Method for Type II CSI reporting in multiple spatial layers

Abstract

Some embodiments of the present disclosure include an apparatus and method for reporting channel state information (CSI) of multiple spatial layers. The apparatus and method may include at least: determining, by a user equipment (UE), a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) of a set of precoding matrices, wherein the PMI is determined based on a combination of digital Fourier transform (DFT) spatial domain (SD) vectors or based on DFT-based frequency domain (FD) compression; and transmitting, by the UE, the PMI to a next generation node B (gNB).

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62 / 805,892, filed on February 14, 2019, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Technical Field

[0003] Various embodiments may generally relate to the field of wireless communications. Summary of the invention

[0004] Some embodiments of the present disclosure include apparatus and methods for Type II channel state information (CSI) reporting for multiple spatial layers.

[0005] Some embodiments relate to a method of operating a system for reporting channel state information (CSI) of multiple spatial layers. The method may include: determining, by a user equipment (UE), a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) of a set of precoding matrices, wherein the PMI is determined based on a combination of digital Fourier transform (DFT) spatial domain (SD) vectors or based on DFT-based frequency domain (FD) compression; and transmitting, by the UE, the PMI to a next generation Node B (gNB).

[0006] The method may also include transmitting the PMI including transmitting in a channel state information (CSI) report.

[0007] The method may also include generating the CSI report to include a channel quality indicator (CQI) or a rank indicator (RI).

[0008] The method may further include transmitting the PMI including transmitting via a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

[0009] The method may further include generating a codebook to include a set of precoding indices.

[0010] The method may further include defining a codebook for a set of ranks.

[0011] The method may further include constructing, by the UE, columns of the precoding matrix in the codebook based on linear combinations of the spatial domain (SD) vectors.

[0012] An embodiment relates to a non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a system for reporting channel state information (CSI) of multiple spatial layers, causes the system to perform operations including at least the following: determining a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) for a set of precoding matrices, wherein the PMI is determined based on a combination of digital Fourier transform (DFT) spatial domain (SD) vectors or based on DFT-based frequency domain (FD) compression; and transmitting the PMI to a next-generation Node B (gNB).

[0013] The non-transitory computer readable medium may include operations further comprising transmitting the PMI in a channel state information (CSI) report.

[0014] The non-transitory computer-readable medium may include operations further comprising generating a CSI report to include a channel quality indicator (CQI) or a rank indicator (RI).

[0015] The non-transitory computer readable medium may include operations further comprising transmitting the PMI including transmitting via a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

[0016] The non-transitory computer-readable medium may include operations further comprising generating a codebook to include a set of precoding indices.

[0017] The non-transitory computer readable medium may include operations further comprising defining a codebook for a set of ranks.

[0018] The non-transitory computer readable medium may include operations further comprising constructing columns of a precoding matrix in a codebook based on linear combinations of spatial domain (SD) vectors.

[0019] The embodiment relates to a system for reporting channel state information (CSI) of multiple spatial layers. The system may include: a processor configured to determine a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) of a set of precoding matrices, wherein the PMI is determined based on a combination of digital Fourier transform (DFT) spatial domain (SD) vectors or based on DFT-based frequency domain (FD) compression. The system may also include: a radio frequency integrated circuit coupled to the processor and configured to transmit the PMI to a next generation node B (gNB).

[0020] The PMI may be transmitted to the gNB in ​​a channel state information (CSI) report.

[0021] The CSI report may also include a channel quality indicator (CQI) or a rank indicator (RI).

[0022] The PMI may be transmitted to the gNB via the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) or the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH).

[0023] The set of precoding indices may be included in a codebook.

[0024] A codebook may be defined for a set of ranks. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] Figure 1 An unconstrained selection of R equal to 4 subsets with a fixed number of elements Ni of each subset equal to 3 is shown according to an embodiment.

[0026] Figure 2 A constrained selection of R equal to 4 subsets with a fixed number of elements N equal to 3 in each subset is shown according to an embodiment.

[0027] Figure 3 A partially constrained selection of R equal to 4 subsets with a fixed number of elements Nk of each subset equal to 3 is shown according to an embodiment.

[0028] Figure 4 An unconstrained selection of R equal to 4 subsets with a fixed total number of elements Ntotal equal to 12 according to an embodiment is shown.

[0029] Figure 5 A two-step selection of R equal to 4 subsets with a fixed number of elements N of each subset equal to 3 is shown according to an embodiment.

[0030] Figure 6 A two-step selection of subsets with R equal to 4 according to an embodiment is shown, with a fixed total number of elements Ntotal equal to 12.

[0031] Figure 7 An exemplary system architecture according to an embodiment is shown.

[0032] Figure 8 Another exemplary system architecture according to an embodiment is shown.

[0033] Fig. 9 Another exemplary system architecture according to an embodiment is shown.

[0034] Fig.10 A block diagram of exemplary infrastructure equipment is shown, according to an embodiment.

[0035] Fig.11 A block diagram of an exemplary platform is shown, according to an embodiment.

[0036] Fig.12 A block diagram of a baseband circuit and a front-end module according to an embodiment is shown.

[0037] Fig.13 A block diagram illustrating exemplary protocol functionality that may be implemented in a wireless communication device according to an embodiment.

[0038] Fig.14 A block diagram of exemplary core network components is shown according to an embodiment.

[0039] Fig.15 A block diagram of system components for supporting network function virtualization according to an embodiment is shown.

[0040] Fig.16 A block diagram of an exemplary computer system that can be used to implement various embodiments is shown.

[0041] Fig.17 A method of operating a system according to an embodiment is shown.

[0042] Features and advantages of the embodiments will become more apparent from the detailed description set forth below when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals identify corresponding elements throughout. In the drawings, like reference numerals generally indicate identical, functionally similar, and / or structurally similar elements. The drawing in which an element first appears is indicated by the leftmost digit in the corresponding reference numeral. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0043] Discussion of implementation plan

[0044] The following specific embodiments relate to the accompanying drawings. The same figure numbers may be used to identify the same or similar elements in different drawings. In the following description, for the purpose of illustration and not limitation, specific details, such as specific structures, architectures, interfaces, technologies, etc., are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of various aspects of various embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art who benefit from the present disclosure that various aspects of various embodiments may be practiced in other examples that deviate from these specific details. In some cases, descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted so that the description of various embodiments will not be obscured by unnecessary details. For the purposes of this document, the phrase "A or B" refers to (A), (B), or (A and B).

[0045] The fifth generation new radio (5G NR) physical layer supports a type II codebook for precoding matrix indicator (PMI) with higher spatial resolution based on a linear combination of digital Fourier transform (DFT) spatial domain (SD) vectors. The design of such codebooks is further enhanced to support DFT-based frequency domain (FD) compression to reduce overhead. The 5G NR type II codebook is currently supported for 1 and 2 spatial layers (rank 1 and rank 2).

[0046] Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a novel Type II PMI reporting structure and corresponding higher layer configuration signaling to support Type II PMI reporting with higher spatial resolution for rank 1-rank 4, among others. Specifically, embodiments of the present disclosure provide different methods for reporting selection of multiple subsets and applying to selection of SD vectors and time domain (TD) components for multiple spatial layers. Conventional systems neither provide PMI reporting with higher spatial resolution based on linear combinations of multiple DFT SD vectors, nor do they provide DFT-based FD compression for ranks greater than 2.

[0047] Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a novel PMI reporting structure and corresponding higher layer signaling to support PMI reporting with higher spatial resolution based on linear combinations of DFT SD vectors and with DFT-based FD compression for ranks greater than 2. Some embodiments of the present disclosure may provide: (1) a method for reporting a subset of selected SD vectors, (2) a method for reporting a subset of selected FD vectors, and (3) a method for reporting a subset of selected SD vectors and FD vectors.

[0048] Some embodiments may be implemented in a PMI search algorithm for rank 1-rank 4 and help increase the spatial granularity of PMI reporting for rank 1-rank 4 with considerable reporting overhead, which is beneficial to the performance of 5G NR systems.

[0049] Channel state information feedback

[0050] Channel state information (CSI) feedback is used in LTE and 5G NR systems to assist in scheduling, link adaptation, precoding, and spatial multiplexing operations for downlink (DL) transmissions. CSI reports are transmitted from the user equipment (UE) to the gNB or eNB via the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). In some embodiments, the CSI report has three main parts: (i) Channel Quality Indicator (CQI): This indicator contains information about the modulation and coding scheme recommended by the UE for DL ​​transmission; (ii) Rank Indicator (RI): This indicator contains information about the number of spatial layers (rank) recommended by the UE for DL ​​transmission; and (iii) Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI): This indicator contains information about the precoding matrix recommended by the UE for DL ​​transmission.

[0051] In some implementations, the PMI is a set of indices corresponding to a particular precoding matrix from a specified finite set of precoding matrices called a “codebook.” The rank of the precoding matrix is ​​determined by the RI.

[0052] DFT spatial domain (SD) vector

[0053] In some embodiments, the 5G NR and LTE codebooks may be for uniform rectangular planar antenna arrays with orthogonally polarized antennas and based on the DFT beam v defined by the following formula (1): l,m To optimize:

[0054]

[0055] In formula (1), N1 and N2 are the numbers of orthogonally polarized antenna elements (or antenna ports) in the first dimension and the second dimension, respectively. p is equal to 2·N1·N2, is the number of CSI-RS ports reported by the CSI, O1 and O2 are the oversampling factors in the first and second dimensions respectively, l=0,1,…,(N1O1-1)–is the index determining the direction of the DFT SD vector in the first dimension, m=0,1,…,(N2O2-1)–is the index determining the direction of the DFT SD vector in the second dimension.

[0056] 5G NR and LTE Codebooks

[0057] 5G NR and LTE codebooks can be divided into two groups: (1) codebooks with normal spatial resolution based on the selection of DFT SD vectors; and (2) codebooks with high spatial resolution based on the linear combination of DFT SD vectors.

[0058] Codebooks with high spatial resolution based on linear combination of DFT SD vectors include the following 5GNR codebooks: Type II codebook, Type II port selection codebook. Codebooks with high spatial resolution based on beam combining include the following LTE codebooks: Advanced CSI codebook.

[0059] Linear combination of DFT SD vectors with high spatial resolution without DFT-based FD compression Codebook

[0060] The precoding matrix of a codebook with high spatial resolution based on a linear combination of DFT SD vectors without DFT-based FD compression can be constructed as a linear combination of L mutually orthogonal DFT SD vectors. The columns of the precoding matrix are represented in formula (2), the rank 1 precoding matrix is ​​represented in formula (3), and the rank 2 precoding matrix is ​​represented in formula (4).

[0061]

[0062]

[0063]

[0064] In equations (2) to (4), the q1, q2, n1, and n2 indices determine the L mutually orthogonal DFTSD vectors used in beam combining. A subset of , i = 0, 1, ..., L-1 – is the index of the DFT SD vector in the linear combination, l – is the index of the spatial layer (column of the precoding matrix); – is the broadband amplitude coefficient, – is the subband amplitude coefficient, – is the phase coefficient, k = 0, 1, …, (2·L-1) – is the index of the coefficient in the linear combination, and – are the sets of indices that determine the wideband and subband amplitude coefficients, respectively, c l – is a set of indices that determine the phase coefficients.

[0065] The indices q1 and q2 indicate a set of N1N2 mutually orthogonal DFT SD vectors among the N1N2O1O2 DFT SD vectors, q1=0,1,…,(O1-1), q2=0,1,…,(O2-1). The indices n1 and n2 indicate a subset of L mutually orthogonal DFT SD vectors among the N1N2O1O2 DFT SD vectors, n1=[n1 (0) n1 (1) … n1 (L-1) ],n2=[n2 (0) n2 (1) … n2 (L-1) ],n1 (i) =0,1,…,(N1-1),n2 (i) =0,1,…,(N2-1).

[0066] In the current Release 15 5G NR specification, the UE reports N1N2 values ​​i 1，2 The index of the combination of L values ​​in L is used to indicate the indices n1 and n2, indicating that n1 and n2 are the same for spatial layer 1 (the first column of the rank 2 precoding matrix) and spatial layer 2 (the second column of the precoding matrix). The number of beams in the linear combination L is configured by higher layers and is the same for rank 1 and rank 2.

[0067] The number of bits required for the reporting and quantization scheme of the wideband and subband amplitude coefficients and phase coefficients is configured by higher layers and is the same for rank 1 and rank 2.

[0068] Codebook with high spatial resolution based on linear combination of DFT SD vector and DFT-based FD compression

[0069] The precoding matrix of the codebook with high spatial resolution based on the linear combination of DFT SD vectors and DFT-based FD compression is constructed as a linear combination of L mutually orthogonal DFT SD vectors, where the coefficients of the linear combination of the FD compression unit set are represented as two matrices W2·W f H W2 is the matrix of time domain (TD) coefficients with size 2L×N3O3, W f is a DFT matrix with size N3×N3O3, H – Hermitian conjugate, N3 – the number of FD compression units, O3 – the oversampling of the FD DFT matrix; an FD compression unit corresponds to a set of time-frequency resources (e.g., a subband or a portion of a subband). The columns k = 0, 1, ..., (N3-1) of the precoding matrix of the FD compression unit are represented in formula (5), and the rank R precoding matrix is ​​represented in formula (6).

[0070]

[0071]

[0072] In formulas (5) and (6), the q1, q2, n1, n2 indices determine the subset of L mutually orthogonal DFTSD vectors used in beam combining, i = 0, 1, ..., L-1 – is the index of the DFT SD vector in the linear combination, l – is the index of the spatial layer (column of the precoding matrix); is a set of indices indicating p i,l ,p i,l =0,1,…,O3; n3 is the indicator g (s,i,l) The set of indices of , s – is the index of the TD component, s = 0, 1, ..., S i,l , S i,l =0,1,…,N3 – is the number of TD components; c s,i,l - is the TD coefficient, i = 0, 1, ..., (2L-1) – is the index of the DFT SD vector linear combination, s = 0, 1, ..., (N3O3-1) – is the index of the TD coefficient, c l – is a set of indices that determine the phase coefficients.

[0073] Instructions for selecting a subset

[0074] For the above codebook design, there is a PMI reporting component that indicates L among the N1N2 DFT SD vectors for the set l=0, 1, ..., (R-1) of layers. l R subsets of DFT SD vectors and for SD vectors i = 0, 1, ..., (Ll -1) and S among the N3 DFT FD vectors of layer l = 0, 1, ..., (R-1) l,i DFT FD vector The performance and overhead of PMI reporting depends on how the subset selection is indicated and how the higher layer configuration parameters are defined.

[0075] The following describes a subset B of elements from the set A of elements for l=0,1,..,(R-1) from the UE to the gNB: l Many indication methods.

[0076] Instructions for selecting a subset of a collection by index

[0077] Unconstrained selection of R subsets

[0078] gather Is a collection A subset of where l = 0, 1, .., (R-1). In one embodiment of the present invention, the UE reports the index Multiple sets of , where l = 0, 1,…, (R-1).

[0079] Constrained selection of R subsets

[0080] gather Is a collection A subset of , where l = 0, 1, .., (R-1). In one embodiment of the present invention, the UE reports an index i = [i0 i1 ...i N-1 ]'s collection.

[0081] Partially constrained selection of R subsets

[0082] gather Is a collection A subset of, where l = 0, 1, .., (R-1), where k l ∈0,1,…,(R-1). In one embodiment of the present invention, the index reported by the UE is Multiple sets of, where k = 0, 1, ..., (R groups -1), where R groups It is k l The number of unique values ​​of , l = 0, 1, .., (R-1).

[0083] Indication for selecting a subset via a bitmap

[0084] Unconstrained selection of R subsets

[0085] gather Is a collection A subset of where l = 0, 1, .., (R-1). In one embodiment of the present invention, the UE reports the bit sequence Where l = 0, 1, ..., (R-1); if the value of the bit is equal to 1, then a n It is set B l The number of non-zero bits in the bitmap. YesN l , where l = 0, 1, .., (R-1).

[0086] Constrained selection of R subsets

[0087] gather Is a collection A subset of where l = 0, 1, .., (R-1). In one embodiment of the present invention, the UE reports the bit sequence If the value of the bit d n is equal to 1, then a n It is set B l The number of non-zero bits in the bitmap is d n It is N.

[0088] Partially constrained selection of R subsets

[0089] gather Is a collection A subset of, where l = 0, 1, .., (R-1), where k l ∈0,1,…,(R-1). In one embodiment of the present invention, the UE reports the bit sequence where k = 0, 1, ..., (R groups -1); if the value of the bit is equal to 1, then a n It is set B l The number of non-zero bits in the bitmap. YesN k , where k = 0, 1, .., (R groups -1), where R groups It is k l The number of unique values ​​of , l = 0, 1, .., (R-1).

[0090] Instructions for selecting a subset by composite index

[0091] Unconstrained selection of R subsets

[0092] gather Is a collection A subset of where l = 0, 1, .., (R-1). In one embodiment of the present invention, the UE reports multiple indexes i (l) , where l = 0, 1, ..., (R-1), where YesN set N of the values l The number of combinations of values, i (l) The value indicates N set values ​​{0,1,…,(N set -1)} l Value a specific combination of.

[0093] Constrained selection of R subsets

[0094] gather Is a collection In one embodiment of the present invention, the UE reports multiple indexes i, where YesN set The number of combinations of N values ​​among the values, the value of i indicates N set values ​​{0,1,…,(N set -1)} among the N values ​​{i0,i1,…,i N} specific combination.

[0095] Partially constrained selection of R subsets

[0096] gather Is a collection A subset of, where l = 0, 1, .., (R-1), where k l ∈0,1,…,(R-1). In one embodiment of the present invention, the UE reports multiple indexes i (k) , where k = 0, 1, ..., (R groups -1), where YesN set N of the values k The number of combinations of values, i (k) The value indicates N set values ​​{0,1,…,(N set -1)} k Value A specific combination of R groups It is k l The number of unique values ​​of , l = 0, 1, .., (R-1).

[0097] Examples of unconstrained, constrained, and partially constrained selection of subsets are given in Figures 1 to 4 Indicated in.

[0098] Two-step selection of R subsets

[0099] In one embodiment, the UE indicates a subset B of elements in the set A of elements for l=0, 1, .., (R-1) interm The selection and the set of elements B interm A subset of the elements in l Selection of Set B interm The number of elements in is N interm .

[0100] An example of two-step selection of R subsets is Figure 5 and Figure 6 Indicated in.

[0101] Initialization of parameters for subset selection

[0102] In one embodiment, for N l Configured by higher layers. In one embodiment, for different R, N l In other embodiments, N l is a function of R. In other embodiments, N l Explicitly reported by the UE or from the UE for In one embodiment, N l =N, In one embodiment, N is configured by higher layers. In one embodiment, N is the same for different R. In other embodiments, N is a function of R. In other embodiments, N is explicitly reported by the UE or derived from other parameters reported by the UE.

[0103] In one embodiment, In other embodiments, In one embodiment, In other embodiments, In one embodiment, for Z l Configured by higher layers. In one embodiment, for different R, Z l In other embodiments, Z l is a function of R. In other embodiments, Z l Explicitly reported by the UE or from the UE for Other parameters reported are derived. In one embodiment, Z l=Z, In one embodiment, Z is configured by higher layers. In one embodiment, Z is the same for different R. In other embodiments, Z is a function of R. In other embodiments, Z is explicitly reported by the UE or derived from other parameters reported by the UE.

[0104] In one embodiment, for The number of elements across all subsets of B l is limited In one embodiment, N total Configured by higher layers. In one embodiment, for different R, N total In other embodiments, N total is a function of R.

[0105] In other embodiments, N total Explicitly reported by the UE or derived from other parameters reported by the UE.

[0106] In one embodiment, In other embodiments, In other embodiments, In one embodiment, X is configured by higher layers. In one embodiment, X is the same for different R. In other embodiments, X is a function of R. In other embodiments, X is explicitly reported by the UE or derived from other parameters reported by the UE.

[0107] In one embodiment, N interm Configured by higher layers. In one embodiment, for different R, N interm In other embodiments, N interm is a function of R. In other embodiments, N interm Explicitly reported by the UE or derived from other parameters reported by the UE.

[0108] In one embodiment, In other embodiments, In other embodiments, In one embodiment, Y is configured by higher layers. In one embodiment, Y is the same for different R. In other embodiments, Y is a function of R. In other embodiments, Y is explicitly reported by the UE or derived from other parameters reported by the UE.

[0109] Example of Subset Selection

[0110] Figure 1An unconstrained selection of R equal to 4 subsets with a fixed number of elements Ni of each subset equal to 3 is shown according to an embodiment.

[0111] Figure 2 A constrained selection of R equal to 4 subsets with a fixed number of elements N equal to 3 in each subset is shown according to an embodiment.

[0112] Figure 3 A partially constrained selection of R equal to 4 subsets with a fixed number of elements Nk of each subset equal to 3 is shown according to an embodiment.

[0113] Figure 4 An unconstrained selection of R equal to 4 subsets with a fixed total number of elements Ntotal equal to 12 according to an embodiment is shown.

[0114] Figure 5 A two-step selection of R equal to 4 subsets with a fixed number of elements N of each subset equal to 3 is shown according to an embodiment.

[0115] Figure 6 A two-step selection of subsets with R equal to 4 according to an embodiment is shown, with a fixed total number of elements Ntotal equal to 12.

[0116] Subset selection for multiple spatial layers

[0117] The problem of indicating the selection of the above subsets can be applied to PMI reporting, in particular to the selection of SD and TD vectors or components for multiple spatial layers. In one embodiment, R is the rank of the precoding matrix reported by the UE indicated by RI. max is the maximum rank of the PMI report configured for the UE. l = 0, 1, ..., (R-1) is the index of the column of the precoding matrix or the index of the spatial layer indicated by the PMI. In one embodiment, R max =4, R groups Equal to 2, {k0,k1,k2,k3}={0,0,1,1}.

[0118] Selection of a subset of SD vectors

[0119] In one embodiment, A is a set of mutually orthogonal SD vectors

[0120] N set =N1N2.

