Method and apparatus for advertising a scalable capability feature set of a user equipment (UE)

Abstract

Embodiments include methods for user equipment (UE) to announce capabilities to a network node in a radio access network. Embodiments include sending information describing multiple feature sets supported by the UE to the network node. The information may include one or more InitialFeatureLists and one or more ExtensionFeatureLists, each ExtensionFeatureList being associated with a specific InitialFeatureList. Embodiments also include sending one or more BandCombination elements to the network node, each element including: a list of frequency bands in which the UE can operate in parallel; and a FeatureSetCombination element that identifies the features supported by the UE within each frequency band included in the list. Some embodiments may also include receiving a configuration (e.g., for dual connectivity and / or carrier aggregation) from the network node based on the information describing the multiple feature sets and the BandCombination element. Other embodiments include supplementary methods performed by the network node.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to the field of wireless communications, and more particularly to techniques that enable a wireless device to advertise its supported features and / or capabilities to a wireless network, thereby facilitating interoperability between the device and the network. Background Art

[0002] Generally, all terms used in this article will be interpreted according to their common meaning in the relevant technical field, unless different meanings are clearly given and / or implied in the context of using the term. Unless clearly stated, all references to one / an / the element, equipment, assembly, device, step, etc. should be publicly interpreted as referring to at least one instance of the element, equipment, assembly, device, step, etc. The steps of any method disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless a step is clearly described as after or before another step and / or a step must be after or before another step implicitly. Where appropriate, any feature of any embodiment disclosed herein may be applicable to any other embodiment. Similarly, any advantage of any embodiment may be applicable to any other embodiment, and vice versa. By the following description, other purposes, features and advantages of the attached embodiments will be apparent.

[0003] Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a general term for the so-called fourth generation (4G) radio access technologies developed in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and initially standardized in Releases 8 and 9, also known as Evolved UTRAN (E-UTRAN). LTE targets various licensed frequency bands and is accompanied by improvements to non-radio aspects generally referred to as System Architecture Evolution (SAE), which includes the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network. LTE continues to evolve through subsequent releases developed according to the standards setting process of 3GPP and its working groups (WGs), including the Radio Access Network (RAN) WG and sub-working groups (e.g., RAN1, RAN2, etc.).

[0004] In LTE, the Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol is used to configure, establish and maintain a radio connection between a user equipment (UE) and a base station, known as an evolved Node B (eNB). When the UE receives an RRC message from the eNB, the UE applies the configuration (also referred to herein as "editing the configuration"), and if the application is successful, the UE generates an RRC Complete message indicating the transaction ID of the message that triggered the response.

[0005] Starting from LTE Release 8, three signaling radio bearers (SRBs) (i.e., SRB0, SRB1, and SRB2) can be used to transport RRC and non-access stratum (NAS) messages between the UE and the eNB. A new SRB called SRB1bis was also introduced in Release 13 to support DoNAS (Data over NAS) in NB-IoT.

[0006] SRB0 uses the CCCH logical channel to carry RRC messages and is used to handle RRC connection establishment, recovery, and reestablishment. Once the UE is connected to the eNB (i.e., RRC connection establishment or RRC connection reestablishment / reestablishment has succeeded), SRB1 is used to handle further RRC messages (which may include piggybacked NAS messages) and NAS messages before establishing SRB2, both of which use the DCCH logical channel. SRB2 is used for RRC messages (such as logged measurement information) and NAS messages, both of which use the DCCH. SRB2 has a lower priority than SRB1 because the logged measurement information and NAS messages may be long and may cause blocking of more urgent and smaller SRB1 messages. SRB2 is always configured by E-UTRAN after security activation.

[0007] In many communication protocols, two parties (or "peers") exchange information about their respective capabilities. This ensures that each peer does not request any capabilities that the other peer does not support. In LTE, UE Capability Information is an RRC message that the UE sends to the serving eNB, typically during the initial registration process with the LTE network. This RRC message informs the network of all the details of the UE's capabilities.

[0008] In the LTE UE Capability Information message, the UE can indicate not only whether it supports a particular feature, but also whether it supports such a feature when operating on a particular frequency band. In other words, the UE can indicate that the UE supports the particular feature when operating on one or more frequency bands, but does not support the particular feature when operating on one or more other frequency bands. In addition, the UE can indicate that it supports certain features, but not necessarily a combination of these features.

[0009] In addition, the UE may announce the supported band combinations. These combinations may be announced, for example, in a BandCombinationList information element (IE) identifying one or more band combinations. Each announced band combination indicates one or more bands that the UE can combine in operation, for example, by carrier aggregation (CA) of one or more RF carriers in each band. In addition, the UE may indicate whether it supports specific features on each band combination that the UE can aggregate. With the improvement of LTE versions and the addition of more features, the UE capability information message has become one of the longest and most complex RRC messages.

[0010] While LTE was designed primarily for user-to-user communications, 5G (also called "NR") cellular networks are envisioned to support both high single-user data rates (e.g., 1 Gb / s) and massive machine-to-machine communications, which involve short burst transmissions from many different devices sharing a frequency bandwidth. The 5G radio standard (also called "new radio" or "NR") currently targets a wide range of data services, including eMBB (enhanced mobile broadband) and URLLC (ultra-reliable low-latency communications). These services may have different requirements and goals. For example, URLLC is designed to provide extremely stringent error and latency requirements for data services, such as error probabilities as low as 10 -5 or lower and 1ms end-to-end latency or lower. For eMBB, the requirements for latency and error probability may be less stringent, while the required supported peak rate and / or spectral efficiency may be higher.

[0011] In NR, the UE announces its capabilities similar to how it does in LTE. For example, the UE can indicate not only whether it supports a particular feature, but also whether it supports such a feature when operating on one or more specific frequency bands. In other words, the UE can indicate that it supports the particular feature when operating on one or more frequency bands, but does not support the particular feature when operating on one or more other frequency bands. Also like in LTE, the UE can indicate that it supports certain features, but not necessarily a combination of these features. Also similar to LTE, the UE can use, for example, the BandCombinationList IE to announce the supported band combinations. In addition, as part of this IE, the UE can indicate whether it supports a particular feature on each band combination that the UE can aggregate.

[0012] However, unlike LTE, the NR UE capability information signaling used to indicate such fine-grained feature support is not embedded directly into the BandCombinationList IE. Instead, the NR UE capability signaling is divided into band combinations and feature set combinations, which are band independent so that they can be associated with any specific band combination. This arrangement has the potential to reduce the overall signaling overhead if several band combinations (of which there may be many) point to the same feature set combination, if several feature set combinations point to the same feature set, and / or if several feature sets point to the same per-CC feature set. Nevertheless, compared to the conventional approach used in LTE, this arrangement may cause difficulties if features are extended in future NR releases (which is often the case with LTE). Summary of the invention

[0013] The exemplary embodiments disclosed herein address these problems and / or shortcomings of existing solutions by providing a flexible and efficient method for announcing extensible UE capabilities in a radio access network (RAN). Such embodiments can reduce and / or minimize the overhead required to announce extensions to an initial and / or original feature set while providing backward compatibility with legacy network nodes that do not recognize and / or support such extensions.

[0014] Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure include methods and / or processes for notifying a network node in a radio access network (RAN) of user equipment (UE) capabilities. The exemplary methods and / or processes can be performed by a UE or a wireless device.

[0015] The exemplary method and / or process may include sending information describing multiple feature sets supported by the UE to the network node. The information may include one or more InitialFeatureLists, each InitialFeatureList including one or more non-extensible InitialFeatureSet elements, each non-extensible InitialFeatureSet element indicating the UE's support for one or more initial features. The information may also include one or more ExtensionFeatureLists, each ExtensionFeatureList being associated with a particular InitialFeatureList. Each ExtensionFeatureList may include one or more ExtensionFeatureSet elements, each ExtensionFeatureSet element indicating the UE's support for one or more extended features.

[0016] The exemplary method and / or process may further include sending one or more BandCombination elements to the network node. Each BandCombination element may include a list of frequency bands in which the UE can transmit and / or receive information in parallel. Each BandCombination element may also include a FeatureSetCombination element that identifies the features supported by the UE in each frequency band included in the list. The features identified for a particular frequency band may be based on: a particular InitialFeatureSet element from each InitialFeatureList, and a corresponding ExtensionFeatureSet element from the ExtensionFeatureList associated with each InitialFeatureList.

[0017] In some embodiments, the exemplary methods and / or processes may further include receiving a configuration including an identification of one or more frequency bands from the network node, wherein the identified frequency bands are part of a list included in a specific BandCombination element sent. For each identified frequency band, the configuration may further identify a configuration of one or more characteristics identified by the specific BandCombination element. In this way, the UE is able to receive a configuration based on capability information provided to the network node.

[0018] In some embodiments, the exemplary methods and / or processes may further include sending or receiving information with the network node in the identified frequency band according to the received configuration.

[0019] Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure also include methods and / or processes for determining the capabilities of a user equipment (UE). Such exemplary methods and / or processes can be implemented in a network node (e.g., a base station, gNB, eNB, or a component thereof) of a radio access network (RAN).

[0020] The exemplary method and / or process may include receiving information from the UE describing a plurality of feature sets supported by the UE. The information may include one or more InitialFeatureLists, each InitialFeatureList including one or more non-extensible InitialFeatureSet elements, each non-extensible InitialFeatureSet element indicating the UE's support for one or more initial features. The information may also include one or more ExtensionFeatureLists, each ExtensionFeatureList being associated with a particular InitialFeatureList. Each ExtensionFeatureList may include one or more ExtensionFeatureSet elements, each ExtensionFeatureSet element indicating the UE's support for one or more extended features.

[0021] The exemplary method and / or process may further include receiving one or more BandCombination elements from the UE. Each BandCombination element may include a list of frequency bands in which the UE can transmit and / or receive information in parallel. Each BandCombination element may also include a FeatureSetCombination element that identifies the features supported by the UE within each frequency band included in the list. The features identified for a particular frequency band may be based on: a particular InitialFeatureSet element from each InitialFeatureList, and a corresponding ExtensionFeatureSet element from the ExtensionFeatureList associated with each InitialFeatureList.

[0022] The example methods and / or processes may also include determining capabilities of the UE based on the received one or more BandCombination elements and the received information describing the plurality of feature sets supported by the UE.

[0023] In some embodiments, the exemplary methods and / or processes may further include sending a configuration including an identification of one or more frequency bands to the UE, wherein the identified frequency bands are part of a list included in a specific BandCombination element sent. For each identified frequency band, the configuration may further identify a configuration of one or more characteristics identified by the specific BandCombination element. In this way, the network node may provide the UE with a configuration based on capability information provided to the network node.

[0024] In some embodiments, the exemplary methods and / or processes may further include transmitting or receiving information with the UE in the plurality of frequency bands according to the transmitted configuration.

[0025] Other exemplary embodiments include user equipment (UE, wireless device, etc. or components thereof) and network nodes (e.g., base stations, gNBs, eNBs, etc. or components thereof) configured to perform operations corresponding to the exemplary methods and / or processes described herein. Other exemplary embodiments include a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing program instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a UE or a network node, configure the UE or network node to perform operations corresponding to the exemplary methods and / or processes described herein.

[0026] These and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description in view of the accompanying drawings which are briefly described below. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] Figure 1 An exemplary ASN.1 code for specifying a BandCombinationList information element (IE) that may be used for UE capability signaling in an NR network is shown;

[0028] Figure 2 An exemplary ASN.1 code for specifying a FeatureSets IE that may be used for UE capability signaling in an NR network is shown;

[0029] Figure 3 An exemplary ASN.1 code for specifying a FeatureSetCombination IE that may be used for UE capability signaling in an NR network is shown;

[0030] Figure 4 An exemplary ASN.1 code for specifying a FeatureSets IE that may be used for scalable UE capability signaling in an NR network according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0031] Figure 5 An exemplary ASN.1 code for specifying a FeatureSetDownlink IE that may be used for scalable UE capability signaling in an NR network according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0032] Figure 6 An exemplary ASN.1 code for specifying a FeatureSetUplinkPerCC IE that may be used for scalable UE capability signaling in an NR network according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0033] Figure 7 An exemplary ASN.1 code for specifying a UE-MRDC-Capability IE that may be used for scalable UE capability signaling in an NR network according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0034] Fig. 8A -B shows an exemplary ASN.1 code for specifying FeatureSetDownlinkId IE and FeatureSetUplinkId IE, respectively, which may be used for scalable UE capability signaling in an NR network according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0035] Fig. 9is a flow chart illustrating exemplary methods and / or processes performed by a user equipment (UE), a wireless device, or components thereof, according to various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0036] Fig.10 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary methods and / or processes performed by a network node (e.g., base station, gNB, eNB, etc.) or a component thereof according to various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0037] Fig.11 An exemplary embodiment of a wireless network according to various aspects described herein is shown;

[0038] Fig.12 An exemplary embodiment of a UE according to various aspects described herein is shown;

[0039] Fig.13 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary virtualization environment that may be used to implement various embodiments of the network node described herein;

[0040] Figure 14-15 are block diagrams of various exemplary communication systems and / or networks according to various aspects described herein;

[0041] Figure 16-19 is a flow chart illustrating various exemplary methods and / or processes implemented in a communication system according to various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0042] Some embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, other embodiments are included within the scope of the subject matter disclosed herein, and the disclosed subject matter should not be construed as being limited to only the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided merely as examples to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art. In addition, the following terms are used throughout the description given below:

[0043] • Radio node: As used herein, a "radio node" may be a "radio access node" or a "wireless device".

