE 401 or the 5GC 420 that explicitly identifies one or more of the pre-configured network slices in the PLMN. The NG-RAN 410 also supports resource management and policy enforcement between slices according to the SLA. A single NG-RAN node can support multiple slices, and the NG-RAN 410 can also apply appropriate RRM policies for the SLA at the appropriate location to each supported slice. The NG-RAN 410 can also support QoS differentiation within a slice.

[0244] If available, the NG-RAN 410 may also use UE assistance information for selecting the AMF 421 during initial attachment. The NG-RAN 410 uses the assistance information for routing the initial NAS to the AMF 421. If the NG-RAN 410 is unable to use the assistance information to select the AMF 421, or the UE 401 does not provide any such information, the NG-RAN 410 sends the NAS signaling to the default AMF 421, which may be in a pool of AMF 421s. For subsequent accesses, the UE 401 provides the temp ID assigned to the UE 401 by the 5GC 420 so that the NG-RAN 410 can route the NAS message to the appropriate AMF 421, as long as the temp ID is valid. The NG-RAN 410 knows and can reach the AMF 421 associated with the temp ID. Otherwise, the method for initial attachment is applied.

[0245] The NG-RAN 410 supports resource isolation between slices. The NG-RAN 410 resource isolation can be achieved through RRM policies and protection mechanisms, which should avoid shared resource shortages in cases where the service level agreement of one slice is interrupted in another slice. In some specific implementations, the NG-RAN 410 resources can be fully assigned to a certain slice. How the NG-RAN 410 supports resource isolation depends on the specific implementation.

[0246] Some slices may be only partially available in the network. The awareness of the slices supported in its neighboring cells in the NG-RAN 410 can be beneficial for inter-frequency mobility in the connected mode. Within the registration area of the UE, the slice availability may not change. The NG-RAN 410 and the 5GC 420 are responsible for handling service requests for slices that may or may not be available in a given area. The permission or rejection of access to a slice may depend on factors such as the support for the slice, the availability of resources, and the support of the NG-RAN 410 for the requested service.

[0247] The UE 401 may be associated with multiple network slices simultaneously. In the case where the UE 401 is associated with multiple slices simultaneously, only one signaling connection is maintained, and for intra-frequency cell reselection, the UE 401 attempts to pre-empt the best cell. For inter-frequency cell reselection, dedicated priorities can be used to control the frequency pre-empted by the UE 401. The 5GC 420 will verify that the UE 401 has the right to access the network slices. Before receiving the initial context setup request message, based on the awareness of the specific slice that the UE 401 is requesting access to, the NG-RAN 410 may be allowed to apply some temporary / local policies. During the initial context setup, the slice for which resources are being requested is notified to the NG-RAN 410.

[0248] The NFV architecture and infrastructure can be used to virtualize one or more NFs onto physical resources that include a combination of industry standard server hardware, storage hardware, or switches (alternatively performed by proprietary hardware). In other words, the NFV system can be used to perform a virtual or reconfigurable implementation of one or more EPC components / functions.

[0249] Figure 10 FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating components of an NFV-enabled system 1000 according to some exemplary embodiments. System 1000 is shown to include a VIM 1002, an NFVI 1004, a VNFM 1006, a VNF 1008, an EM 1010, an NFVO 1012, and an NM 1014.

[0250] The VIM 1002 manages the resources of the NFVI 1004. The NFVI 1004 can include physical or virtual resources and applications (including hypervisors) for executing the system 1000. The VIM 1002 can utilize the NFVI 1004 to manage the lifecycle of virtual resources (e.g., creation, maintenance, and removal of VMs associated with one or more physical resources), track VM instances, track the performance, faults, and security of VM instances and associated physical resources, and expose VM instances and associated physical resources to other management systems.

[0251] The VNFM 1006 can manage the VNF 1008. The VNF 1008 can be used to execute EPC components / functions. The VNFM 1006 can manage the lifecycle of the VNF 1008 and track the performance, faults, and security of the virtual aspects of the VNF 1008. The EM 1010 can track the performance, faults, and security of the functional aspects of the VNF 1008. The tracking data from the VNFM 1006 and the EM 1010 can include, for example, PM data used by the VIM 1002 or the NFVI 1004. Both the VNFM 1006 and the EM 1010 can scale up / down the number of VNFs of the system 1000.

[0252] The NFVO 1012 can coordinate, authorize, release, and engage the resources of the NFVI 1004 to provide the requested services (e.g., to execute EPC functions, components, or slices). The NM 1014 can provide an end-user functional package responsible for network management, which can include network elements with VNFs, non-virtualized network functions, or both (the management of VNFs can occur via the EM 1010).

[0253] Figure 11is a block diagram showing components capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable medium or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and performing any one or more of the methods discussed herein. Specifically, Figure 11 shows a schematic diagram of hardware resources 1100, including one or more processors (or processor cores) 1110, one or more memory / storage devices 1120, and one or more communication resources 1130, each of which may be communicatively coupled via a bus 1140. For embodiments in which node virtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor 1102 may be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices / sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources 1100.

[0254] The processor 1110 may include, for example, processors 1112 and 1114. The processor 1110 may be, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a DSP such as a baseband processor, an ASIC, an FPGA, a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor (including those discussed herein), or any suitable combination thereof.

[0255] The memory / storage device 1120 may include main memory, disk memory, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory / storage device 1120 may include, but is not limited to, any type of volatile or non-volatile memory, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid-state storage devices, etc.

[0256] The communication resource 1130 may include an interconnect or network interface component or other suitable device to communicate with one or more peripheral devices 1104 or one or more databases 1106 via a network 1108. For example, the communication resource 1130 may include a wired communication component (e.g., for coupling via USB), a cellular communication component, an NFC component, (or low-power) components, components, and other communication components.

[0257] Instruction 1150 may include software, a program, an application, an applet, an application, or other executable code for causing at least any one of the processors 1110 to execute any one or more of the method sets discussed herein. Instruction 1150 may reside, in whole or in part, in at least one of the processors 1110 (e.g., within a cache memory of the processor), the memory / storage device 1120, or any suitable combination thereof. Additionally, any part of Instruction 1150 may be transmitted from any combination of the peripheral device 1104 or the database 1106 to the hardware resources 1100. Accordingly, the memory of the processor 1110, the memory / storage device 1120, the peripheral device 1104, and the database 1106 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

[0258] Exemplary process

[0259] In some embodiments, Figures 2 to 11 or an electronic device, network, system, chip, or component or a part or implementation thereof in some other figure herein may be configured to perform one or more of the processes, techniques, or methods described herein or a part thereof. Figure 12 One such process is depicted in. Figure 12 Flowchart 1200 is shown, which depicts an apparatus for performing operations for establishing minimum performance requirements for user equipment, such as test equipment. According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the apparatus may be used for a UE or a part of a UE, such as UE 301, 401, 501, 701. In an embodiment, flowchart 1200 may be executed or controlled by a processor or processor circuitry described in various embodiments herein, including Figure 11 the processor shown and / or Figure 6 the application circuit 605 and / or the baseband circuit 610 shown.