[0121] In one embodiment, by subset B l An indication to report the matrix used for the precoder A subset of the SD vector of the lth column of .

[0122] Selection of TD component subsets

[0123] In one embodiment, A is a set of TD components {0, 1, ..., N3-1}, N set =N3.

[0124] In one embodiment, the TD component {g (s,i,l)} is the set G l A subset of G l is a subset of the set A.

[0125] In one embodiment, by subset B l Instructions to report G l .

[0126] Selection of subset SD vectors and TD components

[0127] In one embodiment, A is the set of all unique combinations of indices of SD vectors and TD components {(n1, n2, n3)}, n1 = 0, 1, ..., (N1-1), n2 = 0, 1, ..., (N2-1), n3 = 0, 1, ..., (N3-1), and the size of set A is N1N2N3. The index n1, n2 corresponds to a particular SD vector Index n3 corresponds to a particular TD component. In one embodiment, by subset B l The SD vector for the lth column of the precoder matrix is ​​reported by and TD component g (s,i,l) A subset of .

[0128] Selection of a subset of SD vectors and TD components from a subset of SD vectors and TD components

[0129] In one embodiment, A is the SD vector and the TD component The set of all unique combinations of indices of , the size of set A is LM. Index Corresponding to a specific SD vector Index h2 corresponds to a specific TD component In one embodiment, is explicitly reported by the UE or derived from other parameters reported by the UE. Explicitly reported by the UE or derived from other parameters reported by the UE.

[0130] In one embodiment, by subset B l The SD vector for the lth column of the precoder matrix is ​​reported by and TD component g (s,i,l) A subset of .

[0131] In one embodiment, L is configured by a higher layer. In one embodiment, L is the same for different R. In other embodiments, L is a function of R.

[0132] In one embodiment, M is configured by a higher layer. In one embodiment, M is the same for different R. In other embodiments, M is a function of R.

[0133] In one embodiment, In other embodiments, In one embodiment, U is configured by a higher layer. In one embodiment, U is the same for different R. In other embodiments, U is a function of R.

[0134] System and implementation

[0135] Figure 7 An exemplary architecture of a system 700 of a network according to various embodiments is shown. The following description is provided for an example system 700 operating in conjunction with LTE system standards and 5G or NR system standards provided by 3GPP technical specifications. However, the exemplary embodiments are not limited in this regard, and the embodiments may be applied to other networks that benefit from the principles described herein, such as future 3GPP systems (e.g., sixth generation (6G)) systems, IEEE 802.16 protocols (e.g., WMAN, WiMAX, etc.), and the like.

[0136] like Figure 7 As shown, system 700 includes UE 701a and UE 701b (collectively referred to as "multiple UEs 701" or "UE 701"). In this example, multiple UEs 701 are shown as smart phones (e.g., handheld touch screen mobile computing devices that can connect to one or more cellular networks), but may also include any mobile or non-mobile computing devices, such as consumer electronic devices, mobile phones, smart phones, feature phones, tablet computers, wearable computer devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), pagers, wireless handheld devices, desktop computers, laptop computers, in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), in-vehicle entertainment (ICE) devices, instrument panels (ICs), head-up display (HUD) devices, on-board diagnostic (OBD) devices, dashtop mobile equipment (DME), mobile data terminals (MDTs), electronic engine management systems (EEMS), electronic / engine electronic control units (ECUs), electronic / engine electronic control modules (ECMs), embedded systems, microcontrollers, control modules, engine management systems (EMS), networked or "smart" appliances, MTC devices, M2M, IoT devices, etc.

[0137] In some embodiments, any of the plurality of UEs 701 may include an IoT UE, which may include a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applications utilizing short-term UE connections. The IoT UE may utilize technologies such as M2M or MTC to exchange data with an MTC server or device via PLMN, ProSe or D2D communications, sensor networks, or IoT networks. M2M or MTC data exchanges may be machine-initiated data exchanges. The IoT network describes interconnected IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure) with short-lived connections. The IoT UE may execute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate connectivity to the IoT network.

[0138] Multiple UEs 701 may be configured, for example, to be communicatively coupled to a RAN 710. In an embodiment, the RAN 710 may be an NG RAN or a 5G RAN, an E-UTRAN, or a legacy RAN, such as a UTRAN or a GERAN. As used herein, the term "NG RAN" or the like may refer to a RAN 710 operating in an NR or 5G system 700, while the term "E-UTRAN" or the like may refer to a RAN 710 operating in an LTE or 4G system 700. Multiple UEs 701 utilize connections (or channels) 703 and 704, respectively, each connection comprising a physical communication interface or layer (discussed in further detail below).

[0139] In this example, connections 703 and 704 are shown as air interfaces to achieve communication coupling, and may be consistent with a cellular communication protocol, such as a GSM protocol, a CDMA network protocol, a PTT protocol, a POC protocol, a UMTS protocol, a 3GPP LTE protocol, a 5G protocol, a NR protocol, and / or any other communication protocol discussed herein. In an embodiment, multiple UEs 701 may directly exchange communication data via a ProSe interface 705. The ProSe interface 705 may alternatively be referred to as a SL interface 705, and may include one or more logical channels, including but not limited to PSCCH, PSSCH, PSDCH, and PSBCH.

[0140] UE 701b is shown as being configured to access AP 706 (also referred to as "WLAN node 706", "WLAN 706", "WLAN terminal 706", "WT 706", etc.) via connection 707. Connection 707 may include a local wireless connection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, wherein AP 706 will include Wireless Fidelity. router. In this example, AP 706 is shown connected to the Internet without being connected to the core network of the wireless system (described in further detail below). In various embodiments, UE 701b, RAN 710, and AP 706 may be configured to utilize LWA operation and / or LWIP operation. LWA operation may involve UE 701b in an RRC_CONNECTED state configured by RAN nodes 711a-b to utilize radio resources of LTE and WLAN. LWIP operation may involve UE 701b using WLAN radio resources (e.g., connection 707) via an IPsec protocol tunnel to authenticate and encrypt packets (e.g., IP packets) sent over connection 707. IPsec tunneling may include encapsulating the entire original IP packet and adding a new packet header, thereby protecting the original header of the IP packet.

[0141] The RAN 710 may include one or more AN nodes or RAN nodes 711a and 711b (collectively referred to as "multiple RAN nodes 711" or "RAN node 711") that enable connections 703 and 704. As used herein, the terms "access node", "access point", etc. may describe equipment that provides radio baseband functions for data and / or voice connections between a network and one or more users. These access nodes may be referred to as BS, gNB, RAN node, eNB, NodeB, RSU, TRxP or TRP, etc., and may include ground stations (e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations that provide coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). As used herein, the terms "NG RAN node" and the like may refer to a RAN node 711 (e.g., a gNB) operating in an NR or 5G system 700, while the terms "E-UTRAN node" and the like may refer to a RAN node 711 (e.g., an eNB) operating in an LTE or 4G system 700. According to various embodiments, the plurality of RAN nodes 711 may be implemented as one or more of dedicated physical devices such as macrocell base stations and / or low power (LP) base stations for providing femtocells, picocells or other similar cells having smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity or higher bandwidth than macrocells.

[0142] In some embodiments, all or part of the multiple RAN nodes 711 may be implemented as one or more software entities running on a server computer as part of a virtual network that may be referred to as a CRAN and / or a virtual baseband unit pool (vBBUP). In these embodiments, the CRAN or vBBUP may implement RAN functional splitting, such as PDCP splitting, where the RRC and PDCP layers are operated by the CRAN / vBBUP, while other L2 protocol entities are operated by individual RAN nodes 711; MAC / PHY splitting, where the RRC, PDCP, RLC, and MAC layers are operated by the CRAN / vBBUP, while the PHY layer is operated by individual RAN nodes 711; or "lower PHY" splitting, where the RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC layer, and upper portions of the PHY layer are operated by the CRAN / vBBUP, while the lower portions of the PHY layer are operated by individual RAN nodes 711. The virtualization framework allows idle processor cores of the multiple RAN nodes 711 to execute other virtualized applications. In some specific implementations, separate RAN nodes 711 may represent a single RAN node 711 connected to the network via a separate F1 interface ( Figure 7 In these embodiments, the gNB-DU may include one or more remote radio heads or RFEMs (see, e.g., Fig.10 ), and the gNB-CU may be operated by a server (not shown) located in the RAN 710 or by a server pool in a manner similar to CRAN / vBBUP. In addition or alternatively, one or more of the multiple RAN nodes 711 may be a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), which is a next generation eNB that provides E-UTRA user plane and control plane protocol terminals to multiple UEs 701 and is connected to the 5GC (e.g., via an NG interface (discussed below)). Fig. 9 CN 920) RAN node.

[0143] In a V2X scenario, one or more of the multiple RAN nodes 711 may be an RSU or act as an RSU. The term "roadside unit" or "RSU" may refer to any traffic infrastructure entity used for V2X communication. The RSU may be implemented in or by a suitable RAN node or a stationary (or relatively stationary) UE, wherein an RSU implemented in or by a UE may be referred to as a "UE-type RSU", an RSU implemented in or by an eNB may be referred to as an "eNB-type RSU", an RSU implemented in or by a gNB may be referred to as a "gNB-type RSU", and so on. In one example, the RSU is a computing device coupled to a radio frequency circuit located on the road side that provides connectivity support to a passing vehicle UE 701 (vUE 701). The RSU may also include internal data storage circuitry for storing intersection map geometry, traffic statistics, media, and applications / software for sensing and controlling ongoing vehicle and pedestrian traffic. The RSU may operate on the 5.9 GHz Direct Short Range Communication (DSRC) band to provide extremely low latency communications required for high-speed events, such as collision avoidance, traffic warnings, etc. In addition or alternatively, the RSU may operate on the cellular V2X band to provide the aforementioned low latency communications as well as other cellular communication services. In addition or alternatively, the RSU may operate as a Wi-Fi hotspot (2.4 GHz band) and / or provide connectivity to one or more cellular networks to provide uplink and downlink communications. Some or all of the computing device and the RSU's RF circuitry may be packaged in a weather-resistant enclosure suitable for outdoor installation, and may include a network interface controller to provide a wired connection (e.g., Ethernet) to a traffic signal controller and / or backhaul network.

[0144] Any of the multiple RAN nodes 711 may serve as an endpoint for the air interface protocol and may be the first point of contact for multiple UEs 701. In some embodiments, any of the multiple RAN nodes 711 may perform various logical functions of the RAN 710, including but not limited to the functions of a radio network controller (RNC), such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management.

[0145] In an embodiment, multiple UEs 701 may be configured to communicate with each other or with any of multiple RAN nodes 711 over a multi-carrier communication channel using OFDM communication signals according to various communication techniques, such as, but not limited to, OFDMA communication techniques (e.g., for downlink communication) or SC-FDMA communication techniques (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communication), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. The OFDM signal may include multiple orthogonal subcarriers.

[0146] In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid may be used for downlink transmissions from any of a plurality of RAN nodes 711 to a plurality of UEs 701, while uplink transmissions may utilize similar techniques. The grid may be a time-frequency grid, referred to as a resource grid or a time-frequency resource grid, which is a physical resource in the downlink in each time slot. For OFDM systems, such a time-frequency plane representation is common practice, which makes wireless resource allocation intuitive. Each column and each row of the resource grid corresponds to an OFDM symbol and an OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of the resource grid in the time domain corresponds to a time slot in a radio frame. The smallest time-frequency unit in the resource grid is represented as a resource element. Each resource grid includes a plurality of resource blocks, which describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block includes a set of resource elements; in the frequency domain, this may represent the minimum amount of resources that can currently be allocated. Such resource blocks are used to transmit several different physical downlink channels.

[0147] According to various embodiments, the UE 701 and the RAN nodes 711, 712 communicate data (e.g., transmit data and receive data) through a licensed medium (also referred to as a "licensed spectrum" and / or a "licensed frequency band") and an unlicensed shared medium (also referred to as an "unlicensed spectrum" and / or an "unlicensed frequency band"). The licensed spectrum may include channels operating in a frequency range of approximately 400 MHz to approximately 3.8 GHz, and the unlicensed spectrum may include a 5 GHz frequency band.

[0148] To operate in an unlicensed spectrum, the UE 701 and the RAN nodes 711, 712 may operate using LAA, eLAA, and / or feLAA mechanisms. In these implementations, the UE 701 and the RAN nodes 711, 712 may perform one or more known medium sensing operations and / or carrier sensing operations before transmitting in the unlicensed spectrum to determine whether one or more channels in the unlicensed spectrum are unavailable or otherwise occupied. The medium / carrier sensing operations may be performed according to a listen-before-talk (LBT) protocol.

[0149] LBT is a mechanism by which equipment (e.g., UE 701, RAN nodes 711, 712, etc.) senses a medium (e.g., a channel or carrier frequency) and transmits when the medium is sensed to be idle (or when a particular channel in the medium is sensed to be unoccupied). The medium sensing operation may include a CCA that utilizes at least an ED to determine whether other signals are present on the channel in order to determine whether the channel is occupied or idle. The LBT mechanism allows cellular / LAA networks to coexist with existing systems in unlicensed spectrum and with other LAA networks. ED may include sensing RF energy over a period of time on an expected transmission band and comparing the sensed RF energy to a predefined or configured threshold.

[0150] Typically, existing systems in the 5 GHz band are WLANs based on IEEE 802.11 technology. WLANs use a contention-based channel access mechanism called CSMA / CA. Here, when a WLAN node (e.g., a mobile station (MS) such as UE 701 or AP 706, etc.) intends to transmit, the WLAN node may first perform CCA before transmission. In addition, in the case where more than one WLAN node senses the channel as idle and transmits at the same time, a backoff mechanism is used to avoid conflicts. The backoff mechanism may be a counter randomly introduced within the CWS that increases exponentially when a conflict occurs and is reset to a minimum value when the transmission is successful. The LBT mechanism designed for LAA is somewhat similar to the CSMA / CA of WLAN. In some specific implementations, the LBT process for a DL or UL transmission burst (including PDSCH or PUSCH transmission) may have a LAA contention window of variable length between X and Y ECCA slots, where X and Y are the minimum and maximum values ​​of the CWS of LAA. In one example, the minimum CWS for LAA transmissions may be 9 microseconds (μs); however, the size of the CWS and MCOT (eg, transmission burst) may be based on government regulatory requirements.

[0151] The LAA mechanism is built on the CA technology of the LTE-Advanced system. In CA, each aggregated carrier is called a CC. A CC can have a bandwidth of 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, or 20 MHz, and up to five CCs can be aggregated, so the maximum aggregated bandwidth is 100 MHz. In an FDD system, the number of aggregated carriers can be different for DL ​​and UL, where the number of UL CCs is equal to or lower than the number of DL component carriers. In some cases, each CC may have a different bandwidth from other CCs. In a TDD system, the number of CCs and the bandwidth of each CC are typically the same for DL ​​and UL.

[0152] CA also includes individual serving cells to provide individual CCs. The coverage of the serving cells may be different, for example, because CCs on different frequency bands will experience different path losses. The primary serving cell or PCell may provide the PCC for both UL and DL, and may handle activities related to RRC and NAS. Other serving cells are called SCells, and each SCell may provide individual SCCs for both UL and DL. SCCs may be added and removed as needed, and changing PCCs may require the UE 701 to undergo switching. In LAA, eLAA, and feLAA, some or all of the SCells may operate in an unlicensed spectrum (referred to as "LAA SCells"), and the LAA SCells are assisted by the PCells operating in the licensed spectrum. When a UE is configured with more than one LAA SCell, the UE may receive UL grants on the configured LAA SCells, indicating different PUSCH start positions within the same subframe.

[0153] The PDSCH carries user data and higher layer signaling to multiple UEs 701. The PDCCH carries, among other information, information about the transport format and resource allocation related to the PDSCH channel. It can also inform multiple UEs 701 about the transport format, resource allocation, and HARQ information related to the uplink shared channel. Typically, downlink scheduling (allocation of control and shared channel resource blocks to UEs 701b within a cell) can be performed on any of the multiple RAN nodes 711 based on channel quality information fed back from any of the multiple UEs 701. Downlink resource allocation information may be sent on the PDCCH for (e.g., allocated to) each of the multiple UEs 701.

[0154] PDCCH uses CCE to transmit control information. Before being mapped to resource elements, the PDCCH complex-valued symbols can first be organized into quadruplets, which can then be arranged using a sub-block interleaver for rate matching. One or more of these CCEs can be used to transmit each PDCCH, where each CCE can correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements, respectively, called REGs. Four quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) symbols can be mapped to each REG. Depending on the size of the DCI and channel conditions, one or more CCEs can be used to transmit the PDCCH. There may be four or more different PDCCH formats defined in LTE with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation levels, L=1, 2, 4, or 8).

[0155] Some embodiments may use the concept of resource allocation for control channel information, which is an extension of the above concept. For example, some embodiments may utilize EPDCCH that uses PDSCH resources for control information transmission. One or more ECCEs may be used to transmit EPDCCH. Similar to the above, each ECCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements, referred to as EREG. In some cases, ECCE may have other numbers of EREGs.

[0156] The plurality of RAN nodes 711 may be configured to communicate with each other via the interface 712. In an embodiment where the system 700 is an LTE system (eg, when the CN 720 is Figure 8 820 in the EPC 720), the interface 712 may be an X2 interface 712. The X2 interface may be defined between two or more RAN nodes 711 (e.g., two or more eNBs, etc.) connected to the EPC 720, and / or between two eNBs connected to the EPC 720. In some specific implementations, the X2 interface may include an X2 user plane interface (X2-U) and an X2 control plane interface (X2-C). The X2-U may provide a flow control mechanism for user packets transmitted over the X2 interface, and may be used to transmit information about the delivery of user data between eNBs. For example, the X2-U may provide specific sequence number information about user data transmitted from the MeNB to the SeNB; information about the successful in-sequence delivery of PDCP PDUs from the SeNB to the UE 701 for user data; information about PDCP PDUs that were not delivered to the UE 701; information about the current minimum expected buffer size at the SeNB for transmitting user data to the UE; and the like. X2-C can provide intra-LTE access mobility functions, including context transfer from source eNB to target eNB, user plane transmission control, etc.; load management functions; and inter-cell interference coordination functions.

[0157] When system 700 is a 5G or NR system (e.g., when CN 720 is Fig. 9In an implementation scheme of the 5GC 920 in the 5GC 720, the interface 712 may be an Xn interface 712. The Xn interface is defined between two or more RAN nodes 711 (e.g., two or more gNBs, etc.) connected to the 5GC 720, between a RAN node 711 (e.g., a gNB) and an eNB connected to the 5GC 720, and / or between two eNBs connected to the 5GC 720. In some specific implementations, the Xn interface may include an Xn user plane (Xn-U) interface and an Xn control plane (Xn-C) interface. The Xn-U may provide non-guaranteed delivery of user plane PDUs and support / provide data forwarding and flow control functions. The Xn-C may provide management and error handling functions for managing the functions of the Xn-C interface; mobility support for the UE 701 in a connected mode (e.g., a CM connection) includes functions for managing UE mobility in a connected mode between one or more RAN nodes 711. The mobility support may include context transfer from the old (source) serving RAN node 711 to the new (target) serving RAN node 711; and control of the user plane tunnel between the old (source) serving RAN node 711 and the new (target) serving RAN node 711. The protocol stack of Xn-U may include a transport network layer built on an Internet Protocol (IP) transport layer, and a GTP-U layer on top of a UDP and / or IP layer for carrying user plane PDUs. The Xn-C protocol stack may include an application layer signaling protocol (referred to as the Xn Application Protocol (Xn-AP)) and a transport network layer built on SCTP. SCTP may be on top of the IP layer and may provide guaranteed delivery of application layer messages. In the transport IP layer, point-to-point transport is used to deliver signaling PDUs. In other specific implementations, the Xn-U protocol stack and / or the Xn-C protocol stack may be the same or similar to the user plane and / or control plane protocol stacks shown and described herein.

[0158] RAN 710 is shown as being communicatively coupled to a core network—in this embodiment, communicatively coupled to a core network (CN) 720. CN 720 may include a plurality of network elements 722 configured to provide various data and telecommunication services to customers / users (e.g., users of a plurality of UEs 701) connected to CN 720 via RAN 710. The components of CN 720 may be implemented in one physical node or in separate physical nodes, including components for reading and executing instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium). In some embodiments, NFV may be used to virtualize any or all of the above-mentioned network node functions via executable instructions stored in one or more computer-readable storage media (described in further detail below). A logical instance of CN 720 may be referred to as a network slice, and a logical instance of a portion of CN 720 may be referred to as a network sub-slice. NFV architecture and infrastructure may be used to virtualize one or more network functions onto physical resources comprising a combination of industry-standard server hardware, storage hardware, or switches (alternatively performed by proprietary hardware). In other words, the NFV system may be used to perform a virtual or reconfigurable implementation of one or more EPC components / functions.

[0159] Generally speaking, the application server 730 may be an element that provides applications that use IP bearer resources with the core network (e.g., UMTS PS domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). The application server 730 may also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., VoIP sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social network services, etc.) for multiple UEs 701 via the EPC 720.

[0160] In an embodiment, CN 720 may be a 5GC (referred to as "5GC 720" or the like), and RAN 710 may be connected to CN 720 via an NG interface 713. In an embodiment, NG interface 713 may be divided into two parts: an NG user plane (NG-U) interface 714, which carries traffic data between RAN node 711 and UPF; and an S1 control plane (NG-C) interface 715, which is a signaling interface between multiple RAN nodes 711 and multiple AMFs. Fig. 9 An implementation of CN 720 as 5GC 720 is discussed in more detail.

[0161] In an embodiment, CN 720 may be a 5G CN (referred to as "5GC 720", etc.), while in other embodiments, CN 720 may be an EPC. In the case where CN 720 is an EPC (referred to as "EPC 720", etc.), RAN 710 may be connected to CN 720 via an S1 interface 713. In an embodiment, S1 interface 713 may be divided into two parts: an S1 user plane (S1-U) interface 714, which carries traffic data between RAN node 711 and S-GW; and an S1-MME interface 715, which is a signaling interface between multiple RAN nodes 711 and multiple MMEs. Figure 8 An exemplary architecture is shown in which CN 720 is an EPC 720.