[0044] Radio access node: As used herein, a "radio access node" (or "radio network node") may be any node in a radio access network of a cellular communication network for wirelessly sending and / or receiving signals. Some examples of radio access nodes include, but are not limited to, base stations (e.g., new radio (NR) base stations (gNBs) in 3GPP fifth generation (5G) NR networks or enhanced or evolved Node Bs (eNBs) in 3GPP LTE networks), high power or macro base stations, low power base stations (e.g., micro base stations, pico base stations, home eNBs, etc.), and relay nodes.

[0045] Core network node: As used herein, a "core network node" is any type of node in a core network. Some examples of core network nodes include, for example, a mobility management entity (MME), a packet data network gateway (P-GW), a service capability disclosure function (SCEF), etc.

[0046] Wireless device: As used herein, a "wireless device" (abbreviated as "WD") is any type of device that accesses a cellular communication network (i.e., is served by a cellular communication network) by wirelessly communicating with network nodes and / or other wireless devices. Unless otherwise specified, the term "wireless device" is used interchangeably with "user equipment" (or "UE" for short) herein. Some examples of wireless devices include, but are not limited to, UEs and machine type communication (MTC) devices in 3GPP networks. Wireless communication may involve sending and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for conveying information over the air.

[0047] Network node: As used herein, a "network node" is any node that is part of a radio access network or a core network of a cellular communication network. Functionally, a network node is a device that is capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a wireless device and / or with other network nodes or devices in a cellular communication network to enable and / or provide wireless access to a wireless device and / or perform other functions (e.g., management) in a cellular communication network.

[0048] Note that the description given herein focuses on 3GPP cellular communication systems, and therefore, 3GPP terminology or terms similar to 3GPP terminology are generally used. However, the concepts disclosed herein are not limited to 3GPP systems. Other wireless systems (including but not limited to Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)) may also benefit from the concepts, principles, and / or embodiments described herein.

[0049] In addition, the functions and / or operations described herein as being performed by a wireless device or network node may be distributed across multiple wireless devices and / or network nodes. In addition, although the term "cell" is used herein, it should be understood (particularly for 5G NR) that a beam may be used instead of a cell, and therefore, the concepts described herein are equally applicable to both cells and beams.

[0050] As briefly mentioned above, the NR UE capability information signaling used to indicate fine-grained feature support is not embedded directly into the BandCombinationList IE as in LTE. Instead, the NR UE capability signaling is divided into band combinations and feature set combinations, which are band independent so that they can be associated with any specific band combination. This arrangement has the potential to reduce the overall signaling overhead if several band combinations (of which there may be many) point to the same feature set combination, if several feature set combinations point to the same feature set, and / or if several feature sets point to the same per-CC feature set. However, compared to the conventional approach used in LTE, this arrangement may cause difficulties if features are extended in future NR releases (which is often the case with LTE). These will be discussed in more detail below.

[0051] Figure 1 An exemplary ASN.1 code for specifying a BandCombinationList IE that may be used in an NR network is shown. Figure 1 As shown, the BandCombinationList IE includes a series of BandCombination elements, each of which represents a specific band combination that the UE can support for NR or LTE carrier aggregation (CA) and / or LTE / NR dual connectivity (e.g., EN-DC). Each BandCombination element also indicates a list of bands that include the specific combination, and the BandCombinationParameters associated with the specific combination. In addition to NR-related parameters, BandCombinationParameters may also include parameters related to LTE support and DC support for the specific band combination.

[0052] Instead of specifying the specific features associated with each band combination directly in the BandCombinationList IE, the NR UE announces such features by sending the FeatureSets IE. The FeatureSets IE is used to provide a pool of downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) feature sets, as well as a pool of FeatureSetCombination elements. Figure 2 An exemplary ASN.1 code for specifying the FeatureSets IE that can be used in NR networks is shown. Figure 2As shown, the FeatureSets IE includes featureSetDownlink and featureSetUplink elements that specify a series of DL and UL feature sets supported by the UE in the frequency band, respectively. For example, featureSetsDownlink is a series (e.g., one or more) of FeatureSetDownlink, which is a DL feature set. However, note that the FeatureSets IE does not associate the indicated DL and UL feature sets with specific frequency bands. The mechanism for associating these feature sets with specific frequency bands will be further described below.

[0053] Likewise Figure 2 As shown, the FeatureSets IE also includes featureSetDownlinkPerCC and featureSetUplinkPerCC elements, which specify a series of DL and UL feature sets supported by the UE for component carriers (CCs) in the frequency band. However, it is noted that the FeatureSets IE does not associate the indicated DL and UL per CC feature sets with a specific frequency band. The mechanism for associating these feature sets with specific frequency bands will be further described below.

[0054] like Figure 2 As shown, the FeatureSets IE also includes a featureSetCombinations element. This element specifies a series of FeatureSetCombination IEs, each of which can be associated with a specific frequency band combination. Figure 3 An exemplary ASN.1 code for specifying a FeatureSetCombination IE that can be used in an NR network is shown. In other words, Figure 3 Shown by Figure 2 The structure of each FeatureSetCombination identified by the featureSetCombinations element shown.

[0055] like Figure 3 As shown, the FeatureSetCombination IE includes a series of FeatureSetsPerBands, each of which identifies a series of feature sets that can be associated with carriers of a particular band of the band combination. Each set in the series can be considered an alternative or option so that the UE can indicate multiple supported feature set options. Each of these feature sets is specified by a FeatureSet IE, which is also specified in the FeatureSet IE. Figure 3In other words, a FeatureSetCombination can be viewed as a two-dimensional matrix of FeatureSet entries, with one column for each band combination and one row for each supported feature combination. All FeatureSetsPerBands in a FeatureSetCombination should have the same number of entries. The number of FeatureSetsPerBands in a FeatureSetCombination should be equal to the number of band entries in the associated band combination. The first FeatureSetPerBand applies to the first band entry of a band combination, and so on.

[0056] Each FeatureSet element consists of a pair of pointers to specific DL and UL feature sets specified elsewhere. For example, in the case of an NR carrier, downlinkSetNR is Figure 2 The identifier of an entry in the sequence featureSetsDownlink (e.g., a pointer to that entry). Similarly, upinkSetNR is Figure 2 The identifier of an entry in the sequence featureSetsUplink shown. Similarly, for LTE / E-UTRA carriers, downlinkSetEUTRA and upinkSetEUTRA identify the corresponding entries in the feature set list defined for LTE (eg, in 3GPP TS 36.331 v.15.1.0).

[0057] return Figure 1 Each BandCombination entry in the BandCombinationList IE also includes a pointer to the Figure 2 A pointer to a specific FeatureSetCombination (i.e., FeatureCombinationSetID) in the featureSetCombinations element of the FeatureSets IE shown. In this way, NR UE capability signaling is separated into band combinations and feature set combinations, which are band independent so that they can be associated with any specific band combination.

[0058] If new UE-related features are standardized in the future as expected, it will be necessary to add corresponding capability signaling to the various elements used by the UE to advertise support for these features. This includes FeatureSetDownlink, FeatureSetUplink, FeatureSetDownlinkPerCC, and FeatureSetUplinkPerCC feature set definitions (also called "data structures"), which include Figure 2 However, these data structures are instantiated and sent as a list, each with a specific order and length understood by the legacy gNB.

[0059] One option is to add so-called "extension tags" to the feature set definitions. These extension tags can be 24 bits in length (e.g., three octets or bytes), which is needed to indicate to the receiving network node (e.g., the gNB) the length of the rest of the data structure, which can be very long. In practice, this length enables "legacy" network nodes that do not understand the new capability bits to "skip" these bits and continue parsing the next feature set in the list. However, this overhead is not feasible in a list with hundreds or even a thousand entries, each of which can be extended with new capabilities.

[0060] Instead of extending the actual feature sets as described above, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure address these extensibility challenges by creating new lists of extended feature sets and associating each of these new lists (or extended lists) with the corresponding original lists. In other words, each element in the extended list is associated with an element in the original list so that the elements in both lists can be identified by the same ID, which can be specified in the FeatureSetCombination IE. Therefore, when extending features in this way, the structure of the FeatureSetCombination IE does not change. Similarly, each BandCombination in the BandCombinationList IE can indicate support for one or more FeatureSetCombinations by their corresponding IDs (e.g., corresponding positions in the featureSetCombinations element of the FeatureSets IE). Since the IDs of the FeatureSetCombinations do not need to be changed when adding feature extensions, the structure of the BandCombination elements used in the BandCombinationList IE does not need to be changed.

[0061] For example, a FeatureSetDownlink-r16 extension list identifying new features (e.g., starting from Release 16) can be associated with the original FeatureSetDownlink feature list. When the UE announces (e.g., via a pointer or identifier in a FeatureSetCombination IE) a specific feature set associated with an extension, it indicates that the UE supports both the original list and the extended list of that feature set. For example, if the UE indicates in a FeatureSetCombination that it supports feature with ID=5 in FeatureSetDownlink (e.g., the fifth position in the list indicated by featureSetsDownlink), this implies that it also supports the feature associated with ID=5 in FeatureSetDownlink-r16 (e.g., the fifth position in the corresponding extended list).

[0062] In such an exemplary embodiment, the network's interpretation of the feature set announcement in the FeatureSetCombination IE depends on whether the network supports the list of extensions associated with a particular original feature set. For example, if the UE indicates in the FeatureSetCombination that it supports FeatureSetDownlink with ID=5, the network node interprets this as the UE also supporting the extensions in FeatureSetDownlink-r16 associated with ID=5, as long as the network node supports the versions associated with these extensions. On the other hand, if the network node is a legacy node that does not support the versions associated with these extensions, the network node interprets from the FeatureSetCombination that the UE only supports the original features indicated by the particular FeatureSetDownlink. This operation can be facilitated by adding an "extension tag" in the manner described above. In other words, the network node ignores FeatureSetDownlink-r16 that it does not understand.

[0063] A similar approach may be used with respect to per-CC features. For example, assume that the UE supports the per-CC uplink extensions specified in Release 15.4.0. If the UE indicates in featureSetListPerUplinkCC of FeatureSetUplink that it supports the feature with ID=7 in FeatureSetUplinkPerCC (e.g., the seventh position in the list indicated by featureSetsUplinkPerCC), this implies that it also supports the feature associated with ID=7 in FeatureSetUplinkPerCC-v1540 (e.g., the seventh position in the corresponding extension list).

[0064] Unlike conventional approaches, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure require only a single ASN.1 "Extension Tag" per list (e.g., to add a new list), rather than one per feature set element that includes a list. In this way, exemplary embodiments are advantageously backward compatible with legacy network nodes that do not support such extensions. In this way, these legacy nodes are able to ignore the extension of feature sets based on the "Extension Tag". Other advantages of exemplary embodiments include that no changes are required to the high-level FeatureSetCombination and BandCombinationList IEs used for advertising, as these IEs still reference the same IDs for feature sets and per-CC feature sets.

[0065] Figure 4 FIG. 1 shows an exemplary ASN.1 code for specifying a FeatureSets IE that can be used for scalable UE capability signaling in an NR network according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 2 In addition to the elements specified by the conventional ASN.1 code shown, Figure 4 The FeatureSets IE shown also includes two additional elements. The first - featuresUplinkPerCC-v1540 - includes an extended list of per-CC uplink feature sets. Each entry in this list is associated with a corresponding entry in the original list, featuresUplinkPerCC. In other words, each extended FeatureSetUplinkPerCC-v1540 is associated with the corresponding original FeatureSetUplinkPerCC.

[0066] This is Figure 6 It is further shown in Figure 6 FIG. 2 shows an exemplary ASN.1 code for specifying a FeatureSetUplinkPerCC IE that can be used for scalable UE capability signaling in an NR network according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 6 As shown, the FeatureSetUplinkPerCC IE includes parameters for indicating support (or non-support) of various features that may be associated with individual UL CCs. Figure 6 Also shown is an associated FeatureSetUplinkPerCC-v1540 IE including additional parameters for indicating support (or non-support) of various extended features (labeled as "new ... Feature1", etc.).

[0067] Figure 4The second additional element in -featuresDownlink-v16- includes an extended list of features that can be associated with individual downlink bands. Each entry in this list is associated with a corresponding entry in the original list featuresDownlink. In other words, each extended FeatureSetDownlink-v16 is associated with the corresponding original FeatureSetDownlink.

[0068] This is Figure 5 It is further shown in Figure 5 FIG. 1 shows an exemplary ASN.1 code for specifying a FeatureSetDownlink IE that can be used for scalable UE capability signaling in an NR network according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 5 As shown, the FeatureSetDownlink IE includes parameters for indicating support (or non-support) of various DL features that may be associated with individual frequency bands. Figure 5 Also shown is an associated FeatureSetDownlink-v16 IE including additional parameters for indicating support (or non-support) of various extended features (labeled as "new ... Feature1", etc.).