[0260] For example, at 1210, a signal including a signal power level and an artificial noise power level is identified. In some embodiments, the artificial noise level is an additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) signal. The test equipment may receive the signal and perform operations using the signal power level and the artificial noise power level. For example, at 1220, the test equipment may determine a radio frequency noise power level associated with a particular user equipment UE that is being tested and that will receive the minimum performance requirement parameters established by the test equipment.

[0261] At 1230, the test equipment can determine the baseband SNR attenuation value based on the signal power level and the artificial noise power level provided in the received signal and the determined radio frequency noise power level. In some embodiments, the radio frequency noise power level is based on a reference sensitivity power level value, which itself can be calculated based on a plurality of different variables associated with the user equipment, including the receive bandwidth (e.g., measured in Hertz), the diversity gain (e.g., measured in dB), the signal-to-noise ratio associated with the reference sensitivity power level value, and the implementation margin (e.g., measured in dB). In some embodiments, the radio frequency noise power level is a function of the reference sensitivity power level value, the bandwidth, and the diversity gain.

[0262] At 1240, the test equipment can determine the compensated SNR attenuation value based on the baseband SNR attenuation and the radio frequency noise power level. In some embodiments, the compensated SNR attenuation value can represent the minimum SNR value to be provided for the baseband RX chain.

[0263] At 1250, the test equipment can provide the compensated SNR attenuation as the minimum performance requirement to be used by the user equipment or the user equipment is to use. For example, the user equipment can be configured to utilize the compensated SNR attenuation as part of operating within a frequency range. In some embodiments, method 1200 is utilized to establish the minimum performance requirement for a specific frequency range requirement. In some embodiments, the frequency range requirement is between 410 MHz and 7125 MHz.

[0264] For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components shown in one or more of the foregoing figures can be configured to perform one or more of the operations, techniques, processes, and / or methods described in the example section below. For example, the baseband circuit described above in connection with one or more of the foregoing figures can be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the following embodiments. Also, for example, the circuits associated with the UE, base station, network element, etc. described above in connection with one or more of the foregoing figures can be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the embodiments shown in the following example section.

[0265] As described above, aspects of the present technology may include collecting and using data that can be obtained from a variety of sources to improve or enhance functionality, for example. The present disclosure anticipates that, in some instances, the collected data may include personal information data that uniquely identifies or can be used to contact or locate a particular person. Such personal information data may include demographic data, location-based data, telephone numbers, email addresses, Twitter IDs, home addresses, data or records related to a user's health or fitness level (e.g., vital sign measurements, medication information, exercise information), date of birth, or any other identifying or personal information. The present disclosure recognizes that the use of such personal information data in the present technology can be used to benefit users.

[0266] The present disclosure contemplates that entities responsible for collecting, analyzing, disclosing, transmitting, storing, or otherwise using such personal information data will comply with established privacy policies and / or privacy practices. Specifically, such entities should implement and adhere to privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or government requirements for maintaining the privacy and security of personal information data. Such policies should be readily accessible to users and should be updated as the collection and / or use of data changes. Personal information from users should be collected for legitimate and reasonable uses of the entity and not shared or sold outside of those legitimate uses. In addition, such collection / sharing should only occur with the informed consent of the user. Further, such entities should consider taking any necessary steps to safeguard and secure access to such personal information data and to ensure that others with access to the personal information data comply with their privacy policies and procedures. Additionally, such entities may subject themselves to third party assessments to demonstrate their compliance with widely accepted privacy policies and practices. Moreover, policies and practices should be adjusted so as to collect and / or access particular types of personal information data and to apply applicable laws and standards that include specific considerations of the jurisdiction. For example, in the United States, the collection or access to certain health data may be governed by federal and / or state laws such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA); while health data in other countries may be subject to other regulations and policies and should be handled accordingly. Thus, different privacy practices should be maintained for different types of personal data in each country.

[0267] Notwithstanding the foregoing, the present disclosure also contemplates embodiments in which a user selectively blocks the use or access of personal information data. That is, the present disclosure contemplates that hardware elements and / or software elements may be provided to prevent or block access to such personal information data. For example, the technology may be configured to allow a user to selectively participate in an "opt-in" or "opt-out" of the collection of personal information data at any time during (e.g., during registration for a service) or after such registration. In addition to providing "opt-in" and "opt-out" options, the present disclosure contemplates providing notices related to the access or use of personal information. For example, a user may be notified at the time of downloading an application that their personal information data will be accessed, and then again immediately prior to the application accessing the personal information data.

[0268] In addition, it is an object of the present disclosure to manage and process personal information data to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use. The risk can be minimized by restricting data collection and deleting data once it is no longer needed. In addition, and when applicable, including in certain health-related applications, data de-identification can be used to protect the privacy of users. De-identification can be facilitated, when appropriate, by removing specific identifiers (e.g., date of birth, etc.), controlling the amount or specificity of the data stored (e.g., collecting location data at the city level rather than at the address level), controlling how the data is stored (e.g., aggregating data across users), and / or other methods.

[0269] Thus, while the present disclosure may broadly cover the use of personal information data to implement one or more of the various disclosed embodiments, the present disclosure also contemplates that various embodiments may also be implemented without accessing such personal information data. That is, various embodiments of the inventive technology will not fail to operate properly due to the absence of all or a portion of such personal information data.

[0270] Embodiment

[0271] Embodiment 1 may include a method of setting an SNR or Noc value to emulate a target SNR (effective, observed at the baseband) for FR1 requirements.

[0272] Embodiment 2 may include the method of Embodiment 1 or some other embodiment herein, in which a fixed value is used for Noc and compensation for SNR attenuation during SNR setting is applied.

[0273] Embodiment 3 may include the method of Embodiment 2 or some other embodiment herein, in which a compression factor may be derived for each frequency band.

[0274] Embodiment 4 may include the method of Embodiment 1 or some other embodiment herein, in which a per-band variable Noc level is used in a manner that ensures a fixed SNR error.

[0275] Embodiment 5 may include a method of setting band-specific Es values to simulate noise-free conditions for FR1 requirements.

[0276] Embodiment 6 may include a method of setting the Noc power level for FR2 devices with multi-band operation support.