[0162] Figure 8 FIG. 8 shows an exemplary architecture of a system 800 including a first CN 820 according to various embodiments. In this example, the system 800 may implement the LTE standard, where the CN 820 is a Figure 7 In addition, UE 801 can communicate with Figure 7 The UE 701 is the same as or similar to the UE 701, and the E-UTRAN 810 may be Figure 7 The CN 820 may be a RAN that is the same as or similar to the RAN 710 of the mobile station, and may include the RAN node 711 discussed previously. The CN 820 may include an MME 821, an S-GW 822, a P-GW 823, an HSS 824, and an SGSN 825.

[0163] The MME 821 may be similar in function to the control plane of a conventional SGSN, and may implement MM functions to keep track of the current location of the UE 801. The MME 821 may perform various MM procedures to manage mobility aspects in access, such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. MM (also referred to as "EPS MM" or "EMM" in an E-UTRAN system) may refer to all applicable procedures, methods, data stores, etc. for maintaining knowledge of the current location of the UE 801, providing user identity confidentiality to users / subscribers, and / or performing other similar services. Each UE 801 and the MME 821 may include an MM or EMM sublayer, and when the attachment procedure is successfully completed, an MM context may be established in the UE 801 and the MME 821. The MM context may be a data structure or database object that stores MM-related information of the UE 801. The MME 821 may be coupled to the HSS 824 via an S6a reference point, to the SGSN 825 via an S3 reference point, and to the S-GW 822 via an S11 reference point.

[0164] SGSN 825 may be a node that serves UE 801 by tracking the location of individual UE 801 and performing security functions. In addition, SGSN 825 may perform inter-EPC node signaling for mobility between 2G / 3G and E-UTRAN 3GPP access networks; PDN and S-GW selection as specified by MME 821; handling of UE 801 time zone functions, as specified by MME 821; and MME selection for handover to E-UTRAN 3GPP access network. The S3 reference point between MME 821 and SGSN 825 may enable user and bearer information exchange for inter-3GPP access network mobility in an idle state and / or an active state.

[0165] The HSS 824 may include a database for network users, which includes subscription-related information for supporting network entities in handling communication sessions. The EPC 820 may include one or several HSSs 824, depending on the number of mobile subscribers, the capacity of the equipment, the organization of the network, etc. For example, the HSS 824 may provide support for routing / roaming, authentication, authorization, naming / addressing solutions, location dependencies, etc. The S6a reference point between the HSS 824 and the MME 821 may enable the transfer of subscription and authentication data for authenticating / authorizing users to access the EPC 820 between the HSS 824 and the MME 821.

[0166] The S-GW 822 may terminate the S1 interface 713 ( Figure 8 The S-GW 822 may be a local mobility anchor for inter-RAN node handovers and may also provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful interception, charging, and enforcement of certain policies. The S11 reference point between the S-GW 822 and the MME 821 may provide a control plane between the MME 821 and the S-GW 822. The S-GW 822 may be coupled to the P-GW 823 via the S5 reference point.

[0167] The P-GW 823 may terminate the SGi interface toward the PDN 830. The P-GW 823 may communicate with the PDN 830 via the IP interface 725 (see, e.g. Figure 7 ) routes data packets between EPC 820 and external networks such as a network including application server 730 (alternatively referred to as "AF"). In an embodiment, P-GW 823 can communicate with the network via IP communication interface 725 (see, e.g., Figure 7 ) is communicatively coupled to an application server ( Figure 7 Application server 730 or Figure 8The S5 reference point between the P-GW 823 and the S-GW 822 may provide user plane tunneling and tunnel management between the P-GW 823 and the S-GW 822. The S5 reference point may also be used for S-GW 822 relocation due to the mobility of the UE 801 and whether the S-GW 822 needs to be connected to a non-colocated P-GW 823 for the required PDN connectivity. The P-GW 823 may also include nodes for policy implementation and charging data collection, such as a PCEF (not shown). In addition, the SGi reference point between the P-GW 823 and the packet data network (PDN) 830 may be an operator-external public, private PDN, or an internal operator packet data network, such as for providing IMS services. The P-GW 823 may be coupled to the PCRF 826 via a Gx reference point.

[0168] PCRF 826 is a policy and charging control element of EPC 820. In a non-roaming scenario, there may be a single PCRF 826 in a domestic public land mobile network (HPLMN) associated with an Internet Protocol Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session of UE 801. In a roaming scenario with local traffic breakout, there may be two PCRFs associated with the IP-CAN session of UE 801: a domestic PCRF (H-PCRF) in the HPLMN and a visited PCRF (V-PCRF) in a visited public land mobile network (VPLMN). PCRF 826 may be communicatively coupled to application server 830 via P-GW 823. Application server 830 may signal PCRF 826 to indicate a new service flow and select appropriate QoS and charging parameters. PCRF 826 may configure the rule to a PCEF (not shown) with the appropriate TFT and QCI, which starts QoS and charging as specified by application server 830. The Gx reference point between PCRF 826 and P-GW 823 may allow for the transfer of QoS policies and charging rules from PCRF 826 to PCEF in P-GW 823. The Rx reference point may reside between PDN 830 (or "AF 830") and PCRF 826.

[0169] Fig. 9The architecture of a system 900 including a second CN 920 according to various embodiments is shown. The system 900 is shown to include a UE 901, which may be the same or similar to the previously discussed UE 701 and UE 801; an (R) AN 910, which may be the same or similar to the previously discussed RAN 710 and RAN 810, and which may include the previously discussed RAN node 711; and a DN 903, which may be, for example, an operator service, Internet access, or a 3rd party service; and a 5GC 920. The 5GC 920 may include an AUSF 922; an AMF 921; an SMF 924; an NEF 923; a PCF 926; an NRF 925; an UDM 927; an AF 928; an UPF 902; and an NSSF 929.

[0170] The UPF 902 may act as an anchor point for intra-RAT and inter-RAT mobility, an external PDU session point interconnected with the DN 903, and a branch point to support multi-host PDU sessions. The UPF 902 may also perform packet routing and forwarding, perform packet inspection, perform the user plane portion of the policy rules, lawful interception of packets (UP collection), perform traffic usage reporting, perform QoS processing (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL / DL rate enforcement) on the user plane, perform uplink traffic verification (e.g., SDF to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, and perform downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering. The UPF 902 may include an uplink classifier to support routing traffic to the data network. The DN 903 may represent various network operator services, Internet access, or third-party services. The DN 903 may include or be similar to the application server 730 discussed previously. The UPF 902 may interact with the SMF 924 via the N4 reference point between the SMF 924 and the UPF 902.

[0171] The AUSF 922 may store data for authentication of the UE 901 and process authentication-related functions. The AUSF 922 may facilitate a common authentication framework for various access types. The AUSF 922 may communicate with the AMF 921 via the N12 reference point between the AMF 921 and the AUSF 922; and may communicate with the UDM 927 via the N13 reference point between the UDM 927 and the AUSF 922. In addition, the AUSF 922 may present an interface based on the Nausf service.

[0172] AMF 921 may be responsible for registration management (e.g., responsible for registering UE 901, etc.), connection management, reachability management, mobility management, and lawful interception of AMF-related events, and access authentication and authorization. AMF 921 may be the termination point of the N11 reference point between AMF 921 and SMF 924. AMF 921 may provide transport for SM messages between UE 901 and SMF 924, and act as a transparent proxy for routing SM messages. AMF 921 may also provide a transport mechanism for UE 901 and SMSF ( Fig. 9 901). The AMF 921 may act as a SEAF, which may include interaction with the AUSF 922 and the UE 901, receiving intermediate keys established as a result of the UE 901 authentication process. In the case of using USIM-based authentication, the AMF 921 may retrieve security material from the AUSF 922. The AMF 921 may also include an SCM function that receives keys from the SEA for deriving access network-specific keys. In addition, the AMF 921 may be a termination point for the RAN CP interface, which may include or be an N2 reference point between the (R)AN 910 and the AMF 921; and the AMF 921 may be a termination point for NAS (N1) signaling, and perform NAS encryption and integrity protection.

[0173] The AMF 921 may also support NAS signaling with the UE 901 over the N3 IWF interface. The N3 IWF may be used to provide access to untrusted entities. The N3 IWF may be the termination point for the N2 interface between the (R) AN 910 and the AMF 921 for the control plane, and may be the termination point for the N3 reference point between the (R) AN 910 and the UPF 902 for the user plane. Thus, the AMF 921 may process N2 signaling for PDU sessions and QoS from the SMF 924 and the AMF 921, encapsulate / decapsulate packets for IPSec and N3 tunnels, mark N3 user plane packets in the uplink, and perform QoS corresponding to N3 packet markings, taking into account QoS requirements associated with such markings received over N2. The N3IWF may also relay uplink and downlink control plane NAS signaling between the UE 901 and the AMF 921 via the N1 reference point between the UE 901 and the AMF 921, and relay uplink and downlink user plane packets between the UE 901 and the UPF 902. The N3IWF also provides a mechanism for establishing an IPsec tunnel with the UE 901. The AMF 921 may present an interface based on the Namf service, and may be an N14 reference point between the two AMF 921 and the AMF 921 and the 5G-EIR ( Fig. 9 The termination point of the N17 reference point between the two (not shown).

[0174] UE 901 may need to register with AMF 921 in order to receive network services. RM is used to register UE 901 with the network (e.g., AMF 921) or deregister UE, and establish a UE context in the network (e.g., AMF 921). UE 901 may operate in the RM-REGISTERED state or the RM-DEREGISTERED state. In the RM DEREGISTERED state, UE 901 is not registered with the network, and the UE context in AMF 921 does not maintain the valid location or routing information of UE 901, so AMF 921 cannot reach UE 901. In the RM REGISTERED state, UE 901 is registered with the network, and the UE context in AMF 921 may maintain the valid location or routing information of UE 901, so AMF 921 can reach UE 901. In the RM-REGISTERED state, UE 901 can perform a mobility registration update procedure, perform a periodic registration update procedure triggered by the expiration of a periodic update timer (for example, to notify the network that UE 901 is still active), and perform a registration update procedure to update UE capability information or renegotiate protocol parameters with the network, etc.

[0175] The AMF 921 may store one or more RM contexts for the UE 901, each RM context being associated with a specific access to the network. The RM context may be a data structure, a database object, etc., which indicates or stores, among other things, the registration status and periodic update timer for each access type. The AMF 921 may also store a 5GC MM context which may be the same or similar to the (E)MM context discussed previously. In various embodiments, the AMF 921 may store the CE mode B restriction parameters of the UE 901 in the associated MM context or RM context. The AMF 921 may also derive values ​​from the UE's usage setting parameters already stored in the UE context (and / or MM / RM context) when necessary.

[0176] The CM may be used to establish and release a signaling connection between the UE 901 and the AMF 921 over the N1 interface. The signaling connection is used to enable NAS signaling exchange between the UE 901 and the CN 920, and includes a signaling connection between the UE and the AN (e.g., an RRC connection or a UE-N3IWF connection for non-3GPP access) and an N2 connection of the UE 901 between the AN (e.g., the RAN 910) and the AMF 921. The UE 901 may operate in one of two CM states (CM-IDLE mode or CM-CONNECTED mode). When the UE 901 operates in the CM-IDLE state / mode, the UE 901 may not have a NAS signaling connection established with the AMF 921 over the N1 interface, and there may be a (R) AN 910 signaling connection (e.g., N2 and / or N3 connection) for the UE 901. When the UE 901 operates in the CM-CONNECTED state / mode, the UE 901 may have a NAS signaling connection established with the AMF 921 through the N1 interface, and there may be a (R)AN 910 signaling connection (e.g., N2 and / or N3 connection) for the UE 901. Establishing an N2 connection between the (R)AN 910 and the AMF 921 may cause the UE 901 to transition from the CM-IDLE mode to the CM-CONNECTED mode, and when the N2 signaling between the (R)AN 910 and the AMF 921 is released, the UE 901 may transition from the CM-CONNECTED mode to the CM-IDLE mode.

[0177] SMF 924 may be responsible for SM (e.g., session establishment, modification, and release, including tunnel maintenance between UPF and AN nodes); UE IP address allocation and management (including optional authorization); selection and control of UP functions; configuring traffic steering of UPF to route traffic to the correct destination; terminating the interface toward the policy control function; control portion of policy enforcement and QoS; lawful interception (for SM events and interface with LI system); terminating the SM portion of NAS messages; downlink data notification; initiating AN-specific SM information sent to AN via AMF over N2; and determining the SSC mode of the session. SM may refer to the management of a PDU session, and a PDU session or "session" may refer to a PDU connectivity service that provides or implements the exchange of PDUs between a UE 901 and a data network (DN) 903 identified by a data network name (DNN). The PDU session may be established upon request by UE 901, modified upon request by UE 901 and 5GC 920, and released upon request by UE 901 and 5GC 920 using NAS SM signaling exchanged between UE 901 and SMF 924 over the N1 reference point. Upon request from an application server, 5GC 920 may trigger a specific application in UE 901. In response to receiving a trigger message, UE 901 may deliver the trigger message (or relevant parts / information of the trigger message) to one or more identified applications in UE 901. The identified application in UE 901 may establish a PDU session to a specific DNN. SMF 924 may check whether the UE 901 request complies with user subscription information associated with UE 901. In this regard, SMF 924 may retrieve and / or request to receive update notifications about SMF 924 level subscription data from UDM 927.

[0178] The SMF 924 may include the following roaming functions: handling local execution to apply QoS SLA (VPLMN); charging data collection and charging interface (VPLMN); lawful interception (for SM events and interface with LI system, in VPLMN); and support interaction with external DN to transmit signaling for PDU session authorization / authentication through external DN. In a roaming scenario, an N16 reference point between two SMFs 924 may be included in the system 900, which may be located between an SMF 924 in a visited network and another SMF 924 in a home network. In addition, the SMF 924 may present an interface based on Nsmf services.

[0179] NEF 923 may provide components for securely exposing services and capabilities provided by 3GPP network functions for third parties, internal exposure / re-exposure, application functions (e.g., AF 928), edge computing or fog computing systems, etc. In such embodiments, NEF 923 may authenticate, authorize and / or restrict AF. NEF 923 may also convert information exchanged with AF 928 and information exchanged with internal network functions. For example, NEF 923 may convert between AF service identifiers and internal 5GC information. NEF 923 may also receive information from other network functions (NFs) based on their exposure capabilities. This information may be stored at NEF 923 as structured data or at a data storage NF using a standardized interface. The stored information may then be re-exposed to other NFs and AFs by NEF 923 and / or used for other purposes such as analysis. In addition, NEF 923 may present an interface based on Nnef services.

[0180] NRF 925 may support service discovery functionality, receive NF discovery requests from NF instances, and provide information of discovered NF instances to NF instances. NRF 925 also maintains information of available NF instances and the services they support. As used herein, the term "instantiation" and the like may refer to the creation of an instance, and "instance" may refer to the specific occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during the execution of a program code. In addition, NRF 925 may present an interface based on Nnrf services.

[0181] The PCF 926 may provide for control plane functions to enforce their policy rules, and may also support a unified policy framework for managing network behavior. The PCF 926 may also implement FE to access subscription information related to policy decisions in the UDR of the UDM 927. The PCF 926 may communicate with the AMF 921 via the N15 reference point between the PCF 926 and the AMF 921, which may include the PCF 926 in the visited network and the AMF 921 in the case of a roaming scenario. The PCF 926 may communicate with the AF 928 via the N5 reference point between the PCF 926 and the AF 928; and communicate with the SMF 924 via the N7 reference point between the PCF 926 and the SMF 924. The system 900 and / or the CN 920 may also include an N24 reference point between the PCF 926 (in the home network) and the PCF 926 in the visited network. In addition, the PCF 926 may present an interface based on Npcf services.

[0182] The UDM 927 may process subscription-related information to support the processing of communication sessions by network entities, and may store subscription data of the UE 901. For example, the subscription data may be transmitted between the UDM 927 and the AMF 921 via the N8 reference point between the UDM 927 and the AMF. The UDM 927 may include two parts: an application FE and a UDR ( Fig. 9 FE and UDR are not shown). UDR can store subscription data and policy data of UDM 927 and PCF 926, and / or structured data for exposure and application data of NEF 923 (including PFD for application detection, application request information of multiple UE 901). Nudr service-based interface can be presented by UDR 221 to allow UDM 927, PCF 926 and NEF 923 to access specific sets of stored data, as well as read, update (e.g., add, modify), delete and subscribe to notifications of related data changes in UDR. UDM may include UDM-FE, which is responsible for handling credentials, location management, subscription management, etc. In different transactions, several different front ends may serve the same user. UDM-FE accesses subscription information stored in UDR, and performs authentication credential processing, user identification processing, access authorization, registration / mobility management and subscription management. UDR can interact with SMF 924 via the N10 reference point between UDM 927 and SMF 924. UDM 927 may also support SMS management, where SMS-FE implements similar application logic as described above. In addition, UDM 927 may present an interface based on Nudm services.

[0183] AF 928 can provide the influence of applications on traffic routing, provide access to NCE, and interact with the policy framework for policy control. NCE can be a mechanism that allows 5GC 920 and AF 928 to provide information to each other via NEF 923, which can be used for edge computing implementation. In such implementations, network operators and third-party services can be hosted near the UE 901 access point of the attachment to achieve effective service delivery through reduced end-to-end delay and load on the transmission network. For edge computing implementation, 5GC can select UPF 902 near UE 901 and perform traffic steering from UPF 902 to DN 903 via N6 interface. This can be based on UE subscription data, UE location and information provided by AF 928. In this way, AF 928 can affect UPF (re) selection and traffic routing. Based on operator deployment, when AF 928 is considered a trusted entity, the network operator can allow AF 928 to interact directly with the relevant NF. In addition, AF 928 can present an interface based on Naf services.

[0184] The NSSF 929 may select a set of network slice instances to serve the UE 901. If necessary, the NSSF 929 may also determine the allowed NSSAI and the mapping to the subscribed S-NSSAI. The NSSF 929 may also determine the AMF set, or a list of candidate AMFs 921, to serve the UE 901 based on appropriate configuration and possibly by querying the NRF 925. The selection of a set of network slice instances for the UE 901 may be triggered by the AMF 921, where the UE 901 registers by interacting with the NSSF 929, which may cause the AMF 921 to change. The NSSF 929 may interact with the AMF 921 via the N22 reference point between the AMF 921 and the NSSF 929; and may communicate with the AMF 921 via the N31 reference point ( Fig. 9 The NSSF 929 may communicate with another NSSF 929 in the visited network (not shown). In addition, the NSSF 929 may present an interface based on the Nnssf service.

[0185] As discussed previously, CN 920 may include SMSF, which may be responsible for SMS subscription checking and verification, and relaying SM messages from / to other entities, such as SMS-GMSC / IWMSC / SMS routers, to / from UE 901. SMS may also interact with AMF 921 and UDM 927 for notification procedures that UE 901 is available for SMS transmission (e.g., setting a UE unreachable flag and notifying UDM 927 when UE 901 is available for SMS).

[0186] CN 120 may also include Fig. 9 Other elements not shown, such as data storage system / architecture, 5G-EIR, SEPP, etc. The data storage system may include SDSF, UDSF, etc. Any NF may communicate with any NF and UDSF ( Fig. 9 The N18 reference point between the NF and the NF (not shown) stores or retrieves unstructured data in or from the UDSF (e.g., UE context). Individual NFs may share a UDSF for storing their respective unstructured data, or individual NFs may each have their own UDSF located at or near a single NF. In addition, the UDSF may present an interface based on the Nudsf service ( Fig. 9 (not shown). The 5G-EIR may be a NF that checks the status of the PEI to determine whether to blacklist a specific equipment / entity from the network; and the SEPP may be a non-transparent proxy that performs topology hiding, message filtering, and policing on the inter-PLMN control plane interface.

[0187] Additionally, there may be more reference points and / or service-based interfaces between NF services in a NF; however, for clarity, Fig. 9These interfaces and reference points are omitted. In one embodiment, CN 920 may include an Nx interface, which is an inter-CN interface between an MME (e.g., MME 821) and an AMF 921, so as to achieve intercommunication between CN 920 and CN 820. Other example interfaces / reference points may include an interface based on N5g-EIR services presented by 5G-EIR, an N27 reference point between an NRF in a visited network and an NRF in a home network; and an N31 reference point between an NSSF in a visited network and an NSSF in a home network.

[0188] Fig.10 An example of infrastructure equipment 1000 according to various embodiments is shown. Infrastructure equipment 1000 (or "system 1000") can be implemented as a base station, a radio head, a RAN node (such as the RAN node 711 and / or AP 706 shown and described previously), an application server 730, and / or any other element / device discussed herein. In other examples, system 1000 can be implemented in or by a UE.

[0189] System 1000 includes: application circuit 1005, baseband circuit 1010, one or more radio front end modules (RFEM) 1015, memory circuit 1020, power management integrated circuit (PMIC) 1025, power tee circuit 1030, network controller circuit 1035, network interface connector 1040, satellite positioning circuit 1045 and user interface 1050. In some embodiments, device 1000 may include additional elements such as, for example, memory / storage, display, camera, sensor or input / output (I / O) interface. In other embodiments, the following components may be included in more than one device. For example, the circuit may be included separately in more than one device for CRAN, vBBU or other similar implementations.