[0069] in addition, Figure 5 The FeatureSetDownlink IE shown in FIG. 5 includes a FeatureSetListPerDownlinkCC that identifies the features supported per CC (or per cell) specified in FeatureSetDownlinkPerCC. In particular, featureSetListPerDownlinkCC is a series of FeatureSetDownlinkPerCC-Ids, each of which points to a specific FeatureSetDownlinkPerCC and the corresponding FeatureSetUplinkPerCC-v1540 supported by each CC or cell. For example, an ID value of 7 points to the seventh feature set in the two lists. This is essentially the same technique discussed above for indicating support for per-CC uplink features.

[0070] Figure 7An exemplary ASN.1 code for specifying a UE-MRDC-Capability IE that can be used for scalable UE capability signaling in an NR network according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. In particular, the exemplary UE-MRDC-Capability includes a featureSetCombinations IE, which is a series of FeatureSetCombination elements. Figure 3 As shown, each FeatureSetCombination element includes an array of FeatureSet elements, each element including pointers FeatureSetDownlinkId and FeatureSetUplinkId. Fig. 8A -B shows an exemplary ASN.1 code for specifying FeatureSetDownlinkId and FeatureSetUplinkId IEs, respectively. As described above, FeatureSetDownlinkId points to both the initial and extended downlink features defined in FeatureSets (e.g., in Figure 4 ), while FeatureSetUplinkId points to both the initial and extended uplink features defined in the FeatureSets.

[0071] Depend on Figure 4 -8 ASN.1 code shown in the various exemplary embodiments can be respectively Figure 1 and 3 The conventional BandCombinationList and FeatureSetCombination IEs shown in FIG. 1 are used together. In this way, feature extensions can be signaled in a manner understandable to network nodes supporting such extensions, but at the same time remain backward compatible with legacy network nodes that do not recognize such feature extensions.

[0072] In other words, when the UE announces an element in the extension list (e.g., a new feature), the meaning of the specific FeatureSetCombination identified in the FeatureSets IE changes. Although the same ID is used to identify the specific FeatureSetCombination in the BandCombination element of the BandCombinatList IE, the meaning of the BandCombination element also changes accordingly. Even so, the structure of the original feature list does not need to be changed. Therefore, the exemplary embodiment can be understood by legacy network nodes that do not understand feature extensions.

[0073] Fig. 91 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method and / or process for notifying a network node in a radio access network (RAN) of user equipment capabilities according to various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The exemplary method and / or process may be implemented in a user equipment (UE, wireless device, etc., or components thereof) illustrated in or described with respect to other figures herein. In addition, Fig. 9 The exemplary methods and / or processes shown in the drawings may be combined with other exemplary methods and / or processes described herein (e.g., Fig.10 ) are used in conjunction with each other to provide the various exemplary benefits described herein. Fig. 9 The blocks are shown in a particular order, but the order is exemplary only, and the operations of the exemplary methods and / or processes may be performed in an order different from that shown, and may be combined and / or divided into blocks having functions different from that shown. Optional operations are indicated with dashed lines.

[0074] The exemplary method and / or process may include the operation of box 910, in which box 910, the UE may send information describing multiple feature sets supported by the UE to a network node. The information may include one or more InitialFeatureLists, each InitialFeatureList including one or more non-extensible InitialFeatureSet elements, each non-extensible InitialFeatureSet element indicating the UE's support for one or more initial features. The information may also include one or more ExtensionFeatureLists, each ExtensionFeatureList associated with a specific InitialFeatureList. Each ExtensionFeatureList may include one or more ExtensionFeatureSet elements, each ExtensionFeatureSet element indicating the UE's support for one or more extended features. In some embodiments, the one or more InitialFeatureLists may include a first InitialFeatureList associated with downlink operation and a second InitialFeatureList associated with uplink operation.

[0075] In some embodiments, the ExtensionFeatureSet at a specific position in the ExtensionFeatureList may correspond to the InitialFeatureSet at the same specific position in the InitialFeatureList. In some embodiments, each InitialFeatureSet element and the associated ExtensionFeatureSet element may identify the features supported by the UE for the entire specific frequency band. In such an embodiment, each InitialFeatureSet element may also identify the features supported by the UE for individual component carriers within the specific frequency band.

[0076] In some embodiments, the information describing the plurality of features may be a FeatureSets IE including various elements, such as described above with respect to other figures. In such embodiments, the InitialFeatureLists of the InitialFeatureSet element may include (among other items) a featureSetsDownlink list of the FeatureSetDownlink element and a featureSetsUplink list of the FeatureSetUplink element. Similarly, in such embodiments, the ExtensionFeatureLists of the ExtensionFeatureSet element may include (among other items) a featureSetsDownlink-r16 list of the FeatureSetDownlink-r16 element and a corresponding featureSetsUplink-r16 list of the FeatureSetUplink-r16 element.

[0077] The exemplary method and / or process may also include the operation of block 920, in which the UE may send one or more BandCombination elements to the network node. Each BandCombination element may include a list of frequency bands in which the UE can transmit and / or receive information in parallel. Each BandCombination element may also include a FeatureSetCombination element that identifies the features supported by the UE within each frequency band included in the list. The features supported by the UE within a particular frequency band may be based on a particular InitialFeatureSet element from each InitialFeatureList, and based on a corresponding ExtensionFeatureSet element from an ExtensionFeatureList associated with each InitialFeatureList.

[0078] In some embodiments, the FeatureSetCombination element may include one or more FeatureSetIdentifiers for each specific frequency band included in the frequency band list. In addition, each FeatureSetIdentifier may be associated with a specific InitialFeatureList and with an associated ExtensionFeatureList for the specific frequency band. In addition, each FeatureSetIdentifier may identify a specific InitialFeatureSet element from the associated InitialFeatureList and a corresponding ExtensionFeatureSet element from the associated ExtensionFeatureList. In some embodiments, for each specific frequency band, the one or more FeatureSetIdentifiers may include a first FeatureSetIdentifier associated with downlink operation and a second FeatureSetIdentifier associated with uplink operation.

[0079] For example, one or more BandCombination elements may be sent as a BandCombinationList IE, such as described above with respect to Figure 1 In this case, the BandCombination element of the IE may include a FeatureSetCombinationID element, such as the one above with respect to Figure 1 Additionally, this can point to a specific FeatureSetCombination in a list of featureSetCombinations, such as above with respect to Figure 7 The identified FeatureSetCombination may include various FeatureSet elements (e.g., Figure 3 ), each element may include FeatureSetDownlinkId and FeatureSetUplinkId elements, each of which identifies both the initial feature set and the extended feature set (e.g., in Figure 2 shown in the list).

[0080] In some embodiments, the exemplary method and / or process may also include the operation of box 930, in which the UE may receive a configuration including an identification of one or more frequency bands from a network node, wherein the identified frequency bands are part of a list included in a specific BandCombination element sent (e.g., sent in box 920). For each identified frequency band, the configuration may also include a configuration of one or more characteristics identified by the specific BandCombination element sent. In some embodiments, the received configuration identifies multiple frequency bands for dual connectivity (DC) or carrier aggregation (CA) operation. In this way, the UE is able to receive a DC or CA configuration based on the information provided to the network node in boxes 910-920.

[0081] In some embodiments, the received configuration may include only the features indicated by the InitialFeatureSet element associated with the corresponding identified frequency band. In other embodiments, the received configuration may include features indicated by both the InitialFeatureSet element associated with the corresponding identified frequency band and the corresponding ExtensionFeatureSet element.

[0082] In some embodiments, the example method and / or process may also include the operation of box 940, in which the UE may send or receive information with the network node in the identified frequency band according to the configuration received (e.g., in box 930).

[0083] Fig.10 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method and / or process for determining capabilities of a user equipment (UE) according to various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the exemplary method and / or process may be implemented in a network node (e.g., a base station, gNB, eNB, etc., or a component thereof) of a radio access network (RAN), such as illustrated in or described with respect to other figures herein. In addition, Fig.10 The exemplary methods and / or processes described herein (e.g., Fig. 9 ) are used in conjunction with the other exemplary methods and / or processes described herein to provide the various exemplary benefits described herein. Fig.10 The blocks are shown in a particular order, but the order is exemplary only, and the operations of the exemplary methods and / or processes may be performed in an order different from that shown, and may be combined and / or divided into blocks having functions different from that shown. Optional operations are represented by dashed lines.

[0084] The exemplary method and / or process may include the operation of box 1010, in which box 1010, the network node may receive information describing multiple feature sets supported by the UE from the UE. The information may include one or more InitialFeatureLists, each InitialFeatureList including one or more non-extensible InitialFeatureSet elements, each non-extensible InitialFeatureSet element indicating the UE's support for one or more initial features. The information may also include one or more ExtensionFeatureLists, each ExtensionFeatureList is associated with a specific InitialFeatureList. Each ExtensionFeatureList may include one or more ExtensionFeatureSet elements, each ExtensionFeatureSet element indicating the UE's support for one or more extended features. In some embodiments, the one or more InitialFeatureLists may include a first InitialFeatureList associated with downlink operation and a second InitialFeatureList associated with uplink operation.

[0085] In some embodiments, an ExtensionFeatureSet at a specific position in the ExtensionFeatureList may correspond to an InitialFeatureSet at the same specific position in the InitialFeatureList. In some embodiments, each InitialFeatureSet element and the associated ExtensionFeatureSet element may identify features supported by the UE for an entire specific frequency band. In such an embodiment, each InitialFeatureSet element may also identify features supported by the UE for individual component carriers within the specific frequency band.

[0086] In some embodiments, the information describing the plurality of features may be a FeatureSets IE including various elements, such as described above with respect to other figures. In such embodiments, the InitialFeatureLists of the InitialFeatureSet element may include (among other items) a featureSetsDownlink list of the FeatureSetDownlink element and a featureSetsUplink list of the FeatureSetUplink element. Similarly, in such embodiments, the ExtensionFeatureLists of the ExtensionFeatureSet element may include (among other items) a featureSetsDownlink-r16 list of the FeatureSetDownlink-r16 element and a corresponding featureSetsUplink-r16 list of the FeatureSetUplink-r16 element.

[0087] The exemplary method and / or process may also include the operation of block 1020, in which the network node may receive one or more BandCombination elements from the UE. Each BandCombination element may identify a list of frequency bands in which the UE can transmit and / or receive information in parallel. Each BandCombination element may also include a FeatureSetCombination element that identifies the features supported by the UE within each frequency band included in the list. The features supported by the UE within a particular frequency band may be based on a particular InitialFeatureSet element from each InitialFeatureList, and based on a corresponding ExtensionFeatureSet element from an ExtensionFeatureList associated with each InitialFeatureList.

[0088] In some embodiments, the FeatureSetCombination element may include one or more FeatureSetIdentifiers for each specific frequency band included in the frequency band list. In addition, each FeatureSetIdentifier may be associated with a specific InitialFeatureList and with an associated ExtensionFeatureList for the specific frequency band. In addition, each FeatureSetIdentifier may identify a specific InitialFeatureSet element from the associated InitialFeatureList and a corresponding ExtensionFeatureSet element from the associated ExtensionFeatureList. In some embodiments, for each specific frequency band, the one or more FeatureSetIdentifiers may include a first FeatureSetIdentifier associated with downlink operation and a second FeatureSetIdentifier associated with uplink operation.

[0089] For example, one or more BandCombination elements may be received as a BandCombinationList IE, such as described above with respect to Figure 1 In this case, the BandCombination element of the IE may include a FeatureSetCombinationID element, such as the one above with respect to Figure 1 Additionally, this can point to a specific FeatureSetCombination in a list of featureSetCombinations, such as above with respect to Figure 7 The identified FeatureSetCombination may include various FeatureSet elements (e.g., Figure 3 ), each element may include FeatureSetDownlinkId and FeatureSetUplinkId elements, each of which identifies both the initial feature set and the extended feature set (e.g., in Figure 2 shown in the list).

[0090] The example method and / or process may also include the operation of block 1030, where the network node may determine the capabilities of the UE based on the received one or more BandCombination elements and the received information describing the multiple feature sets supported by the UE. For example, the network node may determine the capabilities of the UE by parsing the BandCombinationList IE and the FeatureSets IE received from the UE.

[0091] In some embodiments, the operation of box 1030 may include the operation of sub-box 1032, in which, for each specific BandCombination element received, the network node may determine whether the network node supports the corresponding ExtensionFeatureSet element identified by the specific BandCombination element. Such an embodiment may also include the operation of sub-box 1034, wherein, for each specific ExtensionFeatureSet element that the network node does not support, the network node may determine the capabilities of the UE based on the characteristics described by the associated InitialFeatureSet element rather than based on the characteristics described by the specific ExtensionFeatureSet element. For example, if the network node is a legacy node that does not support the version corresponding to the extension associated with the ExtensionFeatureSet, the network node may "skip" the ExtensionFeatureSet element when the network node encounters an "extension tag" during parsing of the received information.