[0277] Embodiment 7 may include an apparatus that includes means for performing one or more elements of the methods described in or related to any of Embodiments 1 to 6 or any other method or process described herein.

[0278] Embodiment 8 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media that include instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform one or more elements of the methods described in or related to any of Embodiments 1 to 6 or any other method or process described herein.

[0279] Embodiment 9 may include an apparatus that includes logic components, modules, or circuits for performing one or more elements of the methods described in or related to any of Embodiments 1 to 6 or any other method or process described herein.

[0280] Embodiment 10 may include the methods, techniques, or processes described in or related to any of Embodiments 1 to 6, or parts or components thereof.

[0281] Embodiment 11 may include an apparatus that includes: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media that include instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the methods, techniques, or processes described in or related to any of Embodiments 1 to 6 or parts thereof.

[0282] Embodiment 12 may include a signal as described in or related to any of Embodiments 1 to 6, or parts or components thereof.

[0283] Embodiment 13 may include a signal in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0284] Embodiment 14 may include a method of communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0285] Embodiment 15 may include a system for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

[0286] Embodiment 16 may include a device for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

[0287] Unless otherwise explicitly stated, any one of the above embodiments may be combined with any other embodiment (or combination of embodiments). The foregoing description of one or more specific embodiments provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the embodiments to the precise forms disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings, or may be acquired from practice of various embodiments.

[0288] Abbreviations

[0289] For the purposes of this document, the following abbreviations may apply to the examples and embodiments discussed herein, but are not meant to be limiting.

[0290] 3GPP Third Generation Partnership Project

[0291] 4G Fourth Generation

[0292] 5G Fifth Generation

[0293] 5GC 5G Core Network

[0294] ACK Acknowledgment

[0295] AF Application Function

[0296] AM Acknowledged Mode

[0297] AMBR Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate

[0298] AMF Access and Mobility Management Function

[0299] AN Access Network

[0300] ANR Automatic Neighbor Relation

[0301] AP Application Protocol, Antenna Port, Access Point

[0302] API Application Programming Interface

[0303] APN Access Point Name

[0304] ARP Allocation and Retention Priority

[0305] ARQ Automatic Repeat reQuest

[0306] AS Access Stratum

[0307] ASN.1 Abstract Syntax Notation

[0308] AUSF Authentication Server Function

[0309] AWGN Additive White Gaussian Noise

[0310] BCH Broadcast Channel

[0311] Bit Error Rate

[0312] Beam Failure Detection

[0313] Block Error Rate

[0314] Binary Phase Shift Keying

[0315] Broadband Remote Access Server

[0316] Business Support System

[0317] Base Station

[0318] Buffer Status Report

[0319] Bandwidth

[0320] Bandwidth Part

[0321] Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier

[0322] Carrier Aggregation, Certification Authority

[0323] Capital Expenditure

[0324] Contention-Based Random Access

[0325] Component Carrier, Country Code, Cyclic Redundancy Checksum

[0326] Clear Channel Assessment

[0327] Control Channel Element

[0328] Common Control Channel

[0329] Coverage Enhancement

[0330] Content Delivery Network

[0331] Code Division Multiple Access

[0332] Contention-Free Random Access

[0333] Cell Group

[0334] Cell Identifier

[0335] Cell ID (e.g., positioning method)

[0336] Common Information Model

[0337] Carrier to Interference Ratio

[0338] CK cryptographic key

[0339] CM Connection Management, Conditional Mandatory

[0340] CMAS Commercial Mobile Alert Service

[0341] CMD Command

[0342] CMS Cloud Management System

[0343] CO Conditional Optional

[0344] CoMP Coordinated Multi-Point

[0345] CORESET Control Resource Set

[0346] COTS Commercial Off-The-Shelf

[0347] CP Control Plane, Cyclic Prefix, Connection Point

[0348] CPD Connection Point Descriptor

[0349] CPE Customer Premises Equipment

[0350] CPICH Common Pilot Channel

[0351] CQI Channel Quality Indicator

[0352] CPU CSI Processing Unit, Central Processing Unit

[0353] C / R Command / Response Field Bit

[0354] CRAN Cloud Radio Access Network, Cloud RAN

[0355] CRB Common Resource Block

[0356] CRC Cyclic Redundancy Check

[0357] CRI Channel State Information Resource Indicator, CSI-RS Resource Indicator

[0358] C-RNTI Cell RNTI

[0359] CS Circuit Switch

[0360] CSAR Cloud Service Archive

[0361] CSI Channel State Information

[0362] CSI-IM CSI Interference Measurement

[0363] CSI-RS CSI Reference Signal

[0364] CSI-RSRP CSI Reference Signal Received Power

[0365] CSI-RSRQ CSI Reference Signal Received Quality

[0366] CSI-SINR CSI Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise Ratio

[0367] CSMA Carrier Sense Multiple Access

[0368] CSMA / CA CSMA with Collision Avoidance

[0369] CSS Common Search Space, Cell-Specific Search Space

[0370] CTS Clear to Send

[0371] CW Codeword

[0372] CWS Contention Window Size

[0373] D2D Device-to-Device

[0374] DC Dual Connectivity, Direct Current

[0375] DCI Downlink Control Information

[0376] DF Deployment Preference

[0377] DL Downlink

[0378] DMTF Distributed Management Task Force

[0379] DPDK Data Plane Development Kit

[0380] DM-RS, DMRS Demodulation Reference Signal

[0381] DN Data Network

[0382] DRB Data Radio Bearer

[0383] DRS Discovery Reference Signal

[0384] DRX Discontinuous Reception

[0385] DSL Domain-Specific Language Digital Subscriber Line

[0386] DSLAM DSL Access Multiplexer

[0387] DwPTS Downlink Pilot Time Slot

[0388] E-LAN Ethernet Local Area Network

[0389] E2E End-to-End

[0390] ECCA Extended Clear Channel Assessment, Extended CCA

[0391] ECCE Enhanced Control Channel Element, Enhanced CCE

[0392] ED Energy Detection

[0393] EDGE Enhanced Data Rate for GSM Evolution (GSM Evolution)

[0394] EGMF Exposure Governance Management Function

[0395] EGPRS Enhanced GPRS

[0396] EIR Equipment Identity Register

[0397] eLAA Enhanced Licensed-Assisted Access, Enhanced LAA

[0398] EM Element Manager

[0399] eMBB Enhanced Mobile Broadband

[0400] EMS Element Management System

[0401] eNB Evolved Node B, E-UTRAN Node B

[0402] EN-DC E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity

[0403] EPC Evolved Packet Core

[0404] EPDCCH Enhanced PDCCH, Enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel

[0405] EPRE Energy per Resource Element

[0406] EPS Evolved Packet System

[0407] EREG Enhanced REG, Enhanced Resource Element Group

[0408] ETSI European Telecommunications Standards Institute

[0409] ETWS Earthquake and Tsunami Warning System

[0410] eUICC Embedded UICC, Embedded Universal Integrated Circuit Card

[0411] E-UTRA Evolved UTRA

[0412] E-UTRAN Evolved UTRAN

[0413] EV2X Enhanced V2X

[0414] F1AP F1 Application Protocol

[0415] F1-C F1 Control Plane Interface

[0416] F1-U F1 User Plane Interface

[0417] FACCH Fast Associated Control Channel

[0418] FACCH / F Fast Associated Control Channel / Full Rate

[0419] FACCH / H Fast Associated Control Channel / Half Rate

[0420] FACH Forward Access Channel

[0421] FAUSCH Fast Uplink Signaling Channel

[0422] FB Functional Block

[0423] FBI Feedback Information

[0424] FCC Federal Communications Commission

[0425] FCCH Frequency Correction Channel

[0426] FDD Frequency Division Duplexing

[0427] FDM Frequency Division Multiplexing

[0428] FDMA Frequency Division Multiple Access

[0429] FE Front End

[0430] FEC Forward Error Correction

[0431] FFS For Further Study

[0432] FFT Fast Fourier Transform

[0433] feLAA Further Enhanced Licensed Assisted Access, Further Enhanced LAA

[0434] FN Frame Number

[0435] FPGA Field Programmable Gate Array

[0436] FR Frequency Range

[0437] G-RNTI GERAN Radio Network Temporary Identity

[0438] GERAN GSM EDGE RAN, GSM EDGE Radio Access Network

[0439] GGSN Gateway GPRS Support Node

[0440] GLONASS GLObal'naya NAvigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema (Chinese: Global Navigation Satellite System)

[0441] gNB Next-generation Node B

[0442] gNB-CU gNB Centralized Unit, Next-generation Node B Centralized Unit

[0443] gNB-DU gNB Distributed Unit, Next-generation Node B Distributed Unit

[0444] GNSS Global Navigation Satellite System

[0445] GPRS General Packet Radio Service

[0446] GSM Global System for Mobile Communications, Mobile Experts Group

[0447] GTP GPRS Tunneling Protocol

[0448] GTP-U GPRS Tunneling Protocol for the User Plane

[0449] GTS Go-to-Sleep Signal (related to WUS)

[0450] GUMMEI Global Unique MME Identifier

[0451] GUTI Global Unique Temporary UE Identity

[0452] HARQ Hybrid ARQ, Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request

[0453] HANDO, HO Handover

[0454] HFN Hyper Frame Number

[0455] HHO Hard Handover

[0456] HLR Home Location Register

[0457] HN Home Network

[0458] HO Handover

[0459] HPLMN Home Public Land Mobile Network

[0460] HSDPA High-Speed Downlink Packet Access

[0461] HSN Hopping Sequence Number

[0462] HSPA High-Speed Packet Access

[0463] HSS Home Subscriber Server

[0464] HSUPA High Speed Uplink Packet Access

[0465] HTTP HyperText Transfer Protocol

[0466] HTTPS HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure (https is http / 1.1 over SSL, i.e., port 443)

[0467] I-Block Information Block

[0468] ICCID Integrated Circuit Card Identification

[0469] ICIC Inter-Cell Interference Coordination

[0470] ID Identification, Identifier

[0471] IDFT Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform

[0472] IE Information Element

[0473] IBE In-Band Emission

[0474] IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

[0475] IEI Information Element Identifier

[0476] IEIDL Information Element Identifier Data Length

[0477] IETF Internet Engineering Task Force

[0478] IF Infrastructure

[0479] IM Interference Measurement, Intermodulation, IP Multimedia

[0480] IMC IMS Credentials

[0481] IMEI International Mobile Equipment Identity

[0482] IMGI International Mobile Group Identity

[0483] IMPI IP Multimedia Private Identity

[0484] IMPU IP Multimedia Public Identity

[0485] IMS IP Multimedia Subsystem

[0486] IMSI International Mobile Subscriber Identity

[0487] IoT Internet of Things

[0488] IP Internet Protocol

[0489] IPsec IP Security, Internet Protocol Security

[0490] IP-CAN IP Connectivity Access Network

[0491] IP-M IP Multicast

[0492] IPv4 Internet Protocol Version 4

[0493] IPv6 Internet Protocol Version 6

[0494] IR Infrared

[0495] IS Synchronization

[0496] IRP Integrated Reference Point

[0497] ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network

[0498] ISIM IM Service Identity Module

[0499] ISO International Organization for Standardization

[0500] ISP Internet Service Provider

[0501] IWF Interworking Function

[0502] I-WLAN Interworking WLAN

[0503] K Constraint length of convolutional coding, USIM individual key

[0504] kB Kilobyte (1000 bytes)

[0505] kbps Kilobit per second

[0506] Kc Cipher key

[0507] Ki Individual user authentication key

[0508] KPI Key Performance Indicator

[0509] KQI Key Quality Indicator

[0510] KSI Key Set Identifier

[0511] ksps Kilosymbol per second

[0512] KVM Kernel Virtual Machine

[0513] L1 Layer 1 (Physical layer)

[0514] L1-RSRP Layer 1 Reference Signal Received Power

[0515] L2 Layer 2 (Data Link layer)

[0516] Layer 3 (Network Layer) L3

[0517] Licensed-Assisted Access LAA

[0518] Local Area Network LAN

[0519] Listen-Before-Talk LBT

[0520] Lifecycle Management LCM

[0521] Low Chip Rate LCR

[0522] Location Service LCS

[0523] Logical Channel ID LCID

[0524] Layer Indicator LI

[0525] Logical Link Control, Lower Layer Compatibility LLC

[0526] Local PLMN LPLMN

[0527] LTE Positioning Protocol LPP

[0528] Least Significant Bit LSB

[0529] Long Term Evolution LTE

[0530] LTE-WLAN Aggregation LWA

[0531] LTE / WLAN Radio Layer Integration with IPsec Tunnel LWIP

[0532] Long Term Evolution LTE

[0533] Machine-to-Machine M2M

[0534] Media Access Control (protocol layering context) MAC

[0535] Message Authentication Code (security / encryption context) MAC

[0536] MAC for Authentication and Key Negotiation (TSG T WG3 context) MAC-A

[0537] MAC for Data Integrity of Signaling Messages (TSG T WG3 context) MAC-I

[0538] Management and Orchestration MANO

[0539] Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service MBMS

[0540] Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service Single Frequency Network MBSFN