[0190] The application circuit 1005 includes the following circuits such as, but not limited to: one or more processors (processor cores), cache memory, and one or more of the following: a low dropout regulator (LDO), an interrupt controller, a serial interface such as SPI, I 2C or general programmable serial interface module, real-time clock (RTC), timer-counter including interval timer and watchdog timer, general input / output (I / O or IO), memory card controller such as secure digital (SD) multimedia card (MMC) or similar products, universal serial bus (USB) interface, mobile industry processor interface (MIPI) interface and joint test access group (JTAG) test access port. The processor (or core) of application circuit 1005 can be coupled with memory / storage element or can include memory / storage element, and can be configured to execute instructions stored in memory / storage device to enable various applications or operating systems to run on system 1000. In some embodiments, memory / storage element can be on-chip memory circuit, which can include any suitable volatile and / or non-volatile memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, solid-state memory and / or any other type of memory device technology, such as those discussed herein.

[0191] The processor of the application circuit 1005 may include, for example, one or more processor cores (CPUs), one or more application processors, one or more graphics processing units (GPUs), one or more reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processors, one or more Acorn RISC Machine (ARM) processors, one or more complex instruction set computing (CISC) processors, one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), one or more FPGAs, one or more PLDs, one or more ASICs, one or more microprocessors or controllers, or any suitable combination thereof. In some embodiments, the application circuit 1005 may include or may be a dedicated processor / controller for operating according to various embodiments herein. As an example, the processor of the application circuit 1005 may include one or more Intel FPGAs. or Processor: Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Processor, Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) or Processor; ARM-based processors licensed by ARM Holdings, Ltd., such as the ARM Cortex-A series processors provided by Cavium (TM), Inc. and MIPS-based designs from MIPS Technologies, Inc., such as the MIPSWarrior P-class processor; etc. In some embodiments, system 1000 may not utilize application circuit 1005, and instead may include a dedicated processor / controller to process IP data received, for example, from an EPC or 5GC.

[0192] In some implementations, the application circuit 1005 may include one or more hardware accelerators, which may be microprocessors, programmable processing devices, and the like. The one or more hardware accelerators may include, for example, computer vision (CV) and / or deep learning (DL) accelerators. For example, the programmable processing device may be one or more field programmable devices (FPDs), such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and the like; programmable logic devices (PLDs), such as complex PLDs (CPLDs), high capacity PLDs (HCPLDs), and the like; ASICs, such as structured ASICs, and the like; programmable SoCs (PSoCs); and the like. In such embodiments, the circuitry of the application circuit 1005 may include logic blocks or logic architectures, as well as other interconnected resources that may be programmed to perform various functions, such as the processes, methods, functions, and the like of the various embodiments discussed herein. In such an embodiment, the circuitry of application circuit 1005 may include memory cells (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, static memory (e.g., static random access memory (SRAM), anti-fuse, etc.)) for storing logic blocks, logic architectures, data, etc. in a look-up table (LUT), etc.

[0193] The baseband circuit 1010 may be implemented, for example, as a solder-in substrate including one or more integrated circuits, a single packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board, or a multi-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits. Fig.12 The various hardware electronic components of baseband circuit 1010 are discussed.

[0194] The user interface circuit 1050 may include one or more user interfaces designed to enable a user to interact with the system 1000 or a peripheral component interface designed to enable a peripheral component to interact with the system 1000. The user interface may include, but is not limited to, one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), one or more indicators (e.g., light emitting diodes (LEDs)), a physical keyboard or keypad, a mouse, a touch pad, a touch screen, a speaker or other audio transmitting device, a microphone, a printer, a scanner, a headset, a display screen or display device, etc. The peripheral component interface may include, but is not limited to, a non-volatile memory port, a universal serial bus (USB) port, an audio jack, a power interface, etc.

[0195] The radio front end module (RFEM) 1015 may include a millimeter wave (mmWave) RFEM and one or more sub-millimeter wave radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). In some implementations, the one or more sub-millimeter wave RFICs may be physically separated from the mmWave RFEM. The RFIC may include connections to one or more antennas or antenna arrays (see, e.g., below). Fig.12 Antenna array 1211), and the RFEM can be connected to multiple antennas. In an alternative implementation, both millimeter wave and sub-millimeter wave radio functions can be implemented in the same physical RFEM 1015 that combines both millimeter wave antennas and sub-millimeter waves.

[0196] The memory circuit 1020 may include one or more of the following: a volatile memory including a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and / or a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), a non-volatile memory (NVM) including a high-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as a "flash memory"), a phase change random access memory (PRAM), a magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), etc., and may be combined with a memory device obtained from and The memory circuit 1020 may be implemented as one or more of the following: a solder-in package integrated circuit, a socket memory module, and a plug-in memory card.

[0197] The PMIC 1025 may include a voltage regulator, a surge protector, a power alarm detection circuit, and one or more backup power sources, such as a battery or capacitor. The power alarm detection circuit may detect one or more of a brownout (undervoltage) and a surge (overvoltage) condition. The power tee circuit 1030 may provide power extracted from a network cable to provide both power and data connections for the infrastructure equipment 1000 using a single cable.

[0198] The network controller circuit 1035 may provide connectivity to the network using a standard network interface protocol such as Ethernet, Ethernet based on a GRE tunnel, Ethernet based on a multi-protocol label switching (MPLS), or some other suitable protocol. A physical connection may be used to provide a network connection to / from the infrastructure equipment 1000 via a network interface connector 1040, which may be an electrical connection (commonly referred to as a "copper interconnect"), an optical connection, or a wireless connection. The network controller circuit 1035 may include one or more dedicated processors and / or FPGAs for communicating using one or more of the aforementioned protocols. In some implementations, the network controller circuit 1035 may include multiple controllers for providing connectivity to other networks using the same or different protocols.

[0199] The positioning circuit 1045 includes circuits for receiving and decoding signals transmitted / broadcasted by a positioning network of a global satellite navigation system (or GNSS). Examples of navigation satellite constellations (or GNSS) include the United States' Global Positioning System (GPS), Russia's Global Navigation System (GLONASS), the European Union's Galileo system, China's Beidou Navigation Satellite System, regional navigation systems or GNSS augmentation systems (e.g., using the Indian constellation (NAVIC), Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), France's Doppler Orbit Chart and Satellite Integrated Radio Positioning (DORIS), etc. for navigation), etc. The positioning circuit 1045 includes various hardware elements (e.g., including hardware devices such as switches, filters, amplifiers, antenna elements, etc. for facilitating OTA communications) to communicate with components of the positioning network such as navigation satellite constellation nodes. In some embodiments, the positioning circuit 1045 may include a micro technology (micro PNT) IC for positioning, navigation, and timing that uses a master timing clock to perform position tracking / estimation without GNSS assistance. The positioning circuit 1045 may also be part of or interact with the baseband circuit 1010 and / or RFEM 1015 to communicate with nodes and components of the positioning network. The positioning circuit 1045 may also provide location data and / or time data to the application circuit 1005, which may use the data to synchronize operations with various infrastructures (e.g., RAN node 711, etc.), etc.

[0200] Fig.10 The components shown may communicate with each other using interface circuitry that may include any number of bus and / or interconnect (IX) technologies, such as Industry Standard Architecture (ISA), Extended ISA (EISA), Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), Peripheral Component Interconnect Extended (PCIx), PCI express (PCIe), or any number of other technologies. The bus / IX may be a proprietary bus, such as used in SoC-based systems. Other bus / IX systems may be included, such as I 2 C interface, SPI interface, point-to-point interface and power bus, etc.

[0201] Fig.11 An example of a platform 1100 (or "device 1100") according to various embodiments is shown. In an embodiment, the computer platform 1100 may be suitable for use as a UE 701, 801, an application server 730, and / or any other element / device discussed herein. The platform 1100 may include any combination of components shown in the example. The components of the platform 1100 may be implemented as an integrated circuit (IC), part of an IC, a discrete electronic device, or other modules, logic, hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof adapted in the computer platform 1100, or as components otherwise incorporated within a chassis of a larger system. Fig.11 The block diagram is intended to show a high-level view of the components of computer platform 1100. However, some of the components shown may be omitted, additional components may be present, and different arrangements of the components shown may occur in other implementations.

[0202] Application circuit 1105 includes circuits such as, but not limited to, one or more processors (or processor cores), cache memory, and LDO, interrupt controller, serial interface (such as SPI), I 2 The processor (or core) of the application circuit 1105 may be coupled to or may include a memory / storage element and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory / storage device to enable various applications or operating systems to run on the system 1100. In some embodiments, the memory / storage element may be an on-chip memory circuit that may include any suitable volatile and / or non-volatile memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, solid-state memory, and / or any other type of memory device technology, such as those discussed herein.

[0203] The processor of the application circuit 1005 may include, for example, one or more processor cores, one or more application processors, one or more GPUs, one or more RISC processors, one or more ARM processors, one or more CISC processors, one or more DSPs, one or more FPGAs, one or more PLDs, one or more ASICs, one or more microprocessors or controllers, multi-threaded processors, ultra-low voltage processors, embedded processors, some other known processing elements, or any suitable combination thereof. In some embodiments, the application circuit 1005 may include or may be a dedicated processor / controller for operating according to various embodiments herein.

[0204] As an example, the processor of the application circuit 1105 may include a processor based on Architecture TM Processors such as Quark TM 、Atom TM , i3, i5, i7 or MCU class processors, or available from Santa Clara, CA The processor of application circuit 1105 may also be one or more of the following: Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Processor or Accelerated Processing Unit (APU); from Inc.'s A5-A9 processors, Snapdragon by Technologies, Inc. TM Processor, Texas Instruments, Open Multimedia Applications Platform(OMAP) TM processors; MIPS-based designs from MIPS Technologies, Inc., such as the MIPS Warrior M-class, Warrior I-class, and Warrior P-class processors; ARM-based designs licensed from ARM Holdings, Ltd., such as the ARM Cortex-A, Cortex-R, and Cortex-M series processors; etc. In some implementations, the application circuit 1105 can be part of a system on a chip (SoC), in which the application circuit 1105 and other components are formed as a single integrated circuit or a single package, such as company( Edison Corporation TM or Galileo TM SoC board.

[0205] Additionally or alternatively, the application circuit 1105 may include circuits such as, but not limited to, one or more field programmable devices (FPDs) such as FPGAs, etc.; programmable logic devices (PLDs) such as complex PLDs (CPLDs), high capacity PLDs (HCPLDs), etc.; ASICs such as structured ASICs, etc.; programmable SoCs (PSoCs); etc. In such embodiments, the circuits of the application circuit 1105 may include logic blocks or logic structures, and other interconnected resources that may be programmed to perform various functions such as the processes, methods, functions, etc. of the various embodiments discussed herein. In such embodiments, the circuits of the application circuit 1105 may include memory cells (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, static memory (e.g., static random access memory (SRAM), anti-fuse, etc.)) for storing logic blocks, logic structures, data, etc. in a lookup table (LUT), etc.

[0206] The baseband circuit 1110 may be implemented, for example, as a solder-in substrate including one or more integrated circuits, a single packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board, or a multi-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits. Fig.12The various hardware electronic components of the baseband circuit 1110 are discussed.

[0207] The RFEM 1115 may include a millimeter wave (mmWave) RFEM and one or more sub-millimeter wave radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). In some implementations, the one or more sub-millimeter wave RFICs may be physically separated from the mmWave RFEM. The RFIC may include connections to one or more antennas or antenna arrays (see, e.g., below). Fig.12 Antenna array 1211), and the RFEM can be connected to multiple antennas. In an alternative implementation, both millimeter wave and sub-millimeter wave radio functions can be implemented in the same physical RFEM 1115 that combines both millimeter wave antennas and sub-millimeter waves.

[0208] The memory circuit 1120 may include any number and type of memory devices for providing a quantitative system memory. For example, the memory circuit 1120 may include one or more of the following: volatile memory, including random access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM) and / or synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM); and non-volatile memory (NVM), including high-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as flash memory), phase change random access memory (PRAM), magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), etc. The memory circuit 1120 may be developed according to the Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (JEDEC) based low power double data rate (LPDDR) design such as LPDDR2, LPDDR3, LPDDR4, etc. The memory circuit 1120 may be implemented as one or more of a solder-in package integrated circuit, a single die package (SDP), a dual die package (DDP), or a quad die package (Q17P), a socketed memory module, a dual in-line memory module (DIMM) including a micro DIMM or a mini DIMM, and / or soldered to a motherboard via a ball grid array (BGA). In a low-power implementation, the memory circuit 1120 may be an on-chip memory or register associated with the application circuit 1105. In order to provide persistent storage of information such as data, applications, operating systems, etc., the memory circuit 1120 may include one or more mass storage devices, which may include, among others, a solid state disk drive (SSDD), a hard disk drive (HDD), a micro HDD, a resistive change memory, a phase change memory, a holographic memory, or a chemical memory. For example, the computer platform 1100 may be combined with a computer system obtained from and Three-dimensional (3D) cross-point (XPOINT) memory.

[0209] Removable memory circuitry 1123 may include devices, circuitry, housings / casings, ports or receptacles, etc., for coupling portable data storage devices to platform 1100. These portable data storage devices may be used for mass storage, and may include, for example, flash memory cards (e.g., Secure Digital (SD) cards, micro SD cards, xD picture cards, etc.), as well as USB flash drives, optical disks, external HDDs, etc.

[0210] The platform 1100 may further include an interface circuit (not shown) for connecting external devices to the platform 1100. External devices connected to the platform 1100 via the interface circuit include a sensor circuit 1121 and an electromechanical component (EMC) 1122, and a removable memory device coupled to a removable memory circuit 1123.

[0211] Sensor circuitry 1121 comprises a device, module, or subsystem that is intended to detect events or changes in its environment, and to send information about the detected events (sensor data) to some other device, module, subsystem, etc. Examples of such sensors include, among others: an inertial measurement unit (IMU) including an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and / or a magnetometer; a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) or a nanoelectromechanical system (NEMS) including a three-axis accelerometer, a three-axis gyroscope, and / or a magnetometer; a level sensor; a flow sensor; a temperature sensor (e.g., a thermistor); a pressure sensor; a barometric pressure sensor; a gravity meter; an altimeter; an image capture device (e.g., a camera or a lensless aperture); a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensor; a proximity sensor (e.g., an infrared radiation detector, etc.), a depth sensor, an ambient light sensor, an ultrasonic transceiver; a microphone or other similar audio capture device; etc.

[0212] The EMC 1122 includes devices, modules or subsystems that are intended to enable the platform 1100 to change its state, position and / or orientation or to move or control a mechanism or (sub) system. In addition, the EMC 1122 may be configured to generate messages / signaling and send messages / signaling to other components of the platform 1100 to indicate the current state of the EMC 1122. The EMC 1122 includes one or more power switches, relays (including electromechanical relays (EMRs) and / or solid-state relays (SSRs)), actuators (e.g., valve actuators, etc.), audible sound generators, visual warning devices, motors (e.g., DC motors, stepper motors, etc.), wheels, thrusters, propellers, claws, clamps, hooks and / or other similar electromechanical components. In an embodiment, the platform 1100 is configured to operate one or more EMCs 1122 based on one or more capture events and / or instructions or control signals received from a service provider and / or various clients.

[0213] In some specific implementations, the interface circuit may connect the platform 1100 to the positioning circuit 1145. The positioning circuit 1145 includes a circuit for receiving and decoding signals transmitted / broadcasted by the positioning network of the GNSS. Examples of navigation satellite constellations (or GNSS) may include the GPS of the United States, the GLONASS of Russia, the Galileo system of the European Union, the Beidou navigation satellite system of China, regional navigation systems or GNSS augmentation systems (e.g., NAVIC, QZSS of Japan, DORIS of France, etc.), etc. The positioning circuit 1145 includes various hardware elements (e.g., including hardware devices such as switches, filters, amplifiers, antenna elements, etc. for facilitating OTA communication) to communicate with components of the positioning network such as navigation satellite constellation nodes. In some embodiments, the positioning circuit 1145 may include a micro PNT IC that uses a master timing clock to perform position tracking / estimation without GNSS assistance. The positioning circuit 1145 may also be part of the baseband circuit 1010 and / or the RFEM 1115 or interact with it to communicate with nodes and components of the positioning network. Positioning circuitry 1145 may also provide position data and / or time data to application circuitry 1105 , which may use the data to synchronize operations with various infrastructure (eg, radio base stations) for use in turn-by-turn navigation applications, and the like.

[0214] In some implementations, the interface circuit may connect the platform 1100 with a near field communication (NFC) circuit 1140. The NFC circuit 1140 is configured to provide contactless short-range communication based on the radio frequency identification (RFID) standard, wherein magnetic field induction is used to enable communication between the NFC circuit 1140 and an NFC-enabled device (e.g., an "NFC touch point") external to the platform 1100. The NFC circuit 1140 includes an NFC controller coupled to an antenna element and a processor coupled to the NFC controller. The NFC controller may be a chip / IC that provides NFC functionality to the NFC circuit 1140 by executing an NFC controller firmware and an NFC stack. The NFC stack may be executed by the processor to control the NFC controller, and the NFC controller firmware may be executed by the NFC controller to control the antenna element to transmit a short-range RF signal. The RF signal may power a passive NFC tag (e.g., a microchip embedded in a sticker or wristband) to transfer stored data to the NFC circuit 1140, or initiate data transfer between the NFC circuit 1140 and another active NFC device (e.g., a smartphone or an NFC-enabled POS terminal) proximate to the platform 1100.

[0215] The driver circuit 1146 may include software and hardware elements for controlling specific devices embedded in, attached to, or otherwise communicatively coupled to the platform 1100. The driver circuit 1146 may include various drivers to allow other components of the platform 1100 to interact with or control various input / output (I / O) devices that may be present in or connected to the platform 1100. For example, the driver circuit 1146 may include: a display driver for controlling and allowing access to a display device, a touch screen driver for controlling and allowing access to a touch screen interface of the platform 1100, a sensor driver for obtaining sensor readings of the sensor circuit 1121 and controlling and allowing access to the sensor circuit 1121, an EMC driver for obtaining an actuator position of the EMC 1122 and / or controlling and allowing access to the EMC 1122, a camera driver for controlling and allowing access to an embedded image capture device, and an audio driver for controlling and allowing access to one or more audio devices.

[0216] A power management integrated circuit (PMIC) 1125 (also referred to as “power management circuit 1125”) may manage power provided to various components of the platform 1100. Specifically, the PMIC 1125 may control power selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-DC conversion with respect to the baseband circuit 1110. When the platform 1100 is capable of being powered by a battery 1130, for example, when the device is included in a UE 701, 801, a PMIC 1125 may be generally included.

[0217] In some embodiments, the PMIC 1125 may control or otherwise be part of various power saving mechanisms of the platform 1100. For example, if the platform 1100 is in the RRC_Connected state, in which the platform is still connected to the RAN node because it expects to receive traffic soon, then after a period of inactivity, the platform may enter a state known as discontinuous reception mode (DRX). During this state, the platform 1100 may be powered off for short time intervals, thereby saving power. If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, the platform 1100 may transition to the RRC_Idle state, in which the device is disconnected from the network and no operations such as channel quality feedback, handover, etc. are performed. The platform 1100 enters a very low power state and performs paging, in which the device wakes up again periodically to listen to the network and then powers off again. The platform 1100 may not receive data in this state; in order to receive data, the platform must transition back to the RRC_Connected state. Additional power saving modes may prevent the device from using the network for longer than the paging interval (ranging from a few seconds to a few hours). During this time, the device is completely unable to connect to the network and can be completely powered off. Any data sent during this time will be significantly delayed, and it is assumed that the delay is acceptable.

[0218] The battery 1130 can power the platform 1100, but in some examples, the platform 1100 can be mounted in a fixed location and can have a power source coupled to a power grid. The battery 1130 can be a lithium-ion battery, a metal-air battery such as a zinc-air battery, an aluminum-air battery, a lithium-air battery, etc. In some implementations, such as in V2X applications, the battery 1130 can be a typical lead-acid car battery.

[0219] In some implementations, the battery 1130 may be a "smart battery" that includes or is coupled to a battery management system (BMS) or a battery monitoring integrated circuit. The BMS may be included in the platform 1100 to track the state of charge (SoCh) of the battery 1130. The BMS may be used to monitor other parameters of the battery 1130, such as the state of health (SoH) and state of function (SoF) of the battery 1130 to provide fault prediction. The BMS may transmit information about the battery 1130 to the application circuit 1105 or other components of the platform 1100. The BMS may also include an analog-to-digital (ADC) converter that allows the application circuit 1105 to directly monitor the voltage of the battery 1130 or the current from the battery 1130. The battery parameters may be used to determine actions that the platform 1100 may perform, such as transmission frequency, network operation, sensing frequency, etc.

[0220] A power block or other power source coupled to the grid can be coupled to the BMS to charge the battery 1130. In some examples, the power block XS30 can be replaced with a wireless power receiver to obtain power wirelessly, for example, through a loop antenna in the computer platform 1100. In these examples, a wireless battery charging circuit can be included in the BMS. The specific charging circuit selected can depend on the size of the battery 1130 and therefore the current required. Charging can be performed using the aviation fuel standard published by the Aviation Fuel Alliance, the Qi wireless charging standard published by the Wireless Power Alliance, or the Rezence charging standard published by the Wireless Power Alliance.

[0221] The user interface circuit 1150 includes various input / output (I / O) devices present in or connected to the platform 1100, and includes one or more user interfaces designed to implement user interaction with the platform 1100 and / or a peripheral component interface designed to implement interaction with the peripheral components of the platform 1100. The user interface circuit 1150 includes input device circuits and output device circuits. The input device circuit includes any physical or virtual means for accepting input, including, in particular, one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), a physical keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, a touchpad, a touch screen, a microphone, a scanner, a headset, etc. The output device circuit includes any physical or virtual means for displaying information or otherwise conveying information (such as sensor readings, actuator positions, or other similar information). The output device circuitry may include any number and / or combination of audio or visual displays, including, in particular, one or more simple visual outputs / indicators (e.g., binary status indicators (e.g., light emitting diodes (LEDs)) and multi-character visual outputs, or more complex outputs, such as display devices or touch screens (e.g., liquid crystal displays (LCDs), LED displays, quantum dot displays, projectors, etc.), where outputs of characters, graphics, multimedia objects, etc. are generated or produced by the operation of the platform 1100. The output device circuitry may also include speakers or other audio emitting devices, printers, etc. In some embodiments, the sensor circuitry 1121 may be used as an input device circuitry (e.g., an image capture device, a motion capture device, etc.) and one or more EMCs may be used as output device circuitry (e.g., an actuator for providing tactile feedback, etc.). In another example, an NFC circuit may be included to read an electronic tag and / or connect to another NFC-enabled device, the NFC circuitry including an NFC controller and a processing device coupled to an antenna element. The peripheral component interface may include, but is not limited to, a non-volatile memory port, a USB port, an audio jack, a power interface, etc.