[0092] Such an embodiment may also include the operation of sub-block 1036, where, for each specific ExtensionFeatureSet element that the network node does support, the network node may determine the capabilities of the UE based on the characteristics described by the associated InitialFeatureSet element and the specific ExtensionFeatureSet element.

[0093] In some embodiments, the exemplary method and / or process may also include the operation of box 1040, in which the network node may send a configuration including an identification of one or more frequency bands to the UE, wherein the identified frequency bands are part of a list included in a received specific BandCombination element (e.g., received in box 1020). For each identified frequency band, the configuration may also include a configuration of one or more characteristics identified by the received specific BandCombination element. In some embodiments, the sent configuration identifies multiple frequency bands for dual connectivity (DC) or carrier aggregation (CA) operation. In this way, the network node is able to provide the UE with a DC or CA configuration based on the information received from the UE in boxes 1010-1020.

[0094] In some embodiments, the transmitted configuration may include only the features indicated by the InitialFeatureSet element associated with the corresponding identified frequency band. In other embodiments, the transmitted configuration may include features indicated by both the InitialFeatureSet element associated with the corresponding identified frequency band and the corresponding ExtensionFeatureSet element.

[0095] In some embodiments, the example method and / or process may also include the operation of block 1050, where the network node may send or receive information with the UE in multiple frequency bands based on the configuration sent (e.g., in block 1040).

[0096] Although the subject matter described herein may be implemented in any suitable type of system using any suitable components, the embodiments disclosed herein are directed to wireless networks such as Fig.11 For simplicity, Fig.11 The wireless network of only depicts network 1106, network nodes 1160 and 1160b and WD 1110, 1110b and 1110c. In practice, the wireless network may further include any additional elements suitable for supporting communication between wireless devices or between a wireless device and another communication device (e.g., a landline phone, a service provider, or any other network node or terminal device). In the components shown, network node 1160 and wireless device (WD) 1110 are depicted in additional detail. The wireless network can provide communication and other types of services to one or more wireless devices to facilitate wireless devices to access and / or use services provided by the wireless network or services provided via the wireless network.

[0097] A wireless network may include and / or be connected to any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular and / or radio network or other similar type of system. In some embodiments, a wireless network may be configured to operate according to a specific standard or other type of predefined rules or procedures. Thus, specific embodiments of a wireless network may implement communication standards such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G standards; wireless local area network (WLAN) standards such as IEEE 802.11 standards; and / or any other suitable wireless communication standards such as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-wave, and / or ZigBee standards.

[0098] The network 1106 may include one or more backhaul networks, core networks, IP networks, public switched telephone networks (PSTN), packet data networks, optical networks, wide area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), wireless local area networks (WLANs), wired networks, wireless networks, metropolitan area networks, and other networks that enable communication between devices.

[0099] The network node 1160 and the WD 1110 include various components described in more detail below. These components work together to provide network node and / or wireless device functions, such as providing wireless connections in a wireless network. In different embodiments, the wireless network may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, base stations, controllers, wireless devices, relay stations, and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals (whether via wired or wireless connections).

[0100] Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, NBs, eNBs, and gNBs). Base stations may be classified based on the amount of coverage they provide (or in other words, their transmit power level), and may then also be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node that controls a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station, such as a centralized digital unit and / or a remote radio unit (RRU), sometimes also referred to as a remote radio head (RRH). Such a remote radio unit may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna-integrated radio. Portions of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

[0101] Other examples of network nodes include multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment (such as MSR BS), network controllers (such as radio network controllers (RNC) or base station controllers (BSC)), base transceiver stations (BTS), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell / multicast coordination entities (MCE), core network nodes (such as MSC, MME), O&M nodes, OSS nodes, SON nodes, positioning nodes (such as E-SMLC) and / or MDT. As another example, the network node may be a virtual network node as described in more detail below.

[0102] exist Fig.11 In the embodiment, the network node 1160 includes a processing circuit 1170, a device readable medium 1180, an interface 1190, an auxiliary device 1184, a power supply 1186, a power supply circuit 1187, and an antenna 1162. Fig.11 The network node 1160 shown in the example wireless network of can represent a device including a combination of hardware components illustrated, but other embodiments can include network nodes with different combinations of components. It should be understood that the network node includes any suitable combination of hardware and / or software required to perform the tasks, features, functions, and methods and / or processes disclosed herein. In addition, although the components of the network node 1160 are depicted as a single box located within a larger box or nested within multiple boxes, in reality, the network node may include multiple different physical components that make up the single illustrated component (for example, the device readable medium 1180 may include multiple separate hard drives and multiple RAM modules).

[0103] Similarly, the network node 1160 may include multiple physically separated components (e.g., NodeB components and RNC components, or BTS components and BSC components, etc.), each of which may have its own corresponding components. In some cases where the network node 1160 includes multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more separate components may be shared between several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In this case, each unique NodeB and RNC pair may be considered as a single separate network node in some cases. In some embodiments, the network node 1160 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such an embodiment, some components may be replicated (e.g., separate device-readable media 1180 for different RATs), while some components may be reused (e.g., the same antenna 1162 may be shared by RATs). The network node 1160 may also include multiple groups of various example components for different wireless technologies (e.g., GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth wireless technologies) integrated into the network node 1160. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or chipsets and other components within network node 1160 .

[0104] The processing circuit 1170 is configured to perform any determination, calculation, or similar operation (e.g., certain obtaining operations) described herein as provided by the network node. The operations performed by the processing circuit 1170 may include: processing information obtained by the processing circuit 1170, such as by converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or the converted information with information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or the converted information; and making a determination as a result of the processing.

[0105] The processing circuit 1170 may include a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a central processing unit, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software, and / or encoded logic operable to provide network node 1160 functionality, either alone or in conjunction with other network node 1160 components (e.g., device readable medium 1180). For example, the processing circuit 1170 may execute instructions stored in the device readable medium 1180 or in a memory within the processing circuit 1170. Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features, functions, or benefits discussed herein. In some embodiments, the processing circuit 1170 may include a system on a chip (SOC).

[0106] In some embodiments, processing circuitry 1170 may include one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1172 and baseband processing circuitry 1174. In some embodiments, radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1172 and baseband processing circuitry 1174 may be on separate chips (or chipsets), boards, or units (e.g., a radio unit and a digital unit). In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 1172 and baseband processing circuitry 1174 may be on the same chip or chipset, board, or unit.

[0107] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functions described herein as provided by a network node, base station, eNB, or other such network device may be performed by a processing circuit 1170 executing instructions stored on a device-readable medium 1180 or a memory within the processing circuit 1170. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functions may be provided by the processing circuit 1170 without the need to execute instructions stored on a separate or separate device-readable medium, such as in a hardwired manner. In any of these embodiments, the processing circuit 1170 may be configured to perform the described functions regardless of whether instructions stored on a device-readable storage medium are executed. The benefits provided by such functions are not limited to the processing circuit 1170 or other components of the network node 1160, but are enjoyed by the network node 1160 as a whole and / or by end users and wireless networks as a whole.

[0108] Device-readable medium 1180 may include any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory, including but not limited to permanent storage devices, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (e.g., hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., flash drive, compact disk (CD), or digital video disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable storage device that stores information, data, and / or instructions that can be used by processing circuit 1170. Device-readable medium 1180 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including: computer programs; software; applications including one or more of logic, rules, codes, tables, etc.; and / or other instructions that can be executed by processing circuit 1170 and utilized by network node 1160. Device-readable medium 1180 may be used to store any computations performed by processing circuit 1170 and / or any data received via interface 1190. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 1170 and device readable medium 1180 may be considered integrated.

[0109] Interface 1190 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between network node 1160, network 1106 and / or WD 1110. As shown, interface 1190 includes port / terminal 1194 to send and receive data to and from network 1106 on wired connection, for example. Interface 1190 also includes radio front-end circuit 1192 that can be coupled to antenna 1162 or be a part of antenna 1162 in some embodiments. Radio front-end circuit 1192 includes filter 1198 and amplifier 1196. Radio front-end circuit 1192 can be connected to antenna 1162 and processing circuit 1170. Radio front-end circuit 1192 can be configured to adjust the signal transmitted between antenna 1162 and processing circuit 1170. Radio front-end circuit 1192 can receive digital data to be sent to other network nodes or WD via wireless connection. Radio front-end circuit 1192 can use the combination of filter 1198 and / or amplifier 1196 to convert digital data into radio signals with appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters. The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna 1162. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 1162 may collect the radio signal, which may then be converted into digital data by radio front end circuit 1192. The digital data may be passed to processing circuit 1170. In other embodiments, the interface may include different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0110] In some alternative embodiments, the network node 1160 may not include a separate radio front end circuit 1192, but rather, the processing circuit 1170 may include the radio front end circuit and may be connected to the antenna 1162 without the separate radio front end circuit 1192. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuit 1172 may be considered part of the interface 1190. In other embodiments, the interface 1190 may include one or more ports or terminals 1194, the radio front end circuit 1192, and the RF transceiver circuit 1172 as part of a wireless unit (not shown), and the interface 1190 may communicate with the baseband processing circuit 1174, which is part of the digital unit (not shown).

[0111] Antenna 1162 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. Antenna 1162 may be coupled to radio front-end circuit 1190 and may be any type of antenna capable of wirelessly sending and receiving data and / or signals. In some embodiments, antenna 1162 may include one or more omnidirectional, sector or flat panel antennas operable to send / receive radio signals between, for example, 2 GHz and 66 GHz. Omnidirectional antennas may be used to send / receive radio signals in any direction, sector antennas may be used to send / receive radio signals from devices within a specific area, and flat panel antennas may be line of sight antennas for sending / receiving radio signals in a relatively straight line. In some cases, the use of more than one antenna may be referred to as MIMO. In some embodiments, antenna 1162 may be separated from network node 1160 and may be connected to network node 1160 via an interface or port.

[0112] Antenna 1162, interface 1190 and / or processing circuit 1170 can be configured to perform any receiving operation and / or certain obtaining operation described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data and / or signal can be received from a wireless device, another network node and / or any other network device. Similarly, antenna 1162, interface 1190 and / or processing circuit 1170 can be configured to perform any sending operation described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data and / or signal can be sent to a wireless device, another network node and / or any other network device.

[0113] The power circuit 1187 may include or be coupled to a power management circuit and is configured to provide power to the components of the network node 1160 for performing the functions described herein. The power circuit 1187 may receive power from the power supply 1186. The power supply 1186 and / or the power circuit 1187 may be configured to provide power to the various components of the network node 1160 in a form suitable for the various components (e.g., at the voltage and current level required by each corresponding component). The power supply 1186 may be included in the power circuit 1187 and / or the network node 1160 or external to it. For example, the network node 1160 may be connected to an external power source (e.g., a power outlet) via an input circuit or interface (e.g., a cable), whereby the external power source provides power to the power circuit 1187. As another example, the power supply 1186 may include a power source in the form of a battery or a battery pack, which is connected to the power circuit 1187 or integrated in the power circuit 1187. If the external power supply fails, the battery can provide backup power. Other types of power supplies, such as photovoltaic devices, may also be used.

[0114] Alternative embodiments of network node 1160 may include Fig.11Additional components beyond those shown, which may be responsible for providing certain aspects of the functionality of the network node, including any functionality described herein and / or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, the network node 1160 may include a user interface device to allow and / or facilitate input of information into the network node 1160 and to allow and / or facilitate output of information from the network node 1160. This may allow and / or facilitate a user to perform diagnostics, maintenance, repair, and other management functions of the network node 1160.

[0115] In some embodiments, a wireless device (WD, such as WD 1110) can be configured to send and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For example, when triggered by an internal or external event or in response to a request from the network, the WD can be designed to send information to the network according to a predetermined schedule. Examples of WD include, but are not limited to, smart phones, mobile phones, cellular phones, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, desktop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless cameras, game consoles or devices, music storage devices, playback devices, wearable devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, tablet computers, laptop computers, laptop built-in devices (LEEs), laptop computer mounted devices (LMEs), smart devices, wireless client equipment (CPEs), mobile communication (MTC) devices, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, etc.

[0116] WD can support device-to-device (D2D) communication (e.g., by implementing 3GPP standards for sidelink communication), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-everything (V2X), and in this case can be referred to as a D2D communication device. As another specific example, in an Internet of Things (IoT) scenario, WD can represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurement and sends the results of such monitoring and / or measurement to another WD and / or network node. In this case, WD can be a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, which can be referred to as an MTC device in the 3GPP context. As a specific example, WD can be a UE that implements the 3GPP narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) standard. Examples of such machines or devices are sensors, metering devices such as power meters, industrial machinery, or household or personal appliances (e.g., refrigerators, televisions, etc.), personal wearable devices (e.g., watches, fitness trackers, etc.). In other cases, WD can represent a vehicle or other device that can monitor and / or report its operating status or other functions associated with its operation. WD as described above can represent an endpoint of a wireless connection, in which case the device can be referred to as a wireless terminal. Furthermore, the WD as described above may be mobile, in which case it may also be referred to as a mobile device or a mobile terminal.