[0541] MCC Mobile Country Code

[0542] MCG Master Cell Group

[0543] MCOT Maximum Channel Occupancy Time

[0544] MCS Modulation and Coding Scheme

[0545] MDAF Management Data Analysis Function

[0546] MDAS Management Data Analysis Service

[0547] MDT Minimization of Drive Tests

[0548] ME Mobile Equipment

[0549] MeNB Master eNB

[0550] MER Message Error Rate

[0551] MGL Measurement Gap Length

[0552] MGRP Measurement Gap Repetition Period

[0553] MIB Master Information Block, Management Information Base

[0554] MIMO Multiple Input Multiple Output

[0555] MLC Mobile Location Center

[0556] MM Mobility Management

[0557] MME Mobility Management Entity

[0558] MN Master Node

[0559] MO Measurement Object, Mobile Originating

[0560] MPBCH MTC Physical Broadcast Channel

[0561] MPDCCH MTC Physical Downlink Control Channel

[0562] MPDSCH MTC Physical Downlink Shared Channel

[0563] MPRACH MTC Physical Random Access Channel

[0564] MPUSCH MTC Physical Uplink Shared Channel

[0565] MPLS Multiprotocol Label Switching

[0566] MS Mobile Station

[0567] MSB Most Significant Bit

[0568] MSC Mobile Switching Center

[0569] MSI Minimum System Information, MCH Scheduling Information

[0570] MSID Mobile Station Identifier

[0571] MSIN Mobile Station Identification Number

[0572] MSISDN Mobile Subscriber ISDN Number

[0573] MT Mobile Station Terminated, Mobile Terminal

[0574] MTC Machine-Type Communication

[0575] mMTC Massive MTC, Massive Machine-Type Communication

[0576] MU-MIMO Multi-User MIMO

[0577] MWUS MTC Wake-Up Signal, MTC WUS

[0578] NACK Negative Acknowledgment

[0579] NAI Network Access Identifier

[0580] NAS Non-Access Stratum, Non-Access Stratum

[0581] NCT Network Connection Topology

[0582] NEC Network Capability Exposure

[0583] NE-DC NR-E-UTRA Dual Connectivity

[0584] NEF Network Exposure Function

[0585] NF Network Function

[0586] NFP Network Forwarding Path

[0587] NFPD Network Forwarding Path Descriptor

[0588] NFV Network Function Virtualization

[0589] NFVI NFV Infrastructure

[0590] NFVO NFV Orchestrator

[0591] NG Next Generation, Next Generation

[0592] NGEN-DC NG-RAN E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity

[0593] NM Network Manager

[0594] NMS Network Management System

[0595] N-PoP Network Point of Presence

[0596] NMIB, N-MIB Narrowband MIB

[0597] NPBCH Narrowband Physical Broadcast Channel

[0598] NPDCCH Narrowband Physical Downlink Control Channel

[0599] NPDSCH Narrowband Physical Downlink Shared Channel

[0600] NPRACH Narrowband Physical Random Access Channel

[0601] NPUSCH Narrowband Physical Uplink Shared Channel

[0602] NPSS Narrowband Primary Synchronization Signal

[0603] NSSS Narrowband Secondary Synchronization Signal

[0604] NR New Radio, Neighbor Relationship

[0605] NRF NF Repository Function

[0606] NRS Narrowband Reference Signal

[0607] NS Network Service

[0608] NSA Non-Standalone Operation Mode

[0609] NSD Network Service Descriptor

[0610] NSR Network Service Record

[0611] NSSAI Network Slice Selection Assistance Information

[0612] S-NNSAI Single NSSAI

[0613] NSSF Network Slice Selection Function

[0614] NW Network

[0615] NWUS Narrowband Wake-Up Signal, Narrowband WUS

[0616] NZP Non-Zero Power

[0617] O&M Operation and Maintenance

[0618] ODU2 Optical Channel Data Unit - Type 2

[0619] OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

[0620] OFDMA Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access

[0621] OOB Out-of-Band

[0622] OOS Out-of-Sync

[0623] OPEX Operational Expenditure

[0624] OSI Other System Information

[0625] OSS Operation Support System

[0626] OTA Over-the-Air

[0627] PAPR Peak-to-Average Power Ratio

[0628] PAR Peak-to-Average Ratio

[0629] PBCH Physical Broadcast Channel

[0630] PC Power Control, Personal Computer

[0631] PCC Primary Component Carrier, Primary CC

[0632] PCell Primary Cell

[0633] PCI Physical Cell ID, Physical Cell Identity

[0634] PCEF Policy and Charging Enforcement Function

[0635] PCF Policy Control Function

[0636] PCRF Policy Control and Charging Rules Function

[0637] PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol, Packet Data Convergence Protocol Layer

[0638] PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel

[0639] PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol

[0640] PDN Packet Data Network, Public Data Network

[0641] PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel

[0642] PDU Protocol Data Unit

[0643] PEI Permanent Equipment Identifier

[0644] PFD Packet Flow Description

[0645] P-GW PDN Gateway

[0646] PHICH Physical Hybrid ARQ Indicator Channel

[0647] PHY Physical Layer

[0648] PLMN Public Land Mobile Network

[0649] PIN Personal Identification Number

[0650] PM Performance Measurement

[0651] PMI Precoding Matrix Indicator

[0652] PNF Physical Network Function

[0653] PNFD Physical Network Function Descriptor

[0654] PNFR Physical Network Function Record

[0655] POC Push-to-Talk over Cellular

[0656] PP, PTP Point-to-Point

[0657] PPP Point-to-Point Protocol

[0658] PRACH Physical RACH

[0659] PRB Physical Resource Block

[0660] PRG Physical Resource Block Group

[0661] ProSe Proximity Services, Proximity-Based Services

[0662] PRS Positioning Reference Signal

[0663] PRR Packet Reception Radio

[0664] PS Packet Service

[0665] PSBCH Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel

[0666] PSDCH Physical Sidelink Downlink Channel

[0667] PSCCH Physical Sidelink Control Channel

[0668] PSSCH Physical Sidelink Shared Channel

[0669] PSCell Primary SCell

[0670] PSS Primary Synchronization Signal

[0671] PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network

[0672] PT-RS Phase Tracking Reference Signal

[0673] PTT Push To Talk

[0674] PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel

[0675] PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel

[0676] QAM Quadrature Amplitude Modulation

[0677] QCI QoS Class Identifier

[0678] QCL Quasi-Co-Location

[0679] QFI QoS Flow ID, QoS Flow Identifier

[0680] QoS Quality of Service

[0681] QPSK Quadrature (Phase) Shift Keying

[0682] QZSS Quasi-Zenith Satellite System

[0683] RA-RNTI Random Access RNTI

[0684] RAB Radio Access Bearer, Random Access Burst

[0685] RACH Random Access Channel

[0686] RADIUS Remote Authentication Dial In User Service

[0687] RAN Radio Access Network

[0688] RAND Random Number (for authentication)