[0222] Although not shown, the components of platform 1100 may communicate with each other using a suitable bus or interconnect (IX) technology, which may include any number of technologies, including ISA, EISA, PCI, PCIx, PCIe, a time-triggered protocol (TTP) system, a FlexRay system, or any number of other technologies. The bus / IX may be a proprietary bus / IX, such as used in SoC-based systems. Other bus / IX systems, such as I 2 C interface, SPI interface, point-to-point interface and power bus, etc.

[0223] Fig.12 1 shows exemplary components of a baseband circuit 1210 and a radio front end module (RFEM) 1215 according to various embodiments. The baseband circuit 1210 corresponds to Fig.10 The baseband circuit 1010 and Fig.11 Baseband circuit 1110. RFEM 1215 corresponds to Fig.10 RFEM 1015 and Fig.11 RFEM 1115. As shown, RFEM 1215 may include radio frequency (RF) circuit 1206, front end module (FEM) circuit 1208, and antenna array 1211 coupled together at least as shown.

[0224] The baseband circuit 1210 includes circuits and / or control logic components configured to execute various radio / network protocols and radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuit 1206. The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation / demodulation, encoding / decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, the modulation / demodulation circuit of the baseband circuit 1210 may include a fast Fourier transform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping / demapping function. In some embodiments, the encoding / decoding circuit of the baseband circuit 1210 may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, or low-density parity check (LDPC) encoder / decoder functions. The implementation of the modulation / demodulation and encoder / decoder functions is not limited to these examples, and may include other suitable functions in other embodiments. The baseband circuit 1210 is configured to process the baseband signal received from the receive signal path of the RF circuit 1206 and generate a baseband signal for the transmit signal path of the RF circuit 1206. The baseband circuit 1210 is configured to communicate with the application circuit 1005 / 1105 (see Fig.10 and Fig.11 ) to generate and process baseband signals and control the operation of RF circuit 1206. Baseband circuit 1210 may handle various radio control functions.

[0225] The aforementioned circuits and / or control logic components of the baseband circuit 1210 may include one or more single-core or multi-core processors. For example, the one or more processors may include a 3G baseband processor 1204A, a 4G / LTE baseband processor 1204B, a 5G / NR baseband processor 1204C, or some other baseband processors 1204D for other existing generations, generations under development, or generations to be developed in the future (e.g., the sixth generation (6G), etc.). In other embodiments, some or all of the functions of the baseband processors 1204A-D may be included in a module stored in the memory 1204G and may be executed via a central processing unit (CPU) 1204E. In other embodiments, some or all of the functions of the baseband processors 1204A-D may be provided as a hardware accelerator (e.g., FPGA, ASIC, etc.) loaded with appropriate bitstreams or logic blocks stored in corresponding memory units. In various embodiments, the memory 1204G stores program code of a real-time OS (RTOS), which, when executed by the CPU 1204E (or other baseband processor), enables the CPU 1204E (or other baseband processor) to manage resources of the baseband circuit 1210, schedule tasks, etc. Examples of RTOS may include: Operating System Embedded (OSE) provided TM , by Mentor Nucleus RTOS provided TM , by Mentor Versatile Real-TimeExecutive (VRTX) provided by Express Provided by ThreadX TM ,Depend on FreeRTOS and REX OS provided by Open Kernel (OK) OKL4 is provided, or any other suitable RTOS, such as those discussed herein. In addition, the baseband circuit 1210 includes one or more audio digital signal processors (DSPs) 1204F. The audio DSP 1204F includes elements for compression / decompression and echo cancellation, and may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments.

[0226] In some embodiments, each of processors 1204A-1204E includes a corresponding memory interface to send data to / receive data from memory 1204G. Baseband circuit 1210 may also include one or more interfaces for communicatively coupling to other circuits / devices, such as an interface for sending data to / receiving data from a memory external to baseband circuit 1210; an interface for sending data to / receiving data from a memory external to the baseband circuit; Figures 10 to 12 An application circuit interface for sending data to / receiving data from the application circuit 1005 / 1105; Fig.12 RF circuit 1206 to send data / receive data from the RF circuit RF circuit interface; for receiving data from one or more wireless hardware elements (e.g., near field communication (NFC) components, Low power consumption components, components, etc.) to send data / receive data from these wireless hardware elements; and a power management interface for sending power or control signals to / receiving power or control signals from the PMIC 1125.

[0227] In an alternative embodiment (which can be combined with the above embodiment), the baseband circuit 1210 includes one or more digital baseband systems, which are coupled to each other and to the CPU subsystem, the audio subsystem and the interface subsystem via an interconnection subsystem. The digital baseband subsystem can also be coupled to the digital baseband interface and the mixed signal baseband subsystem via another interconnection subsystem. Each of the interconnection subsystems may include a bus system, a point-to-point connector, a network on chip (NOC) structure and / or some other suitable bus or interconnection technology, such as those discussed herein. The audio subsystem may include a DSP circuit, a buffer memory, a program memory, a voice processing accelerator circuit, a data converter circuit such as an analog-to-digital converter circuit and a digital-to-analog converter circuit, an analog circuit including one or more of an amplifier and a filter, and / or other similar components. In one aspect of the present disclosure, the baseband circuit 1210 may include a protocol processing circuit with one or more control circuit instances (not shown) to provide control functions for the digital baseband circuit and / or the radio frequency circuit (e.g., the radio front end module 1215).

[0228] although Fig.12Not shown, but in some embodiments, the baseband circuit 1210 includes various processing devices (e.g., a "multi-protocol baseband processor" or "protocol processing circuit") to operate one or more wireless communication protocols and various processing devices to implement PHY layer functions. In these embodiments, the PHY layer functions include the aforementioned radio control functions. In these embodiments, the protocol processing circuit operates or implements various protocol layers / entities of one or more wireless communication protocols. In a first example, when the baseband circuit 1210 and / or the RF circuit 1206 are part of a millimeter wave communication circuit or some other suitable cellular communication circuit, the protocol processing circuit may operate LTE protocol entities and / or 5G / NR protocol entities. In a first example, the protocol processing circuit will operate MAC, RLC, PDCP, SDAP, RRC, and NAS functions. In a second example, when the baseband circuit 1210 and / or the RF circuit 1206 are part of a Wi-Fi communication system, the protocol processing circuit may operate one or more IEEE-based protocols. In a second example, the protocol processing circuit will operate Wi-Fi MAC and logical link control (LLC) functions. The protocol processing circuitry may include one or more memory structures (e.g., 1204G) for storing program code and data for operating protocol functions, and one or more processing cores for executing program code and performing various operations using data. The baseband circuitry 1210 may also support radio communications for more than one wireless protocol.

[0229] The various hardware elements of the baseband circuit 1210 discussed herein may be implemented, for example, as a solder-in substrate including one or more integrated circuits (ICs), a single packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board, or a multi-chip module containing two or more ICs. In one example, the components of the baseband circuit 1210 may be appropriately combined in a single chip or a single chipset, or disposed on the same circuit board. In another example, some or all of the components of the baseband circuit 1210 and the RF circuit 1206 may be implemented together, such as, for example, a system on a chip (SoC) or a system-level package (SiP). In another example, some or all of the components of the baseband circuit 1210 may be implemented as a separate SoC communicatively coupled to the RF circuit 1206 (or multiple instances of the RF circuit 1206). In yet another example, some or all of the components of the baseband circuit 1210 and the application circuit 1005 / 1105 may be implemented together as a separate SoC mounted to the same circuit board (e.g., a "multi-chip package").

[0230] In some embodiments, baseband circuit 1210 may provide communications compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, baseband circuit 1210 may support communications with E-UTRAN or other WMAN, WLAN, WPAN. Embodiments in which baseband circuit 1210 is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuits.

[0231] RF circuit 1206 may enable communication with a wireless network through a non-solid medium using modulated electromagnetic radiation. In various embodiments, RF circuit 1206 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate communication with a wireless network. RF circuit 1206 may include a receive signal path, which may include circuitry for down-converting RF signals received from FEM circuit 1208 and providing baseband signals to baseband circuit 1210. RF circuit 1206 may also include a transmit signal path, which may include circuitry for up-converting baseband signals provided by baseband circuit 1210 and providing an RF output signal for transmission to FEM circuit 1208.

[0232] In some embodiments, the receive signal path of the RF circuit 1206 may include a mixer circuit 1206A, an amplifier circuit 1206B, and a filter circuit 1206C. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of the RF circuit 1206 may include a filter circuit 1206C and a mixer circuit 1206A. The RF circuit 1206 may also include a synthesizer circuit 1206D for synthesizing the frequencies used by the mixer circuit 1206A of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1206A of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert the RF signal received from the FEM circuit 1208 based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuit 1206D. The amplifier circuit 1206B may be configured to amplify the down-converted signal, and the filter circuit 1206C may be a low pass filter (LPF) or a band pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signal to generate an output baseband signal. The output baseband signal may be provided to the baseband circuit 1210 for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signal may be a zero frequency baseband signal, although this is not required.In some embodiments, mixer circuit 1206A of the receive signal path may include a passive mixer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0233] In some embodiments, mixer circuit 1206A of the transmit signal path may be configured to upconvert an input baseband signal based on a synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuit 1206D to generate an RF output signal for FEM circuit 1208. The baseband signal may be provided by baseband circuit 1210 and may be filtered by filter circuit 1206C.

[0234] In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1206A of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 1206A of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature down-conversion and up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1206A of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 1206A of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1206A of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 1206A of the transmit signal path may be arranged for direct down-conversion and direct up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1206A of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 1206A of the transmit signal path may be configured for superheterodyne operation.

[0235] In some embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternative embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be digital baseband signals. In these alternative embodiments, RF circuit 1206 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuits, and baseband circuit 1210 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with RF circuit 1206.

[0236] In some dual-mode embodiments, separate radio IC circuits may be provided to process signals for each spectrum, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0237] In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 1206D may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional-N / N+1 synthesizer, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect, as other types of frequency synthesizers may also be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuit 1206D may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer including a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider.

[0238] Synthesizer circuit 1206D may be configured to synthesize an output frequency based on a frequency input and a divider control input for use by mixer circuit 1206A of RF circuit 1206. In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 1206D may be a fractional-N / N+1 synthesizer.

[0239] In some embodiments, the frequency input may be provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), although this is not required. The divider control input may be provided by the baseband circuit 1210 or the application circuit 1005 / 1105 according to the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, the divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a lookup table based on the channel indicated by the application circuit 1005 / 1105.

[0240] The synthesizer circuit 1206D of the RF circuit 1206 may include a frequency divider, a delay locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer, and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the frequency divider may be a dual-mode frequency divider (DMD), and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by N or N+1 (e.g., based on a carry) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include a cascaded, tunable, delay element, a phase detector, a charge pump, and a set of D-type flip-flops. In these embodiments, the delay element may be configured to divide the VCO cycle into Nd equal phase groups, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

[0241] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuit 1206D can be configured to generate a carrier frequency as an output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency can be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and used with a quadrature generator and divider circuit to generate multiple signals with multiple different phases relative to each other at the carrier frequency. In some embodiments, the output frequency can be the LO frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, the RF circuit 1206 can include an IQ / polarity converter.

[0242] FEM circuitry 1208 may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from antenna array 1211, amplify the received signals, and provide an amplified version of the received signals to RF circuitry 1206 for further processing. FEM circuitry 1208 may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry configured to amplify transmit signals provided by RF circuitry 1206 for transmission by one or more antenna elements in antenna array 1211. In various embodiments, amplification by the transmit or receive signal path may be accomplished only in RF circuitry 1206, only in FEM circuitry 1208, or in both RF circuitry 1206 and FEM circuitry 1208.

[0243] In some embodiments, the FEM circuit 1208 may include a TX / RX switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuit 1208 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuit 1208 may include an LNA to amplify the received RF signal and provide the amplified received RF signal as an output (e.g., to the RF circuit 1206). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuit 1208 may include a power amplifier (PA) for amplifying the input RF signal (e.g., provided by the RF circuit 1206), and one or more filters for generating an RF signal for subsequent transmission by one or more antenna elements of the antenna array 1211.

[0244] The antenna array 1211 includes one or more antenna elements, each of which is configured to convert an electrical signal into a radio wave to travel through the air and convert the received radio wave into an electrical signal. For example, a digital baseband signal provided by the baseband circuit 1210 is converted into an analog RF signal (e.g., a modulated waveform), which is amplified and transmitted via the antenna elements of the antenna array 1211 including one or more antenna elements (not shown). The antenna elements may be omnidirectional, directional, or a combination thereof. The antenna elements may be formed into a variety of arrangements as known and / or discussed herein. The antenna array 1211 may include a microstrip antenna or a printed antenna fabricated on the surface of one or more printed circuit boards. The antenna array 1211 may be formed as a patch of metal foil of various shapes (e.g., a patch antenna) and may be coupled to the RF circuit 1206 and / or the FEM circuit 1208 using a metal transmission line or the like.

[0245] The processor of the application circuit 1005 / 1105 and the processor of the baseband circuit 1210 can be used to execute elements of one or more instances of the protocol stack. For example, the processor of the baseband circuit 1210 can be used alone or in combination to perform layer 3, layer 2, or layer 1 functions, while the processor of the application circuit 1005 / 1105 can utilize data received from these layers (e.g., packet data) and further perform layer 4 functions (e.g., TCP and UDP layers). As mentioned herein, layer 3 may include an RRC layer, which will be described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 2 may include a MAC layer, an RLC layer, and a PDCP layer, which will be described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 1 may include a PHY layer of a UE / RAN node, which will be described in further detail below.

[0246] Fig.13 Various protocol functions that can be implemented in a wireless communication device according to various embodiments are shown. Specifically, Fig.13An arrangement 1300 is included to show the interconnection between various protocol layers / entities. Various protocol layers / entities operating in conjunction with 5G / NR system standards and LTE system standards are provided. Fig.13 The following description, but Fig.13 Some or all aspects of the invention may also be applicable to other wireless communication network systems.

[0247] In addition to other higher layer functions not shown, the protocol layers of arrangement 1300 may also include one or more of PHY 1310, MAC 1320, RLC 1330, PDCP 1340, SDAP 1347, RRC 1355, and NAS layer 1357. These protocol layers may include one or more service access points (e.g., Fig.13 Items 1359, 1356, 1350, 1349, 1345, 1335, 1325 and 1315).

[0248] PHY 1310 can transmit and receive physical layer signals 1305, which can be received or transmitted from one or more other communication devices to one or more other communication devices. Physical layer signals 1305 may include one or more physical channels, such as those discussed herein. PHY 1310 may also perform link adaptation or adaptive modulation and coding (AMC), power control, cell search (e.g., for initial synchronization and switching purposes) and other measurements used by higher layers (e.g., RRC1355). PHY 1310 may also further perform error detection on transmission channels, forward error correction (FEC) encoding / decoding of transmission channels, modulation / demodulation of physical channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to physical channels and MIMO antenna processing. In an embodiment, an instance of PHY 1310 may process a request from an instance of MAC1320 via one or more PHY-SAP 1315 and provide an indication thereto. According to some embodiments, the request and indication transmitted via PHY-SAP 1315 may include one or more transmission channels.

[0249] An instance of MAC 1320 may process requests from and provide indications to an instance of RLC 1330 via one or more MAC-SAPs 1325. These requests and indications transmitted via MAC-SAP 1325 may include one or more logical channels. MAC 1320 may perform mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing MAC SDUs from one or more logical channels onto TBs to be delivered to PHY 1310 via transport channels, demultiplexing MAC SDUs from TBs delivered from PHY 1310 via transport channels to one or more logical channels, multiplexing MAC SDUs onto TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction via HARQ, and logical channel prioritization.

[0250] An instance of RLC 1330 may process requests from and provide indications to an instance of PDCP 1340 via one or more radio link control service access points (RLC-SAPs) 1335. These requests and indications transmitted via RLC-SAPs 1335 may include one or more logical channels. RLC 1330 may operate in a variety of operating modes, including: transparent mode (TM), unacknowledged mode (UM), and acknowledged mode (AM). RLC 1330 may perform transmission of upper layer protocol data units (PDUs), error correction through automatic repeat request (ARQ) for AM data transmission, and concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs for UM and AM data transmission. RLC 1330 may also perform resegmentation of RLC data PDUs for AM data transmission, reorder RLC data PDUs for UM and AM data transmission, detect duplicate data for UM and AM data transmission, discard RLC SDUs for UM and AM data transmission, detect protocol errors for AM data transmission, and perform RLC re-establishment.

[0251] An instance of PDCP 1340 may process requests from an instance of RRC 1355 and / or an instance of SDAP 1347 via one or more Packet Data Convergence Protocol Service Points (PDCP-SAP) 1345 and provide indications thereto. These requests and indications transmitted via PDCP-SAP 1345 may include one or more radio bearers. PDCP 1340 may perform header compression and decompression of IP data, maintain PDCP sequence numbers (SNs), perform in-order delivery of upper layer PDUs when lower layers are reestablished, eliminate duplication of lower layer SDUs when lower layers are reestablished for radio bearers mapped on RLC AM, encrypt and decrypt control plane data, perform integrity protection and integrity verification on control plane data, control timer-based data discard, and perform security operations (e.g., encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification, etc.).

[0252] An instance of SDAP 1347 may process requests from one or more higher layer protocol entities and provide indications thereto via one or more SDAP-SAPs 1349. These requests and indications transmitted via SDAP-SAPs 1349 may include one or more QoS flows. SDAP 1347 may map QoS flows to DRBs and vice versa, and may also mark QFIs in DL and UL packets. A single SDAP entity 1347 may be configured for a separate PDU session. In the UL direction, NG-RAN 710 may control the mapping of QoS flows to DRBs in two different ways (reflective mapping or explicit mapping). For reflective mapping, SDAP 1347 of UE 701 may monitor the QFI of the DL packets of each DRB, and may apply the same mapping to packets flowing in the UL direction. For DRBs, SDAP 1347 of UE 701 may map UL packets belonging to a QoS flow corresponding to the QoS flow ID and PDU session observed in the DL packets of the DRB. To implement the reflective mapping, the NG-RAN 910 may mark the DL packets with a QoS flow ID over the Uu interface. The explicit mapping may involve the RRC 1355 configuring the SDAP 1347 with explicit mapping rules of QoS flows to DRBs, which may be stored and followed by the SDAP 1347. In an embodiment, the SDAP 1347 may be used only in NR implementations and may not be used in LTE implementations.

[0253] The RRC 1355 may configure aspects of one or more protocol layers, which may include one or more instances of PHY 1310, MAC 1320, RLC 1330, PDCP 1340, and SDAP 1347, via one or more Management Service Access Points (M-SAPs). In an embodiment, an instance of the RRC 1355 may process requests from one or more NAS entities 1357 and provide instructions thereto via one or more RRC-SAPs 1356. The main services and functions of the RRC 1355 may include broadcasting of system information (e.g., included in a MIB or SIB related to NAS), broadcasting of system information related to the access stratum (AS), paging, establishment, maintenance, and release of an RRC connection between the UE 701 and the RAN 710 (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), establishment, configuration, maintenance, and release of point-to-point radio bearers, security functions including key management, inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting. These MIBs and SIBs may include one or more IEs, each of which may include a separate data field or data structure.

[0254] NAS 1357 may form the highest layer of the control plane between UE 701 and AMF 921. NAS 1357 may support the mobility and session management procedures of UE 701 to establish and maintain an IP connection between UE 701 and P-GW in the LTE system.

[0255] According to various embodiments, one or more protocol entities of the arrangement 1300 may be implemented in the UE 701, the RAN node 711, the AMF 921 in the NR implementation or the MME 821 in the LTE implementation, the UPF 902 in the NR implementation or the S-GW 822 and the P-GW 823 in the LTE implementation, etc., for control plane or user plane communication protocol stacks between the aforementioned devices. In such embodiments, one or more protocol entities that may be implemented in one or more of the UE 701, the gNB 711, the AMF 921, etc. may communicate with corresponding peer protocol entities that may be implemented in or on another device (using services of corresponding lower layer protocol entities to perform such communication). In some embodiments, the gNB-CU of gNB 711 may host the RRC 1355, SDAP 1347, and PDCP 1340 of the gNB that control the operation of one or more gNB-DUs, and the gNB-DUs of gNB 711 may each host the RLC 1330, MAC 1320, and PHY 1310 of gNB 711.

[0256] In a first example, the control plane protocol stack may include, in order from the highest layer to the lowest layer, NAS 1357, RRC 1355, PDCP 1340, RLC 1330, MAC 1320, and PHY 1310. In this example, an upper layer 1360 may be built on top of NAS 1357, which includes an IP layer 1361, SCTP 1362, and an application layer signaling protocol (AP) 1363.

[0257] In a NR specific implementation, AP 1363 can be an NG application protocol layer (NGAP or NG-AP) 1363 for the NG interface 713 defined between the NG-RAN node 711 and the AMF 921, or AP 1363 can be an Xn application protocol layer (XnAP or Xn-AP) 1363 for the Xn interface 712 defined between two or more RAN nodes 711.