[0117] As shown, wireless device 1110 includes antenna 1111, interface 1114, processing circuit 1120, device readable medium 1130, user interface device 1132, auxiliary device 1134, power supply 1136 and power supply circuit 1137. WD 1110 may include multiple groups of one or more of the components shown for different wireless technologies supported by WD 1110 (e.g., GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, or Bluetooth wireless technologies, to name a few). These wireless technologies can be integrated into the same or different chips or chipsets as other components in WD 1110.

[0118] Antenna 1111 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays configured to send and / or receive wireless signals, and is connected to interface 1114. In some alternative embodiments, antenna 1111 may be separated from WD 1110 and may be connected to WD 1110 via an interface or port. Antenna 1111, interface 1114 and / or processing circuit 1120 may be configured to perform any receiving or transmitting operation described herein as being performed by WD. Any information, data and / or signal may be received from a network node and / or another WD. In some embodiments, radio front end circuit and / or antenna 1111 may be considered as an interface.

[0119] As shown, the interface 1114 includes a radio front-end circuit 1112 and an antenna 1111. The radio front-end circuit 1112 includes one or more filters 1118 and an amplifier 1116. The radio front-end circuit 1114 is connected to the antenna 1111 and the processing circuit 1120, and can be configured to adjust the signal transmitted between the antenna 1111 and the processing circuit 1120. The radio front-end circuit 1112 can be coupled to the antenna 1111 or as part of the antenna 1111. In some embodiments, the WD 1110 may not include a separate radio front-end circuit 1112; instead, the processing circuit 1120 may include a radio front-end circuit and may be connected to the antenna 1111. Similarly, in some embodiments, some or all of the RF transceiver circuit 1122 may be considered as part of the interface 1114. The radio front-end circuit 1112 can receive digital data sent to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuit 1112 can use a combination of filters 1118 and / or amplifiers 1116 to convert the digital data into a radio signal with appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters. The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna 1111. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 1111 may collect the radio signal, which is then converted into digital data by radio front end circuit 1112. The digital data may be passed to processing circuit 1120. In other embodiments, the interface may include different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0120] The processing circuit 1120 may include a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a central processing unit, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and / or coding, which is operable to provide WD 1110 functionality alone or in combination with other WD 1110 components (e.g., device readable medium 1130). Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features or benefits discussed herein. For example, the processing circuit 1120 may execute instructions stored in the device readable medium 1130 or in a memory within the processing circuit 1120 to provide functionality disclosed herein.

[0121] As shown, the processing circuit 1120 includes one or more of the RF transceiver circuit 1122, the baseband processing circuit 1124, and the application processing circuit 1126. In other embodiments, the processing circuit may include different components and / or different combinations of components. In some embodiments, the processing circuit 1120 of the WD 1110 may include a SOC. In some embodiments, the RF transceiver circuit 1122, the baseband processing circuit 1124, and the application processing circuit 1126 may be on a separate chip or chipset. In an alternative embodiment, part or all of the baseband processing circuit 1124 and the application processing circuit 1126 may be combined into one chip or chipset, and the RF transceiver circuit 1122 may be on a separate chip or chipset. In another alternative embodiment, part or all of the RF transceiver circuit 1122 and the baseband processing circuit 1124 may be on the same chip or chipset, and the application processing circuit 1126 may be on a separate chip or chipset. In other alternative embodiments, part or all of the RF transceiver circuit 1122, baseband processing circuit 1124, and application processing circuit 1126 may be combined in the same chip or chipset. In some embodiments, the RF transceiver circuit 1122 may be part of the interface 1114. The RF transceiver circuit 1122 may condition the RF signal for the processing circuit 1120.

[0122] In some embodiments, some or all of the functions described herein as being performed by the WD may be provided by a processing circuit 1120 executing instructions stored on a device-readable medium 1130, which may be a computer-readable storage device medium in some embodiments. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functions may be provided by the processing circuit 1120 without the need to execute instructions stored on a separate or separate device-readable storage medium, such as in a hardwired manner. In any of these specific embodiments, the processing circuit 1120 may be configured to perform the described functions regardless of whether instructions stored on a device-readable storage medium are executed. The benefits provided by such functions are not limited to the processing circuit 1120 or other components of the WD 1110, but may also be enjoyed by the WD 1110 as a whole and / or by end users and wireless networks as a whole.

[0123] The processing circuit 1120 may be configured to perform any determination, calculation, or similar operation (e.g., certain acquisition operations) described herein as being performed by the WD. These operations performed by the processing circuit 1120 may include: processing information obtained by the processing circuit 1120, such as by converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or the converted information with information stored by the WD 1110, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or the converted information; and making a determination as a result of the processing.

[0124] Device-readable medium 1130 may be used to store computer programs, software, applications including one or more of logic, rules, codes, tables, etc., and / or other instructions that can be executed by processing circuit 1120. Device-readable medium 1130 may include computer memory (e.g., random access memory (RAM) or read-only memory (ROM)), mass storage media (e.g., hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., compact disk (CD) or digital video disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable storage device that stores information, data, and / or instructions that can be used by processing circuit 1120. In some embodiments, processing circuit 1120 and device-readable medium 1130 may be considered integrated.

[0125] The user interface device 1132 may include components that allow and / or facilitate human users to interact with the WD 1110. Such interactions may have a variety of forms, such as visual, auditory, tactile, etc. The user interface device 1132 may be used to generate output to the user and allow and / or facilitate the user to provide input to the WD 1110. The type of interaction may vary, depending on the type of user interface device 1132 installed in the WD 1110. For example, if the WD 1110 is a smart phone, the interaction may be via a touch screen; if the WD 1110 is a smart meter, the interaction may be through a screen that provides usage (e.g., the number of gallons used) or a speaker that provides an audible alarm (e.g., if smoke is detected). The user interface device 1132 may include input interfaces, devices, and circuits and output interfaces, devices, and circuits. The user interface device 1132 may be configured to allow and / or facilitate input of information to the WD 1110, and is connected to the processing circuit 1120 to allow and / or facilitate the processing circuit 1120 to process the input information. The user interface device 1132 may include, for example, a microphone, a proximity sensor or other sensor, a key / button, a touch display, one or more cameras, a USB port or other input circuit. The user interface device 1132 is also configured to allow and / or facilitate information output from the WD 1110, and to allow and / or facilitate processing circuit 1120 to output information from the WD 1110. The user interface device 1132 may include, for example, a speaker, a display, a vibration circuit, a USB port, a headphone jack or other output circuit. Using one or more input and output interfaces, devices and circuits of the user interface device 1132, the WD 1110 can communicate with an end user and / or a wireless network, and allow and / or facilitate the end user and / or the wireless network to benefit from the functions described herein.

[0126] Auxiliary device 1134 is operable to provide more specific functions that a WD may not normally perform. This may include specialized sensors for taking measurements for various purposes, interfaces for additional communication types such as wired communications, etc. The inclusion and types of components of auxiliary device 1134 may vary depending on the embodiment and / or scenario.

[0127] In some embodiments, the power source 1136 may be in the form of a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources may also be used, such as an external power source (e.g., a power outlet), a photovoltaic device, or a battery. The WD 1110 may also include a power circuit 1137 for transmitting power from the power source 1136 to various parts of the WD 1110 that require power from the power source 1136 to perform any functions described or indicated herein. In some embodiments, the power circuit 1137 may include a power management circuit. The power circuit 1137 may additionally or alternatively be operable to receive power from an external power source; in this case, the WD 1110 may be connected to an external power source (e.g., a power outlet) via an input circuit or interface (e.g., a power cable). In some embodiments, the power circuit 1137 may also be operable to transfer power from an external power source to the power source 1136. This may be used, for example, to charge the power source 1136. The power circuit 1137 may perform any conversion or other modification of the power from the power source 1136 to make the power suitable for supplying to the various components of the WD 1110.

[0128] Fig.12 An embodiment of a UE according to various aspects described herein is shown. As used herein, a user equipment or UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the associated device. Rather, a UE may represent a device that is intended to be sold to or operated by a human user but may not be, or may not initially be, associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended to be sold to or operated by an end user but may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter). UE1200 may be any UE identified by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a NB-IoT UE, a Machine Type Communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE. As Fig.12 As shown, UE 1200 is an example of a WD that is configured to communicate according to one or more communication standards promulgated by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), such as 3GPP's GSM, UMTS, LTE, and / or 5G standards. As previously mentioned, the terms WD and UE may be used interchangeably. Therefore, although Fig.12 It is UE, but the components discussed in this article are also applicable to WD and vice versa.

[0129] exist Fig.12In the embodiment, UE 1200 includes a processing circuit 1201 that is operatively coupled to an input / output interface 1205, a radio frequency (RF) interface 1209, a network connection interface 1211, a memory 1215 (including a random access memory (RAM) 1217, a read-only memory (ROM) 1219, and a storage medium 1221, etc.), a communication subsystem 1231, a power supply 1233, and / or any other components, or any combination thereof. The storage medium 1221 includes an operating system 1223, an application 1225, and data 1227. In other embodiments, the storage medium 1221 may include other similar types of information. Some UEs may utilize Fig.12 All components shown, or only a subset of these components. The level of integration between components may vary from one UE to another UE. In addition, some UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0130] exist Fig.12 In the embodiment of the present invention, the processing circuit 1201 can be configured to process computer instructions and data. The processing circuit 1201 can be configured to implement any sequential state machine operable to execute machine instructions stored as a machine-readable computer program in a memory, such as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in the form of discrete logic, FPGA, ASIC, etc.); programmable logic and appropriate firmware; one or more stored programs, general-purpose processors (e.g., microprocessors or digital signal processors (DSPs)) and appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuit 1201 may include two central processing units (CPUs). The data may be information in a form suitable for use by a computer.

[0131] In the depicted embodiment, the input / output interface 1205 may be configured to provide a communication interface to an input device, an output device, or an input and output device. The UE 1200 may be configured to use an output device via the input / output interface 1205. The output device may use the same type of interface port as the input device. For example, a USB port may be used to provide input to the UE 1200 or to provide output from the UE 1200. The output device may be a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, a transmitter, a smart card, another output device, or any combination thereof. The UE 1200 may be configured to use an input device via the input / output interface 1205 to allow and / or facilitate a user to capture information into the UE 1200. The input device may include a touch-sensitive display or a presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a webcam, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a steering wheel, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smart card, etc. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. The sensor can be, for example, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, an inclination sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, another similar sensor, or any combination thereof. For example, the input device can be an accelerometer, a magnetometer, a digital camera, a microphone, and an optical sensor.

[0132] exist Fig.12 In the embodiment of the present invention, the RF interface 1209 can be configured to provide a communication interface to RF components such as transmitters, receivers and antennas. The network connection interface 1211 can be configured to provide a communication interface to the network 1243a. The network 1243a can cover a wired and / or wireless network, such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another similar network, or any combination thereof. For example, the network 1243a can include a Wi-Fi network. The network connection interface 1211 can be configured to include a receiver and a transmitter interface for communicating with one or more other devices through a communication network according to one or more communication protocols (e.g., Ethernet, TCP / IP, SONET, ATM, etc.). The network connection interface 1211 can implement receiver and transmitter functions suitable for communication network links (e.g., optical, electrical, etc.). The transmitter and receiver functions can share circuit components, software or firmware, or can be implemented separately.

[0133] RAM 1217 may be configured to be connected to processing circuit 1201 via bus 1202 to provide storage or caching of data or computer instructions during execution of software programs such as operating systems, applications, and device drivers. ROM 1219 may be configured to provide computer instructions or data to processing circuit 1201. For example, ROM 1219 may be configured to store unchanged low-level system code or data for basic system functions (e.g., basic input and output (I / O), startup, or keystrokes received from a keyboard) stored in non-volatile memory. Storage medium 1221 may be configured to include memories such as RAM, ROM, programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disk, optical disk, floppy disk, hard disk, removable cassette, or flash drive. In one example, storage medium 1221 may be configured to include operating system 1223, application 1225 or another application such as a web browser application, widget, or gadget engine, and data file 1227. The storage medium 1221 may store any one of various operating systems or a combination of operating systems for use by the UE 1200 .

[0134] The storage medium 1221 may be configured to include multiple physical drive units, such as a redundant array of independent disks (RAID), a floppy drive, a flash memory, a USB flash drive, an external hard drive, a thumb drive, a pen drive, a key drive, a high-density digital versatile disk (HD-DVD) optical drive, an internal hard drive, a Blu-ray optical drive, a holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical drive, an external mini dual in-line memory module (DIMM), a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), an external micro DIMM SDRAM, a smart card memory (e.g., a subscriber identity module (SIM) or a removable user identity (RUIM) module), other memory, or any combination thereof. The storage medium 1221 may allow and / or facilitate the UE 1200 to access computer executable instructions, applications, etc. stored on a temporary or non-temporary storage medium to offload data or upload data. An article of manufacture (such as an article of manufacture utilizing a communication system) may be tangibly embodied in the storage medium 1221, which may include a device-readable medium.