[0689] RAR Random Access Response

[0690] RAT Radio Access Technology

[0691] RAU Routing Area Update

[0692] RB Resource Block, Radio Bearer

[0693] RBG Resource Block Group

[0694] REG Resource Element Group

[0695] Rel Release

[0696] REQ Request

[0697] RF Radio Frequency

[0698] RI Rank Indicator

[0699] RIV Resource Indicator Value

[0700] RL Radio Link

[0701] RLC Radio Link Control, Radio Link Control layer

[0702] RLC AM RLC Acknowledged Mode

[0703] RLC UM RLC Unacknowledged Mode

[0704] RLF Radio Link Failure

[0705] RLM Radio Link Monitoring

[0706] RLM-RS Reference Signal for RLM

[0707] RM Registration Management

[0708] RMC Reference Measurement Channel

[0709] RMSI Remaining MSI, Remaining Minimum System Information

[0710] RN Relay Node

[0711] RNC Radio Network Controller

[0712] RNL Radio Network Layer

[0713] RNTI Radio Network Temporary Identifier

[0714] ROHC Robust Header Compression

[0715] RRC Radio Resource Control, Radio Resource Control layer

[0716] RRM Radio Resource Management

[0717] RS Reference Signal

[0718] RSRP Reference Signal Received Power

[0719] RSRQ Reference Signal Received Quality

[0720] RSSI Received Signal Strength Indicator

[0721] RSU Road Side Unit

[0722] RSTD Reference Signal Time Difference

[0723] RTP Real-time Protocol

[0724] RTS Ready to Send

[0725] Round Trip Time (RTT)

[0726] Rx: Receive, Receiver

[0727] S1 Application Protocol (S1AP)

[0728] S1 for the Control Plane (S1-MME)

[0729] S1 for the User Plane (S1-U)

[0730] Serving Gateway (S-GW)

[0731] SRNC Radio Network Temporary Identifier (S-RNTI)

[0732] SAE Temporary Mobile Station Identifier (S-TMSI)

[0733] Standalone Operation Mode (SA)

[0734] System Architecture Evolution (SAE)

[0735] Service Access Point (SAP)

[0736] Service Access Point Descriptor (SAPD)

[0737] Service Access Point Identifier (SAPI)

[0738] Secondary Component Carrier (SCC), Secondary CC

[0739] Secondary Cell (SCell)

[0740] Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA)

[0741] Secondary Cell Group (SCG)

[0742] Security Context Management (SCM)

[0743] Subcarrier Spacing (SCS)

[0744] Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP)

[0745] Service Data Adaptation Protocol, Service Data Adaptation Protocol Layer (SDAP)

[0746] Supplementary Downlink (SDL)

[0747] Structured Data Storage Network Function (SDNF)

[0748] Session Description Protocol (SDP)

[0749] Structured Data Storage Function (SDSF)

[0750] Service Data Unit (SDU)

[0751] SEAF Secure Anchoring Function

[0752] SeNB Secondary eNB

[0753] SEPP Secure Edge Protection Proxy

[0754] SFI Slot Format Indication

[0755] SFTD Spatial Frequency Time Diversity, SFN and Frame Timing Difference

[0756] SFN System Frame Number

[0757] SgNB Secondary gNB

[0758] SGSN Serving GPRS Support Node

[0759] S-GW Serving Gateway

[0760] SI System Information

[0761] SI-RNTI System Information RNTI

[0762] SIB System Information Block

[0763] SIM Subscriber Identity Module

[0764] SIP Session Initiation Protocol

[0765] SiP System in Package

[0766] SL Side Link

[0767] SLA Service Level Agreement

[0768] SM Session Management

[0769] SMF Session Management Function

[0770] SMS Short Message Service

[0771] SMSF SMS Function

[0772] SMTC SSB-based Measurement Timing Configuration

[0773] SN Secondary Node, Sequence Number

[0774] SoC System on Chip

[0775] SON Self-Organizing Network

[0776] SpCell Special Cell

[0777] SP-CSI-RNTI Semi-Persistent CSI RNTI

[0778] SPS Semi-Persistent Scheduling

[0779] SQN Sequence Number

[0780] SR Scheduling Request

[0781] SRB Signaling Radio Bearer

[0782] SRS Sounding Reference Signal

[0783] SS Synchronization Signal

[0784] SSB Synchronization Signal Block, SS / PBCH Block

[0785] SSBRI SS / PBCH Block Resource Indicator, Synchronization Signal Block Resource Indicator

[0786] SSC Session and Service Continuity

[0787] SS-RSRP Synchronization Signal Based Reference Signal Received Power

[0788] SS-RSRQ Synchronization Signal Based Reference Signal Received Quality

[0789] SS-SINR Synchronization Signal Based Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise Ratio