[0258] The NG-AP 1363 may support the functionality of the NG interface 713 and may include an elementary procedure (EP). The NG-AP EP may be an interaction unit between the NG-RAN node 711 and the AMF 921. The NG-AP 1363 services may include two groups: UE-associated services (e.g., services related to the UE 701) and non-UE-associated services (e.g., services related to the entire NG interface instance between the NG-RAN node 711 and the AMF 921). These services may include functions including, but not limited to: a paging function for sending a paging request to the NG-RAN node 711 involved in a specific paging area; a UE context management function for allowing the AMF 921 to establish, modify and / or release the UE context in the AMF 921 and the NG-RAN node 711; a mobility function for the UE 701 in ECM-CONNECTED mode, for intra-system HO to support mobility within the NG-RAN, and for inter-system HO to support mobility from / to the EPS system; a NAS signaling transport function for transporting or rerouting NAS messages between the UE 701 and the AMF 921; a NAS node selection function for determining the association between the AMF 921 and the UE 701; an NG interface management function for setting up the NG interface and monitoring errors through the NG interface; a warning message transport function for providing a means for transmitting a warning message via the NG interface or cancelling an ongoing warning message broadcast; a NAS signaling transport function for transmitting or rerouting NAS messages between the UE 701 and the AMF 921; a NAS node selection function for determining the association between the AMF 921 and the UE 701; a NG interface management function for setting up the NG interface and monitoring errors through the NG interface; a warning message transport function for providing a means for transmitting a warning message via the NG interface or cancelling an ongoing warning message broadcast; a NAS signaling transport function for transmitting or rerouting NAS messages via the CN 720 is a configuration transmission function for requesting and transmitting RAN configuration information (eg, SON information, performance measurement (PM) data, etc.) between two RAN nodes 711; and / or other similar functions.

[0259] The XnAP 1363 may support the functions of the Xn interface 712 and may include XnAP basic mobility procedures and XnAP global procedures. The XnAP basic mobility procedures may include procedures for handling UE mobility within the NG RAN 711 (or E-UTRAN 810), such as handover preparation and cancellation procedures, SN state transfer procedures, UE context retrieval and UE context release procedures, RAN paging procedures, procedures related to dual connectivity, etc. The XnAP global procedures may include procedures unrelated to a specific UE 701, such as Xn interface setup and reset procedures, NG-RAN update procedures, cell activation procedures, etc.

[0260] In an LTE specific implementation, AP 1363 may be an S1 application protocol layer (S1-AP) 1363 for an S1 interface 713 defined between an E-UTRAN node 711 and an MME, or AP 1363 may be an X2 application protocol layer (X2AP or X2-AP) 1363 for an X2 interface 712 defined between two or more E-UTRAN nodes 711.

[0261] The S1 application protocol layer (S1-AP) 1363 may support the functionality of the S1 interface, and similar to the NG-AP discussed previously, the S1-AP may include an S1-AP EP. The S1-AP EP may be an interaction unit between the E-UTRAN node 711 and the MME 821 within the LTE CN 720. The S1-AP 1363 services may include two groups: UE-associated services and non-UE-associated services. The functions performed by these services include, but are not limited to: E-UTRAN Radio Access Bearer (E-RAB) management, UE capability indication, mobility, NAS signaling transmission, RAN Information Management (RIM), and configuration transmission.

[0262] The X2AP 1363 may support the functions of the X2 interface 712 and may include an X2AP basic mobility procedure and an X2AP global procedure. The X2AP basic mobility procedure may include a procedure for handling UE mobility within the E-UTRAN 720, such as a handover preparation and cancellation procedure, an SN state transfer procedure, a UE context retrieval and a UE context release procedure, a RAN paging procedure, a procedure related to dual connectivity, etc. The X2AP global procedure may include a procedure that is not related to a specific UE 701, such as an X2 interface setup and reset procedure, a load indication procedure, an error indication procedure, a cell activation procedure, etc.

[0263] The SCTP layer (alternatively referred to as the SCTP / IP layer) 1362 may provide guaranteed delivery of application layer messages (e.g., NGAP or XnAP messages in NR implementations, or S1-AP or X2AP messages in LTE implementations). The SCTP 1362 may ensure reliable delivery of signaling messages between the RAN node 711 and the AMF 921 / MME 821 based in part on the IP protocol supported by the IP 1361. The Internet Protocol layer (IP) 1361 may be used to perform packet addressing and routing functions. In some implementations, the IP layer 1361 may deliver and transmit PDUs using point-to-point transport. In this regard, the RAN node 711 may include L2 and L1 layer communication links (e.g., wired or wireless) with the MME / AMF to exchange information.

[0264] In a second example, the user plane protocol stack may include SDAP 1347, PDCP 1340, RLC 1330, MAC 1320, and PHY 1310 in order from the highest layer to the lowest layer. The user plane protocol stack may be used for communication between UE 701, RAN node 711, and UPF 902 in NR implementation, or communication between S-GW 822 and P-GW 823 in LTE implementation. In this example, the upper layer 1351 may be built on top of SDAP 1347 and may include a user datagram protocol (UDP) and IP security layer (UDP / IP) 1352, a general packet radio service (GPRS) tunneling protocol for a user plane layer (GTP-U) 1353, and a user plane PDU layer (UP PDU) 1363.

[0265] The transport network layer 1354 (also referred to as the "transport layer") may be built on top of the IP transport, and the GTP-U 1353 may be used on top of the UDP / IP layer 1352 (including the UDP layer and the IP layer) to carry the user plane PDU (UP-PDU). The IP layer (also referred to as the "Internet layer") may be used to perform packet addressing and routing functions. The IP layer may assign IP addresses to user data packets, for example, in any of the IPv4, IPv6, or PPP formats.

[0266] GTP-U 1353 may be used to carry user data within the GPRS core network and between the radio access network and the core network. For example, the transmitted user data may be packets in any of the IPv4, IPv6, or PPP formats. UDP / IP 1352 may provide checksums for data integrity, port numbers for addressing different functions at the source and destination, and encryption and authentication of selected data flows. The RAN node 711 and the S-GW 822 may utilize the S1-U interface to exchange user plane data via a protocol stack including an L1 layer (e.g., PHY 1310), an L2 layer (e.g., MAC 1320, RLC 1330, PDCP 1340, and / or SDAP 1347), a UDP / IP layer 1352, and GTP-U 1353. S-GW 822 and P-GW 823 may utilize an S5 / S8a interface to exchange user plane data via a protocol stack including an L1 layer, an L2 layer, a UDP / IP layer 1352, and a GTP-U 1353. As previously discussed, the NAS protocol may support the mobility and session management procedures of UE 701 to establish and maintain an IP connection between UE 701 and P-GW 823.

[0267] In addition, despite Fig.13Not shown, but an application layer may exist above the AP 1363 and / or transport network layer 1354. The application layer may be a layer where a user of the UE 701, RAN node 711, or other network element interacts with a software application, for example, executed by the application circuit 1005 or the application circuit 1105, respectively. The application layer may also provide one or more interfaces for the software application to interact with the communication system (such as the baseband circuit 1210) of the UE 701 or RAN node 711. In some implementations, the IP layer and / or the application layer may provide the same or similar functionality as layers 5 to 7 of the open systems interconnection (OSI) model, or portions thereof (e.g., OSI layer 7—application layer, OSI layer 6—presentation layer, and OSI layer 5—session layer).

[0268] Fig.14 Components of a core network according to various embodiments are shown. The components of CN 820 may be implemented in one physical node or in separate physical nodes, including components for reading and executing instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium). In an embodiment, the components of CN 920 may be implemented in the same or similar manner as discussed herein with respect to the components of CN 820. In some embodiments, NFV is used to virtualize any or all of the above-mentioned network node functions via executable instructions stored in one or more computer-readable storage media (described in further detail below). A logical instance of CN 820 may be referred to as a network slice 1402, and each logical instance of CN 820 may provide specific network functions and network characteristics. A logical instance of a portion of CN 820 may be referred to as a network sub-slice 1404 (e.g., network sub-slice 1404 is shown to include P-GW 823 and PCRF 826).

[0269] As used herein, the terms "instantiation" and the like may refer to the creation of an instance, and "instance" may refer to the concrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during the execution of program code. A network instance may refer to information identifying a domain, which may be used for traffic detection and routing in different IP domains or in the case of overlapping IP addresses. A network slice instance may refer to a set of network function (NF) instances and the resources (e.g., computing, storage, and networking resources) required to deploy a network slice.

[0270] Regarding 5G systems (see e.g. Fig. 9), a network slice always includes a RAN part and a CN part. Support for network slicing relies on the principle that traffic for different slices is handled by different PDU sessions. The network can implement different network slices by scheduling and also by providing different L1 / L2 configurations. If provided by NAS, the UE 901 provides auxiliary information for network slice selection in an appropriate RRC message. Although the network can support a large number of slices, the UE does not need to support more than 8 slices at the same time.

[0271] The network slice may include the CN 920 control plane and user plane NF, the NG RAN 910 in the serving PLMN, and the N3IWF function in the serving PLMN. Each network slice may have a different S-NSSAI and / or may have a different SST. The NSSAI includes one or more S-NSSAIs, and each network slice is uniquely identified by the S-NSSAI. The network slice may differ in terms of supported features and network function optimizations, and / or multiple network slice instances may deliver the same service / feature, but differ for different groups of UE 901 (e.g., enterprise users). For example, each network slice may deliver different committed services and / or may be dedicated to a specific customer or enterprise. In this example, each network slice may have a different S-NSSAI with the same SST but with a different slice differentiator. In addition, a single UE may be served simultaneously by one or more network slice instances via a 5G AN and be associated with eight different S-NSSAIs. In addition, an AMF 921 instance serving a single UE 901 may belong to each network slice instance serving the UE.

[0272] Network slicing in NG-RAN 910 involves RAN slice awareness. RAN slice awareness includes differentiated processing for traffic of different network slices that have been pre-configured. Slice awareness in NG-RAN 910 is introduced at the PDU session level by indicating the S-NSSAI corresponding to the PDU session in all signaling including PDU session resource information. How NG-RAN 910 supports enabling slicing in terms of NG-RAN functions (e.g., a set of network functions including each slice) depends on the specific implementation. NG-RAN 910 selects the RAN part of the network slice using auxiliary information provided by UE 901 or 5GC 920, which explicitly identifies one or more network slices in the pre-configured network slices in the PLMN. NG-RAN 910 also supports resource management and policy enforcement between slices according to SRA. A single NG-RAN node can support multiple slices, and NG-RAN910 can also appropriately apply appropriate RRM policies for SLA to each supported slice. NG-RAN 910 can also support QoS differentiation within a slice.

[0273] The NG-RAN 910 may also use the UE assistance information to select an AMF 921 during the initial attach, if available. The NG-RAN 910 routes the initial NAS to the AMF 921 using the assistance information. If the NG-RAN 910 cannot select an AMF 921 using the assistance information, or the UE 901 does not provide any such information, the NG-RAN 910 sends the NAS signaling to a default AMF 921, which may be in the AMF 921 pool. For subsequent access, the UE 901 provides a temporary ID assigned to the UE 901 by the 5GC 920 to enable the NG-RAN 910 to route the NAS message to the appropriate AMF 921, as long as the temporary ID is valid. The NG-RAN 910 knows and can reach the AMF 921 associated with the temporary ID. Otherwise, the method for initial attach applies.

[0274] The NG-RAN 910 supports resource isolation between slices. NG-RAN 910 resource isolation can be achieved with the help of RRM policies and protection mechanisms that should avoid starvation of shared resources if one slice breaks the service level agreement for another slice. In some implementations, NG-RAN 910 resources can be fully assigned to a slice. How the NG-RAN 910 supports resource isolation depends on the specific implementation.

[0275] Some slices may be only partially available in the network. The NG-RAN 910 is aware of slices supported in its neighboring cells that may be beneficial for inter-frequency mobility in connected mode. Slice availability may not change within the UE's registration area. The NG-RAN 910 and 5GC 920 are responsible for handling service requests for slices that may or may not be available in a given area. Granting or denying access to a slice may depend on factors such as support for the slice, availability of resources, and support of the requested service by the NG-RAN 910.

[0276] The UE 901 may be associated with multiple network slices simultaneously. In the case where the UE 901 is associated with multiple slices simultaneously, only one signaling connection is maintained and for intra-frequency cell reselection, the UE 901 attempts to camp on the best cell. For inter-frequency cell reselection, dedicated priorities may be used to control the frequency that the UE 901 camps on. The 5GC 920 will verify that the UE 901 has the right to access the network slice. Before receiving the Initial Context Setup Request message, the NG-RAN 910 may be allowed to apply some temporary / local policies based on knowing the specific slice that the UE 901 is requesting access to. During the Initial Context Setup, the NG-RAN 910 is informed of the slice whose resources are being requested.

[0277] NFV architecture and infrastructure can be used to virtualize one or more NFs onto physical resources including a combination of industry standard server hardware, storage hardware or switches (alternatively performed by proprietary hardware). In other words, the NFV system can be used to perform a virtual or reconfigurable implementation of one or more EPC components / functions.

[0278] Fig.15 1500 is a block diagram illustrating components of a NFV-enabled system 1500 according to some exemplary embodiments. System 1500 is shown to include a VIM 1502, a NFVI 1504, a VNFM 1506, a VNF 1508, an EM 1510, a NFVO 1512, and a NM 1514.

[0279] The VIM 1502 manages resources of the NFVI 1504. The NFVI 1504 may include physical or virtual resources and applications (including a hypervisor) for executing the system 1500. The VIM 1502 may utilize the NFVI 1504 to manage the lifecycle of virtual resources (e.g., creation, maintenance, and teardown of VMs associated with one or more physical resources), track VM instances, track performance, failures, and security of VM instances and associated physical resources, and expose VM instances and associated physical resources to other management systems.

[0280] The VNFM 1506 may manage the VNF 1508. The VNF 1508 may be used to perform EPC components / functions. The VNFM 1506 may manage the lifecycle of the VNF 1508 and track the performance, failures, and security of the virtual aspects of the VNF 1508. The EM 1510 may track the performance, failures, and security of the functional aspects of the VNF 1508. The tracking data from the VNFM 1506 and the EM 1510 may include, for example, PM data used by the VIM 1502 or the NFVI 1504. Both the VNFM 1506 and the EM 1510 may scale up / down the number of VNFs of the system 1500.

[0281] NFVO 1512 may coordinate, authorize, release, and engage resources of NFVI 1504 in order to provide the requested service (e.g., execute EPC functions, components, or slices). NM 1514 may provide an end-user functional grouping responsible for network management, which may include network elements with VNFs, non-virtualized network functions, or both (management of VNFs may occur via EM 1510).

[0282] Fig.16is a block diagram illustrating components capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable medium or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and performing any one or more of the methods discussed herein, according to some exemplary embodiments. Specifically, Fig.16 A schematic diagram of hardware resources 1600 is shown, which includes one or more processors (or processor cores) 1610, one or more memory / storage devices 1620, and one or more communication resources 1630, each of which can be communicatively coupled via a bus 1640. For embodiments in which node virtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor 1602 can be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices / sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources 1600.

[0283] Processor 1610 may include, for example, processor 1612 and processor 1614. Processor 1610 may be, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a DSP such as a baseband processor, an ASIC, an FPGA, a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor (including those discussed herein), or any suitable combination thereof.

[0284] The memory / storage device 1620 may include main memory, disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory / storage device 1620 may include, but is not limited to, any type of volatile or non-volatile memory, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid-state storage, etc.

[0285] The communication resources 1630 may include an interconnect or network interface component or other suitable device to communicate with one or more peripheral devices 1604 or one or more databases 1606 via the network 1608. For example, the communication resources 1630 may include a wired communication component (e.g., for coupling via USB), a cellular communication component, an NFC component, (or Low power consumption) components, components and other communication components.

[0286] The instructions 1650 may include software, programs, applications, applet, applications, or other executable code for causing at least any one of the processors 1610 to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. The instructions 1650 may reside completely or partially in at least one of the processors 1610 (e.g., within a cache memory of a processor), the memory / storage device 1620, or any suitable combination thereof. In addition, any portion of the instructions 1650 may be transmitted to the hardware resources 1600 from any combination of the peripheral device 1604 or the database 1606. Therefore, the memory of the processor 1610, the memory / storage device 1620, the peripheral device 1604, and the database 1606 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

[0287] Example Process

[0288] In some embodiments, Figures 7 to 16 The electronic device, network, system, chip or component or portion or specific implementation in or some other figure of this document may be configured to perform one or more processes, techniques or methods described herein, or portions thereof. Fig.17 One such process is depicted in . Fig.17 A method 1700 of operating the system according to an embodiment is shown. For example, the method 1700 may include: determining or causing determination of a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) of a codebook, wherein the PMI is determined based on a combination of digital Fourier transform (DFT) spatial domain (SD) vectors or based on DFT-based frequency domain (FD) compression, as shown in 1702; and transmitting or causing the PMI to be transmitted to a next generation Node B (gNB), as shown in 1704.

[0289] For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components shown in one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes and / or methods described in the following example section. For example, the baseband circuit described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the following embodiments. For another example, the circuits associated with the UE, base station, network element, etc. described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the embodiments shown in the example section below.

[0290] Example

[0291] Embodiment 1 includes a device comprising: a device for determining a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) of a precoding matrix set, wherein the PMI is determined based on a combination of digital Fourier transform (DFT) spatial domain (SD) vectors or based on DFT-based frequency domain (FD) compression; and a device for transmitting the PMI to a next generation Node B (gNB).

[0292] Embodiment 2 includes an apparatus according to embodiment 1 and / or some other embodiments herein, wherein the PMI is transmitted to the gNB in ​​a channel state information (CSI) report.

[0293] Embodiment 3 includes the apparatus according to embodiment 1 and / or some other embodiments herein, wherein the CSI report further includes a channel quality indicator (CQI) or a rank indicator (RI).

[0294] Embodiment 4 includes an apparatus according to embodiment 1 and / or some other embodiments herein, wherein the PMI is transmitted to the gNB via a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

[0295] Embodiment 5 includes the apparatus according to embodiment 1 and / or some other embodiments herein, wherein the set of precoding indexes is included in a codebook.

[0296] Embodiment 6 includes the apparatus according to embodiment 5 and / or some other embodiments herein, wherein the codebook is a type II codebook, a type II port selection codebook, or an advanced CSI codebook.

[0297] Embodiment 7 includes a device for: determining a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) of a codebook, wherein the PMI is determined based on a combination of digital Fourier transform (DFT) spatial domain (SD) vectors or based on DFT-based frequency domain (FD) compression; and transmitting the PMI to a next generation Node B (gNB).

[0298] Embodiment 8 includes an apparatus according to embodiment 7 and / or some other embodiments herein, wherein the PMI is transmitted to the gNB in ​​a channel state information (CSI) report.

[0299] Embodiment 9 includes the apparatus of embodiment 7 and / or some other embodiments herein, wherein the CSI report further includes a channel quality indicator (CQI) or a rank indicator (RI).

[0300] Embodiment 10 includes an apparatus according to embodiment 7 and / or some other embodiments herein, wherein the PMI is transmitted to the gNB via a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

[0301] Embodiment 11 includes the apparatus according to embodiment 7 and / or some other embodiments herein, wherein the codebook is a type II codebook, a type II port selection codebook, or an advanced CSI codebook.

[0302] Embodiment 12 includes an apparatus according to embodiments 1 to 11 and / or some other embodiments herein, wherein the apparatus is a user equipment (UE) or a part thereof.

[0303] Embodiment 13 includes a method comprising:

[0304] Determine or cause determination of a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) of a codebook, wherein the PMI is determined based on a combination of digital Fourier transform (DFT) spatial domain (SD) vectors or based on DFT-based frequency domain (FD) compression; and transmit the PMI to or cause the PMI to be transmitted to a next generation Node B (gNB).

[0305] Embodiment 14 includes a method according to embodiment 13 and / or some other embodiments herein, wherein the PMI is transmitted to the gNB in ​​a channel state information (CSI) report.

[0306] Embodiment 15 includes a method according to embodiment 13 and / or some other embodiments herein, wherein the CSI report also includes a channel quality indicator (CQI) or a rank indicator (RI).

[0307] Embodiment 16 includes a method according to embodiment 13 and / or some other embodiments herein, wherein the PMI is transmitted to the gNB via a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

[0308] Embodiment 17 includes the method according to embodiment 13 and / or some other embodiments herein, wherein the codebook is a type II codebook, a type II port selection codebook, or an advanced CSI codebook.

[0309] Embodiment 18 includes the method according to embodiments 13 to 17 and / or some other embodiments herein, wherein the method is performed by a user equipment (UE) or a part thereof.

[0310] Embodiment 19 may include a method for PMI reporting for a codebook based on linear beam combining at a user equipment (UE), wherein the method includes: configuring a channel state information (CSI) report at the UE; configuring a codebook of a precoding matrix; configuring multiple sets of codebook parameters; determining a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) based on the configured codebook parameters; and calculating and reporting the PMI by the UE based on the received CSI configuration and codebook configuration.

[0311] Embodiment 20 may include the method according to Embodiment 19 or some other embodiment herein, wherein a codebook is defined for a set of ranks R = 1, 2,.., Rmax.

[0312] Embodiment 21 may include the method according to Embodiment 20 or some other embodiment herein, wherein column l of the precoding matrix in the codebook is constructed by a linear combination of spatial domain (SD) vectors for l = 0, 1,…, (R-1).

[0313] Embodiment 22 may include the method according to Embodiment 21 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the coefficients for the linear combination of column l of the precoding matrix and SD vector i are constructed by a linear combination of time domain (TD) components.

[0314] Embodiment 23 may include the method according to Embodiment 19 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the UE indicates a plurality of subsets B1 of elements among a set A of elements for l = 0, 1,.., (R-1), where the number of elements in A is Nset and the number of elements in B1 is Nl.

[0315] Embodiment 24 may include the method according to Embodiment 23 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the indication of the selection of the subsets is made by the UE reporting one or more sets of indices.

[0316] Embodiment 25 may include the method according to Embodiment 24 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the UE reports R sets of indices indicating B1 for l = 0, 1,…, (R-1).

[0317] Embodiment 26 may include the method according to Embodiment 24 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the UE reports 1 set of indices indicating the same B1 for l = 0, 1,…, (R-1).