[0135] exist Fig.12In the embodiment of the present invention, the processing circuit 1201 may be configured to communicate with the network 1243b using the communication subsystem 1231. The network 1243a and the network 1243b may be the same network or different networks. The communication subsystem 1231 may be configured to include one or more transceivers for communicating with the network 1243b. For example, the communication subsystem 1231 may be configured to include one or more transceivers for communicating with another device (e.g., another WD, UE, or a base station of a radio access network (RAN)) capable of wireless communication according to one or more communication protocols (e.g., IEEE 802.12, CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, LTE, UTRAN, WiMax, etc.). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 1233 and / or a receiver 1235 to respectively implement a transmitter or receiver function (e.g., frequency allocation, etc.) suitable for a RAN link. In addition, the transmitter 1233 and the receiver 1235 of each transceiver may share circuit components, software, or firmware, or may be implemented separately instead.

[0136] In the illustrated embodiment, the communication functions of the communication subsystem 1231 may include data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communication such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication (such as using a global positioning system (GPS) to determine the location), another similar communication function, or any combination thereof. For example, the communication subsystem 1231 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, Bluetooth communication, and GPS communication. The network 1243b may include a wired and / or wireless network, such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another similar network, or any combination thereof. For example, the network 1243B may be a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, and / or a near-field network. The power supply 1213 may be configured to provide alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) power to the components of the UE 1200.

[0137] The features, benefits and / or functions described herein may be implemented in one of the components of UE 1200, or may be divided between multiple components of UE 1200. In addition, the features, benefits and / or functions described herein may be implemented in any combination of hardware, software or firmware. In one example, the communication subsystem 1231 may be configured to include any component described herein. In addition, the processing circuit 1201 may be configured to communicate with any such component via a bus 1202. In another example, any such component may be represented by a program instruction stored in a memory, which performs the corresponding function described herein when executed by the processing circuit 1201. In another example, the function of any such component may be divided between the processing circuit 1201 and the communication subsystem 1231. In another example, the non-computationally intensive functions of any such component may be implemented in software or firmware, while the computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0138] Fig.13 13 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a virtualized environment 1300 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualization means creating a virtual version of an apparatus or device, which may include a virtualized hardware platform, storage device, and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization may be applied to a node (e.g., a virtualized base station, a virtualized radio access node, a virtualized core network node) or a device (e.g., a UE, a wireless device, or any other type of communication device) or a component thereof, and involves an implementation in which at least a portion of the functions are implemented as one or more virtual components (e.g., via one or more applications, components, functions, virtual machines, or containers executed on one or more physical processing nodes in one or more networks).

[0139] In some embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines implemented in one or more virtual environments 1300 hosted by one or more hardware nodes 1330. Furthermore, in embodiments where the virtual nodes are not radio access nodes or do not require radio connectivity (e.g., core network nodes), then the network nodes may be fully virtualized.

[0140] These functions may be implemented by one or more applications 1320 (which may alternatively be referred to as software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) for implementing certain features, functions, and / or benefits of some embodiments disclosed herein. The applications 1320 run in a virtualized environment 1300, which provides hardware 1330 including processing circuitry 1360 and memory 1390. The memory 1390 contains instructions 1395 that can be executed by the processing circuitry 1360, whereby the applications 1320 are operable to provide one or more features, benefits, and / or functions disclosed herein.

[0141] The virtualized environment 1300 includes general-purpose or special-purpose network hardware devices 1330, which include a set of one or more processors or processing circuits 1360, which may be commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) processors, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or any other type of processing circuit including digital or analog hardware components or special-purpose processors. Each hardware device may include a memory 1390-1, which may be a non-persistent memory for temporarily storing instructions 1395 or software executed by the processing circuit 1360. Each hardware device may include one or more network interface controllers (NICs) 1370 (also known as network interface cards), which include a physical network interface 1380. Each hardware device may also include a non-transitory, persistent machine-readable storage medium 1390-2 in which software 1395 and / or instructions that can be executed by the processing circuit 1360 are stored. The software 1395 may include any type of software including software for instantiating one or more virtualization layers 1350 (also referred to as hypervisors), software for executing virtual machines 1340, and software that enables them to perform the functions, features and / or benefits associated with some of the embodiments described herein.

[0142] The virtual machine 1340 includes virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual network or interface, and virtual storage device, and can be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 1350 or system hypervisor. Different embodiments of the instance of the virtual device 1320 can be implemented on one or more virtual machines 1340 and can be implemented in different ways.

[0143] During operation, processing circuitry 1360 executes software 1395 to instantiate a hypervisor or virtualization layer 1350, which may sometimes be referred to as a virtual machine monitor (VMM). Virtualization layer 1350 may present to virtual machines 1340 a virtual operating platform that appears to be networked hardware.

[0144] like Fig.13As shown, hardware 1330 can be an independent network node with common or specific components. Hardware 1330 can include antenna 13225, and some functions can be implemented via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 1330 can be part of a larger hardware cluster (e.g., such as in a data center or customer premise equipment (CPE)), in which many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration (MANO) 13100 that oversees lifecycle management of application 1320, etc.

[0145] In some contexts, virtualization of hardware is referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV can be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry-standard high-volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers and customer premises equipment.

[0146] In the context of NFV, a virtual machine 1340 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs a program as if the program were executed on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each virtual machine 1340 and the portion of the hardware 1330 that executes the virtual machine (whether hardware dedicated to the virtual machine and / or hardware shared by the virtual machine with other virtual machines 1340) form a separate virtual network element (VNE).

[0147] In the context of NFV, a virtual network function (VNF) is responsible for handling specific network functions in one or more virtual machines 1340 running on top of the hardware network infrastructure 1330 and can communicate with Fig.13 Corresponding to application 1320 in.

[0148] In some embodiments, one or more radio units 13200, each including one or more transmitters 13220 and one or more receivers 13210, may be coupled to one or more antennas 13225. The radio unit 13200 may communicate directly with the hardware node 1330 via one or more appropriate network interfaces, and may be used in conjunction with virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or base station.

[0149] In some embodiments, some signaling may be accomplished using a control system 13230 , which may alternatively be used for communications between the hardware node 1330 and the radio unit 13200 .

[0150] refer to Fig.14According to an embodiment, a communication system includes a telecommunication network 1410 such as a 3GPP type cellular network, which includes an access network 1411 such as a radio access network and a core network 1414. The access network 1411 includes a plurality of base stations 1412a, 1412b, 1412c, such as NBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access points, each defining a corresponding coverage area 1413a, 1413b, 1413c. Each base station 1412a, 1412b, 1412c may be connected to the core network 1414 via a wired or wireless connection 1415. A first UE 1491 located in the coverage area 1413c is configured to be wirelessly connected to or paged by the corresponding base station 1412c. A second UE 1492 in the coverage area 1413a may be wirelessly connected to the corresponding base station 1412a. Although multiple UEs 1491 , 1492 are shown in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to situations where only a UE is in the coverage area or a only UE is connected to the corresponding base station 1412 .

[0151] The telecommunications network 1410 itself is connected to a host computer 1430, which may be embodied in the hardware and / or software of a stand-alone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, or as a processing resource in a server farm. The host computer 1430 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider, or may be operated by or on behalf of a service provider. The connections 1421 and 1422 between the telecommunications network 1410 and the host computer 1430 may extend directly from the core network 1414 to the host computer 1430, or may pass through an optional intermediate network 1420. The intermediate network 1420 may be one of a public, private, or managed network, or a combination of multiple thereof; the intermediate network 1420 (if any) may be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular, the intermediate network 1420 may include two or more sub-networks (not shown).

[0152] Overall, Fig.14The communication system implements a connection between the connected UE 1491, 1492 and the host computer 1430. The connection can be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection 1450. The host computer 1430 and the connected computer UE 1491, 1492 are configured to use the access network 1411, the core network 1414, any intermediate network 1420, and possible other infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries to transmit data and / or signaling via the OTT connection 1450. The OTT connection 1450 can be transparent because the participating communication devices through which the OTT connection 1450 passes do not know the routing of the uplink and downlink communications. For example, the past route of the incoming downlink communication, which has data originating from the host computer 1430 to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to the connected UE 1491, may not be notified to or does not need to be notified to the base station 1412. Similarly, base station 1412 need not be aware of the future routing of outgoing uplink communications originating from UE 1491 toward host computer 1430 .

[0153] Now refer to Fig.15 Describe the example implementations of the UE, base station, and host computer discussed in the previous paragraphs. In the communication system 1500, the host computer 1510 includes hardware 1515, which includes a communication interface 1516 configured to establish and maintain a wired or wireless connection with different communication devices of the communication system 1500. The host computer 1510 also includes a processing circuit 1518, which may have storage and / or processing capabilities. In particular, the processing circuit 1518 may include one or more programmable processors, application specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays, or a combination of these items (not shown) suitable for executing instructions. The host computer 1510 also includes software 1511, which is stored in the host computer 1510 or can be accessed by the host computer 1510 and can be executed by the processing circuit 1518. Software 1511 includes a host application 1512. The host application 1512 is operable to provide services to a remote user, such as a UE 1530, which is connected via an OTT connection 1550 that terminates at the UE 1530 and the host computer 1510. In providing services to the remote user, the host application 1512 may provide user data sent using the OTT connection 1550.

[0154] The communication system 1500 also includes a base station 1520, which is provided in the telecommunication system and includes hardware 1525 that enables it to communicate with the host computer 1510 and with the UE 1530. The hardware 1525 may include a communication interface 1526 for establishing and maintaining wired or wireless connections with different communication devices of the communication system 1500, and for establishing and maintaining connections with the base stations located in the coverage area ( Fig.15 1527 of at least a wireless connection 1570 of a UE 1530 in the embodiment of the present invention. The communication interface 1526 may be configured to facilitate a connection 1560 to a host computer 1510. The connection 1560 may be direct or may be through a core network (eg, a wireless network) of a telecommunications system. Fig.15 1520) and / or through one or more intermediate networks external to the telecommunications system. In the illustrated embodiment, the hardware 1525 of the base station 1520 also includes processing circuitry 1528, which may include one or more programmable processors, application specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays, or a combination of these items (not shown) suitable for executing instructions. The base station 1520 also has software 1521 that is stored internally or accessible via an external connection.

[0155] The communication system 1500 also includes the UE 1530 already mentioned. The hardware 1535 of the UE 1530 may include a radio interface 1537, which is configured to establish and maintain a wireless connection 1570 with a base station serving the coverage area where the UE 1530 is currently located. The hardware 1535 of the UE 1530 also includes a processing circuit 1538, which may include one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays, or a combination of these items (not shown) suitable for executing instructions. The UE 1530 also includes software 1531 stored in the UE 1530 or accessible by the UE 1530 and executable by the processing circuit 1538. The software 1531 includes a client application 1532. The client application 1532 is operable to provide services to human or non-human users via the UE 1530 with the support of the host computer 1510. In the host computer 1510, the executing host application 1512 can communicate with the executing client application 1532 via the OTT connection 1550 that terminates at the UE 1530 and the host computer 1510. In providing services to users, the client application 1532 can receive request data from the host application 1012 and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 1550 can transmit both the request data and the user data. The client application 1532 can interact with the user to generate user data provided by the user.

[0156] Notice, Fig.15The host computer 1510, base station 1520 and UE 1530 shown can be respectively Fig.14 The host computer 1430, one of the base stations 1412a, 1412b, 1412c and one of the UEs 1491, 1492 may be similar or identical. That is, the internal working principles of these entities may be as follows: Fig.15 As shown, and independently, the surrounding network topology can be Fig.14 The surrounding network topology.

[0157] exist Fig.15 15, an OTT connection 1550 has been abstractly drawn to illustrate communications between a host computer 1510 and a UE 1530 via a base station 1520, without explicit reference to any intermediate devices and the exact routing of messages via those devices. The network infrastructure may determine the routing, which may be configured to hide the routing from the UE 1530 or from the service provider operating the host computer 1510, or both. When the OTT connection 1550 is active, the network infrastructure may further make decisions according to which it dynamically changes the routing (e.g., based on load balancing considerations or reconfiguration of the network).

[0158] The wireless connection 1570 between the UE 1530 and the base station 1520 is in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout the present disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments improves the performance of an OTT service provided to the UE 1530 using the OTT connection 1550 (where the wireless connection 1570 forms the last segment). More precisely, the exemplary embodiments disclosed herein can improve the flexibility of the network to monitor the end-to-end quality of service (QoS) of data flows (including their corresponding radio bearers) associated with a data session between a user equipment (UE) and another entity (e.g., an OTT data application or a service outside the 5G network). These and other advantages can facilitate more timely design, implementation, and deployment of 5G / NR solutions. In addition, such an embodiment can facilitate flexible and timely control of data session QoS, which can lead to improvements in capacity, throughput, latency, etc., which are envisioned by 5G / NR and are important for the growth of OTT services.