[0790] SSS Secondary Synchronization Signal

[0791] SSSG Search Space Set Group

[0792] SSSIF Search Space Set Indicator

[0793] SST Slice / Service Type

[0794] SU-MIMO Single-User MIMO

[0795] SUL Supplementary Uplink

[0796] TA Timing Advance, Tracking Area

[0797] TAC Tracking Area Code

[0798] TAG Timing Advance Group

[0799] TAU Tracking Area Update

[0800] TB Transport Block

[0801] TBS Transport Block Size

[0802] TBD To Be Defined

[0803] TCI Transmission Configuration Indicator

[0804] TCP Transmission Communication Protocol

[0805] TDD Time Division Duplexing

[0806] TDM Time Division Multiplexing

[0807] TDMA Time Division Multiple Access

[0808] TE Terminal Equipment

[0809] TEID Tunnel Endpoint Identifier

[0810] TFT Traffic Flow Template

[0811] TMSI Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity

[0812] TNL Transport Network Layer

[0813] TPC Transmission Power Control

[0814] TPMI Transmitted Precoding Matrix Indicator

[0815] TR Technical Report

[0816] TRP, TRxP Transmission and Reception Point

[0817] TRS Tracking Reference Signal

[0818] TRx Transceiver

[0819] TS Technical Specification, Technical Standard

[0820] TTI Transmission Time Interval

[0821] Tx Transmission, Transmit, Transmitter

[0822] U-RNTI UTRAN Radio Network Temporary Identity

[0823] UART Universal Asynchronous Receiver and Transmitter

[0824] UCI Uplink Control Information

[0825] UE User Equipment

[0826] UDM Unified Data Management

[0827] UDP User Datagram Protocol

[0828] UDSF Unstructured Data Storage Network Function

[0829] UICC Universal Integrated Circuit Card

[0830] UL Uplink

[0831] UM Unconfirmed Mode

[0832] UML Unified Modeling Language

[0833] UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System

[0834] UP User Plane

[0835] UPF User Plane Function

[0836] URI Uniform Resource Identifier

[0837] URL Uniform Resource Locator

[0838] URLLC Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency

[0839] USB Universal Serial Bus

[0840] USIM Universal Subscriber Identity Module

[0841] USS UE-Specific Search Space

[0842] UTRA UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access

[0843] UTRAN Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network

[0844] UwPTS Uplink Pilot Time Slot

[0845] V2I Vehicle-to-Infrastructure

[0846] V2P Vehicle-to-Pedestrian

[0847] V2V Vehicle-to-Vehicle

[0848] V2X Vehicle-to-Everything

[0849] VIM Virtual Infrastructure Manager

[0850] VL Virtual Link

[0851] VLAN Virtual LAN, Virtual Local Area Network

[0852] VM Virtual Machine

[0853] VNF Virtualized Network Function

[0854] VNFFG VNF Forwarding Graph

[0855] VNFFGD VNF Forwarding Graph Descriptor

[0856] VNFM VNF Manager

[0857] VoIP Voice over Internet Protocol

[0858] VPLMN Visited Public Land Mobile Network

[0859] VPN Virtual Private Network

[0860] VRB Virtual Resource Block

[0861] WiMAX Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access

[0862] WLAN Wireless Local Area Network

[0863] WMAN Wireless Metropolitan Area Network

[0864] WPAN Wireless Personal Area Network

[0865] X2-C X2 Control Plane

[0866] X2-U X2 User Plane

[0867] XML Extensible Markup Language

[0868] XRES Expected User Response

[0869] XOR Exclusive OR

[0870] ZC Zadoff-Chu

[0871] ZP Zero Power

[0872] Terms

[0873] For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply to the embodiments and implementations discussed herein, but are not intended to be limiting.

[0874] As used herein, the term "circuit" refers to, is part of, or includes the following: hardware components such as electronic circuits, logic circuits, processors (shared, dedicated, or groups thereof) and / or memories (shared, dedicated, or groups thereof) configured to provide the functions, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable devices (FPDs) (e.g., field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), complex PLDs (CPLDs), high capacity PLDs (HCPLDs), structured ASICs, or programmable system on chips (SoCs)), digital signal processors (DSPs), etc. In some embodiments, a circuit may execute one or more software or firmware programs to provide at least some of the functions. The term "circuit" may also refer to a combination of one or more hardware elements and program code for performing the functions of the program code (or a combination of circuits used in an electrical or electronic system). In these embodiments, the combination of the hardware element and the program code may be referred to as a particular type of circuit.

[0875] As used herein, the term "processor circuit" refers to, is part of, or includes the following: a circuit capable of sequentially and automatically performing a series of arithmetic or logical operations or recording, storing, and / or transmitting digital data. The term "processor circuit" may refer to one or more application processors, one or more baseband processors, a physical central processing unit (CPU), a single-core processor, a dual-core processor, a triple-core processor, a quad-core processor, and / or any other device capable of executing or otherwise operating on computer-executable instructions (such as program code, software modules, and / or functional procedures). The terms "application circuit" and / or "baseband circuit" may be considered synonymous with the "processor circuit" and may be referred to as the "processor circuit".

[0876] As used herein, the term "interface circuit" refers to, is part of, or includes a circuit that enables information exchange between two or more components or devices. The term "interface circuit" may refer to one or more hardware interfaces, such as buses, I / O interfaces, peripheral component interfaces, network interface cards, etc.

[0877] As used herein, the term "user equipment" or "UE" refers to a device of a remote user having radio communication capabilities and capable of describing network resources in a communication network. Additionally, the terms "user equipment" or "UE" may be considered synonymous and may be referred to as a client, mobile phone, mobile device, mobile terminal, user terminal, mobile unit, mobile station, mobile user, subscriber, user, remote station, access agent, user agent, receiver, radio equipment, reconfigurable radio equipment, reconfigurable mobile device, etc. Additionally, the term "user equipment" or "UE" may include any type of wireless / wired device or any computing device including a wireless communication interface.

[0878] As used herein, the term "network element" refers to physical or virtualized equipment and / or infrastructure for providing wired or wireless communication network services. The term "network element" may be considered synonymous with and / or referred to as a networked computer, networked hardware, network equipment, network node, router, switch, hub, bridge, radio network controller, RAN device, RAN node, gateway, server, virtualized VNF, NFVI, etc.

[0879] As used herein, the term "computer system" refers to any type of interconnected electronic device, computing device, or components thereof. Additionally, the terms "computer system" and / or "system" may refer to various components of a computer communicatively coupled to each other. Further, the terms "computer system" and / or "system" may refer to multiple computing devices and / or multiple computing systems communicatively coupled to each other and configured to share computing and / or networking resources.

[0880] As used herein, the terms "appliance", "computer appliance", etc. refer to a computing device or computer system having program code (e.g., software or firmware) specifically designed to provide a particular computing resource. A "virtual appliance" is a virtual machine image to be implemented by a hypervisor-equipped device that virtualizes or emulates a computer appliance or is otherwise dedicated to providing a particular computing resource.

[0881] As used herein, the term "resource" refers to a physical or virtual device, a physical or virtual component within a computing environment, and / or a physical or virtual component within a particular device, such as a computing device, mechanical device, memory space, processor / CPU time and / or processor / CPU utilization, processor and accelerator load, hardware time or utilization, power, input / output operations, ports or network sockets, channel / link allocation, throughput, memory utilization, storage, network, database and applications, workload units, etc. "Hardware resources" may refer to computing, storage, and / or networking resources provided by physical hardware elements. "Virtualized resources" may refer to computing, storage, and / or networking resources provided by a virtualized infrastructure to applications, devices, systems, etc. The term "network resources" or "communication resources" may refer to resources accessible to a computing device / system via a communication network. The term "system resources" may refer to any kind of shared entity that provides services and may include computing resources and / or networking resources. System resources may be considered a set of coherent functions, network data objects, or services accessible via a server, where such system resources reside on a single host or multiple hosts and are clearly identifiable.