[0318] Embodiment 27 may include the method according to Embodiment 24 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the UE reports K < R sets of indices indicating B1 for l = 0, 1,…, (R-1), where the K subsets B1 are unique.

[0319] Embodiment 28 may include the method according to Embodiment 23 or some other embodiment herein, and the indication of the selection of the subsets is made by the UE reporting one or more bitmaps.

[0320] Embodiment 29 may include the method according to Embodiment 28 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the UE reports R bitmaps indicating B1 for l = 0, 1,…, (R-1).

[0321] Embodiment 30 may include the method according to Embodiment 28 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the UE reports 1 bitmap indicating the same B1 for l = 0, 1, …, (R-1).

[0322] Embodiment 31 may include the method according to Embodiment 28 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the UE reports K < R bitmaps indicating B1 for l = 0, 1, …, (R-1), where the K subsets of B1 are unique.

[0323] Embodiment 32 may include the method according to Embodiment 23 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the indication of the selection of the subset is performed by the UE reporting one or more combined indexes.

[0324] Embodiment 33 may include the method according to Embodiment 32 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the UE reports R combined indexes indicating B1 for l = 0, 1, …, (R-1).

[0325] Embodiment 34 may include the method according to Embodiment 32 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the UE reports 1 combined index indicating the same B1 for l = 0, 1, …, (R-1).

[0326] Embodiment 35 may include the method according to Embodiment 32 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the UE reports K < R combined indexes indicating B1 for l = 0, 1, …, (R-1), where the K subsets of B1 are unique.

[0327] Embodiment 36 may include the method according to Embodiment 23 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the UE indicates the selection of a subset of elements Binterm among a set of elements A and the selection of a subset of elements B1 among the set of elements Binterm for l = 0, 1,.., (R-1), where the number of elements in the set Binterm is Ninterm.

[0328] Embodiment 37 may include the method according to Embodiment 23 or some other embodiment herein, wherein for l = 0, 1, …, (R-1), Nl is configured by a higher layer.

[0329] Embodiment 38 may include the method according to Embodiment 23 or some other embodiment herein, wherein for different R = 1, 2,..., Rmax, Nl is the same or different.

[0330] Embodiment 39 may include the method according to Embodiment 23 or some other embodiment herein, wherein Nl is explicitly reported by the UE or derived from other parameters reported by the UE for l = 0, 1, …, (R-1).

[0331] Embodiment 40 may include a method according to Embodiment 23 or some other embodiment herein, wherein Nl=N for l=0, 1, ..., (R-1).

[0332] Embodiment 41 may include a method according to embodiment 40 or some other embodiment herein, wherein N is configured by a higher layer.

[0333] Embodiment 42 may include a method according to Embodiment 40 or some other embodiment herein, wherein N is the same or different for different R=1, 2, ..., Rmax.

[0334] Embodiment 43 may include a method according to embodiment 40 or some other embodiment herein, wherein N is explicitly reported by the UE or derived from other parameters reported by the UE.

[0335] Embodiment 44 may include a method according to Embodiment 41 or some other embodiment herein, wherein or

[0336] Embodiment 45 may include a method according to Embodiment 40 or some other embodiment herein, wherein or

[0337] Embodiment 46 may include a method according to Embodiment 44 or some other embodiment herein, wherein for l=0, 1, ..., (R-1), Zl is configured by a higher layer.

[0338] Embodiment 47 may include a method according to Embodiment 44 or some other embodiment herein, wherein Zl is the same or different for different R=1, 2, ..., Rmax.

[0339] Embodiment 48 may include a method according to embodiment 44 or some other embodiment herein, wherein Zl is explicitly reported by the UE or derived from other parameters reported by the UE for l=0, 1, ..., (R-1).

[0340] Embodiment 49 may include a method according to Embodiment 44 or some other embodiment herein, wherein for l=0, 1, ..., (R-1), Zl=N.

[0341] Embodiment 50 may include a method as described in accordance with Embodiment 49 or some other embodiment herein, wherein Z is configured by a higher layer.

[0342] Embodiment 51 may include a method according to Embodiment 49 or some other embodiment herein, wherein Z is the same or different for different R=1, 2, ..., Rmax.

[0343] Embodiment 52 may include a method according to embodiment 49 or some other embodiment herein, wherein Z is explicitly reported by the UE or derived from other parameters reported by the UE.

[0344] Embodiment 53 may include a method according to Embodiment 5 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the number of elements across all subsets B1 is finite In one embodiment, Ntotal is configured by a higher layer. In one embodiment, Ntotal is the same for different R. In other embodiments, Ntotal is a function of R.

[0345] Embodiment 54 may include a method according to embodiment 53 or some other embodiment herein, wherein Ntotal is configured by a higher layer. In one embodiment, Ntotal is the same for different R. In other embodiments, Ntotal is a function of R.

[0346] Embodiment 55 may include a method according to Embodiment 53 or some other embodiment herein, wherein Ntotal is the same or different for different R=1, 2, ..., Rmax.

[0347] Embodiment 56 may include a method according to embodiment 53 or some other embodiment herein, wherein Ntotal is explicitly reported by the UE or derived from other parameters reported by the UE.

[0348] Embodiment 57 may include a method according to embodiment 53 or some other embodiment herein, wherein Ntotal is explicitly reported by the UE or derived from other parameters reported by the UE.

[0349] Embodiment 58 may include the method of Embodiment 53 or some other embodiment herein, wherein or or

[0350] Embodiment 59 may include a method as described in Embodiment 58 or some other embodiment herein, wherein X is configured by a higher layer.

[0351] Embodiment 60 may include a method as described in Embodiment 58 or some other embodiment herein, wherein X is the same or different for different R=1, 2, ..., Rmax.

[0352] Embodiment 61 may include a method as described in accordance with Embodiment 36 or some other embodiment herein, wherein Ninterm is configured by a higher layer.

[0353] Embodiment 62 may include a method according to Embodiment 36 or some other embodiment herein, wherein Ninterm is the same or different for different R=1, 2, ..., Rmax.

[0354] Embodiment 63 may include a method according to embodiment 36 or some other embodiment herein, wherein Ninterm is explicitly reported by the UE or derived from other parameters reported by the UE.

[0355] Embodiment 64 may include a method according to Embodiment 36 or some other embodiment herein, wherein or or

[0356] Embodiment 65 may include a method according to Embodiment 46 or some other embodiment herein, wherein Y is configured by a higher layer.

[0357] Embodiment 66 may include a method according to Embodiment 46 or some other embodiment herein, wherein Y is the same or different for different R=1, 2, ..., Rmax.

[0358] Embodiment 67 may include a method according to embodiment 46 or some other embodiment herein, wherein Y is explicitly reported by the UE or derived from other parameters reported by the UE.

[0359] Embodiment 68 may include a method according to embodiment 23 or some other embodiment herein, wherein A is a set of mutually orthogonal SD vectors and a subset of SD vectors for column l of the precoder matrix is ​​indicated by reporting of subset B1.

[0360] Embodiment 69 may include a method according to embodiment 23 or some other embodiment herein, wherein A is a set of TD components, and the subset of TD components for column l of the precoder matrix is ​​indicated by reporting of subset B1.

[0361] Embodiment 70 may include the method of embodiment 23 or some other embodiment herein, wherein A is a set of pairs of SD vectors and TD components, and a subset of pairs of SD vectors and TD components for column l of the precoder matrix is ​​indicated by reporting of subset Bl.

[0362] Embodiment 71 may include an apparatus comprising means for performing one or more elements of the method described in or related to any of Embodiments 1 to 70, or any other method or process described herein.

[0363] Embodiment 72 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media, which include instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of Embodiments 1 to 70 or any other method or process described herein.

[0364] Embodiment 73 may include a device comprising logic components, modules, or circuits for performing one or more elements of the method described in or related to any of Embodiments 1 to 70, or any other method or process described herein.

[0365] Example 74 may include a method, technique or process as described or related to any one of Examples 1 to 70, or a portion or component thereof.

[0366] Embodiment 75 may include a device comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media, wherein the one or more computer-readable media include instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform a method, technique, or process, or portion thereof, as described or related to any one of Embodiments 1 to 70.

[0367] Embodiment 76 may include a signal as described or related to any one of Embodiments 1 to 70, or a portion or component thereof.

[0368] Embodiment 77 may include signals in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0369] Embodiment 78 may include a method of communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0370] Embodiment 79 may include a system for providing wireless communications as shown and described herein.

[0371] Embodiment 80 may include an apparatus for providing wireless communications as shown and described herein.

[0372] Unless explicitly stated otherwise, any of the above embodiments may be combined with any other embodiment (or combination of embodiments). The foregoing description of one or more specific implementations provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the embodiments to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings or may be acquired from the practice of the various embodiments.

[0373] abbreviation

[0374] For the purposes of this document, the following abbreviations may be applied to the examples and implementations discussed herein.

[0375] 3GPP Third Generation Partnership Project

[0376] 4G Fourth Generation

[0377] 5G Fifth Generation

[0378] 5GC 5G Core Network

[0379] ACK

[0380] AF Application Function

[0381] AM Confirmation Mode

[0382] AMBR Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate

[0383] AMF Access and Mobility Management Function

[0384] AN Access Network

[0385] ANR Automatic Neighbor Relation

[0386] AP application protocol, antenna port, access point

[0387] API Application Programming Interface

[0388] APN Access Point Name

[0389] ARP Assignment Retention Priority

[0390] ARQ Automatic Repeat Request

[0391] AS Access Layer

[0392] ASN.1 Abstract Syntax Notation

[0393] AUSF authentication server function

[0394] AWGN Additive White Gaussian Noise

[0395] BCH Broadcast Channel

[0396] BER Bit Error Rate

[0397] BFD Beam Fault Detection

[0398] BLER Block Error Rate

[0399] BPSK Binary Phase Shift Keying

[0400] BRAS Broadband Remote Access Server

[0401] BSS Business Support System

[0402] BS Base Station

[0403] BSR Buffer Status Report

[0404] BW Bandwidth

[0405] BWP Bandwidth Part

[0406] C-RNTI Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier

[0407] CA Carrier Aggregation, Certification Authority

[0408] CAPEX Capital Expenditure

[0409] CBRA Contention-based random access

[0410] CC component carrier, country code, encryption checksum

[0411] CCA Clear Channel Assessment

[0412] CCE Control Channel Element

[0413] CCCH Common Control Channel

[0414] CE Coverage Enhancement

[0415] CDM Content Delivery Network

[0416] CDMA Code Division Multiple Access

[0417] CFRA Contention-free random access

[0418] CG Cell Group

[0419] CI Cell ID

[0420] CID Cell ID (eg, positioning method)

[0421] CIM Common Information Model

[0422] CIR Carrier to Interference Ratio

[0423] CK Cryptographic Key

[0424] CM Connection Management, Conditionally Mandatory

[0425] CMAS Commercial Mobile Alert Service

[0426] CMD command

[0427] CMS Cloud Management System

[0428] CO Conditional optional

[0429] CoMP Coordinated Multipoint

[0430] CORESET Control Resource Set

[0431] COTS Commercial Off-the-Shelf

[0432] CP Control Plane, Cyclic Prefix, Attachment Point

[0433] CPD Connection Point Descriptor

[0434] CPE user terminal equipment

[0435] CPICH Common Pilot Channel

[0436] CQI Channel Quality Indicator

[0437] CPU CSI processing unit, central processing unit

[0438] C / R Command / Response field bit

[0439] CRAN Cloud Radio Access Network, Cloud RAN

[0440] CRB Common Resource Block

[0441] CRC Cyclic Redundancy Check

[0442] CRI Channel State Information Resource Indicator, CSI-RS Resource Indicator

[0443] C-RNTI Cell RNTI

[0444] CS Circuit Switched

[0445] CSAR Cloud Service Archive

[0446] CSI Channel State Information

[0447] CSI-IM CSI interference measurement

[0448] CSI-RS CSI reference signal

[0449] CSI-RSRP CSI reference signal received power

[0450] CSI-RSRQ CSI reference signal reception quality

[0451] CSI-SINR CSI signal to interference plus noise ratio

[0452] CSMA Carrier Sense Multiple Access

[0453] CSMA / CA CSMA with collision avoidance

[0454] CSS Common Search Space, Cell Specific Search Space

[0455] CTS Clear to Send

[0456] CW codeword

[0457] CWS Contention Window Size

[0458] D2D Device to Device

[0459] DC Dual Connection, Direct Current

[0460] DCI Downlink Control Information

[0461] DF deployment preferences

[0462] DL Downlink

[0463] DMTF Distributed Management Task Force

[0464] DPDK Data Plane Development Kit

[0465] DM-RS, DMRS Demodulation Reference Signal

[0466] DN Data Network

[0467] DRB Data Radio Bearer

[0468] DRS Discovery Reference Signal

[0469] DRX Discontinuous Reception

[0470] DSL Domain Specific Language, Digital Subscriber Line

[0471] DSLAM DSL Access Multiplexer

[0472] DwPTS Downlink Pilot Time Slot

[0473] E-LAN ​​Ethernet Local Area Network

[0474] E2E End-to-End

[0475] ECCA Extended Clear Channel Assessment, Extended CCA

[0476] ECCE Enhanced Control Channel Element, Enhanced CCE

[0477] ED Energy Detection

[0478] EDGE Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (GSM Evolution)

[0479] EGMF exposes governance management functions

[0480] EGPRS Enhanced GPRS

[0481] EIR Equipment Identity Register

[0482] eLAA Enhanced License Assisted Access, enhanced LAA

[0483] EM Component Manager

[0484] eMBB Enhanced Mobile Broadband

[0485] EMS Component Management System

[0486] eNB Evolved Node B, E-UTRAN Node B

[0487] EN-DC E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity

[0488] EPC Evolved Packet Core

[0489] EPDCCH Enhanced PDCCH, Enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel

[0490] EPRE Energy per resource element

[0491] EPS Evolved Packet System

[0492] EREG Enhanced REG, enhanced resource element group

[0493] ETSI European Telecommunications Standards Institute

[0494] ETWS Earthquake and Tsunami Warning System

[0495] eUICC embedded UICC, embedded universal integrated circuit card

[0496] E-UTRA Evolved UTRA

[0497] E-UTRAN Evolved UTRAN

[0498] EV2X Enhanced V2X

[0499] F1AP F1 Application Protocol

[0500] F1-C F1 control plane interface

[0501] F1-U F1 User Plane Interface

[0502] FACCH Fast Associated Control Channel

[0503] FACCH / F Fast Associated Control Channel / Full Rate

[0504] FACCH / H Fast Associated Control Channel / Half Rate

[0505] FACH Forward Access Channel

[0506] FAUSCH Fast Uplink Signalling Channel

[0507] FB Function Block

[0508] FBI Feedback

[0509] FCC Federal Communications Commission

[0510] FCCH Frequency Correction Channel

[0511] FDD Frequency Division Duplex

[0512] FDM Frequency Division Multiplexing

[0513] FDMA Frequency Division Multiple Access

[0514] FE Front End

[0515] FEC Forward Error Correction

[0516] FFS for further study

[0517] FFT Fast Fourier Transform

[0518] feLAA Further Enhanced License Assisted Access, further enhanced LAA

[0519] FN Frame Number

[0520] FPGA Field Programmable Gate Array

[0521] FR Frequency Range

[0522] G-RNTI GERAN Radio Network Temporary Identity

[0523] GERAN GSM EDGE RAN, GSM EDGE Radio Access Network

[0524] GGSN Gateway GPRS Support Node

[0525] GLONASS GLObal'naya NAvigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema (Chinese: Global Navigation Satellite System)

[0526] gNB Next Generation Node B

[0527] gNB-CU gNB centralized unit, next generation Node B centralized unit

[0528] gNB-DU gNB distributed unit, next generation Node B distributed unit

[0529] GNSS Global Navigation Satellite System

[0530] GPRS General Packet Radio Service

[0531] GSM Global System for Mobile Communications, Mobile Experts Group

[0532] GTP GPRS Tunneling Protocol

[0533] GTP-U GPRS Tunneling Protocol for the User Plane

[0534] GTS Go to sleep signal (related to WUS)

[0535] GUMMEI Globally Unique MME Identifier

[0536] GUTI Globally Unique Temporary UE Identifier

[0537] HARQ Hybrid ARQ, Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request

[0538] HANDO, HO switch

[0539] HFN Superframe Number

[0540] HHO Hard Handover

[0541] HLR Home Location Register

[0542] HN Home Network

[0543] HO Handover

[0544] HPLMN Home Public Land Mobile Network

[0545] HSDPA High Speed ​​Downlink Packet Access

[0546] HSN Hopping Sequence Number

[0547] HSPA High Speed ​​Packet Access

[0548] HSS Home Subscriber Server

[0549] HSUPA High Speed ​​Uplink Packet Access

[0550] HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol

[0551] HTTPS Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (https is http / 1.1 over SSL (i.e. port 443))

[0552] I-Block Information Block

[0553] ICCID Integrated Circuit Card Identifier

[0554] ICIC Inter-cell Interference Coordination

[0555] ID, identifier

[0556] IDFT Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform

[0557] IE Information Elements

[0558] IBE In-Band Emission

[0559] IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

[0560] IEI Information Element Identifier

[0561] IEIDL Information Element Identifier Data Length

[0562] IETF Internet Engineering Task Force

[0563] IF Infrastructure

[0564] IM Interference Measurement, Intermodulation, IP Multimedia

[0565] IMC IMS credentials

[0566] IMEI International Mobile Equipment Identity

[0567] IMGI International Mobile Group Identity

[0568] IMPI IP Multimedia Privacy Identity

[0569] IMPU IP Multimedia Public Identity

[0570] IMS IP Multimedia Subsystem

[0571] IMSI International Mobile Subscriber Identity

[0572] IoT

[0573] IP Internet Protocol

[0574] Ipsec IP security, Internet Protocol security

[0575] IP-CAN IP connection access network

[0576] IP-M IP Multicast

[0577] IPv4 Internet Protocol version 4

[0578] IPv6 Internet Protocol version 6

[0579] IR

[0580] IS Synchronization

[0581] IRP Integration Reference Point

[0582] ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network

[0583] ISIM IM Service Identity Module

[0584] ISO International Organization for Standardization

[0585] ISP Internet Service Provider

[0586] IWF interworking function

[0587] I-WLAN Intercommunication WLAN

[0588] K is the constraint length of the convolutional code, USIM individual key

[0589] kB kilobyte (1000 bytes)

[0590] kbps kilobits per second

[0591] Kc Cryptographic key

[0592] Ki Individual user authentication key

[0593] KPI Key Performance Indicator

[0594] KQI Key Quality Indicator

[0595] KSI Key Set Identifier

[0596] ksps kilosymbols per second

[0597] KVM Kernel Virtual Machine

[0598] L1 Layer 1 (physical layer)

[0599] L1-RSRP Layer 1 reference signal received power

[0600] L2 Layer 2 (Data Link Layer)

[0601] L3 Layer 3 (Network Layer)

[0602] LAA License Assisted Access

[0603] LAN Local Area Network

[0604] LBT Listen before you speak

[0605] LCM Lifecycle Management

[0606] LCR Low Chip Rate

[0607] LCS Location Services

[0608] LCID Logical Channel ID

[0609] LI layer indicator

[0610] LLC Logical Link Control, low layer compatibility

[0611] LPLMN Local PLMN

[0612] LPP LTE Positioning Protocol

[0613] LSB Least Significant Bit

[0614] LTE Long Term Evolution

[0615] LWA LTE-WLAN Aggregation

[0616] LWIP LTE / WLAN radio level integration with IPsec tunneling

[0617] LTE Long Term Evolution

[0618] M2M Machine to Machine

[0619] MAC Medium Access Control (Protocol Layer Context)

[0620] MAC Message Authentication Code (Security / Cryptography Context)

[0621] MAC-A MAC for authentication and key agreement (TSG T WG3 context)

[0622] MAC-I MAC for data integrity of signalling messages (TSG T WG3 context)

[0623] MANO Management and Orchestration

[0624] MBMS Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service

[0625] MBSFN Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service Single Frequency Network