[0159] The measurement process may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rates, delays, and other factors on which one or more embodiments are improved. In response to changes in the measurement results, there may also be an optional network function for reconfiguring the OTT connection 1550 between the host computer 1510 and the UE 1530. The measurement process and / or network function for reconfiguring the OTT connection 1550 may be implemented in the software 1511 and hardware 1515 of the host computer 1510 or in the software 1531 and hardware 1535 of the UE 1530, or in both. In some embodiments, a sensor (not shown) may be deployed in or associated with a communication device through which the OTT connection 1550 passes; the sensor may participate in the measurement process by providing the value of the monitored quantity of the above example or providing the value of other physical quantities from which the software 1511, 1531 can calculate or estimate the monitored quantity. The reconfiguration of the OTT connection 1550 may include message formats, retransmission settings, preferred routes, etc. The reconfiguration does not need to affect the base station 1520, and it may be unknown or imperceptible to the base station 1520. Such processes and functions may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, the measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling that facilitates the host computer 1510 to measure throughput, propagation time, latency, etc. The measurements may be achieved because the software 1511, 1531 causes messages, particularly empty or "dummy" messages, to be sent using the OTT connection 1550 during its monitoring of propagation time, errors, etc.

[0160] Fig.16 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method and / or process implemented in a communication system according to one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE, which in some exemplary embodiments may be reference Fig.14 and Fig.15 For simplicity of this disclosure, this section only includes Fig.16 Reference is made to the accompanying drawings of . In step 1610, the host computer provides user data. In sub-step 1611 of step 1610 (which may be optional), the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step 1620, the host computer initiates a transmission to the UE carrying the user data. In step 1630 (which may be optional), in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout the present disclosure, the base station sends the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the host computer to the UE. In step 1640 (which may also be optional), the UE executes a client application associated with the host application executed by the host computer.

[0161] Fig.17is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method and / or process implemented in a communication system according to one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE, which may be reference Fig.14 and Fig.15 For simplicity of this disclosure, this section only includes Fig.17 . In step 1710 of the method, the host computer provides user data. In an optional sub-step (not shown), the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step 1720, the host computer initiates a transmission to the UE carrying the user data. According to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the transmission may be through a base station. In step 1730 (which may be optional), the UE receives the user data carried in the transmission.

[0162] Fig.18 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method and / or process implemented in a communication system according to one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE, which may be reference Fig.14 and 15 For simplicity of this disclosure, this section only includes Fig.18 . In step 1810 (which may be optional), the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. Additionally or alternatively, in step 1820, the UE provides user data. In sub-step 1821 (which may be optional) of step 1820, the UE provides user data by executing a client application. In sub-step 1811 (which may be optional) of step 1810, the UE executes a client application that provides user data in response to the received input data provided by the host computer. When providing user data, the executed client application may further consider user input received from the user. Regardless of the specific manner of providing user data, the UE initiates transmission of user data to the host computer in sub-step 1830 (which may be optional). In step 1840 of the method, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout the present disclosure, the host computer receives user data sent from the UE.

[0163] Fig.19 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method and / or process implemented in a communication system according to one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE, which may be reference Fig.14 and Fig.15 For the sake of simplicity of this disclosure, only the host computer, base station and UE described in this section are included. Fig.19In step 1910 (which may be optional), in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the base station receives user data from the UE. In step 1920 (which may be optional), the base station initiates transmission of the received user data to the host computer. In step 1930 (which may be optional), the host computer receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the base station.

[0164] The foregoing merely illustrates the principles of the present disclosure. In view of the teachings herein, various modifications and changes to the described embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, it will be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to design many systems, arrangements and processes that, although not explicitly shown or described herein, embody the principles of the present disclosure and therefore may be within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. As will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, the various exemplary embodiments may be used together and interchangeably with one another.

[0165] The term "unit" as used herein may have a conventional meaning in the field of electronics, electrical devices and / or electronic devices, and may include, for example, electrical and / or electronic circuits, devices, modules, processors, memories, logical solid-state and / or discrete devices, computer programs or instructions for performing corresponding tasks, processes, calculations, output and / or display functions, etc. as described herein.

[0166] Any suitable steps, methods, characteristics, functions or benefits disclosed herein can be performed by one or more functional units or modules of one or more virtual devices. Each virtual device may include a plurality of these functional units. These functional units may be implemented via processing circuits that may include one or more microprocessors or microcontrollers and other digital hardware that may include digital signal processors (DSPs), dedicated digital logic, etc. The processing circuit may be configured to execute program codes stored in a memory, and the memory may include one or more types of memory, such as read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), cache memory, flash memory device, optical storage device, etc. The program code stored in the memory includes program instructions for executing one or more telecommunications and / or data communication protocols and instructions for executing one or more technologies described herein. In some embodiments, according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, the processing circuit may be used to cause the corresponding functional unit to perform the corresponding function.

[0167] As described herein, the device and / or apparatus may be represented by a semiconductor chip, a chipset, or a (hardware) module including such a chip or chipset; however, this does not exclude the possibility that the function of the device or apparatus is not implemented by hardware but is implemented as a software module (e.g., a computer program or a computer program product including an executable software code portion for execution or operation on a processor). In addition, the function of the device or apparatus may be implemented by any combination of hardware and software. The device or apparatus may also be considered as an assembly of multiple devices and / or apparatuses (whether they are functionally cooperative or independent of each other). In addition, the devices and apparatus may be implemented in a distributed manner throughout the system as long as the function of the device or apparatus is retained. Such principles and similar principles are considered to be known to technicians.

[0168] Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure belongs. It will also be understood that the terms used herein should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with their meaning in the context of this specification and the relevant art, and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless explicitly defined herein.

[0169] In addition, some terms used in the present disclosure (including specification, drawings and exemplary embodiments thereof) may be used synonymously in some cases, including but not limited to, for example, data and information. It should be understood that although these words and / or other words that may be synonymous with each other may be used synonymously in this article, there are situations where such words may not be intended to be used synonymously. In addition, to the extent that prior art knowledge is not explicitly incorporated by reference above, its full text is explicitly incorporated herein. All publications cited are incorporated herein by reference in full.

[0170] Example embodiments of the techniques and apparatus described herein include, but are not limited to, the following examples:

[0171] 1. A method for a user equipment UE to notify a network node in a radio access network RAN ​​of UE capabilities, the method comprising:

[0172] Send information describing multiple feature sets supported by the UE to a network node, the information including:

[0173] One or more InitialFeatureLists, each InitialFeatureList comprising one or more non-extensible InitialFeatureSet elements, each non-extensible InitialFeatureSet element indicating the UE's support for one or more initial features;

[0174] One or more ExtensionFeatureLists, where:

[0175] Each ExtensionFeatureList is associated with a specific InitialFeatureList; and

[0176] Each ExtensionFeatureList includes one or more ExtensionFeatureSet elements, each ExtensionFeatureSet element indicates the UE's support for one or more extended features;

[0177] Send one or more BandCombination elements to the network node, where each BandCombination element includes:

[0178] a list of frequency bands in which the UE can simultaneously transmit and / or receive information; and

[0179] For each specific frequency band included in this list, another list of one or more FeatureSetIdentifiers, where each FeatureSetIdentifier corresponds to a specific InitialFeatureSet element and associated ExtensionFeatureSet elements that describe the features supported by the UE when operating in that specific frequency band.

[0180] 2. The method of embodiment 1, wherein each InitialFeatureSet element and the associated ExtensionFeatureSet element identify features supported by the UE regarding a single component carrier CC.

[0181] 3. The method of embodiment 1, wherein each InitialFeatureSet element and the associated ExtensionFeatureSet element identify features supported by the UE for the entire frequency band.

[0182] 4. A method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 3, wherein each InitialFeatureSet element and the associated ExtensionFeatureSet element identify characteristics related to one of uplink operation and downlink operation.

[0183] 5. The method of any one of embodiments 1 to 4, wherein the ExtensionFeatureSet at a specific position in the ExtensionFeatureList corresponds to the InitialFeatureSet at the same specific position in the InitialFeatureList.

[0184] 6. The method of any one of embodiments 1 to 5, wherein:

[0185] Each BandCombination element comprises an identifier of a particular FeatureSetCombination associated with the combination of multiple frequency bands comprising the list; and

[0186] The particular FeatureSetCombination includes one or more FeatureSetIdentifiers that comprise the other list.

[0187] 7. A method for a network node operable in a radio access network RAN ​​to receive capabilities advertised by a user equipment UE, the method comprising:

[0188] Receiving information from a UE describing a plurality of feature sets supported by the UE, the information comprising:

[0189] One or more InitialFeatureLists, each InitialFeatureList comprising one or more non-extensible InitialFeatureSet elements, each non-extensible InitialFeatureSet element indicating the UE's support for one or more initial features;

[0190] One or more ExtensionFeatureLists, where:

[0191] Each ExtensionFeatureList is associated with a specific InitialFeatureList; and

[0192] Each ExtensionFeatureList includes one or more ExtensionFeatureSet elements, and each InitialFeatureSet element indicates the UE's support for one or more extended features;

[0193] One or more BandCombination elements are received from the UE, where each BandCombination element includes:

[0194] a list of frequency bands in which the UE can simultaneously transmit and / or receive information; and

[0195] For each specific frequency band included in this list, another list of one or more FeatureSetIdentifiers, where each FeatureSetIdentifier corresponds to a specific InitialFeatureSet element and associated ExtensionFeatureSet elements that describe the features supported by the UE when operating in that specific frequency band.

[0196] Based on the received one or more BandCombination elements and the received information describing a plurality of feature sets supported by the UE, capabilities of the UE are determined.

[0197] 8. The method of embodiment 7, wherein each InitialFeatureSet element and the associated ExtensionFeatureSet element identify features supported by the UE with respect to a single component carrier (CC).

[0198] 9. The method of embodiment 7, wherein each InitialFeatureSet element and the associated ExtensionFeatureSet element identify features supported by the UE for the entire frequency band.

[0199] 10. The method of any one of embodiments 7 to 9, wherein each InitialFeatureSet element and associated ExtensionFeatureSet element identify features related to one of uplink operation and downlink operation.

[0200] 11. A method according to any one of embodiments 7 to 10, wherein the ExtensionFeatureSet at a specific position in the ExtensionFeatureList corresponds to the InitialFeatureSet at the same specific position in the InitialFeatureList.

[0201] 12. The method of any one of embodiments 7 to 11, wherein:

[0202] Each BandCombination element comprises an identifier of a particular FeatureSetCombination associated with the combination of multiple frequency bands comprising the list; and

[0203] The particular FeatureSetCombination includes one or more FeatureSetIdentifiers that comprise the other list.

[0204] 13. A method according to any one of embodiments 7 to 12, wherein, if the network node does not support the ExtensionFeatureSet element corresponding to a specific FeatureSetIdentifier, the UE's capabilities are determined based on the InitialFeatureSet element corresponding to the specific FeatureSetIdentifier rather than based on the associated ExtensionFeatureSet element.

[0205] 14. A wireless device capable of being configured to advertise capabilities of the device to a network node in a radio access network RAN, the wireless device comprising:

[0206] A processing circuit configured to perform any of the steps according to any one of embodiments 1 to 6; and

[0207] The power circuit is configured to supply power to the wireless device.

[0208] 15. A network node capable of operating in a radio access network RAN ​​and capable of being configured to receive capabilities advertised by a user equipment UE, the network node comprising:

[0209] A processing circuit configured to perform any of the steps according to any one of embodiments 7 to 13 and

[0210] The power supply circuit is configured to supply power to the base station.

[0211] 16. A user equipment UE, capable of being configured to notify a network node in a radio access network RAN ​​of a capability of the UE, the UE comprising:

[0212] an antenna configured to transmit and receive wireless signals;

[0213] a radio front end circuit operatively coupled to the antenna;

[0214] A processing circuit operatively coupled to the radio front end circuit and configured to perform any of the steps according to any one of embodiments 1 to 6;

[0215] an input interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to allow input of information to be processed by the processing circuitry;

[0216] an output interface connected to the processing circuit and configured to output information that has been processed by the processing circuit; and

[0217] A battery is connected to the processing circuit and configured to supply power to the UE.

[0218] 17. A communication system including a host computer, comprising:

[0219] processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and

[0220] A communication interface configured to forward user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment UE; wherein the cellular network includes a base station having a radio interface and a processing circuit, and the processing circuit of the base station is configured to perform any operation including embodiments 7 to 13.

[0221] 18. The communication system according to the previous embodiment further includes: the base station.

[0222] 19. The communication system according to the first two embodiments further includes: the UE, wherein the UE is configured to perform operations corresponding to any one of embodiments 1 to 6.

[0223] 20. The communication system according to the first three embodiments, wherein:

[0224] The processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application to provide user data; and

[0225] The UE includes processing circuitry configured to execute a client application associated with a host application.

[0226] 21. A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station, and a user equipment UE, the method comprising:

[0227] At the host computer, providing user data; and

[0228] At a host computer, a transmission carrying user data is initiated to a UE via a cellular network including a base station, wherein the base station performs any operation including any one of embodiments 7 to 13.

[0229] 22. The method according to the previous embodiment further includes: sending user data at the base station.

[0230] 23. The method according to the first two embodiments, wherein the user data is provided at the host computer by executing a host application, the method further comprising: executing, at the UE, a client application associated with the host application.