[0882] As used herein, the term "channel" refers to any tangible or intangible transmission medium used to convey data or a data stream. The term "channel" may be synonymous and / or equivalent to "communication channel", "data communication channel", "transmission channel", "data transmission channel", "access channel", "data access channel", "link", "data link", "carrier", "radio frequency carrier", and / or any other similar term that represents the path or medium through which data is conveyed. Additionally, as used herein, the term "link" refers to a connection for transmitting and receiving information between two devices via a RAT.

[0883] As used herein, terms such as "instantiate", "instantiation", etc. refer to the creation of an instance. An "instance" also refers to a specific occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during the execution of program code.

[0884] This document uses the terms "couple", "communicatively couple" and their derivatives. The term "couple" may mean that two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact with each other, may mean that two or more elements are in indirect contact with each other but still cooperate or interact with each other, and / or may mean that one or more other elements are coupled or connected between the elements said to be coupled to each other. The term "directly couple" may mean that two or more elements are in direct contact with each other. The term "communicatively couple" may mean that two or more elements can be in contact with each other by means of communication, including through wires or other interconnections, through a wireless communication channel or link, etc.

[0885] The term "information element" refers to a structural element that contains one or more fields. The term "field" refers to each content of an information element, or a data element that contains content.

[0886] The term "SMTC" refers to the SSB-based measurement timing configuration configured by SSB-MeasurementTimingConfiguration.

[0887] The term "SSB" refers to an SS / PBCH block.

[0888] The term "primary cell" refers to an MCG cell operating on a primary frequency, where the UE either performs an initial connection establishment procedure or initiates a connection reestablishment procedure.

[0889] The term "primary SCG cell" refers to the SCG cell in which the UE performs random access when reconfiguring using the synchronization process for DC operation.

[0890] The term "secondary cell" refers to a cell that provides additional radio resources on top of a special cell of a UE configured with CA.

[0891] The term "secondary cell group" refers to a subset of serving cells that includes the PSCell for a UE configured with DC and zero or more secondary cells.

[0892] The term "serving cell" refers to the primary cell for a UE not configured with CA / DC that is in RRC_CONNECTED, where there is only one serving cell that includes the primary cell.

[0893] The term "serving cell" refers to a set of cells that includes the special cell and all secondary cells for a UE configured with CA / and in RRC_CONNECTED.

[0894] The term "special cell" refers to the PCell of the MCG or the PSCell of the SCG for DC operation; otherwise, the term "special cell" refers to the Pcell.

Claims

1. A method for establishing minimum performance requirements for user equipment, the method comprising: Receive a signal including a signal power level and an artificial noise power level, where the signal power level and the artificial noise power level define a target signal-to-noise ratio (SNR); Determine a radio frequency (RF) noise power level associated with the user equipment; Determine a baseband SNR attenuation based on the signal power level, the artificial noise power level, and the RF noise power level, where the baseband SNR attenuation is the difference in dB between the target SNR and the observed SNR; Determine a compensated SNR attenuation based on the baseband SNR attenuation and the RF noise power level, where the compensated SNR attenuation is the sum in dB of the target SNR and the baseband SNR attenuation; And Provide the compensated SNR attenuation as the minimum performance requirement to be used for the user equipment.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein receiving the man-made noise power level comprises receiving an additive white Gaussian noise signal.

3. The method according to claim 1, the method further comprising: Determine the ratio between the RF noise power level and the artificial noise power signal, where the baseband SNR attenuation is further determined based on the ratio.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the baseband SNR attenuation is determined based on performing a logarithmic function on the ratio.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the baseband SNR attenuation is determined based on a fixed value for the man-made noise power signal.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining the RF noise power level is performed based on a function of a reference sensitivity requirement, wherein the reference sensitivity requirement is the minimum average power applied to the antenna of the user equipment.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the man-made noise power level is determined based on the RF noise power level and an adjustment parameter.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the user equipment is configured to utilize the compensated SNR attenuation as part of operating within a frequency range.

9. A test device, the test device comprising: Radio front-end circuit; And Processor circuit, the processor circuit being configured to: Use the radio front-end circuit to receive a signal including a signal power level and an artificial noise power level, where the signal power level and the artificial noise power level define a target signal-to-noise ratio (SNR); Determine a radio frequency (RF) noise power level associated with the user equipment; Determine a baseband SNR attenuation based on the signal power level, the artificial noise power level, and the RF noise power level, where the baseband SNR attenuation is the difference in dB between the target SNR and the observed SNR; Determine a compensated SNR attenuation based on the baseband SNR attenuation and the RF noise power level, where the compensated SNR attenuation is the sum in dB of the target SNR and the baseband SNR attenuation; And Provide the compensated SNR attenuation as the minimum performance requirement to be used for the user equipment.

10. The test device according to claim 9, wherein the man-made noise power signal is an additive white Gaussian noise signal.

11. The test device according to claim 9, the processor circuit being further configured to: Determine a ratio between the radio frequency noise power level and the artificial noise power signal, wherein a baseband SNR attenuation is further determined based on the ratio.

12. The test device according to claim 11, wherein the baseband SNR attenuation is determined based on performing a logarithmic function on the ratio.

13. The test device according to claim 12, wherein the baseband SNR attenuation is determined based on a fixed value for the artificial noise power signal.

14. The test device according to claim 9, wherein the radio frequency noise power level is determined based on a function of a reference sensitivity requirement, wherein the reference sensitivity requirement is a minimum average power applied to an antenna of the user equipment.

15. The test device according to claim 9, wherein the artificial noise power level is determined based on the radio frequency noise power level and an adjustment parameter.

16. The test device according to claim 9, wherein the user equipment is configured to utilize the compensated SNR attenuation as part of operating within a frequency range.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations including the following: Receive a signal including a signal power level and an artificial noise power level, the signal power level and the artificial noise power level defining a target signal-to-noise ratio SNR; Determine a radio frequency (RF) noise power level associated with the user equipment; Determine a baseband SNR attenuation based on the signal power level, the artificial noise power level, and the RF noise power level, where the baseband SNR attenuation is the difference in dB between the target SNR and the observed SNR; Determine a compensated SNR attenuation based on the baseband SNR attenuation and the RF noise power level, where the compensated SNR attenuation is the sum in dB of the target SNR and the baseband SNR attenuation; And Return the compensated SNR attenuation as the minimum performance requirement to be used for the user equipment.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 17, wherein the artificial noise power signal is an additive white Gaussian noise signal.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 17, wherein the operations further include: Determine the ratio between the RF noise power level and the artificial noise power signal, where the baseband SNR attenuation is further determined based on the ratio.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 19, wherein the baseband SNR attenuation is determined based on performing a logarithmic function on the ratio.

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