[0626] MCC Mobile Country Code

[0627] MCG Master Cell Group

[0628] MCOT Maximum Channel Occupancy Time

[0629] MCS Modulation and Coding Scheme

[0630] MDAF Management Data Analysis Function

[0631] MDAS Management Data Analysis Service

[0632] Minimization of MDT-driven testing

[0633] ME Mobile Equipment

[0634] MeNB Master eNB

[0635] MER message error rate

[0636] MGL Measurement Gap Length

[0637] MGRP measurement gap repetition period

[0638] MIB Master Information Block, Management Information Base

[0639] MIMO Multiple Input Multiple Output

[0640] MLC Mobile Location Center

[0641] MM Mobility Management

[0642] MME Mobility Management Entity

[0643] MN Master Node

[0644] MO measurement object, mobile station calling

[0645] MPBCH MTC Physical Broadcast Channel

[0646] MPDCCH MTC Physical Downlink Control Channel

[0647] MPDSCH MTC Physical Downlink Shared Channel

[0648] MPRACH MTC Physical Random Access Channel

[0649] MPUSCH MTC Physical Uplink Shared Channel

[0650] MPLS Multi-Protocol Label Switching

[0651] MS Mobile Station

[0652] MSB Most Significant Bit

[0653] MSC Mobile Switching Center

[0654] MSI minimum system information, MCH scheduling information

[0655] MSID Mobile Station Identifier

[0656] MSIN Mobile Station Identification Number

[0657] MSISDN Mobile Subscriber ISDN Number

[0658] MT mobile station called, mobile terminal

[0659] MTC Machine Type Communication

[0660] mMTC Massive MTC, massive machine type communication

[0661] MU-MIMO Multi-User MIMO

[0662] MWUS MTC wake-up signal, MTC WUS

[0663] NACK Negative Acknowledgement

[0664] NAI Network Access Identifier

[0665] NAS Non-Access Stratum, Non-Access Stratum

[0666] NCT Network Connection Topology

[0667] NEC network capabilities exposed

[0668] NE-DC NR-E-UTRA dual connectivity

[0669] NEF Network Exposure Function

[0670] NF Network Function

[0671] NFP Network Forwarding Path

[0672] NFPD Network Forwarding Path Descriptor

[0673] NFV Network Function Virtualization

[0674] NFVI NFV Infrastructure

[0675] NFVO NFV Orchestrator

[0676] NG Next generation, next generation

[0677] NGEN-DC NG-RAN E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity

[0678] NM Network Manager

[0679] NMS Network Management System

[0680] N-PoP Network Point of Presence

[0681] NMIB, N-MIB Narrowband MIB

[0682] NPBCH Narrowband Physical Broadcast Channel

[0683] NPDCCH Narrowband Physical Downlink Control Channel

[0684] NPDSCH Narrowband Physical Downlink Shared Channel

[0685] NPRACH Narrowband Physical Random Access Channel

[0686] NPUSCH Narrowband Physical Uplink Shared Channel

[0687] NPSS Narrowband Primary Synchronization Signal

[0688] NSSS Narrowband Secondary Synchronization Signal

[0689] NR New Radio, Neighbor Relations

[0690] NRF NF Repository Functionality

[0691] NRS Narrowband Reference Signal

[0692] NS Network Services

[0693] NSA Non-standalone operation mode

[0694] NSD Network Service Descriptor

[0695] NSR Network Service Record

[0696] NSSAI Network Slice Selection Assistance Information

[0697] S-NNSAI Single NSSAI

[0698] NSSF network slice selection function

[0699] NW Network

[0700] NWUS Narrowband wake-up signal, narrowband WUS

[0701] NZP Non Zero Power

[0702] O&M Operation and Maintenance

[0703] ODU2 Optical Channel Data Unit - Type 2

[0704] OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

[0705] OFDMA Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access

[0706] OOB Out of Band

[0707] OOS Out of Sync

[0708] OPEX Operational Expenses

[0709] OSI Other System Information

[0710] OSS Operation Support System

[0711] OTA

[0712] PAPR Peak to Average Power Ratio

[0713] PAR Peak to Average Ratio

[0714] PBCH Physical Broadcast Channel

[0715] PC Power Control, Personal Computer

[0716] PCC primary component carrier, primary CC

[0717] Pcell Primary cell

[0718] PCI Physical Cell ID, Physical Cell Identity

[0719] PCEF Policy and Charging Enforcement Function

[0720] PCF Policy Control Function

[0721] PCRF Policy Control and Charging Rules Function

[0722] PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol, Packet Data Convergence Protocol Layer

[0723] PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel

[0724] PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol

[0725] PDN Packet Data Network, Public Data Network

[0726] PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel

[0727] PDU Protocol Data Unit

[0728] PEI Permanent Equipment Identifier

[0729] PFD Packet Flow Description

[0730] P-GW PDN Gateway

[0731] PHICH Physical Hybrid ARQ Indicator Channel

[0732] PHY Physical Layer

[0733] PLMN Public Land Mobile Network

[0734] PIN Personal Identification Number

[0735] PM performance measurement

[0736] PMI Precoding matrix indicator

[0737] PNF Physical Network Function

[0738] PNFD Physical Network Functional Descriptor

[0739] PNFR Physical Network Function Record

[0740] POC PTT over Cellular

[0741] PP, PTP Point to Point

[0742] PPP Point-to-Point Protocol

[0743] PRACH Physical RACH

[0744] PRB Physical Resource Block

[0745] PRG Physical Resource Group

[0746] ProSe Proximity-based services

[0747] PRS Positioning Reference Signal

[0748] PRR Packet Receive Radio

[0749] PS Packet Service

[0750] PSBCH Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel

[0751] PSDCH Physical Sidelink Downlink Channel

[0752] PSCCH Physical Sidelink Control Channel

[0753] PSSCH Physical Sidelink Shared Channel

[0754] PSCell Primary SCell

[0755] PSS Primary Synchronization Signal

[0756] PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network

[0757] PT-RS Phase Tracking Reference Signal

[0758] PTT Push to Talk

[0759] PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel

[0760] PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel

[0761] QAM Quadrature Amplitude Modulation

[0762] QCI QoS Class Identifier

[0763] QCL Quasi-Co-sited

[0764] QFI QoS flow ID, QoS flow identifier

[0765] QoS Quality of Service

[0766] QPSK Quadrature (Quaternary) Phase Shift Keying

[0767] QZSS Quasi-Zenith Satellite System

[0768] RA-RNTI Random Access RNTI

[0769] RAB Radio Access Bearer, Random Access Burst

[0770] RACH Random Access Channel

[0771] RADIUS Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service

[0772] RAN Radio Access Network

[0773] RAND Random number (for authentication)

[0774] RAR Random Access Response

[0775] RAT Radio Access Technology

[0776] RAU Routing Area Update

[0777] RB Resource Block, Radio Bearer

[0778] RBG Resource Block Group

[0779] REG Resource Element Group

[0780] Rel Release

[0781] REQ Request

[0782] RF

[0783] RI Rank Indicator

[0784] RIV Resource Indicator Value

[0785] RL Radio Link

[0786] RLC Radio Link Control, Radio Link Control Layer

[0787] RLC AM RLC Acknowledgement Mode

[0788] RLC UM RLC Unacknowledged Mode

[0789] RLF Radio Link Failure

[0790] RLM Radio Link Monitoring

[0791] RLM-RS Reference signal for RLM

[0792] RM Registration Management

[0793] RMC Reference Measurement Channel

[0794] RMSI Remaining MSI, Remaining Minimum System Information

[0795] RN Relay Node

[0796] RNC Radio Network Controller

[0797] RNL Radio Network Layer

[0798] RNTI Radio Network Temporary Identifier

[0799] ROHC Robust Header Compression

[0800] RRC Radio Resource Control, Radio Resource Control Layer

[0801] RRM Radio Resource Management

[0802] RS reference signal

[0803] RSRP Reference Signal Received Power

[0804] RSRQ Reference Signal Received Quality

[0805] RSSI Received Signal Strength Indicator

[0806] RSU Road Side Unit

[0807] RSTD Reference Signal Time Difference

[0808] RTP Real Time Protocol

[0809] RTS Ready to Send

[0810] RTT Round Trip Time

[0811] Rx receive, receive, receiver

[0812] S1AP S1 Application Protocol

[0813] S1-MME is used for S1 control plane

[0814] S1-U S1 for user plane

[0815] S-GW Service Gateway

[0816] S-RNTI SRNC Radio Network Temporary Identifier

[0817] S-TMSI SAE temporary mobile station identifier

[0818] SA Standalone Operation Mode

[0819] SAE system architecture evolution

[0820] SAP Service Access Point

[0821] SAPD Service Access Point Descriptor

[0822] SAPI Service Access Point Identifier

[0823] SCC Secondary Component Carrier, Secondary CC

[0824] Scell

[0825] SC-FDMA Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access

[0826] SCG Secondary Cell Group

[0827] SCM Security Context Management

[0828] SCS Subcarrier Spacing

[0829] SCTP Stream Control Transmission Protocol

[0830] SDAP Service Data Adaptation Protocol, Service Data Adaptation Protocol Layer

[0831] SDL Supplemental Downlink

[0832] SDNF Structured Data Storage Network Function

[0833] SDP Service Discovery Protocol (Bluetooth related)

[0834] SDSF structured data storage function

[0835] SDU Service Data Unit

[0836] SEAF Security Anchoring Function

[0837] SeNB Assisted eNB

[0838] SEPP Security Edge Protection Proxy

[0839] SFI Slot Format Indicator

[0840] SFTD Space Frequency Time Diversity, SFN and Frame Timing Difference

[0841] SFN System Frame Number

[0842] SgNB

[0843] SGSN Serving GPRS Support Node

[0844] S-GW Service Gateway

[0845] SI System Information

[0846] SI-RNTI System Information RNTI

[0847] SIB System Information Block

[0848] SIM Subscriber Identity Module

[0849] SIP Session Initiation Protocol

[0850] SiP System in Package

[0851] SL Side Link

[0852] SLA Service Level Agreement

[0853] SM Session Management

[0854] SMF session management functions

[0855] SMS Short Message Service

[0856] SMSF SMS Function

[0857] SMTC SSB-based measurement timing configuration

[0858] SN Secondary node, serial number

[0859] SoC System on Chip

[0860] SON Self-Organizing Network

[0861] SpCell Special Cell

[0862] SP-CSI-RNTI Semi-persistent CSI RNTI

[0863] SPS Semi-persistent Scheduling

[0864] SQN Serial Number

[0865] SR Scheduling Request

[0866] SRB Signalling Radio Bearer

[0867] SRS Sounding Reference Signal

[0868] SS Sync Signal

[0869] SSB Synchronization Signal Block, SS / PBCH Block

[0870] SSBRI SS / PBCH block resource indicator, synchronization signal block resource indicator

[0871] SSC Session and Service Continuity

[0872] SS-RSRP Reference signal received power based on synchronization signal

[0873] SS-RSRQ Reference signal reception quality based on synchronization signal

[0874] SS-SINR Signal to Interference and Noise Ratio based on synchronization signal

[0875] SSS Secondary synchronization signal

[0876] SSSG Search Space Group

[0877] SSSIF Search Space Set Indicator

[0878] SST Slice / Service Type

[0879] SU-MIMO Single User MIMO

[0880] SUL Supplementary Uplink

[0881] TA timing advance, tracking area

[0882] TAC Tracking Area Code

[0883] TAG Timing Advance Group

[0884] TAU Tracking Area Updates

[0885] TB Transfer Block

[0886] TBS Transport Block Size

[0887] TBD To be defined

[0888] TCI Transmission Configuration Indicator

[0889] TCP transport communication protocol

[0890] TDD Time Division Duplex

[0891] TDM Time Division Multiplexing

[0892] TDMA Time Division Multiple Access

[0893] TE Terminal Equipment

[0894] TEID Tunnel Endpoint Identifier

[0895] TFT Business Flow Template

[0896] TMSI Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity

[0897] TNL Transport Network Layer

[0898] TPC Transmit Power Control

[0899] TPMI Transmitted Precoding Matrix Indicator

[0900] TR Technical Report

[0901] TRP,TRxP Transmission Receive Point

[0902] TRS Tracking Reference Signal

[0903] TRx Transceiver

[0904] TS Technical Specification, Technical Standard

[0905] TTI Transmission Time Interval

[0906] Tx transmission, transmission, transmitter

[0907] U-RNTI UTRAN Radio Network Temporary Identity

[0908] UART Universal Asynchronous Receiver and Transmitter

[0909] UCI Uplink Control Information

[0910] UE User Equipment

[0911] UDM Unified Data Management

[0912] UDP User Datagram Protocol

[0913] UDSF Unstructured Data Storage Network Function

[0914] UICC Universal Integrated Circuit Card

[0915] UL Uplink

[0916] UM Unconfirmed Mode

[0917] UML Unified Modeling Language

[0918] UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System

[0919] UP User Plane

[0920] UPF User Plane Function

[0921] URI Uniform Resource Identifier

[0922] URL Uniform Resource Locator

[0923] URLLC Ultra-Reliable Low Latency

[0924] USB Universal Serial Bus

[0925] USIM Universal Subscriber Identity Module

[0926] USS UE-specific search space

[0927] UTRA UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access

[0928] UTRAN Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network

[0929] UwPTS Uplink Pilot Time Slot

[0930] V2I Vehicle to Infrastructure

[0931] V2P Vehicle to Pedestrian

[0932] V2V Vehicle to Vehicle

[0933] V2X: Vehicle-to-Everything

[0934] VIM Virtualization Infrastructure Manager

[0935] VL Virtual Link

[0936] VLAN virtual LAN, virtual local area network

[0937] VM Virtual Machine

[0938] VNF Virtualized Network Function

[0939] VNFFG VNF forwarding graph

[0940] VNFFGD VNF Forwarding Graph Descriptor

[0941] VNFM VNF Manager

[0942] VoIP Voice over IP, Voice over Internet Protocol

[0943] VPLMN Visited Public Land Mobile Network

[0944] VPN Virtual Private Network

[0945] VRB Virtual Resource Block

[0946] WiMAX Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access

[0947] WLAN Wireless Local Area Network

[0948] WMAN Wireless Metropolitan Area Network

[0949] WPAN Wireless Personal Area Network

[0950] X2-C X2 control plane

[0951] X2-U X2 user plane

[0952] XML Extensible Markup Language

[0953] XRES Expected User Response

[0954] XOR

[0955] ZC Zadoff-Chu

[0956] ZP Zero Power

[0957] the term

[0958] For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply to the examples and implementations discussed herein.

[0959] As used herein, the term "circuit" refers to, is part of, or includes a hardware component such as an electronic circuit, a logic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) and / or a memory (shared, dedicated, or group) configured to provide the described functions, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable device (FPD) (e.g., a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic device (PLD), a complex PLD (CPLD), a high capacity PLD (HCPLD), a structured ASIC, or a programmable SoC), a digital signal processor (DSP), etc. In some embodiments, the circuit may execute one or more software or firmware programs to provide at least some of the described functions. The term "circuit" may also refer to a combination of one or more hardware elements and a program code for performing the functions of the program code (or a combination of circuits used in an electrical or electronic system). In these embodiments, the combination of hardware elements and program code may be referred to as a specific type of circuit.

[0960] As used herein, the term "processor circuit" refers to, is part of, or includes a circuit capable of sequentially and automatically performing a series of arithmetic or logical operations or recording, storing, and / or transmitting digital data. The term "processor circuit" may refer to one or more application processors, one or more baseband processors, a physical central processing unit (CPU), a single-core processor, a dual-core processor, a triple-core processor, a quad-core processor, and / or any other device capable of executing or otherwise operating computer-executable instructions (such as program code, software modules, and / or functional processes). The terms "application circuit" and / or "baseband circuit" may be considered synonymous with "processor circuit" and may be referred to as "processor circuit".

[0961] As used herein, the term "interface circuit" refers to a circuit that enables, is a part of, or includes information exchange between two or more components or devices. The term "interface circuit" may refer to one or more hardware interfaces, such as a bus, an I / O interface, a peripheral component interface, a network interface card, etc.

[0962] As used herein, the term "user equipment" or "UE" refers to a device that has radio communication capabilities and can describe a remote user of network resources in a communication network. In addition, the terms "user equipment" or "UE" may be considered synonymous and may be referred to as a client, mobile phone, mobile device, mobile terminal, user terminal, mobile unit, mobile station, mobile user, subscriber, user, remote station, access agent, user agent, receiver, radio equipment, reconfigurable radio equipment, reconfigurable mobile device, etc. In addition, the term "user equipment" or "UE" may include any type of wireless / wired device or any computing device that includes a wireless communication interface.

[0963] As used herein, the term "network element" refers to physical or virtualized equipment and / or infrastructure for providing wired or wireless communication network services. The term "network element" may be considered synonymous with and / or referred to as a networked computer, networking hardware, network equipment, network node, router, switch, hub, bridge, radio network controller, RAN equipment, RAN node, gateway, server, virtualized VNF, NFVI, etc.

[0964] As used herein, the term "computer system" refers to any type of interconnected electronic devices, computer devices, or components thereof. Additionally, the terms "computer system" and / or "system" may refer to various components of a computer that are communicatively coupled to one another. Furthermore, the terms "computer system" and / or "system" may refer to multiple computer devices and / or multiple computing systems that are communicatively coupled to one another and configured to share computing and / or networking resources.

[0965] As used herein, the terms "appliance", "computer appliance", etc. refer to a computer device or computer system with program code (e.g., software or firmware) that is specifically designed to provide specific computing resources. A "virtual appliance" is a virtual machine image to be implemented by a device equipped with a hypervisor that virtualizes or emulates a computer appliance or is otherwise dedicated to providing specific computing resources.

[0966] As used herein, the term "resource" refers to a physical or virtual device, a physical or virtual component within a computing environment, and / or a physical or virtual component within a specific device, such as a computer device, a mechanical device, a memory space, a processor / CPU time and / or a processor / CPU usage rate, a processor and accelerator load, a hardware time or usage rate, a power supply, an input / output operation, a port or a network socket, a channel / link allocation, throughput, memory usage rate, storage, a network, a database and an application, a unit of work, etc. "Hardware resources" may refer to computing, storage and / or network resources provided by physical hardware elements. "Virtualized resources" may refer to computing, storage and / or network resources provided by a virtualized infrastructure to an application, a device, a system, etc. The term "network resources" or "communication resources" may refer to resources that a computer device / system can access via a communication network. The term "system resources" may refer to any kind of shared entity that provides a service, and may include computing resources and / or network resources. System resources may be considered as a set of coherent functions, network data objects or services that can be accessed through a server, wherein such system resources reside on a single host or multiple hosts and can be clearly identified.

[0967] As used herein, the term "channel" refers to any tangible or intangible transmission medium for transmitting data or data streams. The term "channel" may be synonymous and / or equivalent to "communication channel", "data communication channel", "transmission channel", "data transmission channel", "access channel", "data access channel", "link", "data link", "carrier", "radio frequency carrier" and / or any other similar terms representing a path or medium through which data is transmitted. In addition, the term "link" as used herein refers to a connection between two devices for transmitting and receiving information over a RAT.

[0968] As used herein, the terms "instantiate," "instantiate," and the like refer to the creation of an instance. "Instance" also refers to a specific occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during the execution of program code.

[0969] The terms "coupled," "communicatively coupled," and their derivatives are used herein. The term "coupled" may mean that two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact with each other, may mean that two or more elements are in indirect contact with each other but still cooperate or interact with each other, and / or may mean that one or more other elements are coupled or connected between the elements said to be coupled to each other. The term "directly coupled" may mean that two or more elements are in direct contact with each other. The term "communicatively coupled" may mean that two or more elements may be in contact with each other by means of communication, including through a wire or other interconnect connection, through a wireless communication channel or link, etc.

[0970] The term "information element" refers to a structural element that contains one or more fields. The term "field" refers to the individual contents of an information element, or a data element that contains the contents.

[0971] The term "SMTC" refers to the SSB-based measurement timing configuration configured by SSB-MeasurementTimingConfiguration.

[0972] The term "SSB" refers to SS / PBCH block.

[0973] The term "primary cell" refers to an MCG cell operating on a primary frequency, where the UE either performs an initial connection establishment procedure or initiates a connection re-establishment procedure.

[0974] The term "primary SCG cell" refers to an SCG cell in which a UE performs random access when reconfiguration is performed using a synchronization procedure for DC operation.

[0975] The term "secondary cell" refers to a cell that provides additional radio resources on top of a special cell for a UE configured with CA.

[0976] The term "secondary cell group" refers to a subset of serving cells including a PSCell for a UE configured with DC and zero or more secondary cells.

[0977] The term "serving cell" refers to a primary cell for a UE in RRC_CONNECTED without CA / DC configured, where there is only one serving cell including the primary cell.

[0978] The term "serving cell" refers to a cell set including a special cell for a UE configured with CA / in RRC_CONNECTED and all secondary cells.

[0979] The term "special cell" refers to the PCell of the MCG or the PSCell of the SCG for DC operation; otherwise, the term "special cell" refers to the Pcell.

Claims

1. A method of operating a system for reporting channel state information (CSI) of multiple spatial layers, the method comprising: Determining, by a user equipment UE, a precoding matrix indicator PMI of a set of precoding matrices, wherein the PMI is determined based on a combination of mutually orthogonal digital Fourier transform DFT spatial domain SD vectors and DFT-based frequency domain FD compression, wherein the mutually orthogonal DFT SD vectors are selected as N subsets of a plurality of oversampled DFT SD vectors, and a total number of elements of the N subsets is fixed, wherein N is a positive number greater than 1; as well as The UE transmits the PMI to a base station.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the PMI comprises transmitting in a channel state information (CSI) report. 3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising generating the CSI report to include a channel quality indicator (CQI) or a rank indicator (RI). 4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting the PMI comprises transmitting via a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating a codebook to include a set of precoding indices. The method of claim 5 , further comprising defining the codebook for a set of ranks.

7. The method according to claim 6, further comprising constructing, by the UE, columns of a precoding matrix in the codebook based on linear combinations of spatial domain SD vectors.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a system for reporting channel state information (CSI) of multiple spatial layers, causes the system to perform operations including: Determine a precoding matrix indicator PMI of a set of precoding matrices, wherein the PMI is determined based on a combination of mutually orthogonal digital Fourier transform DFT spatial domain SD vectors and DFT-based frequency domain FD compression, wherein the mutually orthogonal DFT SD vectors are selected as N subsets of a plurality of oversampled DFT SD vectors, and the total number of elements of the N subsets is fixed, wherein N is a positive number greater than 1; and The PMI is transmitted to a base station.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the transmitting the PMI comprises transmitting in a channel state information (CSI) report.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise generating the CSI report to include a channel quality indicator (CQI) or a rank indicator (RI).

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the transmitting the PMI comprises transmitting via a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise generating a codebook to include a set of precoding indices.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the operations further comprise defining the codebook for a set of ranks.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise constructing columns of a precoding matrix in the codebook based on linear combinations of spatial domain SD vectors.

15. A system for reporting channel state information (CSI) of multiple spatial layers, the system comprising: a processor configured to determine a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) of a set of precoding matrices, wherein the PMI is determined based on a combination of mutually orthogonal digital Fourier transform (DFT) spatial domain SD vectors and DFT-based frequency domain FD compression, wherein the mutually orthogonal DFT SD vectors are selected as N subsets of a plurality of oversampled DFT SD vectors, and a total number of elements of the N subsets is fixed, wherein N is a positive number greater than 1; and A radio frequency integrated circuit is coupled to the processor and configured to transmit the PMI to a base station.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the PMI is transmitted to the base station in a channel state information (CSI) report.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the CSI report further comprises a channel quality indicator (CQI) or a rank indicator (RI).

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the PMI is transmitted to the base station via a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the set of precoding indices is included in a codebook.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the codebook is defined for a set of ranks.

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