[0231] 24. A user equipment (UE) configured to communicate with a base station, the UE comprising a radio interface and a processing circuit configured to perform any of the methods described in the first three embodiments.

[0232] 25. A communication system comprising a host computer, the host computer comprising:

[0233] processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and

[0234] A communication interface configured to forward user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment UE; wherein the UE comprises a radio interface and a processing circuit, the radio interface and the processing circuit being operatively coupled and configured to perform any operation according to any one of embodiments 1 to 6.

[0235] 26. The communication system according to the previous embodiment, wherein the cellular network further comprises a base station configured to communicate with the UE.

[0236] 27. The communication system according to the first two embodiments, wherein:

[0237] The processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application to provide user data; and

[0238] The processing circuitry of the UE is configured to execute a client application associated with a host application.

[0239] 28. A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station, and a user equipment UE, the method comprising:

[0240] At the host computer, providing user data; and

[0241] At a host computer, a transmission carrying user data is initiated to a UE via a cellular network including a base station, wherein the UE performs any of the steps according to any one of embodiments 1 to 6.

[0242] 29. The method according to the previous embodiment further includes: at the UE, receiving user data from the base station.

[0243] 30. A communication system comprising a host computer, the host computer comprising:

[0244] a communication interface configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a user equipment UE to a base station;

[0245] The UE includes a radio interface and a processing circuit, and the processing circuit of the UE is configured to perform any operation according to any one of embodiments 1 to 6.

[0246] 31. The communication system according to the previous embodiment further includes: the UE.

[0247] 32. The communication system according to the first two embodiments further includes: the base station, wherein the base station includes: a radio interface configured to communicate with the UE; and a communication interface configured to forward user data carried by the transmission from the UE to the base station to the host computer.

[0248] 33. The communication system according to the first three embodiments, wherein:

[0249] The processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application; and

[0250] The processing circuitry of the UE is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application to provide user data.

[0251] 34. The communication system according to the first four embodiments, wherein:

[0252] The processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute the host application to provide the requested data; and

[0253] The processing circuitry of the UE is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application to provide user data in response to the request data.

[0254] 35. A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station, and a user equipment UE, the method comprising:

[0255] At a host computer, user data transmitted from a UE to a base station is received, wherein the UE performs any operation according to any one of Embodiments 1 to 6.

[0256] 36. The method according to the previous embodiment further includes: at the UE, providing user data to the base station.

[0257] 37. The method according to the first two embodiments further comprises:

[0258] At the UE, executing a client application, thereby providing user data to be sent; and

[0259] At the host computer, a host application associated with the client application is executed.

[0260] 38. The method according to the first three embodiments further comprises:

[0261] At the UE, executing a client application; and

[0262] receiving, at the UE, input data to the client application, the input data being provided at a host computer by executing a host application associated with the client application;

[0263] The user data to be sent is provided by the client application in response to the input data.

[0264] 39. A communication system comprising a host computer, the host computer comprising a communication interface, the communication interface being configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a user equipment UE to a base station, wherein the base station comprises a radio interface and a processing circuit, and the processing circuit of the base station is configured to perform any operation according to any one of embodiments 7 to 13.

[0265] 40. The communication system according to the previous embodiment further includes: the base station.

[0266] 41. The communication system according to the first two embodiments further includes: the UE, wherein the UE is configured to communicate with the base station.

[0267] 42. The communication system according to the first three embodiments, wherein:

[0268] The processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application; and

[0269] The UE is configured to execute a client application associated with a host application, thereby providing user data to be received by a host computer.

[0270] 43. A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station, and a user equipment UE, the method comprising:

[0271] At a host computer, user data originating from a transmission that the base station has received from a UE is received from a base station, wherein the UE performs any of the steps according to any one of embodiments 1 to 6.

[0272] 44. The method according to the previous embodiment further includes: receiving user data from the UE at the base station.

[0273] 45. The method of any of the previous two embodiments further comprising: at the base station, initiating transmission of the received user data to a host computer.

[0274] 46. ​​A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by at least one processor including a user equipment (UE), configures the UE to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods described in embodiments 1 to 6.

[0275] 47. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by at least one processor comprising a network node, configure the network node to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods described in embodiments 7 to 13.

Claims

1. A method for a user equipment UE to notify a network node in a radio access network RAN ​​of UE capabilities, the method comprising: Sending (910) information describing a plurality of feature sets supported by the UE to the network node, the information comprising: One or more InitialFeatureLists, where: Each InitialFeatureList consists of one or more non-extensible InitialFeatureSet elements, and Each non-extensible InitialFeatureSet element indicates the UE's support for one or more initial features; One or more ExtensionFeatureLists, where: Each ExtensionFeatureList is associated with a specific InitialFeatureList; Each ExtensionFeatureList includes one or more ExtensionFeatureSet elements, and Each ExtensionFeatureSet element indicates the UE's support for one or more extension features; One or more BandCombination elements are sent (920) to the network node, wherein each BandCombination element includes: a list of frequency bands in which the UE can concurrently transmit and / or receive information; and A FeatureSetCombination element, wherein the FeatureSetCombination element identifies the features supported by the UE in each frequency band included in the list, wherein the features supported by the UE in a specific frequency band are based on: a specific InitialFeatureSet element from each InitialFeatureList, and a corresponding ExtensionFeatureSet element from the ExtensionFeatureList associated with each InitialFeatureList.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving (930) a configuration from the network node, the configuration comprising: an identification of one or more frequency bands, wherein the identified frequency bands are part of a list included in a particular BandCombination element being sent; and For each identified frequency band, the configuration of one or more characteristics identified by the particular BandCombination element that is sent.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein: The received configuration identifies a plurality of frequency bands for dual connectivity (DC) or carrier aggregation (CA) operation.

4. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 3, wherein: The received configuration includes only the features indicated by the InitialFeatureSet elements associated with the corresponding identified frequency band.

5. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 3, wherein: The received configuration includes characteristics indicated by both the InitialFeatureSet element and the corresponding ExtensionFeatureSet element associated with the respective identified frequency band.

6. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 3, further comprising: Information is sent or received (940) with the network node in the identified frequency band according to the received configuration.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: Each InitialFeatureSet element and the associated ExtensionFeatureSet element identify the features supported by the UE for an entire specific frequency band.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein: Each InitialFeatureSet element also identifies features supported by the UE on individual component carriers within the particular frequency band.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: The one or more InitialFeatureLists include a first InitialFeatureList associated with downlink operations and a second InitialFeatureList associated with uplink operations.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: The ExtensionFeatureSet at a specific position in the ExtensionFeatureList corresponds to the InitialFeatureSet at the same specific position in the InitialFeatureList.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: For each specific frequency band included in the frequency band list: The FeatureSetCombination element includes one or more FeatureSetIdentifiers for the specific frequency band; and Each FeatureSetIdentifier is associated with a specific InitialFeatureList and with the associated ExtensionFeatureList for that specific band; as well as Each FeatureSetIdentifier identifies the specific InitialFeatureSet element from the associated InitialFeatureList and the corresponding ExtensionFeatureSet element from the associated ExtensionFeatureList.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein: For each specific frequency band, the one or more FeatureSetIdentifiers include a first FeatureSetIdentifier associated with downlink operations and a second FeatureSetIdentifier associated with uplink operations.

13. A method for a network node of a radio access network RAN ​​to determine a capability of a user equipment UE, the method comprising: receiving (1010) from the UE information describing a plurality of feature sets supported by the UE, the information comprising: One or more InitialFeatureLists, where: Each InitialFeatureList consists of one or more non-extensible InitialFeatureSet elements, and Each non-extensible InitialFeatureSet element indicates the UE's support for one or more initial features; One or more ExtensionFeatureLists, where: Each ExtensionFeatureList is associated with a specific InitialFeatureList; Each ExtensionFeatureList includes one or more ExtensionFeatureSet elements, and Each ExtensionFeatureSet element indicates the UE's support for one or more extension features; One or more BandCombination elements are received (1020) from the UE, wherein each BandCombination element includes: a list of frequency bands in which the UE can concurrently transmit and / or receive information; and a FeatureSetCombination element that identifies features supported by the UE in each frequency band included in the list, wherein the features supported by the UE in a particular frequency band are based on: a particular InitialFeatureSet element from each InitialFeatureList and a corresponding ExtensionFeatureSet element from the ExtensionFeatureList associated with each InitialFeatureList; and Based on the received one or more BandCombination elements and the received information describing the plurality of feature sets supported by the UE, capabilities of the UE are determined (1030).

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein: Determining (1030) the capabilities of the UE includes: for each specific BandCombination element, determining (1032) whether the network node supports a corresponding ExtensionFeatureSet element identified by the particular BandCombination element; for each specific ExtensionFeatureSet element not supported by the network node, determining (1034) capabilities of the UE based on features described by the associated InitialFeatureSet element rather than based on features described by the specific ExtensionFeatureSet element; and For each specific ExtensionFeatureSet element supported by the network node, capabilities of the UE are determined (1036) based on the characteristics described by the associated InitialFeatureSet element and the specific ExtensionFeatureSet element.

15. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 14, further comprising: Sending (1040) a configuration to the UE, the configuration comprising: an identification of one or more frequency bands, wherein the identified frequency bands are part of a list included in a particular BandCombination element that is received; and For each identified frequency band, the configuration of one or more characteristics identified by the particular BandCombination element received.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein: The transmitted configuration identifies multiple frequency bands for dual connectivity DC or carrier aggregation CA operation.

17. The method according to claim 15, wherein: The transmitted configuration includes only the features indicated by the InitialFeatureSet elements associated with the corresponding identified frequency band.

18. The method according to claim 15, wherein: The transmitted configuration includes the characteristics indicated by both the InitialFeatureSet element and the corresponding ExtensionFeatureSet element associated with the respective identified frequency band.

19. The method according to claim 15, further comprising: Information is transmitted or received (1050) with the UE in the plurality of frequency bands according to the transmitted configuration.

20. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 14, wherein: Each InitialFeatureSet element and the associated ExtensionFeatureSet element identify the features supported by the UE for an entire specific frequency band.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein: Each InitialFeatureSet element also identifies features supported by the UE with respect to individual component carriers within the particular frequency band.

22. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 14, wherein: The one or more InitialFeatureLists include a first InitialFeatureList associated with downlink operations and a second InitialFeatureList associated with uplink operations.

23. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 14, wherein: The ExtensionFeatureSet at a specific position in the ExtensionFeatureList corresponds to the InitialFeatureSet at the same specific position in the InitialFeatureList.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein: For each specific frequency band included in the frequency band list: The FeatureSetCombination element includes one or more FeatureSetIdentifiers for the specific frequency band; and Each FeatureSetIdentifier is associated with a specific InitialFeatureList and with the associated ExtensionFeatureList for that specific band; as well as Each FeatureSetIdentifier identifies the specific InitialFeatureSet element from the associated InitialFeatureList and the corresponding ExtensionFeatureSet element from the associated ExtensionFeatureList.

25. The method according to claim 24, wherein: For each specific frequency band, the one or more FeatureSetIdentifiers include a first FeatureSetIdentifier associated with downlink operations and a second FeatureSetIdentifier associated with uplink operations.

26. A user equipment UE (1110, 1200, 1530), operable to advertise UE capabilities to a network node in a radio access network RAN, the UE comprising: a radio interface circuit (1114, 1231, 1537) configured to communicate with the network node; as well as A processing circuit (1120, 1201, 1538) is operatively coupled to the radio interface circuit (1114, 1231, 1537), whereby the combination of the processing circuit and the radio interface circuit is configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 1 to 12.

27. A user equipment UE (1110, 1200, 1530), operable to advertise UE capabilities to a network node in a radio access network RAN, the UE being further arranged to perform operations corresponding to any one of the methods of claims 1 to 12.

28. A non-transitory computer-readable medium (1150, 1221) storing computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by a processing circuit (1120, 1201, 1538) of a user device (1110, 1200, 1530), configure the user device to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods described in claims 1 to 12.

29. A computer program product comprising computer executable instructions, which, when executed by a processing circuit (1120, 1201, 1538) of a user device (1110, 1200, 1530), configure the user device to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods described in claims 1 to 12.

30. A network node (1160, 1527) of a radio access network RAN, configured to determine capabilities of a user equipment UE, the network node comprising: a radio interface circuit (11110, 1527) operable to communicate with the UE; as well as A processing circuit (1170, 1528) is operatively coupled to the radio interface circuit (11110, 1527), whereby the processing circuit and the radio interface circuit are configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 13 to 25.

31. A network node (1160, 1527) of a Radio Access Network RAN, configured to determine capabilities of a User Equipment UE, the network node being arranged to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 13 to 25.

32. A non-transitory computer-readable medium (1150, 1221) storing computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by a processing circuit (1170, 1528) of a network node (1160, 1527), configure the network node to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 13 to 25.

33. A computer program product comprising computer executable instructions which, when executed by a processing circuit (1170, 1528) of a network node (1160, 1527), configure the network node to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 13 to 25.

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